For Deciding Parents. You can choose whatever suits your child best.  It’s not just about the good-name-recall but what your child can benefit most.  Choose the school that he/she will not have to adjust too much as it adds pressure to him/her while accomplishing academic needs.

On the other hand, Filipino parents who wish to send their children to an international school may give their children a better view of dealing with other nationalities.  It may also provide easier access for further studies abroad.  This sounds appealing. Unfortunately, not all Filipinos can afford this kind of luxury for their children.  Parents might want to consider other alternatives.  Keep posted for these schools. : )

• Summit International School - A highly-progressive international preschool that caters to the needs of each child who have different cultural background.  They accept students from 1.5  up to 6 years old.  This is said to be the only preschool located in University Parkway, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

• Everest Academy Manila - An international school that currently offers Grades 1 up to 3 levels.  It may be upholding to teaching Christian values to its students but the setting and curriculum of the school is not traditional.  With its philosophy, “Teach the Intellect, Educate the Heart and Form the Character” may give us better individuals in the near future.

• Manila Japanese School - A Japanese school for Japanese kids from elementary, middle and high school.  Japanese curriculum and strategies are applied by the Japanese speaking teachers.

• British School Manila - An international school that “upholds the high standard of the British education system in a school that takes full advantage of its multi-cultural setting. Teachers are UK or Commonwealth trained”… Click to Link

• International School Manila - An independent international school that is the reflection of the United States’ educational platform.  The school offers elementary, middle and high school… Click to Link

The schools above are located in the University Parkway, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

Have a happy school search! : )

• How to Withdraw Money from Paypal in the Philippines Phaw was looking for a bank that he can transact with and open a savings account and took Unionbank as an option. This became an option because he already had an account with Unionbank, thru the EON visa card. He used this card before to be able to send and......
• Sarah Jessica Parker Perfume Sex in the City Love 3.3 Oz New in Box User Reviews Send this to a friend Sarah Jessica Parker Perfume Sex in the City Love 3.3 Oz New in Box Manufacturer: Sarah Jessica Parker Customer Rating: List Price: Varies based on product options Sale Price: $5.99 Availibility: View Product Availability Buy Now Product Description brand new in retail......
• Whatever Happened to the Hole in the Ozone Layer? [/caption] by Stuart Fox Three British scientists shocked the world when they revealed on May 16th, 1985 - 25 years ago - that aerosol chemicals, among other factors, had torn a hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole. The ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from damaging......
• American Bailout: $1 Million A Day For 2,260 Years My fellow Americans, details are emerging for the second economic stimulus plan endorsed by President Obama, and the majority of members of the United States Congress.  From the sounds of it, this economic stimulus plan will dwarf the costs of the first stimulus plan, and the first bailout, combined! This......
• Your fastest Internet in the world is found in Berkeley, CA [/caption] By Nate Anderson If you want the fastest average broadband speed in the world, don't move to Japan. Instead, buckle up your Birkenstocks and pile into the VW Bus, because it's time for a road trip to Berkeley, California, home of the fastest average Internet speeds on earth. This......

Summit International School is a highly progressive preschool that uses the Bank Street Approach that caters to the different cultural background of each child.  The school’s vision-mission is very child-centered where children are involved in the learning process that is suited for their age and development.

No children can hesitate Summit. They are coming to class everyday happy and excited.  Absenteeism is very seldom unless they are very sick or there is a family thing.  Children love to sing the songs as teacher sings with them.  They love to listen to stories shared by the teacher.  Sometimes, they would even ask for it more than once.  Children in Summit are confident and secure. They are not forced, pushed or pressured to do something that is not appropriate for their age and development.  The curriculum developed by Summit School is a balanced one for the wholistic development of each child.

CLASSROOM ROUTINE

Arrival and Morning Meeting

Each morning children arrive at the campus with music playing happily while the teachers greet them one by one.  While children are coming in, there are centers that they can go to and do certain activities before Morning Meeting (or Circle Time) is called.

Morning Meeting is a time for singing many songs that pertains to the checking of  class attendance, days of the week, weather etc. Through the songs, the teacher is able to check the attendance, know the day’s weather, date and day with the class.  The teacher reads also the Morning Message which tells the activities that await them for the day.  The 20-40 minutes time alloted for this seem short and easy but it is one of the most challenging job for the teacher.  The atmosphere during this time sets out the kind of attitude on how the children will be for the whole day.

Work Time

Since the Three’s class is quite a big group (but with 2 main teachers and 2 practicumers), they are divided into three groups.  The activities are rotated among the 3 groups during the week.  Children are assigned to the Writing Area, Blocks Area or Dramatic Play Area, Language or Math Area.    On a particular day, it is Art Time for all.

Snack Time

Differences of culture are shared with the rest of the class as they have “Family-Style Snack” everyday.  The parent of the child is assigned for the day to bring in snack for the whole class.  The snack will depend on the parent.

Full-Group

Once again, they are gathered together.  Teacher sings songs, reads a story with the children, talk to the children about the topic or theme or some teacher-made activities for the whole group.

Outdoor Play

The most exciting part for all of the children.  During outdoor play, they also learn lessons related to the theme.  Teacher makes activities that are associated with the theme or topic. Aside from enhancing their gross motor skills, it’s also a great time to teach children the values of sharing and taking turns.  They have the Gym Area, Sand Area, Geodome Area, Center Field Area and Pet Area.

End of the Day Meeting

After the activity, they learn to change their own clothes as teachers instruct them how and they do it on their own.  At the meeting, teacher reads a story or two, reviews what happened during the day and sing their bye-bye songs.

If you are an interested parent to get your child into a highly-progressive school like this, you may visit the school in the Fort, Bonifacio, Tagiug City.  It is right after International School Manila and across Japanese International School.

• Four Esoteric Laws of the Universe – Part 4 – Seven Cosmic Planes Ancient Esoteric Wisdom and the Seven Plans of Creation  In the previous series of posts on ancient esoteric wisdom, we considered the macrocosm vs the microcosm, the law of evolution and the concept of karma and karmic influence. Now in the fourth and final article on the teachings of ancient......
• Learning the Acoustic Guitar When learning how to properly play the acoustic guitar, versatility is a major goal that you should work towards as best as you can. It is very important to learn all of the different ways you can play the various chords. By learning the different chords that you can play......
• Greenwash Of The Week: Southwest Airlines "Green" Plane. Some of you may have already seen this story through my social media channels, after I sent it over to my friend Keith at The Unsuitablog, a big-time lover of all things greenwash. But for those who missed it, I wanted to mention it here as well as this week's......
• First Day of the Australian Open In the first day of the Australian Open in Melbourne, Andy Roddick, who recently won the Brisbane International and took the first major win of the season, defeated the Netherlands' Thiemo de Bakker 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. A rain delay interrupted Roddick's match during the second set as the Hisense......
• Best Reads of the Week: Too Many Social Media Choices Edition I fully admit I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm of the opinion that there are far too many ways to tell people to follow you, tell people to read your stuff, or cutesy little buttons to tell people they should read what you just read. Of......

The what, when, where and how of Calix’s big day was only settled 2 nights before the April 29.

It was exactly on the day of his birthday, April 29 a busy Wednesday for someone like his dad.  As I thought. Well, he arrived hastily at almost 8pm when all of us were already there, hungrily waiting for all that he has to bring.  Obviously, it was dinner time at my in-laws house with Chris’ brother and his family with 2 kids, Sean and Kyle.

Listed below are all of what we had for Calix’s birthday house party.  It brought all the fun for our 4 kids.

• Have kids around. What is a children’s party without other children.
• Blowing of birthday cake. After merrily singing to him the birthday song, he blew the 2 lighted candles with his whole might.  He knew it his was own birthday cake and that made him feel that it was HIS SUUUPPPEEERR SPECIAL DAY!
  
• Prepare simple food. Since we are not so fond of cooking, we ordered EVERYTHING except for the RICE! Our menu includes a Bilao of Pancit Malabon, 2 boxes of Pizza Hut, 3 whole Roasted Chicken, Goldilocks Chocolate Mouse Cake with birthday candles and  Magnolia Ice Cream - Cookies and Cream for dessert. Plus bottles of Coke and a free Pepsi from Pizza Hut.
• Add party favors to decorate the place and give aways for our 4 party children.  All in all this cost less than P200.00 c/o of my wonderful mom-in-law.
• Simple gifts to open. Gifts are surprises! Give what they really like. Remember, it doesn’t have to be expensive, just something interesting for them.  For Calix, he liked what his Lola and Lolo gave him. A box of little cars and a bubble machine. While  Tito Sherwin’s gift was the one we preferred though. A set of clothes.
• Last but not the least, cheerful faces of the adults around them. While this  doesn’t cost anything at all, it isn’t even hard to prepare.

So far, this was the 2nd birthday this year (first was Sophia’s last March) that we made that wasn’t reeally expensive  yet in the eyes and laughter of our children was full of cheer and joy that seem endless.  Uhhmm..well, it only ended when we’ve taken off the party decorations. Calix cried.  But just for awhile.

This may be a simple passing time for our children but the joy that we give them is a joy that we too give to ourselves. Ain’t it rewarding?

• Simple Strawberry Smoothie Recipe      This Simple Strawberry Smoothie Recipe makes a great breakfast or lunch. We put it together for a snack. Very simple to make and a delicious treat. there is very little prep time. I used fresh berries- but I am sure frozen would work just as well and with......
• Anniversary Weekend Getaway! This past weekend my husband and I went on a Romantic weekend getaway to Newport Rhode Island for our 1 Year Anniversary! I still can't believe we've been married a year already, but it's true, and I was very happy to take a little time out with my husband and......
• The Tiger Zoo [/caption] With five weeks remaining in the aughts, pre-teens, double zeroes or whatever we end up calling the 2000s, the title for "Biggest Sports Story of the Decade" was up for grabs. Michael Vick? Tim Donaghy? The Mitchell report? The Artest Melee? Barry Bonds? Pat Tillman? Eagle, Colorado? Roger Clemens?......
• What I Learned About the Economy From Watching Food, Inc. (dir. Robert Kenner, 2009) NB: As you can imagine from watching a film like Food, Inc., it can be hard to separate the emotion and just report "calmly" on the plain facts presented by the film.  Originally I wrote this the same day I saw it, but I've since gone back and edited it......
• "Fun" Facts About Sugar How much sugar (cane sugar/beet sugar) do you think each person eats in a year? A lot! Each person the U.S. consumes about 70 pounds of sugar a year. An individual from Europe, about 92 pounds. Brazil had the highest consumption per person at 123 lbs for this last year!......

Before going to school, all I had was my excitement for Sophia.  Although I know my daughter’s personality (still have to find out whose genes she has) and the stage that she is going through which is normal for her age, I didn’t let it come to my mind.  I was with her that day to show her that I am truly with her in the face of a new environment with strange people.  Whenever teachers approach her, she would either simply turn her back or just keep still.  During Art Time,  she was the last one to paint her boat and with a very few strokes only.  She didn’t remain seated during Circle Time.  Nonetheless, I still feel that Sophia was enjoying her time there and the outdoor play was the best part of her Trial Class.

As far as I know, I didn’t force her to join or follow the class routine I just let her observe and have the feel of the new space that we are in.  I know this will take time but as Teacher Lady advised (which I also agree) that with the kind of temperament Sophia has, a stable daily routine will make her feel secure and confident of being with other people.  I believe with the kind of philosophy that they hold (that is progressivism) it  has the power to reach out to the needs of my daughter - a program that is CHILD-CENTERED!

• The E-Entrepreneur Success Mindset Series, Part V Invest in Yourself You have no doubt heard this refrain many times.“Invest in yourself! Invest in yourself! Invest is yourself!” But what does ‘invest in yourself mean’? Does it mean you should go out and invest in a haircut that costs two hundred bucks? Does it mean that you should......
• Marin County Hike of the Samuel Taylor State Park Summary: This is a 9 mile loop hike involving the highest peak in the Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin County, California. Location: This hike is located at the Samuel P. Taylor State Park, as part of the California State Parks Department in Marin County. Distance: The entire......
• Quick Green Reads For The Weekend Volume Thirty Two. Another week down and fall is upon us...can you smell it? OK well I can't because all I smell is low tide, but it's almost leaf-changing time! Being from New England I do miss the seasons and I always looked forward to the changing of the leaves. I guess I......
• 90% of U.S. Infant Formula May Be Contaminated with Melamine; FDA Declares Chemical Safe For Babies. Up to 90 percent of the infant formula sold in the United States may be contaminated with trace amounts of melamine, the toxic chemical linked to kidney damage, according to recent tests. The FDA's test results, which the agency hid from the public and only released after the Associated Press......
• Can We Please Stop Complaining About Gas Prices? Everywhere I turn, whether it be the television, a cafe on the corner or a phone conversation with a friend, everyone is complaining about the same thing...gas prices. "The price of gas is out of control!"..."I cannot believe the price of gas!". Believe me, I don't like paying for it......

This is what we want for Sophia. The one we’ve been looking for is here!

It’s at CHILD’S SPACE School for the Practice of Appropriate Childhood Education (Santolan, Pasig City) situated near our place in Manggahan. It’s accessibility is a real plus for me.

A child-centered, play-based progressive school that uses the approach the Developmentally-Appropriate Practice (DAP).  Teacher Lady was the one who gave us information about the preschool.   She also toured us to the two just-enough-classroom-size for the number of students per class.  The class ratio for the preschool program is 1:8 with a Teacher Aide.  Not too pricey,  just right! And I mean it, because of all the progressive schools that I am aware of I think it’s the one that our means can afford.   We’ll just have to find out more when classes formally start the 2nd week of June.

Sophia will be sitting in their class this coming Wednesday.  I just hope that she likes it the way we like it for her.

• business opportunities ontario Canada: The Place To Make That First Step In Your Business CareerThe third of the biggest financial center in North America is actually located in Toronto, Canada. Consequently, Canada has been one of the more progressive countries that boast off its stable economy. Canada offers diverse business opportunities equaling to......
• Reggio Emilia Philosophy Most parents, teachers, education experts, and private and government agencies agree that early childhood education is an important component of the child’s ability to discover his self-identity, determine his ability to cope with more challenging learning and develop his life skills. However, when it comes to the methods, approaches......
• Early childhood education The terms early childhood education, kindergarten, early education, or preschool are used interchangeably to mean formal education that is received from three to six years old. This kind of education often focuses on children learning through play, and may be provided by an academic institution or daycare providers. This......
• Investigating Positive Forex Trading Education Sites Investigating positive forex trading education sites can be a contest for the novice to forex market. You’ll see hundred, if not thousands of websites concerning the issue of educating about the market. A lot of these sites are suspected in some frauds and all you might get a book filled......
• Organize Your Personal Finances in No Time by Debbie Stanley If nothing else, the state of the economy has shown that millions of people don’t have a good grasp of how to manage their personal finances. There are hundreds of books written every year on the subject and yet, this concept still seems to elude many. Some books are either......