Back to school S.Y. 2013-2014(June 10, 2013)

Starting the school year with enthusiasm and a good start, my son Marty
woke up early on his first day of school.

Finishing off with an academic achiever award on his Grade 1 level,
he is excited to meet his new teachers, new and old classmates,
see their new school building and ready to face more and harder
challenges in Grade II. 

The rules which we agreed upon:
1. Study, do assignments and review lessons on weekdays.
2. Can play his toys on weekends.
3. Gadgets can be played only on weekends too.
4. Attend Taekwondo sessions  regularly.

Moving-up recognition day of my son (Mar 25, 2013)

Another year has passed in my son's golden years and I'm proud to say
that he was able to hurdle all the challenges in Grade 1 level as he finishes off
with an Academic Achiever award.

Aside studying and doing his assignments on his own, he actively participated
in all their school's events.  He was also into sports where he garnered
3rd place in the SMART Taekwondo National Competition last August
and their blue team in basketball won also during their Family Olympics.

He got 3rd place on their story telling contest on their English-Math-Science
Literacy Month and was also one of the representatives to the MTAP
competition last January.

This is the 2nd year which he was selected to perform in their Doxology and
he really performed very well.

 

Another performance from the Grade 1 pupils. 

 

And this is Marty on his self-introduction - To be the youngest and best engineer

in the field of Robotics.

 

 

And these are the proud parents who work hard to give Marty the best

education they can give.

Marty's First Story Telling - The Turtle and The Monkey

My son made us proud again!

Their recently concluded English-Math-Science Festival held in Story Land
SM Fairview last Sept. 28 paved the way to make my son speak in public.

He got 3rd place in their story telling entitled The Turtle and The Monkey
for the 1st graders.  His awesome props - courtesy of my friends in the office.
Big Thanks to you my friends....

For a playful and shy 6 year-old kid, it was really hard to memorize and
have him recite the story this long.  Surprisingly, my son did it. He was
able to memorize the whole story in 2-nights session + the action
for another night.  What made him more interested and memorized it easily was
that I let him wrote it down in a brown paper and posted it in our bedroom wall.
I told him that was my way of  reviewing when I was in of his age so that it will
easily stick into my mind and will never forget it.

Though I was a little bit disappointed when he did not act what he practised
during the contest, thank God, he finished the story.

It was really a first big step for Marty.

What's playin' in my mind? What if I enroll him on their theater acting
club?

After the event, all kids were treated with a Ride-All-You-Can ticket
in the Story Land rides.  It was really a tiring but enjoyable day for my son
with his classmates.

In the Train ride...

The Carousel ride...

Walking Animal ride...

 

And the 4D X-Rider experience.  Marty was the one in the middle.

Nutrition Month and Buwan Ng Wika Celebration(Aug.31)

The long awaited events in my son's school were held just last Aug.31 - joint 

celebration of Nutrition Month and Buwan Ng Wika. 

It was another special day for the Whiz Kids to show case their talents - singing,

dancing, cooking, ballet, & in games. 

Overall, it was a simple yet awesome experience for the Whiz Kids. 

Some activities that my son actively participated into.

Salad-making contest...

Games...

And the MSA Whiz Kids TKD Club demo...

Taeguk 3 demo...

TKD Kicking demo...

Excited for Grade 1 (SY 2012-2013)

June 18, 2012 - Back to School...

After more than 2 months of school and summer vacation, my son is more
than excited to be back to school - meet new classmates, reconnect with
old friends,  meet new teachers and face new challenges.  

As promised, he kept his favorite toys in our attic to give way to his studies.

He very well knows his priorities - do assignments and review on school days
and Saturday, and Sunday will be a free day.

Having no housemaid, this is again the start of  max. of 5 hours sleep everyday
which means sleeping by 11PM and waking-up at 4AM to prepare for breakfast,
meryenda and lunch of my son. 

Good luck son in your new endeavor.  Enjoy your schooling and Taekwondo.
Mama and Papa are always here to support you for whatever your heart
desires.

My son's preparatory graduation - with honors

Another one great proud mama moment - I was in teary eyes when my son Marty
was announced as one of the cream of the crop of the preparatory. At 5 years
old, he graduated prep with honors. 

I never expected it maybe because of the so little time and effort that I spent with
him doing his assignments and on his exam reviews.  Thank God for his wisdom
intelligence.

His self-introduction - "Good afternoon.  You are braver than you believe.
You are stronger than you seem and you are smarter than you think.  I am
Samuel Marty C. Santos.  I am 5 years old.  I like to be a Mechanical
Engineer.  Thank you."

 

Here is his medal.

He was also one of the selected students who performed on their Doxology presentation.

Time really flies so fast.  Last year, he completed his Kinder 1 as Top 3.  

He passed his acceleration exam and now he is graduating from pre-school.  

Surely, next year will be more challenges and more things to learn in Grade 1. 

His classmates that he will surely miss.  Some will go to big schools but some
will stay.  Marty will still stay in MSA Whizkids. We are very happy with the
quality of education that MSA Whizkids is providing to our son - 1 academic
level advance, develops critical thinking and maintains just a number of students per class.  

Kumon Chronicles: Back to Kumon

After 2 months of rest from Kumon due to my son's 3rd quarterly exam and
Christmas and New Year holidays, he is now back in action.

He resumes his worksheets for the Reading - A1 level.

 

 

 

In A1 level, introduces students to the structure of simple sentences, learn

expressions which convey attitude or intention (i.e. can, must, may and should).

Students also learn to write negative sentences, questions and sentences using

the past tense.

See how excited and happy he is in answering his worksheets...

Kumon Chronicles of my son - moving up to Reading 2A level

After 2 months, Marty will now start his Reading 2A level.  He just perfectly
passed the 3A Achievement Test and is now ready for the next level.

 

Some of Marty's spelling exercises after book reading in Kumon.

In Reading 2A level, he is expected to learn and understand sound parts
within words, use nouns, verbs and adverbs in sentences.  He will also
aim to read passages of up to 50 words within one minute. 

Skills and benefits of level 2A: It prepares your child for the Sentence
Building Block through the development of independent reading, writing,
and spelling skills.  Your child will be introduced to nouns, verbs, and
adjectives, and begin to learn how parts of speech function in a
sentence. Your child will learn singular and plural forms of nouns and
verbs as well as comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.
The stories and poems at the end of this study level were carefully
selected to reinforce the material covered and to enhance your child's
desire to read.

Kumon Chronicles of my son - moving up to Reading 4A level

My son just completed the 5A level in Reading in two weeks and will now be in
4A level.

Although, he always tell me that he already knew the lessons in 5A on his
Kinder 1 class, he never missed any worksheet unanswered. He also enjoyed the
story reading time in the center after answering the assigned worksheets to him.
Even at home, he is prompt in doing his take home worksheets.  And every time,
he comes home with an Excellent stamp, he is very proud of his small
accomplishments. 

As what I observed after his two weeks  session, he has improved his mastery
of words.  He improved a lot in oral spelling not only on three-letter words but
also on 5 to 6 letter words (white, school, night, window, door, table, child, sight
and etc.)

For his 4A level, he is expected to continue developing pre-reading skills by
saying words with consonant blends, consonant digraphs, consonant-controlled
vowels, and long vowels produced by the silent e.

Well for now, it is working with my son. He doesn't get bored and I hope he
will not.  Since I cannot get him to studying his lessons when we are together
and all he wanted is to play with me, I'll take advantage of this Kumon way.

Kumon Chronicles of my son - A self-learning journey

I was worried with the academic standing of my son this past few days after
receiving the results of his first major quiz for the 1st qtr.  In Science, he only
got half of the items, also low score in Math and unexpectedly not good in
Reading knowing that he can read stories and he's good in comprehension.

Aside from the major reason that I can't tutor him on his assignments and
reviews due to my over demanding work, he lacks focus to study every time
we are able to sneak time for a session.  When we're together, he just want
to play and watch with us.

Having heard Kumon from my friends who are also sending their kids to
this center,  I searched the net, inquired and decided to enroll my son there.

First, an assessment test was given to my son based on his age of 5.  The
teacher was surprised that it was perfect and my son can already read
paragraph.  I was then introduced to their learning system while my son was
given other activities to keep him busy.

Same as explained in the net, the Kumon Method is an individualized learning
method.  Worksheets are provided to allow students to figure out how to
solve problems on their own.  This will develop self-learning, self-discipline
to finish the assigned worksheets and eventually foster self-esteem and
confidence by exposing them to advanced learning.

Of course, having a personal tutor is entirely different from Kumon's objectives.
If I will hire a tutor for my son, he can only be prepared on their current lessons.
But in Kumon, he can discover things on his own, can acquire additional
knowledge aside from what is learned in school which will make him more
equipped to face advanced learnings.

I enrolled my son in Reading and he was recommended to start in level 5A.
5A allows students to develop more pre-reading skills by saying individual
sounds while tracing letters.  Towards the end of the level, students begin to
put together simple three letter words.  This is the 3rd level for beginning kids
though he is already good in story reading.  All throughout the level, he
should complete the 200 worksheets which will be answered in the center
and as take home activity and is expected to be completed for a month.
His schedule is 2 times a week with 45mins to 1 hr per session. Though
you can still stay after the 1 hour to read some books in the center or do
your other worksheets.

I paid 1800PHP as tuition + 500PHP for the enrollment processing for
a month's duration. After completing the 200 worksheets, an assessment
test will be given.

When my son was stamped with very good star on his hand, he feels
happy and proud leaving the center.  And yes, this new journey of my son
is yet to begin on July 26.

Getting ready for my son's school opening

Just got my son's books and school supplies from the school and here they are:

1. Nine(9) books  consist of Language, Mathematics, Science, Computer, Filipino,
    Civics & Culture, Reading, MAPEH  and Values. As noticed, some of their books
    especially on major subjects are for Grade 1 level. My son is an incoming Prep.
2. He got 7 notebooks + the Reminder notebook.
3. It also comes with a school bag, snack bag, and other school supplies.
    Since the school provides the school supplies, I miss the rush of buying school
    supplies for my son as what other mommies enjoy to do with their kids.

His school uniforms are already prepared.  I bought him four(4) pairs + a set
of PE uniform for their Friday's PE.

With their class to start on June 14, everything is all set.  My son is already
excited to go back to school.  And knowing that his teacher in Kinder 1 will
also be his teacher in Prep this school year,  this makes him more excited.

Completed the Phonics Level 3 summer class

Today marked the end of the Phonics Level 3 summer class of my son and I can
say that he has completed it successfully. As reflected on his worksheets and
homeworks, he did a great job.

He is now exposed to and good in reading more complex words with long
vowel sounds as well as in reading and comprehension. He can already
spell these words in writing and orally.  However, still needs to improve a lot in writing.

To supplement and practice his reading skills on this level, I'm planning to buy
him more story books for this Phonics level.

And he enjoyed his summer class with his classmate.

And this is his prize for his completion,  Vilgaux of Ben 10 and a yummy Jollibee treat.

Congratulations my son for a job well done. You made us  proud again!!!

Excited for his summer class - Reading Readiness

My son is already excited for his summer class on Reading Readiness which will
start tomorrow.  It will be a 1.5 hour session every MWF for around 12 sessions.

His summer class will focus more on Phonics Level 3 which will equip him the
skills in reading words with long vowel sounds.  This is required by the school
after he passed the acceleration exam from Kinder 1 to Preparatory.  Because
in Prep, he is now expected to be good on this stage in terms of reading
proficiency.

Good luck son!  Enjoy your summer class. Continue to love reading.

Accelerated to Preparatory - Proud Mama Moment

Despite the rainy Saturday morning,  the good news that my son passed his
acceleration exam from Kinder 1 to Preparatory for this coming school year is
more than a reason to call for a celebration.

I was really surprised on the results of his exam.  I begged Teacher Ana to
show me the results.  I can say that he really did well and deserves the
acceleration.  Even still at 4 yrs. old, he got high score in spelling,  number
problems, on the basics and in reading comprehension.

But since he is expected to be good already in reading long vowel sounds in Prep,
he needs to take summer class in Reading Readiness. This will bridge the gap on
the lessons being taken in Kinder 2 and prepare him to more advanced reading in Prep.

Congratulations son for a job well done.  Mama and Papa are proud of you...

Another great accomplishment of Marty - Kinder 1 3rd in rank

March 25, 2011 marked the day of the Moving Up(recognition day) in my son's school.  Although he completed as third in rank in their Kinder 1 class for the 3 quarters,  we had no idea for his final rank in the class.  I am lying if I don't admit that I did not expect.  Knowing my son's capacity in reading, spelling and mathematics, I know he can make it to the top.   While waiting for the program to start @SM Fairview Cinema, he had his fave Mocha Frapp. 

Well, I can say that my son Marty enjoyed his school year stay in MSA.  He learned a lot and was able to cope up with their advanced curriculum.  @ 4 years old, he can now read stories, perform simple number sentences, addition and subtraction and he is very good in oral spelling.  He made friends and enjoyed making several school projects.  He actively participated on their school activities and fieldtrips. And what is amazing, never was there a day that he did not want to go to school. Contented to say, I'm happy on how MSA played their part in my son's education.

With all these accomplishments, Marty got 3rd in rank  With his ambition to become an engineer when he grows up, we will support him all the way. 

Of course, with the ever-supportive Parents. The grandparents and his yaya 

were also in the audience to witness this important and first ever school 

accomplishment of Marty. 

Marty with his classmates on their presentation. 

We also had a copy of their yearbook highlighting their class picture, student profile and all their activities throughout the school year.

Kudos for Teacher Glaiza and Teacher Klever for a job well done to these kids.  To teach these small kids and feed them with knowledge is really the most challenging part that even parents find it hard to do. My congratulations and thanks to these boys and girls for being part of Marty's school life whom he looks up 

and imitate for the good deeds. 

Here are the certificate and the medal. 

Our family picture in the photo booth....

And for his prize, I bought him his new fave Power Ranger.