For Math, Nereus has started studying about circle, angles, polygons, single-step equations; and number patterns; while Ian has started learning the basics of multiplication and division using pictographs. Ian has also learned to count money and perform basic addition of money. Money is something that we delayed teaching Ian although he does know that a little blue card can get him money from ATMs and that we use money to buy food and other stuff. I’m so lucky that my eldest is often willing to lend a hand to teach his younger brother about certain topics.
To ensure that the kids understand about the NCOV virus and the threat of its spread in Asian countries, I made my kids watch documentaries about virus and the NCOV virus as featured by Dr. Binocs, their favorite channel in Youtube.
Nereus also had an experiment about the difference between physical and chemical weathering using chalk pieces, hammer, and vinegar. I’ve also pointed out coastal erosion to him during out visit in Mongpong Island which we have observed in places around the island.
I’ve taught them how to upcycle brown paper bags from doing our groceries into brand new paper/cards using the paper making kit we got from Papemelroti. The process was tedious but my kids had fun cutting the paper into small pieces, breaking them further into pulp using our food processor, down to using the mould and deckle. We also embedded the pulp with “kangkong” seeds to make the upcycled paper plantable.
Nereus also learned how to prepare their favorite pork shrimp siomai because the ones in the grocery are full of extenders and not as tasty as the ones I make. I also like our siomai to be fiber-rich so we a add a lot of jicama, spring onions, and carrots.
We did quite a lot of unit studies this month because they are close to finishing their reference books. Ian did animal study featuring wombat, country study featuring Japan, fun facts about the Philippines and read quite a lot of Wikahon short stories. Nereus did unit studies about his favorite composer, Bach; about the animal, terrapin; paintings by Claude Monet; and Tagalog stories from Lola Basyang collections – Ang Dalagang Bukid na Naging Prinsesa and Si Akong Ekit.
Ian has started taking swimming lessons along with his fellow homeschoolers so that he’ll be able to enjoy the beach more this coming summer. He just finished 3rd session with his coach.
For Valentine’s Day, we created cards using the paper we made out of brown paper bags. The kids painted on them using their poster color.
For their art and science module, we made our own playdough using flour, cream of tartar, salt, food color, water and essential oil.
This month is the kids’ first time to try Epic app which boasts of unlimited access to 35,000 books for kids. We subscribed for only Php 312 per month and my kids are absolutely hooked.
Finally, the kids got to visit Mongpong Island to see nature in its almost pristine state. In the island they observed coral reef, octopus, coral snakes, different types of birds, fishes, and wild land turtles. They also had the chance to immerse with the community by observing how locals get their water from wells; go fishing for food; prepare “lechon baboy” or roast pigs and how they raise chickens, goats, and cows. I will be posting about our island experience in details in another blog. Below are some of our snapshots of the animals we saw on the island; the well; and beach photos:
The Fabulous Scientist 