Best Graduation Gift Ideas

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My son's grade school graduation is this coming Monday and I am still searching for the best graduation gift ideas because I want the best for my son. His dad already gave him an HP laptop so I have to cross that off my list.

Although RJ already has an acoustic guitar, he has been hinting on a new electric guitar. I'm not so sure about this because I then have to buy an adx51, which isn't advisable since we live in a condominium building as I've said in my earlier post.

Amazon has a great selection of gift ideas. I have been browsing the site and there are a lot of graduation gift ideas which my son would surely love. Maybe you'll find gift ideas on amazon that your kids would love too.

Best Kids Drum Set

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My son has been dreaming of having his own electronic drum set since he was in preschool. But we live in a condominium building, so buying his musical instrument of choice at that time was not that good of an idea. I bought a guitar for him instead and enrolled him in guitar lessons.

Now that he's in his tweens, it's time that we consider allowing him to have a drum set. He's more mature and considerate with other people's feelings so I'm sure he won't play during unlikely hours of the night or play very loud during daytime.

So far, here is the best drum for kids set that I've found online.

 

It's a 5-Piece Junior Drum Set with cymbals stands ticks hardware and stool. There are other drum sets available, so if this is not what you're looking for, just click the picture above for more options.

Earphones or Headphones?

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Whether my son is using his Kindle Fire, my netbook or iPod, he still likes to use earphones or headphones, instead of just turning on the device's build-in speaker. I am worried that he's abusing his ears by turning on the headphone's sound full blast.

I should buy a Pro-Ject Pro Audio speaker or an earphones /headphones that wouldn't destroy his eardrums even with the sound on full blast. It will all boil down to my son to be responsible in adjusting the volume that's not too loud for his ears.

Positive Parenting Style: Dolphin Parenting

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It takes a village to raise a child. ~African Proverb

Raising a child is not an easy task. I only have one and it has not been an easy journey for us. I am a semi-tiger mom which I also combine with other positive parenting style to balance the tiger's strictness with something that's laid back.

I read an article about this new parenting style called Dolphin Parenting. Shawn Achor, a Harvard-trained psychologist who teaches at Wharton Business School and author of The Happiness Advantage and Before Happiness, said that parents should try out dolphin parenting. So why is it supposedly the parenting style that everyone should follow instead of Tiger or Helicopter Parenting?

Dolphin Parents are those who raise playful, sociable and smart kids because they're flexible, playful and kind parents.

I will stick though with my own parenting style, a combination of all the parenting styles mentioned above. My son needs the strictness that only a tiger mom can give, the playfulness of the dolphin mom and the "hovering" of the helicopter mama.

Time print postcards while my son is asleep. Good night!

Philippine Science High School Entrance Exam

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The Philippine Science High School (PSHS) is now accepting applications for its National Competitive Examination (NCE). PSHS is a public high school that offers scholarships to Filipino students who are gifted in the sciences and mathematics. According to Wikipedia, graduates of the PSHS are bound by law to major in the pure and applied sciences, mathematics, or engineering upon entering college. 

If you're good in tinkering with how stuff works, like the tv or maybe bar knobs, maybe you would like to become a PSHS scholar. 

You can send in you're application, not later than August 12, at any DOST regional or field office or at the PSHS Main Campus, Agham Road, Diliman Quezon City, if you: 

• are a Grade 6 pupil; 
• belong to the TOP 10% of the batch for SY 2012-2013 with no grade below 80% OR; do not belong to the TOP 10% but have a final grade of at least 85% in Science and Math and 80% in all other subjects; 
• are a Filipino citizen with no pending application as immigrant to any foreign country; 
• were born on or after June 1, 1999; 
• are in good health; 
• are of good conduct and behavior; 
• have not taken the NCE previously

For a more detailed instruction on the application process, vist the PSHS NCE page. You may also call (02) 924-0614.

Summer Break Activities

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My son’s summer break this year is so laid-back. Yes, he just laid, on his back, on the bed for the most part of his summer break. He wanted to go to the beach but the summer heat is just so – well, HOT! And the humidity is not tolerable. Going out under the heat of the sun Ra (bear with me, I’m in the middle of finishing up The Kane Chronicles book) is just not my thing.

He didn’t want to play with the guitar anymore, such a waste of money because we just bought him his third guitar. But he did enroll in basketball camp, learned how to code in javascript and practice his drawing/ sketching skills. So it’s not that an unproductive summer after all.

Drawing Lessons for Kids

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My son has lots of talents. And drawing is one of them. But sadly, he doesn’t want to acknowledge his talents because he’s more interested with Minecraft and everything related to it - searching for Minecraft mods, whatever that is, watching YouTube Minecraft videos.

He drew this wonderful Jack Sparrow portrait two years ago. As his mom, I will not allow him to waste his God-given talents.

I have tricks up my sleeve to make him practice sketching and drawing, as well as all other talents that I think he has, even for just a few minutes each day.

This summer vacation, I bought these how-to books on drawing, sketching and shading. I let him practice a few minutes a day, sometimes as simple as how to sketch and shade household items, and he’s doing a good job.

Here’s his latest:

He’s 11 years old, turning 12 this June, and he has an amazing talent. I’m so proud of him.

National Achievement Test 2013

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The National Achievement Test (NAT), which is an annually administered nationwide test, by the Department of Education (DepEd), will be given to select levels of elementary and high school students of public and private schools, with permit to operate from DepEd, this March.

The NAT test is given to gauge the academic performance in key subjects of elementary and secondary students in both public and private schools.

"Our goal here is to update information and resolve issues and concerns in the conduct of tests,” said Secretary of Education Armin A. Luistro in a press release.

The NAT for fourth year students of public and private schools is scheduled on March 6, 2013, March 12 for Grade 3 pupils of public and Madrasah schools and March 13 for Grade IV pupils of public and private schools.

Programming for Kids

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Finally, I was able to find a way to steer my son away from his video games. Although it's just for a short period of time each day, some days not, but still it's a few hours. Okay, sometimes just for a few minutes but I'm confident he'll like it more in the next few weeks.

Computer programming. Coding for kids.

Yes, he's learning how to code. Not Java but simple codes that even a preschooler will enjoy doing.

Out of the many online and downloadable programming tools that teaches coding for kids, here's two that worked for him:

Codecademy.com - a web-based programming platform with basic to advanced programming tutorials. The platform is very interactive.

Kodu - is a visual, drag and drop, programming language for creating games made by Microsoft.

I just found out about codecademy's codeyear, a perfect project for RJ's summer break. I'll sign up too! I might have an e-commerce site up and running before the end of summer vacation! Wish us luck!

National Bible Week 2013

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Unlike our usual 1030AM mass in a mall in Makati, the family attended the 830AM mass today at St. Joseph the Worker Parish.

The priest announced during his homily that 20 lucky people will each get a free Bible because today culminates the week-long celebration of National Bible Week 2013. The theme for this year's celebration is "Proclaim the Word, Profess the Faith" with Psalm 119:105 and 2 Timothy 2:4a as reference verses.

After church, churchgoers lined up to get a piece of paper from a can. If "congratulations" is written on the paper, a Bible is given to that person. No one in our family though was lucky enough to get one. Probably it's God's way of telling us that we already have a Bible so he's giving it to those who doesn't have one yet.

Grom Social, Social Networking for Kids

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I was watching the early morning news a few weeks back, after dropping off RJ in school, while finishing off some blogging tasks and a report caught my attention. The report was about a social networking website for the youth. It's called Grom Social.

Here's an excerpt from their Grom Social Story page, "I am 11 years old, and one of six children. My brothers, sisters, close friends, and I created a social networking site for young kids and teens. It's a place to chat, make new friends, learn interesting things, and play games. I started Grom Social in November of 2011. It has been hard work."

RJ hasn't tried the site yet so I'm not sure if they allow all kinds of advertisements like they do on Facebook. Kid-friendly ads is ok but some ads from other social networking sites are not really too kid-friendly.

Have you or any of your kids joined this social networking site already? What do you think of it?

Earning a living on the streets of Manila

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During a red traffic light on our way home from the family house in Makati, I saw a few girls who are about RJ's age dancing in front of stopped cars. I guess the knocking on car windows to beg for money doesn't work that much anymore? Or maybe they've thought of this new trick for them to be different from all other beggars on the street.

It was a bit dark already. I wonder if the parents know these girls are still on the street, dancing in front of cars to earn a few coins?! I'm sure they won't earn that much, not even enough to buy cheap things from an 88 pesos store (philippine version of a dollar store).

Does DSWD know about this? Since it was night time already, car headlights were already on. The young girls can be seen by everyone because the headlights serve like a spotlight. These girls will get in trouble if they encounter bad people. I hope someone can put a stop to this.

What To Do With Old Baby Stuffs

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Because babies grow up real fast, you must be running out of room in the house for all those baby stuffs (like clothes, toys, small bottles, small pillows) that your baby has outgrown and can't use anymore. Here are some suggestions on what you can do with those baby stuffs.

Keep Them - If you're still planning to have another baby, then the most reasonable thing to do is to keep those old baby stuff. This will help you save money on buying new clothes, toys and other baby things once the new baby arrives.

Donate - There are a number of charitable institution who takes care of abandoned babies and children. Your child's old baby stuffs will be put to good use in these institutions. There are websites who connects people who wants to give out baby things to those people who need these baby things. Just google search "free baby stuff" and you'll find a number of website who does this.

Sell - Because you need to buy new things for your baby, whose growing up so fast, you might want to consider selling your baby's old stuffs. There are a lot of people online and offline who would gladly buy those almost-new clothes, toys and other things from you.

Excited Kids in a Sports Tournament

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These kids can barely contain their excitement. They're waiting for the soccer tournament to begin. But they've been here since 730am, 2.5 hours before the tournament actually starts. I wonder how long their energy will last.

I understand being early in a swim meet. The coach still needs to write the event and heat number on each of the team members' arm. And each member competes in different events so the coach needs ample time before the competition actually starts to finish writing on all the team member's arms.

But with soccer, the coach doesn't have to require these kids to come very early. Unless it's the parents who are very excited and insists on being at the event site real early. Or the coach is very strict he even has an attendance software like this employee handbook software I saw online.

Well, good-luck to these players. Make your parents proud and happy!

The Right Time to Tell Your Child About Santa

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When is the right time to tell a child the truth about Santa Claus? Santa, the most favorite person of any child I know, especially during Christmas. Santa, who makes kids excited to wake up early once a year, during Christmas day.

My son is 11 years old and I think this year is the right time to have that "Santa talk". I'm pretty sure he knows the "truth" already. But he's trying to act like he doesn't know because he still wants a separate gift from "Santa" and from mom and dad.

Whatever gift he likes, whether new lego blocks, it won't change the fact that I'll give him some "hints" about the truth about Santa this year. He has to know this year because everyone else in his class probably know already.

Fact: Playing Sports Can Make You Stronger

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It's a proven fact that playing sports can make a person strong and healthy. My son's asthma attacks were at its worse when he was between 1 to 2 years old. But when he started visiting a Pediatrician Allergologist doctor and engaged in different sports activities, his attacks slowly lessened in frequency.

The sports that he has tried throughout the years: soccer, basketball, biking, swimming, running, volleyball and arnis.

The most intense training he has experienced is in swimming. He was a member of his school's swim team for a few years but had to stop because the school service doesn't want to make a special trip for him, which reminds me that I really need to have the courage to drive in Manila already. His team trains for 2hours everyday after school. He has experienced training under very heavy rain, when us in the bleachers can't see them in the pool anymore. Their pool doesn't have a heater, no pool heat pumps, but I don't worry about that because their body heat is enough to make the kids not feel cold.

This month, he went back to playing soccer. And swimming after school, before going to his Chinese tutor, in our condo's pool.

He hasn't had an asthma attack this year. And I'm very sure that playing sports has helped his respiratory health, and of course his overall health, a lot.

Pregnant Barbie Dolls

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I thought the newscaster was joking, but when I saw the video of a pregnant Barbie beside Ken, I was like "what?!"

Someone needs a neurosurgeon visit. The people who approved the creation and distribution of these Barbie dolls sure doesn't have their brains in the right place.

Good thing they got pulled out of store shelves. The Barbies and not the people behind it. And I hope no parent would ever buy this ridiculous toy.

Gift Suggestion for Christmas: Wii U

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My son will probably want a Wii U for Christmas, if he finds out that it's already out. But I will wait for the reviews first before I decide to buy him one. And that's if he ask for one.

There are 500,000 people on Wii U's waitlist and advance orders are already sold out. So even if my son wants a Wii U for Christmas, he'll probably wait for a few more months to get to play one.

I wonder what gifts he'll ask this year, I'm sure he doesn't want home brew kits. Fingers-crossed I won't have a hard time finding those gift for him.

Today’s Google Doodle: Bram Stoker’s 165th Birthday

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November 8 is the birthday of Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, and he’s featured on Google Doodle today. Hovering on the link shows the phrase “Bram Stoker’s 165th Birthday”. Clicking on the doodle will lead to a search results page on Bram Stoker query, often misspelled as Bram Stroker with the R after the T on his surname.

 

 

According to Wikipedia:

 

Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which Irving owned.

 

Happy Birthday Bram Stoker!

What is Facebook Parenting

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I was searching for trending topics online and saw “Facebook Parenting” trending at the start of 2012. Although its not popular this last quarter of the year, I still got curious what "facebook parenting" is. Weirder than “fun fun fun” trending, really.

 

Apparently, it’s a video entitled "Facebook Parenting: For the troubled teen." The video showed father Tommy Jordan shooting his daughter's laptop because of a post she made on Facebook. I didn’t watch the video, crazy parenting skills if you ask me! I’m not that curious enough to waste my time on a st*pid 8:23 minutes video.