The premise is stories need not be lengthy in order to be creative and interesting. All a good story really needs is a beginning, middle and end. The writing activity/contest was inspired by the shortest story ever written by Ernest Hemingway:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
by Ernest Hemingway

The Spawn and I came up with this little story together for our first try:

I was on a pirate ship. Stowaway! Walk the plank.
by Siopaospawn and Random Jan

Then, inspired by the idea of writing short stories in only a few words, he came up with this one all on his own:

When I woke up, I fell out of bed. Ouch!
by Siopaospawn

The 10-word Story Writing Contest by Stuart Stories is open to kids 14 years old and below. Head on over to to submit your own 10 word creation and try your hand at some of his other writing activities posted as well.

To make up for the lack of organized lesson time, I’ve been giving the Spawn some writing assignments instead. He has also been reading a lot more lately and has been practicing his Filipino by reading some locally published bi-lingual books.

We got the idea for one of his writing assignments from a local contest promoting the movie starring Julia Roberts based on the book of the same name Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

The Spawn has not read the book, nor watched the movie, but I told him that in the story, the woman started out really sad about life in the beginning. Then she went on a trip around the world that helped her. First, she went to Italy to eat all the good food and appreciate friends and the good things in life, then to Thailand, to meditate and pray and become closer to God to try to reach enlightenment. By filling herself with goodness, she was able to be a better person, find herself and also find love.

Based on the rules of the writing contest, entries can be essays about one of the three topics: Eat, Pray, or Love. (Click the article for more contest details.)

The Spawn chose the topic closest to his heart among the three… Eating!!

 
(click the pics for a closer view.)

Although he is not entering his essay, writing contests like these are a great way to get ideas for writing assignments. Most contest give specific themes, number of words, and other constraints that can push a writer’s creativity.

By the way, the contest deadline is on September 25 so you still have plenty of time to compose your own entry and join!

You are invited to the 1st Scholastic Clearance Sale! August 27-30, Sept. 1-2, 2010 Friday to Monday, Wednesday to Thursday 8 am to 8 pm

Scholastic Warehouse

No. 70 C. Raymundo Avenue,
Rosario, Pasig City

Telephone Numbers: 900-1537; 628-4487
Mobile Number: 09175804784
Email address: scholasticbookfairs @ scholastic.com.ph (no spaces)

Up to 75% off! As low as P30!

best-sellers; award winning titles; past season items; stock-outs; samples; display copies;

Plus:

Box-All-You-Can at P1,495.00

Invite your friends and relatives. Thank you.

Homosexuality is a delicate subject to bring up at too young an age — Sexuality in general is a touchy topic. I believe that at 7 years old, The Spawn need not yet be exposed to the sexual nature of either male-female or male-male and female-female relationships. But he can already be taught about Love. The acceptance for all kinds of love. And appreciation for different kinds of families.

One of the age-appropriate recommended books from GVS’s reading list is And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. Based upon a real life male-penguin couple at the New York City’s Central Park Zoo and how they hatched an adopted egg and became an unconventional family.

The book exposes kids to, not only the idea of same-sex couples, but, perhaps more importantly, to adoption and how families need not be conventional in order to be loving.

NOTE: This next section may contain spoilers from the book

The Spawn made a brochure for his book report on And Tango Makes Three.  He wrote a short summary of how Tango’s two dads built a nest and tried to lay an egg like the boy and girl penguins at the zoo.  He found it amusing that two boy penguins were trying to lay an egg (“Of course, it’s impossible!” he said) but he liked that Tango was born and had 2 loving dads who took her swimming when she was old enough.

 
Click the pics to read The Spawn’s report on And Tango Makes Three

It’s a shame that Gay Tolerance is not a subject that all families (homeschooled or otherwise) may want to teach their children. But for those who do want to impart this valuable lesson, age appropriate books like And Tango Makes Three are a great way to introduce the topic of, not just tolerance of different kinds of families — but the acceptance and celebration of them.

Arnis is the Philippine National Sport and Martial Art. Sir Tony mentioned that some parents are hesitant to let their kids learn the art of Arnis because of it’s reputation as a “deadly martial art.” But just like Taekwondo, Capoeira, Karate, Aikido, or other popular martial arts, it’s a great form of cardio exercise and more importantly, instills discipline, confidence, and appreciation for the art and our Filipino Heritage.

It was mostly the Spawn’s decision to learn Arnis. I’ve been wanting him to learn a martial art and when I described some other options for him (Karate, Aikido, Capoeira, and Wu-Shu) he decided he wanted to learn Arnis. Mostly because he said he could imagine the sticks being light sabers instead of rattan and he wants to be the first Jedi to wield 2 light sabers!

Darth Maul sort of beat him to it though… But he was a Sith and his dual-bladed light saber broke in half… So he doesn’t count.

General Grievous doesn’t count either, for that matter… He’s a Droid, and those light sabers were stolen. The Spawn says he’s a meanie.

Sir Tony teaches form first before execution, which what I also put more emphasis on when I teach my own kids yoga classes. He is proud of the systemized Modern Arnis education he helped develop for Arnis Mano-Mano Filipino Martial Arts International. Aside from teaching the Spawn the basic exercises he needs to begin building his Arnis foundation, he also taught him how to write his full name is baybayin, the ancient Filipino script.

The Spawn will be training in Arnis twice a week from now on. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll become a master and teach other kids himself one day (as he said so himself.)

Generally speaking, clay is a good activity for people of all ages. A lump of clay can take on any shape and form, giving endless opportunities to exercise creativity. Clay is also a great tactile activity and, especially for younger children, allows them to exercise their dexterity.

Dough dots is similar to clay in that it is moldable into any shape and comes in bright, blendable colors. The following is the message my friend Erica sent me, telling me about Dough Dots.

I want to offer you a product that we are carrying. It’s a do it yourself activity for kids.

It’s called Dough dots, which is something like playdough, it’s mouldable like dough but will harden like rubber. It sticks to paper automatically, no need for glue or water. So it’s not messy. It’s also non toxic, smells good, and very safe for kids. Great for teaching kids motor skills as well. The colors can be combined to create new colors as well (so red mixes with blue = purple dough).

Original packaging from Korea cost is P 85 to P 95 per kit (comes with the dough dots, and the mask already ) and P 200 for the dough dots (4 containers x 20 g/ color) only.

Dough Dots are available for sale as individual kits or as party packages, complete with a Dough Dots party host. For more information, please contact the number listed in the brochure.

We came up with a card game, similar to Magic: The Gathering or Pokemon, with a Filipino twist!

It’s called “Tabi Tabi Po” — loosely translated as “Step aside, please” or “Excuse me, please.” The saying is from a local superstition that in order not to offend and anger nature spirits or supernatural creatures in the vicinity, one must utter the words “tabi tabi po” before entering their domain (which may be a forest, an old house, or even your own garden).

The rules of our CCG are based on the card game in the Nintendo DS game Chocobo Tales. The creatures on the cards are based on Philippine folklore and the descriptions of the attacks and spells that each card can cast during the game is written in Filipino (which I am hoping is accurate since I am not too fluent myself.)

The artwork on the cards are made by The Spawn while the layout is done by myself.

This is still a work in progress but The Spawn has been excited working on it and has been looking forward to the time we can actually print out the cards and play the game.

So far, the creatures he has made for the cards are the Nuno sa Punso (sort of like a gnome), an Ebwa (a type of carnivorous giant), and a Wir Wir (Philippine version of the werewolf).

Within the first 15 minutes of installing the program, the Spawn and I were able to create this simple Scratch project:

He drew the shapes in the basic Sprite Editor of the program, and programmed each of them to play a recording of his voice when clicked. Check it out in action on the Spawn’s blog (have the latest version of Java installed on your browser to view the project properly.)

The Spawn was obsessed with Scratch for hours! Even with a cold, he worked hard at creating another animation using some pre-installed Sprites which he edited and drew his own background. This was the result of his work which he finished at 2 in the morning! (He will upload a playable version of this animation onto his blog tomorrow.)

We are using Scratch on a Windows 7 Starter machine but they also have versions for Mac and Linux. Scratch highly encourages sharing the projects you create and also allows you to download and “remix” projects created by other users easily.

The Spawn loves creating his own interactive cartoons and i can see so many possibilities of using this program to create custom, interactive lessons for him. It’s so easy to use that even those with zero programming or animation experiences, like us, will be able to pick it up in no time.

Download a copy of Scratch yourself and see what you can create with it!

He spent the whole day writing this very special blog entry summarizing everything he learned this month. Please head on over to his blog to read about what he thought about his homeschooling lessons and projects.

Things I Want to Share – SiopaoSpawn’s Homeschooling Blog: MY FIRST MOTH [sic]OF HOMESCHOOL

I just let him write and write without being too much of a nag about spelling, etc. I just wanted to get his honest opinions on what he thought of his lessons. I asked him guide questions every so often but everything else is entirely his.

The Spawn was excited for the Homeschool Headstart Bazaar held yesterday. He had all the crafts he made packed and ready to go and help me arrange all our merchandise on our table.

We were able to get a great spot — A corner table to the right side of the bazaar facing the main entrance.

The Spawn demonstrated his Magic Duct Tape Wallets and proudly nodded whenever he was asked if he made some of the items we were selling. He was to shy to promote our table though when the hostess came around with her microphone. But after lunch, we made a deal that he would be allowed to hide under our table while he read the “script” I wrote for him so he could plug our table. This amused everyone there, which caused them to look for him even more! =D

Manikako was the biggest hit at our table. (Whee!!) Followed by our small collection of pre-loved books then (quite surprisingly for me) the yoga-themed journals I originally designed for Hum Yoga Stuff, my online store.

The Spawn was able to sell one of his finger knitted scarves. I am extremely proud of this but he’s still quite disappointed that there were no takers for his bath salts or magic wallets. (Any takers?)

All in all, the bazaar was a great way to interact with other homeschooling families. The Spawn was able to re-introduce himself to some friends he first met at the Homeschool United Family Fun Day. His proudest moment at the bazaar though, was when Chef Ted called him his “Assistant Chef” when he was demonstrating how to make Chocolate Zucchini Waffles — a vegetarian recipe I will most definitely try out one of these days!

As a side note, a strange feeling came over me during the bazaar. I was able to recognize a few homeschooling families who came because I have been reading their blogs these past few months. I suddenly felt like a stalker! There I was, knowing so many details of their lives that they chose to share online and they were buying items from our booth and had no idea that I knew so much about them. I couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward. Is that what people who only know me from my blogging feel like when they meet me in real life?

In any case, the bazaar was a great experience and the Spawn earned a grand total of PhP 150 for himself! (50 bucks from the scarf he sold and the other 100 for a pre-loved book that belonged to him). He already spent 50 on drinks and snacks at the bazaar itself but the other 100 his still safely tucked away in his wallet. Not bad for my little Kidpreneur!