LSM 2nd Trimester Exam Reviewer for Grade 3 MAW

You are free to reprint it should you find it useful as long as the watermark is left unaltered. The contents of this reviewer should only be used for personal purposes. I would also appreciate link backs to my site. :)

Contents:

• Melodic Direction
• Dynamics
• Painting
• Elements of Design
• Cross Stitching
• Rhythm in Art

The worksheets I am posting were either used by my son or the students in my tutorial center. As such, the course guides that were used in making these reviewers were only the ones issued by their respective schools. For worksheet requests or for sharing your kid's course guide, send me as message through mail [at] the24hourmommy [dot] com. I will try to furnish one but that will still depend on my available time and references. :)

Business Ideas, Anyone?

My husband and I are planning to start a business come January. We'd like to invest part of our savings on a business that we can put up near our residence. First, I will get to save on transportation costs if the business is just near our home. Second, we live near Ortigas Ave. Ext. where traffic is heavy and where commuters often get off from buses, jeeps, and FX taxis.

Given those reasons, I initially thought of putting up a game rental shop ala Circuit City where kids can rent to play PS2s, PSPs, Wii, and computer games. Ours is a residential area and there are no shops of that kind yet. But then again, there's a public elementary school around 500 meters away from the spot where I am planning to open shop. That might be an issue in the future.

My Plan B is to put up a barbecue grill ala Grill Queen. Presently, there are two barbecue stands within the neighborhood but theirs are just the ones that are set up beside the road. I'd like to put up one that has a clean and sanitized grill and sell food that's is within the same price range.

Some friends are suggesting that we put up a cellphone repair shop and sell cellphone units at the same time. I'm not yet too keen on that idea. Besides, I may not have enough capital to get wholesale cell phones. Other than that, there are already shops near the place that provide the same service.

Do you have other business ideas to share? I'm planning to use around 150 to 200 thousand pesos on initial capital. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Now on Flickr Pro!

My sweet husband recently bought a Nikon D5000 as an advanced Christmas gift to himself. But guess who's using it more often? This is one of the few advantages I enjoy in having a very busy husband. He trusted me with his new toy and even gave me the go signal to enroll in Sir Nicolay's photography class this December! I do not dare ask him why it's me who ended up using the camera more often since he might change his mind. I know when to keep my mouth shut, haha!

So, anyway, since the D5000 can shoot pictures of up to 12.1 megapixels, I had to start thinking of our photo files back-up options. What I do in the past is to only keep photos taken from New Year's Day till New Year's Eve of the year in my computer's hard drive. Then, I burn them on CDs and archive the CDs in CD cases. I am quite particular in organizing my photo files and I even follow a specific format in naming the photo folders and files (YYYY-MM-DD) for easy referencing in the future.

Now, my greatest fear is when something happens to the CDs. What if, after 5 years, the computer fails to read the CDs because of scratches and other problems. So I had to have an online back-up. Some of our older photos are stored in my Photobucket account. Just recently, I purchased a Pro account in Flickr for only 24.95 USD/year and now I can upload all our photo files for online safekeeping.

I might still buy an external hard drive, though. My internet connection can be crappy at times especially if I am mobile. A blogger friend bought a 1TB external hard drive from a store in Gilmore for Php 5000 so I guess, I better save up on that. If you know some cheap hard drives and portable USB drive deals online or offline, please let me know.

I am still in he process of uploading our 2009 photos in Flickr. What I like about it most is that I also get to see the shots of my contacts and of other Flickr users. That way, I get to pick up a photography technique or two that will help me develop my shooting skills. Do you Flickr? View some of my public photos by scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking on one of my photo thumbnails. I'd love to see your shots, too!

Bonding With My Son Through Music

The American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote,"Music is the universal language of mankind." I agree. Music has the power to unite people; it even has the power to connect generations.

During a parent-teacher meeting in my son's school, I was told by my son's adviser how surprised they were when Rap played "Sa Kabukiran" with his recorder. The class adviser and the Filipino teacher, who are both nearing their retirement year, ended up singing the song to the class. So I told them that the song was part of the repertoire that they performed in his Ryan Cayabyab music lessons during the summer. What happened was clear evidence on how music bridges generation gaps. I didn't know that Ralph had the time to appreciate the old folk song and even take time to learn how to play it with his instrument.

At home, it's the other way around. I am the one who ends up appreciating the music of his generation. I have no choice but to listen to it since the songs are stored in my laptop and I am the one who uploads the playlist to his mp3 player. I also listen to a youth-oriented pop radio station while I work so I get to listen to the current hits.

Surprisingly, there are new singers and songwriters who do produce good and meaningful songs. By the way, my current favorite is Taylor Swift and her Fearless album. She does write good songs that show her wisdom even at a young age. My briskwalking music, on the other hand, is Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. album. Sometimes, while walking, I even daydream of buying an audio system with a subwoofer much like the high performance home subwoofers I see in the malls. I want to listen to "Boom Boom Pow" with a boom, if you know what I mean. But I digress.

So Rap and I bond through music. It gives us something more to talk about aside from school work and home rules. Sometimes, it becomes the icebreaker when there's a conflict between us. I reach to him better with music-related conversations. Aside from thess, listening and singing the songs of his generation makes me feel younger and more of a cool mommy.

How about you? Have you tried listening to and singing the same songs with your child/ren lately? How has music bridge the generation gap in your home?

Special Education Expo 2009

Moms, dads, and teachers of special kids, please check this out...

Every child with special needs has a right to an educational program that is suitable to his/her needs. Having the right education and the right tools is crucial in ensuring that a child fully realizes his/her full potential for development, both as an individual and as a member of the society.

It is for this reason that our company, Etera Events, is initiating a Special Education Expo on December 1, 2009 at the newly renovated Glorietta Activity Center. Simultaneous to the exhibition is a Special Education forum, storytelling, games and performances by celebrities.

The Special Education Expo 2009 is the first fair on special education to be held in the country. With the theme “A World of Possibilities”, this event aims to bring together parents of special children, special education schools, therapy centers, toy manufacturers, suppliers of special tools and equipment, specialized food sellers, book publishers, and other SPED industry practitioners like teachers, doctors, therapists, among others.

The goal of the event is to create awareness on the needs of special children and provide options for these individuals to ensure they live a happy and normal life.

By contributing to make this event happen, you are helping improve the quality of life and dignity of more than 5.4 million Filipinos who are in need of special education products, equipments and services. Proceeds for the said event will be given to Support and Empower Abused Deaf Children, a non-profit organization dedicated at defending the rights of deaf children who are victims of sexual abuse and maltreatment.

One of the event’s major sponsors, World Vision, will be bringing celebrity endorsers to do intermission numbers, storytelling and other activities.

For more information, you can visit the Special Education Expo 2009 official site or their Facebook page. Special thanks to Enrico Dee of Etera Events for sharing news about this event. I am not a special education teacher but I once taught to special kids who were mainstreamed in my class so I'll be attending this event. Please also invite others to come and help us make more people aware of special kids and their special needs.

Asking For Forgiveness From Your Child

It was my son's First Confession last Friday in preparation for his First Communion in December. I was surprised that his school required us to attend his First Confession. As it turned out, we were part of the sacrament since we were asked to write "I'm Sorry" letters to our son. We exchanged letters before the ceremony ended.

I wrote my letter on the spot. I kept putting it off even when we were already told during the orientation that we will be required to write one. My letter was light and a little bit on the funny side. I guess, I just wasn't able to put everything into words that he can comprehend at his present age.

I don't know if he kept our letters or not or if he even acknowledged everything I wrote in it. My son can be so emotionally withdrawn at times. In fact, I find it hard to talk after reprimanding him because he doesn't show any reaction to what I try to explain that it's better to just let it pass.

I know in my heart that I am not a perfect mommy and that there are so many things I failed to do for him but I haven't asked for his forgiveness for those things yet. In time, I will.

How do you ask for forgiveness from your child? Should you treat him as someone so immature and unaffected? Or is it better to just let it pass and wait for him till he gets older. I will really appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

Our Impromptu Trick or Treat

Our Halloweens in Laguna Bel Air were always busy. I always dressed up our house for it to win in the village's Spookiest House search. Ralph was always present in costume contests and in going around the village for Trick or Treat. Everything changed when relocated.


It's probably because I'm busier now than I used to that I don't get to decorate the house for Halloween anymore. Ralph is also older now and he's not too keen to join Trick or Treat activities. Our village was quite new too when we moved in so there were no events like these.

Yesterday, however, I was surprised to come home seeing groups of children in costume walking the streets and visiting each house for treats. I didn't know that the community organized a Trick or Treat event this year. So, as soon as I got off the car, I asked the houseboy to buy 200 pesos worth of candies to give away. We just placed the candies on a bowl cause we didn't have time to wrap them in individual loot bags anymore.

I'm fortunate that my houseboy had the common sense to decorate our house a week before Halloween with our old Halloween decors from our Laguna Bel Air Days. Our monster this year was my husband's Halloween costume in 2003. All the others were what's left of our old Halloween knick knacks. See the pictures below.




Ralph was a different story last night. He didnt' want to join the Trick or Treat activity of the other kids not because he didn't want too but because he was hurt that we were not informed. He did not have a costume and he's used to go around the streets in a costume for Trick or Treat. I had to bully him to make him at least distribute the candies to the neighbors. And he did so for the first group of kids.


A few minutes later, he popped open a green colored Pintoora bubble gum that made his mouth look like that of a monster's so I immediately drew dark lines under his eyes with my eyeliner and some blood stains under his mouth with my lip and cheek tint. My husband got his hat from his UN costume a week ago and in the end he looked like this...


Nice impromptu Halloween costume, don't you think? My boy's spirit was lifted and he got inspired to join the second group of kids going around the village.

He still got a lot of candies and joined the kiddie program that followed.


He was one spooky and contented boy before the night ended. I was one happy mom, too. I'm glad that he still got to enjoy the night even when everything was rushed.