Hello guys, this is your Angel Thain.

Well, if you remember I have been able to mention here one time that I was teaching kids and I do that everyday for 8 weeks, I just stopped now because the kids got busy with their Flores de Mayo. So here's a summary.

Week 1

Week 1, as what was planned, was reserved for observation, chilling, and some bonding with the students. For me, the day served as a refresher for the three children present at the time. We’ve read stories and scanned some materials. We read loud enough for the other kids to stay in our space.

The space we’ve been staying in was an unfinished two-story nipa house. We stay on the first floor of the house. The only materials we had at that time were the two books. One was full of fairytales and the other was a Filipino educational book with several figures featuring Rizal and other Filipino heroes.

That week, since I’m doing a session every day, has also become the pretest week where 28 items of all math operations have been allowed to be answered by Mariel and Stefano, the two kids who are a year older than Carah. Carah has to focus on reading English and Filipino stories properly.

Days after we welcomed our newcomers, KR, Rhea, and Addie, These kids, although it seems bigger, are actually just 7-8 years old, whose theoretical knowledge has not been built well with phonetics. I can still hear "e as in apple" and "e as in elephant" from them, which is an indication that they are still in the process of identifying letters and sounds properly. I intended to recount their progress one by one over the next few days, regardless of how long or short the session they were able to attend.

Week 2

Week 2 was for Carah. It was just her and Stefano in the video and we were marking poems or tula, short stories or maikling kwento, which included the piece, Ang alaga kong loro at Ang batang Matapat. On that day, we also classified professions and some public service and institutional functions. We have identified national symbols such as the national hero, Jose Rizal, the national fish, national flower, and national animal. 

We also wrote some words in which they have found it hard to read in English, such as "bathed", "ocean", "peasant" from the story Hansel and Gretel, Princess and the Pea, and Beauty and the Beast. The long "a" sound was also given attention, such as lame, came, cake, rake, sale; the long i, such as dice, rise, lime, bike; and the long o, such as rose, hole, rope, and poke. 

The emphasis of pronouncing the sound of each letter have also been discussed, such that F is pronounced with a softer sound, as in "father", and P as pronounced with a harder sound.

As always, she would complain for English being hard, especially when she’s chewing bubble gum and would rather settle into reading Filipino words. But as much as possible, I wanted them to embrace the things that have always been hard to them before, so that it’s easier for them to adapt someday to things that are more uncomfortable. The session that day ended with us playing a game.

Week 3

Week 3 is for Mariel, the girl who always has Makki, her baby brother, with her during every session, whether before or after. Mariel and Stef have the same level of grade and are on the same level of development in their educational approach, so I separate their lessons. The two scored only 10 out of 28 on the pre-tests because they became easily bored answering so many items in such a short period of time. , I figured that their attention span is just short enough that I needed the item to be broken down into separate lessons for them to master it thoroughly. 

Mariel was a very artistic child, and I got a glimpse of that side of her when I started letting them borrow my art supplies. I at least have 6 of her drawings. She’s also a fast and passive learner. She won't participate in the discussion, but the day after, she already knows what I'm talking about. The kids would always love it when we do mental math and I’m letting them compete with each other to see who can always give the correct answer. I prepare ice candy from time to time to motivate them.

Mariel also lacks confidence and self-esteem, although she's jolly and it reflects on her mindset—revolving around the idea that she’s less than her classmates. In the last few days we’ve worked on improving her confidence and trust in her work. Because she is doing great, just like any other kid too.

Week 4

Stef, an appreciative only boy in my class, was the focus of the fourth week. Stef is actually the boy who's, I guess, perfect in attendance. He’s always attending classes but is fast to get bored, especially when he feels that nothing challenging is happening on the table. He’s a good English reader and a fast math solver. That is why I focused on teaching him how to read in Filipino.

He doesn’t know how to read in Filipino, so sometimes I can hear mispronunciation and slang in his words, like the simple "matapat" word, which cannot even be pronounced correctly by him. We have a series of readings in Filipino stories when it's reading time. I tend to separate him with Carah from the class since the two of them, from time to time, need to read Filipino pieces.

When it comes to math, Stef is easier to teach. He’s quick to solve, but he doesn’t want to show his process, but he knows the answer. I wanted them to know how to do it by the long method, so when anyone would require it, they would still know what to do. He’ll always end up sulking because he doesn’t want it.

In reading English, he’s very good already with words with complex pronunciations that can already be pronounced correctly, like palace, hurricane, exhibited, curiosity, and venture. I just limit his exposition in the English language because he’s very vocal in saying something when he hears a word being mispronounced.

Next time we'll see the Week 5 to Week 8 summary we'll also include some of my reflections during the session.