Poor Baby… This Woman Should Go To Jail

by tim on May 10, 2012

I saw this video in Facebook and I knew I had to do something, anything. The only way I know that I can do effectively is to share the video to everyone. I got the facebook video and edited it for uploading to youtube.

THIS IS ONE HORRIBLE MOTHER!

This video is very graphic and I had to keep myself from turning it off. Tears were running down my cheeks while watching the poor 8-month old baby getting hell from this woman who is his mother. If she is indeed his mother, SHE DOES NOT DESERVE THIS ANGEL! What she does deserve however is jail time – RECLUSION PERPETUA!

I do not understand the language but her actions speak louder than words. I don’t know why the woman who was recording the video did not do anything, and there were also other kids in that room which makes this video all the more horrendous. She was the only one capable of helping that poor baby during that time – but she did not do anything except record the video below. She must’ve had her reasons – but I still don’t think any reason is enough for her not to stop the abomination in front of her. Its a helpless baby, for crying out loud!!!

Please share the video below, help this baby. Nobody deserves to be treated this way.

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Our first official homeschool assessment

by tim on April 22, 2012

We just finished our first official HS assessment using Let’s Go Learn DOMA and DORA, I can see how the kids tried their best to answer even though they were tired from swimming and all I can say is: I’M SOOOOO PROUD!!!

We didn’t really know if homeschool is for us and after a year of independent homeschooling we finally decided that we are ready to enroll them in an official homeschool and we decided to go with The Master’s Academy. Both kids were required to take an official assessment through Let’s Go Learn, we opted to do it online because it would be easier for us and also its a lot cheaper compared to tagging them along to Manila for the testing.

I have to stop myself tons of times while watching them take the tests, there’s this urge to tell them they got this answer wrong but I know that if I do just that we won’t really know if they got something from our year of homeschool. My heart is in my throat as I tried to wait until now to check their results, I don’t want to expect too much but I was hoping that they at least learned something and that they would be at par with their levels (Khleomi an incoming Grade 1 and Reign an incoming Kindergarten 2 based on DepEd’s rules).

I promised them The Avengers in 3-D on the 25th if they passed their grade levels and I’m duty bound to fulfill that promise plus soooo much more. Below are their summary reports for DOMA and DORA. The results are based on the k-12 curriculum that is now going to be used by all incoming grade 1 and first years.

Again, I just want to say:

I’M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PROUD!

Diagnostic Online Math Assessment (DOMA) Basic Math Skills

Diagnostic Online Reading Assessment (DORA)

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Thank you K5 Learning

by tim on April 13, 2012

This month marks our 6th month with k5learning.com and I am so thankful for the day we got introduced to this online homeschool program. We’ve had our ups and downs with the program – my little girl stuck with it but had a couple of breakdowns with the program not giving her the grade she thinks she deserved but she’s the determined type and will redo the tests again and again to make sure she gets it right. My little guy on the other hand is fickle minded – he will do 1-2 lessons if he’s bored but if he likes the topic you can’t make him stop. And the games in between helps a lot, the dressing up game is a huge hit with my daughter.

Both kids love the math program and have a love-hate relationship with the reading program. We noticed a HUGE improvement in their math skills, both can do complex addition and subtraction problems and basic multiplication and division problems as well. My daughter has a natural aptitude for worded problems while my son is a visual learner. My daughter likes the reading part for as long as the story is not too complicated for her to understand. My son won’t do the reading program unless we sit with him, sometimes he’ll do it but will just click through the options until he gets the right one – he gets easily bored. LOL

I’m pretty sure that despite the love-hate relationship with the reading program that both got something out of it – both kids can read and spell quite well for their age.

Will I recommend K5 Learning to other independent homeschoolers? Will we continue with the program?

YES and YES.

Its a new program but being new does not take away from the effectiveness of the program. They’re more edu-centric than most online programs but they are still fun and engaging for the kids. I love the fact that we can monitor the kids’ progress without keeping an eye on them all the time. The site is easy to navigate and kids(5 and 6) never really had a hard time navigating it. In fact, they managed to learn the ins and outs on their very first day.

K5 Learning offers a free 14 day trial to those who want to try it out before they buy. Follow this link if you want to give it a try: K5Learning.com

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I wanna grow old with you…

by tim on March 2, 2012

A year from now (fingers crossed), we will finally have a party for ourselves. It all started 9 years ago at this exact time, 12:30am – March 3, 2003, when two friends tried an experiment. Its been 9 years and so far the experiment is still ongoing and will hopefully go on and on and on. And on the 10th year of the experiment we will finally give you the conclusion. A conclusion may mean an end to the experiment but it will also mean the start of another wonderful experiment – its been quite a ride, we’ve had our ups and downs but we are all the better because of it and everything I want to say is covered by the video below.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

by tim on February 14, 2012

A half hour to go before Valentine’s Day officially ends in my part of the world. I didn’t get flowers, but I got three big kisses from my hubby, a pirate and a princess… Was chocolatey-d and dined which did not end well (I’m not supposed to eat chocolates and I forgot my medicine). So was it a good one? Y-E-S. Was the stomach pain worth it? I enjoyed every single bite so a big YES. My Valentine’s day may not be perfect but it was all worth it, which in my book is what matters most. Happy Valentine’s Day!

So to end this day, check out the videos below.

One from Google:

One from Coke:

And an old one from me from 2011:

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Self Reflection #1

by tim on December 14, 2011

What would YOU do if you CANNOT FAIL; If there are absolutely NO LIMITATIONS in Money, Resources, Time or Networks?

I WOULD FREAK OUT. The insane part of my mind would go into hysterics and it would cook out a plan for world domination. The saner, more dominant (sometimes) part of my brain will check all avenues for success just so it will be absolutely sure that failure is no longer a factor. WHAT WOULD I DO? I’ll free myself from every single thing that stresses me out. I will bungee jump, I will sky dive, I WILL BE AN ASTRONAUT!

I… I… I…

It’s insane – how a single question could wreck my usually sane mind. If you are really true to your innermost desires you will also answer with “I… I… I…” and not think of anybody else, it’s the typical human psyche at work. Humans, I now concede to this fact, are basically SELFISH. There’s nothing wrong with it, you don’t have to be ashamed about it. It’s the enlightened ones who will go on to think of others after they’ve gone through the initial “I…I…I…” phase. As for me, I’m not yet through the “I” phase, it’s just too good to be true and I want to enjoy the things that are currently running in my mind. I might go into the enlightened phase or I might not it all depends on how everything is played through in my mind.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

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This makes me want to learn pole dancing

by tim on December 5, 2011

I’ve got nothing to say except W-O-W!!!

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K5 Learning – is it for us?

by tim on October 13, 2011

We have been homeschooling for about 5 months now and we have been through various online curriculum from ABCMouse.com to Time4Learning.com to ClickNKids.com and although they work some times, we are still on the lookout for an online math and reading core curriculum that can be used by both kids. My little boy works with ABCMouse but I find that he’s more and more distracted by the tickets and the room and does not actually spend enough time on his lessons, my girl however uses Time4Learning mostly and just occasionally uses ABCMouse because she finds the lessons too easy and boring and only use it for the tickets so that she can customize her character. Time4Learning works for both kids most of the time, but my boy who has mild ADHD can only use it 10minutes or less at a time and does not really concentrate on it especially on the lessons that require him to read. He does not like the quizzes because according to him it is boring. My girl however thrives on the structured environment.

Our ideal core curriculum would be something that will keep them entertained but not too entertained, something that is not just edutainment because they get that most of the time from Dora, Diego, Backyardigans, Leap Frog etc. It needs to have some form of structure that will adapt to each of my kid’s needs, must allow the kids to have some fun time in between lessons without deviating too much from the lesson at hand. Must allow them to work at their own pace and most of all must allow us to monitor their progress. And of course, price is always a factor.

I was introduced to this new online math and reading program from kindergarten through grade 5, it’s called K5 Learning (www.k5learning.com). It’s a very promising site and seems to fit quite well with the criteria I’ve outlined above. They also have a 14-day free trial – there’s no need to add a credit card which is always a big plus for me. What’s good about it is that it assesses the child first before giving them access to the actual lessons, this allows for customization of each lesson according to the needs of the child.

We just finished the reading and math assessment and both kids love it. Bear in mind though that for the Math assessment, kids will need to have knowledge of US currency. We are from the Philippines and although they are familiar with the currency, they don’t really know it well enough to answer correctly. But all in all, the assessments are really great, kids who are not readers yet (or those who just doesn’t want to read) will benefit from the fact that they can just roll over the speaker icon to hear the questions and choices. We will be starting the actual lessons tomorrow, but I’m very impressed with the Parent’s dashboard and the reporting features of the site, I can also assign Math and reading lessons to each child and also assign spelling words as well! I have high hopes for this program, if both kids decide to stay with it we just might have found a winner here. Will keep you guys updated after we fully test it out. Below are the actual assessment reports of both my kids:

Khleomi Helen – Grade 1

Khleomi's Reading Assessment

Khleomi's Math Assessment

Xanth Reign – Kindergarten

Xanth's Reading Assessment

Xanth's Math Assessment

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My journey so far

by tim on October 3, 2011

Tomorrow I turn 29. I’m trying to think real hard if I have achieved the things I dreamed of when I was just a little girl. And if I am the person I wanted to become back when I was innocent and a little naive. This is a journey down memory lane, random things that I can still remember from my youth…

When I was in kindergarten, I remember being mischievous and I do know that I was never shy. I always got the “Most Friendly” award, maybe because I try to befriend everyone regardless of who or what they are. I remember falling down from the big slide and when my teacher asked me what I want to be when I grow up, I remember saying I want to be an astronaut while all my other female classmates wanted to be nurses or teachers. I never learned how to read until the middle of my 2nd grade, words are meaningless and garbled images to me (I only learned later that there’s a name to what I have, Dyslexia) although, I’m quite adept at Math. I can multiply long before I can read. Thanks to my tutor, I think her name was Ms. Makiling or something… The main motivation for me to learn to read was because my older sister had her name on the honor’s list, she was always 1st honors while I got nothing. Mainly because I can’t read and I don’t pay attention, my GMRC was 76 – but I was really good at Math.

Anyways, I learned to read on my 2nd grade and had the 3rd honors at the end of the year. From 3rd grade up, I got the highest honors and graduated Valedictorian on my senior year. It was tiring, all those studying and keeping up so I decided to slack off when I got into college, more so because I wanted to read and write than actually study and get good grades in Electronics and Communications Engineering. I love Math but I found out that I love reading and writing more – go figure. I did graduate, but I never actually used my degree. I wanted to be an astronaut, remember?

I got pregnant with my little princess while reviewing for the board exam, I did not pass. The reason was not because I was pregnant and could not concentrate, I got high grades on the first two subjects but failed miserably on the 3rd. Failed because I do not know the dimensions of the signage if you want to sell cellphones, yeah, I blame the system. But me failing the board exam did not get me down, and no I never tried again because at the back of my mind I know that if I passed it and got the license that so many companies look at as “gold” I would be obliged to find a job that is suitable for the degree that I have and yes I’ll be miserable. My first official work was as a tech support for Dell, I don’t really hate it, I just thought its not really suitable for me. My second one was as a data encoder then after training an SEO analyst, and I then started ghost writing for SEO ebooks online and also writing thesis for foreign students. After research, I found that web designers and developers get higher pay and so I taught myself how to design and develop websites. It took me about a month to get my act together and when I felt really confident that I can do the job and whatever I still don’t know I can learn without any problem I started looking for clients. I’m a pretty quick study and am able to grasp concepts quite easily and I am confident – both my strength and my downfall.

That’s a quick rundown of what I have achieved so far, but the best one that I have is a loving husband and two very special kids. I wouldn’t trade them for anything, not for all the riches in the world nor all the success not even the possibility of me being an astronaut. So am I happy? Can I confidently say that I’m successful and that I have the life that I dreamed of when I was young? I may not have what I’ve dreamed of, but I am positive that I am very happy with what I have and who I have become – its more than I ever expected and I know for a fact that the future holds a lot more for me and my family.

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To My Little Big Guy

by tim on September 27, 2011

Five years ago, a gift arrived – an angel in disguise
Fine curls, a cute button nose, mischievous twinkling eyes
You instantly got everyone under your spell,
You’re just too cute, that I instantly fell…
hopelessly, incredibly in love.
The kisses, the hugs and even the tears
That I got all these five years
They’re all cherished memories that I will surely keep
Till the end of my days, till my eternal sleep
To have tons of years more with you is my deepest wish.
My little big guy, I love you so much
Even if you’re sometimes naughty, my heart you always touch
With that twinkling eyes, that mischievous smile,
I will always love you even if you drive me senile
Happy 5th Birthday my Baby Reign.