Homeschooling A Reluctant Learner

What a beautiful inspiring post from one of my favorite homeschool sites: Simple Homeschool! :-) This Sunday morning, I am led to reflect more on why we are homeschooling and what I am doing "wrong" which may be more harmful than helpful to Tim (and Rysse)! :-)

Thank You Lord for articles like these, which help bring me back to the right path! I am sharing it below for you all. :-) You may also find these activities helpful: http://webmama-blog.blogspot.com/2010/05/activities-for-relunctant-learners.html. God bless us and Mama Mary, please continue to pray for us!

Teaching a Reluctant Learner

by TONI on SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

in INSPIRATION

Ihave a child who hates school.

This is hard for me to admit because it feels like I failed. I failed my son, my family, and the homeschool community.

My Mother's Day Message For Our Kids

To Tim and Rysse,

Thank you for the greatest gift that God could ever give me - the gift of motherhood. By being your mother, I have learned so many things about God and myself. I have seen how wonderful it will be in heaven. Through your hugs, kisses, laughter and "I love you's" I have felt truly rich and loved.

I know I have failed you many, many times, even before you were born. There were times when I (and your Papa) put you through undue stress, and spanked you too many times. There were times when we said harsh words and hurt your feelings. There were times when we did not assure you that you are perfectly, unconditionally loved, and that you are more important than our work for the Lord, and other things that keep us busy. 

For all these times and more, I am truly sorry, as I'm sure your Papa is. I want you to know how infinitely blessed, loved and grateful we feel for being called to be your parents, unworthy and imperfect as we are.

This Mother's Day, I thank you for the best gift that I have ever received. I thank the Lord for you both (and your Papa too, of course, because you wouldn't be here if not for him too!) each and every day.

Please know that Mama loves you with all her heart. I will do my best to be the best Mama for you both, and your future siblings.

May God bless you both to be holy, healthy, happy and wealthy, so that you can love and serve others!

Love and prayers,

Mama

Copycats

This was taken from today's newsletter from Parenting By Design. :-) Thought it would be worth sharing, also posting this as a reminder to myself - children don't follow what we say, they follow what we do! Some things are easier caught than taught, like the value of faith, hard work, sacrifice, service and self-control. Hope I remember this today and every day!

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Rom. 2:21-22: ...You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? (NIV)

Have you ever held your child accountable for something you failed to do yourself? For instance, do you give your kids consequences for speeding, but continue to speed yourself? Do you come down hard on underage drinking, but set an example of someone who needs a glass of wine to unwind at the end of the day? Do you tell your child to "talk nicely" to others but vent your own anger or exasperation in less than godly ways?

Image taken from hawaiiparents.org

We will be much more influential in the lives of our children if we practice what we preach. Why? Because our kids know when we're being hypocritical! When we complain that they do not treat us with respect, we need to be willing to ask ourselves if our actions and attitudes are worthy of their respect.

Do you want your kids to copy your behavior?

Confessions of an Imperfect Parent

Since it is still the season of Lent, which is known to be a time for going to confession and changing one’s sinful ways and bad habits, I thought it would be apt to make my own confession of sorts here. It would be my way of seeking “absolution” for everything that I have done wrong lately.

At my blogs (Truly Rich Mom and Teachermama Tina), I try to be positive and upbeat in most of my posts, though there are times when I can’t help it but be honest about my feelings of sadness and disappointment. This is one of those blog posts where I am going to be honest.

I have been struggling a lot these first weeks of Lent with questions about our parenting style. Honestly, I have no right to claim being a “perfect” parent to our kids, especially to our eldest, our strong-willed little boy. In fact, I am far, far, far from being the mom (and wife! Haha!) that I want to be. People who read my blogs and Facebook updates may think otherwise, but I am coming clean here. I AM TOTALLY NOT PERFECT.

In fact, I am ashamed to say that there are times when I can be a downright nasty, mean, people-should-report-me-to-child-protection-agencies mom. There are days when I end up losing my patience, snapping at the kids, and being physically harsh. Honestly speaking, I am NOT a fan of corporal punishment and believe that discipline is about teaching more than punishing. However, there have been many occasions when I have failed to “practice what I preach.”

There are times when I end up feeling like I am a Tiger Mom in the worst sense, and can only pray that my kids will not end up broken and bitter like the many young people I have encountered, especially during my time as a missionary to the youth. I don’t want my kids growing up thinking that I don’t love them or am always angry at them.

What I hope and pray and wish for is that our kids will grow up to be God-fearing, secure, confident and emotionally stable individuals, no matter how imperfect I am as a mom (and Hubby is as a dad). I want them to know that our decision to have them in Timor Leste on mission was born out of our desire to witness to God’s love and faithfulness, and that our decision to finally settle in Manila was born out of our desire to share God’s message of hope, forgiveness, peace and love in our own homeland.

Our family in Timorese attire during our CFC Timor Leste community’s farewell party for us

To continue reading this post, please go to my article on Philstar.com's Unblogged section by clicking here. :-) God bless all parents everywhere! :-)

What Our Four Year Old Should Know

It is the time of year for school graduations and I find myself looking at Facebook pictures of my friends' kids during their graduation and moving-up ceremonies. Some of them have finished preschool, and even gotten awards for reading, math and the like. It is times like these that I can't help but think - am I "depriving" Tim of learning and reaching his potential by homeschooling him? Are we teaching him "enough"? What should he, at 4 years 5 months, know? I begin doubting my ability to teach him, especially since we have been in a lot of power struggles lately. I start questioning the Lord "Is homeschooling really part of Your call for us?"

At times like these, I find relief in the article below from Magical Childhood and am grateful for the people who have written them. It feels like God is assuring me somehow. Here is the article below:

What should a 4 year old know?

I was on a parenting bulletin board recently and read a post by a mother who was worried that her 4 1/2 year old did not know enough. "What should a 4 year old know?" she asked.

Most of the answers left me not only saddened but pretty soundly annoyed. One mom posted a laundry list of all of the things her son knew. Counting to 100, planets, how to write his first and last name, and on and on. Others chimed in with how much more their children already knew, some who were only 3. A few posted URL's to lists of what each age should know. The fewest yet said that each child develops at his own pace and not to worry.

It bothered me greatly to see these mothers responding to a worried mom by adding to her concern, with lists of all the things their children could do that hers couldn't. We are such a competitive culture that even our preschoolers have become trophies and bragging rights. Childhood shouldn't be a race.

So here, I offer my list of what a 4 year old should know.

1. She should know that she is loved wholly and unconditionally, all of the time.
2. He should know that he is safe and he should know how to keep himself safe in public, with others, and in varied situations. He should know that he can trust his instincts about people and that he never has to do something that doesn't feel right, no matter who is asking. He should know his personal rights and that his family will back them up.
3. She should know how to laugh, act silly, be goofy and use her imagination. She should know that it is always okay to paint the sky orange and give cats 6 legs.
4. He should know his own interests and be encouraged to follow them. If he could care less about learning his numbers, his parents should realize he'll learn them accidentally soon enough and let him immerse himself instead in rocket ships, drawing, dinosaurs or playing in the mud.
5. She should know that the world is magical and that so is she. She should know that she's wonderful, brilliant, creative, compassionate and marvelous. She should know that it's just as worthy to spend the day outside making daisy chains, mud pies and fairy houses as it is to practice phonics. Scratch that-- way more worthy.

But more important, here's what parents need to know.

1. That every child learns to walk, talk, read and do algebra at his own pace and that it will have no bearing on how well he walks, talks, reads or does algebra.
2. That the single biggest predictor of high academic achievement and high ACT scores is reading to children. Not flash cards, not workbooks, not fancy preschools, not blinking toys or computers, but mom or dad taking the time every day or night (or both!) to sit and read them wonderful books.
3. That being the smartest or most accomplished kid in class has never had any bearing on being the happiest. We are so caught up in trying to give our children "advantages" that we're giving them lives as multi-tasked and stressful as ours. One of the biggest advantages we can give our children is a simple, carefree childhood.
4. That our children deserve to be surrounded by books, nature, art supplies and the freedom to explore them. Most of us could get rid of 90% of our children's toys and they wouldn't be missed, but some things are important-- building toys like legos and blocks, creative toys like all types of art materials (good stuff), musical instruments (real ones and multicultural ones), dress up clothes and books, books, books. (Incidentally, much of this can be picked up quite cheaply at thrift shops.) They need to have the freedom to explore with these things too-- to play with scoops of dried beans in the high chair (supervised, of course), to knead bread and make messes, to use paint and play dough and glitter at the kitchen table while we make supper even though it gets everywhere, to have a spot in the yard where it's absolutely fine to dig up all the grass and make a mud pit.
5. That our children need more of us. We have become so good at saying that we need to take care of ourselves that some of us have used it as an excuse to have the rest of the world take care of our kids. Yes, we all need undisturbed baths, time with friends, sanity breaks and an occasional life outside of parenthood. But we live in a time when parenting magazines recommend trying to commit to 10 minutes a day with each child and scheduling one Saturday a month as family day. That's not okay! Our children don't need Nintendos, computers, after school activities, ballet lessons, play groups and soccer practice nearly as much as they need US.
   
   They need fathers who sit and listen to their days, mothers who join in and make crafts with them, parents who take the time to read them stories and act like idiots with them. They need us to take walks with them and not mind the .1 MPH pace of a toddler on a spring night. They deserve to help us make supper even though it takes twice as long and makes it twice as much work. They deserve to know that they're a priority for us and that we truly love to be with them.

And now back to those 4 year old skills lists.....

I know it's human nature to want to know how our children compare to others and to want to make sure we're doing all we can for them. Here is a list of what children are typically taught or should know by the end of each year of school, starting with preschool:
http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum
Since we homeschool, I occasionally print out the lists and check to see if there's anything glaringly absent in what my kids know. So far there hasn't been, but I get ideas sometimes for subjects to think up games about or books to check out from the library. Whether you homeschool or not, the lists can be useful to see what kids typically learn each year and can be reassuring that they really are doing fine.

If there are areas where it seems your child is lacking, realize that it's not an indication of failure for either you or your child. You just haven't happened to cover that. Kids will learn whatever they're exposed to, and the idea that they all need to know these 15 things at this precise age is rather silly. Still, if you want him to have those subjects covered then just work it into life and play with the subject and he'll naturally pick it up. Count to 60 when you're mixing a cake and he'll pick up his numbers. Get fun books from the library about space or the alphabet. Experiment with everything from backyard snow to celery stalks in food coloring. It'll all happen naturally, with much more fun and much less pressure.

My favorite advice about preschoolers is on this site though:
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/early.htm

What does a 4 year old need?

Much less than we realize, and much more.

Tim has a lifetime ahead to do his "formal education." What we need to do is focus on teaching Him to love God above everything else, and everything else will follow. I guess God also wants to remind us about our roles as parents, as laid out in my post on my other blog. I find comfort in knowing that we are doing our best to make sure that our children learn the four most important things they need to know before going to college (which is years and years away!) Also, it's probably a good time to go back to Susan Lemon's 4Rs of Homepreschooling again - just to check our own homeschooling journey! Thank You Lord for the loving reminder today! :-)

P.S. It helps too that I got to read this article about what four year olds should be able to do educationally. Seems like we are on track so far! :-) Praise GOD!

And to you our dearest Kuya Tim, one day you will be able to read this. We just want you to know how much we love and cherish you and your sister, Rysse. We are not perfect parents and we have failed you and hurt you in too many ways, despite your young and fragile age. We only hope and pray to God that His grace will fill in all the gaps in our parenting you, and that His love and forgiveness will prevail over any hurt feelings and trauma we may have caused you, intentionally and unintentionally. Always remember what we try to tell you every single day: 
You are God's special chosen son, and Rysse is God's special chosen daughter - our greatest gifts and blessings from the Lord! We love you and are proud of you no matter what.


Love,
Papa and Mama

You are a prince because your Father is King! :-)

We are blessed and privileged to have you both with us when we are called to serve! May you grow up to have missionary hearts - a man and woman after God's own heart! :-)

We love how you love each other :-) 

May Jesus, Mama Mary and all the Saints accompany us in our journey towards our True Home!

May you always be a blessing and joy to your grandparents and elders! :-)

May you always find joy in the simple things in life! :-)

On being kind

This is a picture that I saw on Alex Blackwell's blog. 

Photo from www.thebridgemaker.com

It is a timely reminder for me as a self-professed Teacher Mama who has not been kind many, many, many times - especially to my strong-willed little boy Timothy, with whom I have been engaging in many power struggles lately. At this moment, I feel like I am the worst mom (I am making a public confession here). I have not only been unkind - I have been downright mean. I have been overly physical when it comes to disciplining (or trying to discipline) Tim. I have said things that I should have not. I have done things I only regret. 

Today's first reading (Genesis 3:1-8) talks about how Satan deceived Adam and Eve, opening up the human race to sin and all its deadly effects. In the words of the writer in the Companion by Shepherd's Voice Publications:

"Now the horror story begins! We have read the story of Creation; we now read of its near destruction through the choice of humanity to allow sin to enter into the world. This decision is couched in terms of pride and arrogance – a refusal to admit that we are to submit our lives to God’s will and an insistence upon controlling, or at least attempting to control, our own destiny. Sin will affect every aspect of our existence."

I feel so much like a sinner today. And very much an unworthy mother to my children. But I am encouraged by today's psalm (Psalm 32: 5-7). 

Then I acknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not. I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,” and you took away the guilt of my sin. For this shall every faithful man pray to you in time of stress. Though deep waters overflow, they shall not reach him. You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me; with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round. 

So this serves as my confession of sorts, but of course I will go to a priest to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation soon.

I also pray that like the deaf-mute man in today's Gospel (Mark 7:31-37), Jesus will say to me "Ephphata!" So that all that is closed to goodness in me will be opened; so that my life will be open to more of His grace, healing, forgiveness and kindness. 

Do pray for me, please. And pray with me and my hubby for our kids, especially Tim, that they will grow to know, love and serve the Lord, despite the unkindness that they experience.

For it is true that in the end, only kindness matters. But more importantly, it is the kindness that springs forth from God's love and mercy that prevails.

Lessons from 2010 and Resolutions for 2011

It is 2011 already! 7 days into the New Year (it's our anniversary today! Woohoo!), I want to share the lessons we learned from 2010, and our homeschooling resolutions for 2011. I want to be more "accountable" and have positive pressure from you, my dear readers. :) So feel free to comment below, and share your own lessons learned and resolutions too! :)

Lessons Learned From 2010

1. Homeschooling is NOT easy. But we believe that it is God's calling for our family. And when God calls, He also supplies. His grace is sufficient for us. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

2. There is nothing wrong with unschooling. Especially when your child is only turning 4 years old. Kids will have to deal with so much when they get older, and they deserve all the time to play, laugh, sing, dance, be read aloud to, discover, explore, etc, etc while they are still young.

3. Support of family, friends and other homeschoolers is essential for every homeschooling family. I am grateful to many who have been sources of encouragement, information and guidance especially since we arrived in the Philippines. Special mention goes to Teacher Mamas Josette, Michelle, Blessie, Monica, Jennie, Martine and Chame. I thank God for you! And my parents who are totally supportive of our homeschooling/unschooling!

4. It is okay to shift from one homeschool provider to another, or to have different resources from different providers, or to have no provider at all and just get your resources from the internet. What is important is what works for your child, and that everything is wrapped up in prayer and planned for well. (Must remind myself about this once we decide on which homeschool program/curriculum to use!)

5. Do not underestimate your children. Hubby and I have not been formally homeschooling our preschooler, but he learned to write his name (TIM) without our directly teaching him to do so, amongst many other things. A lot of times, people ask what school he goes to, and he proudly answers "homeschool!" 

6. The 4Rs of homepreschooling, as described by Susan Lemons, is a great way to assess one's "progress." Focusing on relationships, routine, readiness and reading aloud to (our kids) are one of the best ways to homeschool your preschooler.

And now for our Resolutions for 2011, which boil down mostly to three:

1. We will be more active in discerning for what homeschool program/curriculum to use for Timothy (and Therese). We will do more research, ask more homeschooling parents for inputs, attend more orientations and be MORE OPEN to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

2. We will offer all our homeschooling plans to the Lord through Mama Mary's (and our patron saints') intercession. We will continue to enforce the 4Rs and remove all the negative attitudes and bad habits to make way for God's will to be more clear and homeschooling to be more efficient! (Away from me, procrastination and poor planning skills, in Jesus' name be gone! ;-)

3. We will be Catholic in all we do - not just in our homeschooling, but in EVERY thing. We will strive to be the best Catholics that we can be, and champion the cause of homeschooling among more Catholics and Christians, especially those in our circle of influence. Of course, we will be open to the inputs of our Christian brothers and sisters, especially those who are homeschoolers themselves.

Pray for us please as we continue in our homeschooling journey. We offer up prayers as well for all families out there who wish and hope for a better 2011! May God bless us to live our lives with purpose and passion! :) Happy New Year everyone!

What is YOUR gift for JESUS?

It's CHRISTmas morning here in the Philippines! Hurray!

I can't sleep as I am still stuffed from our Noche Buena here at my in-laws' house. Hubby and the kids are fast asleep already so I thought I'd share a touching Christmas moment we had earlier.

After our bedtime prayers with Tim and Rysse (though she was asleep already beside us, hehe), we asked one another, especially Tim, what gift we had for Baby Jesus' birthday.

Papa: What is your gift for Jesus, Kuya Tim?


Tim: What's our gift po Mama?


Mama: Let's give Jesus our hearts.


Tim: No, no, Mama. We shouldn't give Jesus our hearts. 


(Pause. I expect him to say something silly. What he says takes us by surprise...)


Tim: Our gift to Jesus is us - me, Papa, you and Baba G (pointing to his sleeping baby sister.)


(Mama and Papa hug Tim and tell him how right his answer is.)


What a timely reminder from one of God's little angels!

That CHRISTmas is not just about the gifts we give to each other or receive from others, but about what we can and should give to CHRIST. After all, He is the Reason for this season! :)

How about YOU? What is your gift to Jesus? :)

Let's take our cue from Santa and pay homage to the King of Kings, not just this CHRISTmas but always.

A HAPPY AND HOLY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! :)

Lessons From Our Timorese Family

Earlier (or should I say yesterday) our community had a despedida (farewell) party in honor of our missionary family. It was supposed to be a surprise but we already knew about it since hubby was the one who suggested it to our co-missionary, Karen, in the first place. Of course, we didn't let on that we knew so as not to spoil it for the others, who came prepared with food galore and well-wishes and farewell gifts.

Needless to say, it was an afternoon that left me with swollen eyes and an overflowing heart. I couldn't help but let the tears flow when our brothers and sisters started saying their messages, especially our young mission volunteers and fulltime workers. They are the FUTURE of the community here, and in effect contribute to the future of the Church as well.

It was especially tear-jerking because most of the farewell messages were meant not just for hubby and I, but especially for our two children, who were both born here on mission in Timor Leste. Our community members here call them "their children," "their younger brother and sister" and yesterday's despedida was a testimony to God's amazing love, that unites us all as one family, no matter what race, color, language or nationality. What a beautiful lesson for us all.

 We were also dressed up in traditional Timorese "tais", beautifully hand-woven with love by our lovely CFC women from Ermera. Even the kids had their own "tais".

 

 

I was crying so much when they started putting on the "tais." And also when they were giving their gifts for the kids. Our Timorese brethren here are much less fortunate than our own families back home, yet I could see the richness of their hearts as they bestowed their gifts and well-wishes upon our family. It taught me to be ever more grateful for what God has blessed us with, and firmed up my resolve to teach our kids to live lives that are pleasing to the Lord in the service of others.

Another lesson learned (or rather re-learned) is that being in community, one has the blessing of a positive, faith-filled support environment. And not just for yourself, but for your kids as well! What greater way for your child to develop his socialization skills than exposing him to community activities. Hubby and I were amazed just now because Tim was happily playing with his Timorese friends, despite him speaking only English and them speaking Tetun. Indeed, the language of play and laughter knows no boundaries!


But probably the most important lesson learned here was this: One should never limit the ways and means that our great God has to show us and affirm us that He alone has the BEST plans for us, He alone knows what we need and desire, and above all things, HE ALONE IS ENOUGH! Maromak deit to'o ona mai ami! God is enough for us! Obrigadu barak ba ami nia familia tomak iha Timor Leste! Thank you so much to our family in Timor Leste! We love you and will miss you dearly!

Here are more pics from our despedida. :) After all the well-wishes and giving of gifts, we were asked to give our own messages, and then were prayed over by the entire community. A cake-cutting and wine-pouring ceremony preceded the fellowship, the food was brought ala "potluck" by CFC from the different parishes. We were so blessed to have Fr. Alan and Fr. Ferdie, two very Charismatic and supportive priests with us all throughout the day (they had been there since the morning for the Vocations Forum and Closing Mass of the Singles for Christ conference).

Ba ami nia maun-alin doben sira iha Timor Leste - Ami nia mensajem ba ita boot sira husi Saun Paulo nia surat ba Sarani sira iha Efeso 5:29-30:  
²⁹Ema ida la hirus nia isin lolon, maibe nia fo han no tau matan ba nia nudar Kristu tau matan ba Kreda. ³⁰Ita hotu Kristu nia isin lolon nia liman ain. ³¹ 
 No moos: 
 ¹⁹Koalia ba malu ho liafuan salmu nian, ho knananuk no dadolin santu nian, hodi hananu knananuk no salmu ba Na’i, hodi hahi Nia iha imi nia laran. ²⁰Iha Na’i Jesus Kristu nia naran, fo agradese ba Aman Maromak tamba buat hotu. ²¹Haraik an ba malu ba tamba imi hamtauk Kristu. (Efeso 5: 19-21)

Things My Homepreschooler Has Taught Me

During a recent trip to the mountains of Baucau (which you can read about here), I discovered a few things that I usually take for granted, and was pleasantly reminded about them by my 3 and a half precious, more than a handsful, moody yet adorable little boy.

1. Always see the fun in the seemingly dull, boring, down moments of life.

We had arrived at Laga Parish and were waiting for our hosts to tell us where to put our bags etc (we ended up waiting for over an hour! Woohoo!). At first, Tim was grouchy and insisted that he didn't want to stay there, etc etc. But a few minutes later, he saw the open area inside the compound and the Uma Tradisional (Traditional House) and declared to us "I like it here! Yey!" and proceeded to run around, play and laugh to his heart's content.

Reminder for me: SEEK OUT THE FUN IN ALL SITUATIONS. Be like a little kid and laugh and play to your heart's content even when you're exhausted or down. It can do wonders for your soul.

2. Don't complain. ADAPT. God will see you through every situation.

It always amazes me how resilient children can be. Many times I underestimate how Kuya Tim will adapt to certain situations, especially when we're on mission trips. God's grace really shines through him when he feels at home in strange places, and while we adults are moaning and groaning over the heat and tiring roadtrip, he has no complaints whatsoever. He can even sleep soundly in the stifling heat.

Reminder for me: I HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN. I am truly rich, greatly blessed, deeply loved. Despite what I may think, there are many others less fortunate than me, yet are happy and content with their lives. Praise God at all times and in all things!

3. Every day gives us opportunities to LEARN. The best lessons are those learned from LIVING.

During the road trips of our mission, we would sing songs, ask and answer questions, play games, pray. We'd have pit-stops to stretch our legs and take pictures. These simple but meaningful activities are learning opportunities for everyone, not just the kids. Though Tim had the most fun of all!

Reminder for me: NOT ALL LESSONS ARE LEARNED FROM A TEXTBOOK OR CURRICULUM. Let your homepreschooler learn through play. It's the most effective and fun way!

4. PRAY at ALL times. LIVE out your FAITH.

Whenever the road would get too bumpy and we'd all be bouncing up and down in the pick-up truck, Tim would make the sign of the Cross and say "Please God, don't make the road bumpy. Amen." Whenever we would pass by a Church (or what Tim would perceive to be a Church/Chapel) he'd make the sign of the Cross and remind us to the same.

Reminder for me: PRAYER IS ESSENTIAL. It keeps us rooted in LOVE.

Don't get me wrong, though. There were of course times when Tim had his tantrums and meltdowns and stubborn, difficult moments. But praise God as always for our homepreschooler, who despite all his faults (which are miniscule compared to his parents'!!!), is really a little angel sent from above!

We love you Kuya Tim!

Tips for YOU, the homepreschooling Mama, when you're on the go with your child:

1. Try to insert fun facts (about anything you can think of!) during your conversations on the road. You can point out things or objects that you pass by and talk about them.

For example: trees (that they are living things, they need sunlight and water to grow, etc), paddy fields (that's where rice comes from), animals (make a game out of it and ask your kid to name each animal and their young).

2. Make sure that you've packed enough snacks and drinks to keep your child satisfied and hydrated. Especially when you're in hot, hot places like Timor Leste (or the Philippines!) or elsewhere.

3. Let your homepreschooler choose two to three each of his/her favorite books and toys for the trip. Explain to him/her that he/she should not look for a book or toy that you've left behind at home. Letting your child choose gives him/her a sense of power and independence and helps boost his/her self-esteem. Don't forget to bring along a notebook and his/her crayons too!

4. Explain to your kid(s) beforehand where you'll be going and why. Although this is often met with protests and pleas to stay home, at least you'll be giving them the benefit of knowledge and will be preparing them to adapt to the new place/s you'll be going to.

5. Try to know beforehand where you'll be staying and what facilities are lacking (e.g. no running water, as in our case in Laga), what kind of food is usually served, etc etc. If your child is the picky eater type, bring along some food or snacks that are familiar to him/her.

6. Try to make every place where you stay "home" for your kid. If needed, bring along his security blanket or lovey or whatever else is familiar to him/her.

7. ARMED WITH YOUR FAITH, HAVE FUN and let him/her LEARN THROUGH PLAY at every place you go to!