Morning Time in Manila

Hi, friends! I have been so fortunate to be able to have my kids in homeschooling classes here in Manila. The time sitting and talking to other homeschooling moms while our kids dance or paint has become so precious to me.

I am a U.S. based homeschooler, and that means that I follow the homeschooling law of my state. For me, that mainly means that my kids take a standardized test once a year. My Filipino friends, however, are usually using a homeschool provider that gives them curriculum and deadlines to follow. From what I can tell from talking to them, it seems like most of their homeschooling takes place at a table with open workbooks, pencils, and pens. We spend a lot of time at the table as well, but I can tell you that most of the magic and connection in our homeschool doesn't happen there. It happens during Morning Time.

The beauty of Morning Time is found in its simplicity and flexibility. It can take place in the sala on the couch, at the table during breakfast or merienda, or even snuggled up in bed. You can spend as much or as little time as fits into your schedule. Morning Time doesn't even need to happen in the morning. :) All you need to get started is a box.

You have your box or basket. Now you have to ask yourself this: "What do I want to share with my children?" Maybe there are things that you only got to cover lightly in your child's curriculum, and you'd like to dig deeper. Maybe you've got a book you'd love to read aloud. Maybe you'd really like them to memorize the regions of the Philippines or a poem or two. Maybe there are a few Bible verses that you'd like them to hide in their hearts.

Here are some things that I've put in my box. My box doesn't hold all of them at one time. I switch out what is in there every few weeks or so to keep things fresh.

A devotional for kids is always there. We also like to read silly or serious poems together. I have taught a Filipino flower or bird or tree from time to time. To do this, I have them copy it using colored pencils, and then we might look up a video about it if it's an animal on Youtube to see it move. I might have a biography for us to read a chapter at a time. We play learning games occasionally. I have them find countries or states on a map that I pull out. There's no limit to what you can do. The key is to make it personal to your family and your priorities for learning.

There are things that I'd like my children to memorize, and I type them up individually and put them in a binder. They range from Bible verses to the continents of the earth to the dates of different wars. All you need for this is some sort of folder and your items to memorize.

Let's say you have a real love of Ancient History, and you want them to learn more about Ancient Egypt. Pull out a book on that, and glance quickly through it for important names. Write them on a whiteboard, and prop it up while you read. Ask your kids to raise their hands when they hear you read that word or name. This will help keep their attention. After you're done, talk about what you read. "Why do you think he did that? Was Alexander the Great really great? Why or why not?" In discussing this, you're getting a window into the hearts and minds of your kids and seeing how they think. It's a fantastic way to connect with each other in your homeschool.

I know that it may feel like adding one more thing to your homeschooling day is too much. But sometimes, adding in the right extra thing can breathe new life into your homeschool and help you remember why you started homeschooling in the first place.

And all you need is a box. :)

Good things...

Flowers just because he happened to be at the mall and thought of me.

I'm a Modern Mrs. Darcy reader, and she reminded me today that we should occasionally share the answer to this question: "What's saving your life right now?"

January felt long, and I'm hoping that February feels shorter. I've gotten into a good rhythm lately, and I was thinking about what's been helping me for the past week or two so I'm not stumbling through this season.

1. Getting outside- February is the best time to get outside in Manila. It's the coolest that it ever is, so it's time to do that hike that you've been putting off. Evan's Scout troop went on a hike at the La Mesa Reserve, and I was so dreading it. I was sure that it was going to be hot and buggy, and that I wouldn't have brought enough water. We started out early, and our little group hiked 10 kilometers.... and it was AWESOME! Shade, a slight breeze, and no bugs to be found made the experience. It reminded me that this was the time of year last year that we'd walk over to the American Cemetery late in the afternoons on Sundays to get in a walk under the trees, so that's going on the regular rotation again soon.

2. A little light exercise in the afternoon- I struggle to work out if I feel like it's going to be sweaty and tiring experience, but if I think of it as a way to get some movement and energy into my day after a morning of mostly sitting and homeschooling, that works for me. I have a little time to myself reading, and then put on my workout clothes, plug my headphones into my phone, and bring up a mindless show on Netflix while I spend some time on the elliptical in our building gym and do 3 reps of 10 each on arms and legs on the machines. I spend about 40 minutes on this routine while my boys are having their daily screen time, and I don't work out so hard that I need a shower after. It gives me a little more energy while I'm making dinner.

3. An hour for coffee with a friend- I'm with my boys a lot, and I love homeschooling, but taking an hour a week out of my job to catch up with a friend at my local Starbucks really refreshes me when I'm dragging and need some adult perspective. One of the biggest blessings of living where I do is that it isn't that hard to meet up with friends that live near me if we can both time it right. I also get some time to talk with the other homeschooling moms while our kids are taking classes on Tuesdays, and that time has become precious to us all.

4. Sharing a show with my honey before bed- Right now, it's the Big Bang Theory on Netflix. Neither of us ever saw it when it was on network TV, and it's really nice to laugh together over the creatively nerdy hilarity that the crew in Pasadena are always serving up. David and I talk about whatever the day brings first, and then we watch together before turning in.

5. Making a family favorite dinner at least once a week.- If I make brinner (breakfast for dinner), I always get hugs from multiple boys, and they seem to linger a little longer at the table. I'm tired of the usual grumbling that I get from at least one boy about my meal planning choices, so I have to plan a grand slam out of the ballpark for myself to offset this every once in awhile. :)

What little things are saving your life right now?

A masked life...

It's the beginning of a new month, and lemme tell ya, January was kinda tense. I texted a friend the other day that I felt trapped between an unstable volcano and a looming Asian superbug. Here in Manila, we've gone from wearing face masks to protect us from Taal Volcano ashfall to wearing them to protect us from the Wuhan coronavirus, and there really wasn't much of a break in between. 

I woke up on Thursday morning of last week to a text from Seth's school. They'd decided to postpone the annual Chinese New Year performance due to concerns about gathering in large groups indoors. I was so disappointed, and honestly, I was also pretty angry. At that point in time, there had been 0 confirmed cases of cornonavirus in the Philippines. (At this point, it looks like there have been 2 confirmed cases in the Philippines, and the president just shut down the entry of non-residents coming here from China.) The school has decided to postpone all February activities at the school until... who knows when? And I'm still angry because it feels like overkill to me, and that overkill has resulted in hardworking students and teachers not being able to present the program they've worked on for months. I was really looking forward to seeing Seth deliver his first Chinese line. 

I walk the streets of our area, and many people are wearing masks. We were asked to wear masks to our homeschool classes last week and to stay home if anyone was showing any cold symptoms. We took our kids to see a movie on Saturday, and we were just about the only people in the theater. I went to the warehouse grocery store, and it was the emptiest I've ever seen it on a Monday afternoon.

What I honestly want to be delivered from right now is the FEAR of the coronavirus. 

I believe in being prepared. We have a Go Bag at the ready in case of earthquakes. My pantry is stocked. I like my to do lists, and I like having a plan. It's not like I'm a "devil may care" lady over here. 

But at this point, I just don't see a rational reason for all the anxiety I'm seeing around me based on 2 cases of coronavirus in the entire country. I'm frustrated because the nervousness around me affects  daily life here in Manila. 

I recently read a really fascinating autobiography of the London Blitz in WWII called "A Chelsea Concerto" by Francis Favell. She was a volunteer in Chelsea during the war, and she saw and endured horrors that I hope to never experience, including the bombing of her own home while she was in it. What stuck with me, though, was how important British calmness in the midst of the bombing truly was to morale and winning the war. Those poster reprints that say "Keep Calm and Carry On" mean more than you realize. They were truly the way the British lived. It wasn't an empty slogan. They couldn't escape the bombs, and once they realized that, they just continued on with regular life in the midst of them. They went to work, to the shops, out to dinner, knowing that they might hear an air raid siren at any moment. Many stopped sleeping in the air raid shelters at night because they were also being hit, and they decided they'd rather get some sleep and die in their beds. Their refusal to stop daily life because of the Blitz was an encouragement to them all, and morale matters in winning a war.

So I think of them, and corona virus fear feels even more insignificant. Yes, I know that people will say, "It's not the same thing! We have to do what we can against global pandemic!" To which I say, "The important things are already being done. More people died from the flu last year in the U.S. than have died from corona virus. The numbers of cases HERE doesn't justify everyone wearing face masks HERE and refusing to go out." I'm going out to malls and the movies, and I'm not planning to wear a face mask. You can just call it me channeling a British stiff upper lip. :)