Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Summer Fun School @CIE + 50% Off Promo
The Summer Fun School is back in action at the CIE Preschool. The first wave starts tomorrow and there's a 50% discount for the first 30 enrolees! Enrol your pre-schooler for SY 2012-2013 by tomorrow, April 18, 2012, and your tot gets to attend their summer school for FREE. See flyer below for more information and school's contact details:
Catch the SpongeBob Party on May 5, 2012
Is your tot fond of the little guy who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Mine's not, unfortunately. But I do know that there a lot of little kids who are fond of SpongeBob SquarePants and thought it best to share the flyer I received in my inbox today.
So if you do have a kid who's mad about SpongeBob, then drop by Bonifacio Global City Open Field on May 5, 2012 for some fun in the sun at the SpongeBob Yellow Party! Games, activities, and prizes await! Best of all, entrance is FREE. Note that the party is from 3PM to 6PM so be sure your kids are protected from the summer heat.
So if you do have a kid who's mad about SpongeBob, then drop by Bonifacio Global City Open Field on May 5, 2012 for some fun in the sun at the SpongeBob Yellow Party! Games, activities, and prizes await! Best of all, entrance is FREE. Note that the party is from 3PM to 6PM so be sure your kids are protected from the summer heat.
Toddler Teachers (formerly Toddlers Unlimited)
To all mommies and daddies desperately seeking a preschool in Makati - have you dropped by Toddler Teachers yet? Be sure to stop by their new address at 120 Tordesillas Street, cor HV Dela Costa & Soliman St., Salcedo Village, Makati City (the official website still has the old address). I was very impressed by this school and wish I learned about it sooner.
The first thing to catch my eye were the facilities. The classrooms, toilets, and common areas are spacious, bright, cheery, and well-equipped. The library alone is impressive! It's rare to see a preschool with it a separate room set up as a library (most would just have reading areas inside the classrooms). Rarer still to find one with a huge collection of well-organized books (I saw labels upon labels such as "Animals", "Counting", "Filipino", "Silly Stories", "Transportation", and many more). The cozy atmosphere and presence of couches makes it really inviting to the kids.
The staff is equally impressive. There are teachers, assistants, and helpers per class, making sure that the needs of each and every child is seen to. I was relieved that all the teachers had good diction!
Did I mention the preschool is recognized by DepEd? It also offers the Galileo Enrichment Program, which teaches English and Singapore math. If you're hunting for a preschool in Makati - this is definitely worth looking into! They are currently offering a summer program, with an option for 2x, 3x, or 5x a week.
The first thing to catch my eye were the facilities. The classrooms, toilets, and common areas are spacious, bright, cheery, and well-equipped. The library alone is impressive! It's rare to see a preschool with it a separate room set up as a library (most would just have reading areas inside the classrooms). Rarer still to find one with a huge collection of well-organized books (I saw labels upon labels such as "Animals", "Counting", "Filipino", "Silly Stories", "Transportation", and many more). The cozy atmosphere and presence of couches makes it really inviting to the kids.
The staff is equally impressive. There are teachers, assistants, and helpers per class, making sure that the needs of each and every child is seen to. I was relieved that all the teachers had good diction!
Did I mention the preschool is recognized by DepEd? It also offers the Galileo Enrichment Program, which teaches English and Singapore math. If you're hunting for a preschool in Makati - this is definitely worth looking into! They are currently offering a summer program, with an option for 2x, 3x, or 5x a week.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Learning How to Read: First Books
So when my 3-year-old came up to me and said "Mommy, I want to learn how to read!" I eagerly started our lessons. She learned her letters and sounds already, so I figured some phonetics lessons and will be on our way to early reader books.
I could not have been more wrong. Most of the common words used in stories don't always follow the simple sound rules. "Me" is "M-ee" not "M-eh". "You" is "Y-oo" not "Y-oh-uh". And so on.
A preschool teacher brought me in the direction of "sight words" - the most frequently used words in the English language that kids should memorize. Sounded easy enough, but going through the words was boring and tedious for both me and my child. I could tell she was fast losing interest and knew I had to involve her more in the reading process.
I was also advised to find books with rhyming words. I browsed through the large selection in both National Bookstore and Power Books, but all the shelves of Pre-Level and Level 1 reader books still seemed to complicated for my daughter. The closest ones I found that were easy for her to grasp were Dora's So Many Bananas and Mickey Mouse's Are We There Yet? Where were the simple "See Jack run" and "See Jill play" books from my day?
Finally, I stumbled upon two great resources for free books for first time readers:
http://www.clarkness.com/Single%20Page%20Stories%20page%201.htm
While my daughter is disappointed that they're not real books, I finally saw progress (and by the way her eyes sparkled, she did too!) as she read through the 1-page stories all on her own. It's slow going, but so were the lowercase letters, writing, and cutting in the beginning...so I'm still confident that we'll get the reading down pat too!
Incidentally, another great find for me is Disney School Skills: Sight Words which so far, has successfully taught her to recognize the words for the days of the week and colors.
I could not have been more wrong. Most of the common words used in stories don't always follow the simple sound rules. "Me" is "M-ee" not "M-eh". "You" is "Y-oo" not "Y-oh-uh". And so on.
A preschool teacher brought me in the direction of "sight words" - the most frequently used words in the English language that kids should memorize. Sounded easy enough, but going through the words was boring and tedious for both me and my child. I could tell she was fast losing interest and knew I had to involve her more in the reading process.
I was also advised to find books with rhyming words. I browsed through the large selection in both National Bookstore and Power Books, but all the shelves of Pre-Level and Level 1 reader books still seemed to complicated for my daughter. The closest ones I found that were easy for her to grasp were Dora's So Many Bananas and Mickey Mouse's Are We There Yet? Where were the simple "See Jack run" and "See Jill play" books from my day?
Finally, I stumbled upon two great resources for free books for first time readers:
http://www.clarkness.com/Single%20Page%20Stories%20page%201.htm
While my daughter is disappointed that they're not real books, I finally saw progress (and by the way her eyes sparkled, she did too!) as she read through the 1-page stories all on her own. It's slow going, but so were the lowercase letters, writing, and cutting in the beginning...so I'm still confident that we'll get the reading down pat too!
Incidentally, another great find for me is Disney School Skills: Sight Words which so far, has successfully taught her to recognize the words for the days of the week and colors.
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