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Feb Fair Fun

noreply@blogger.com (paulnteng) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:04:00 +0000

This is the UPLB Commencement Grounds, now known as the DL Umali Freedom Park, where student organizations compete with each other in making the best and most original booth every February to celebrate the USC sponsored annual fair. For the GBC homeschooler, it turns into a sower's field as each child braves the crowd distributing gospel tracts to students gathered or scattered about the field. The tract is written by one of our homeschoolers with a message intended for the UP student or graduate.

Activity intensifies as the heat of the day dissipates and sun sets... a cool breeze blows as the early evening paves way to a feast of smells, sights and sounds - a multi-sensory experience for our children.

There are around 60 colorful booths and exhibits by various student organizations. These includes food stalls (yum!) and activity booths like zip-line, wall climbing, face painting and more. The children spend some of their allowances enjoying these. Though a lot of stalls blast incomprehensible, loud music and we shun away, many booths capture our interest, too, displaying the talents and ingenuity of the students. Onstage, a heated debate between UPLB and UP Manila students steals all these. We avoid to linger long to hear their rebuttals as we have to empty our pockets of tracts. I must say it is a worthy time with friends from the Reformed Campus Ministry, a bible study group were many of our homeschoolers attend weekly.

Some of the tract team members (only 4 are shown here while others are still abroad sowing...) I am praying they will reap well.

Dissection time

noreply@blogger.com (paulnteng) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:59:00 +0000

VB and Breezy invited a few homeschool friends over for the week's dissection time. Today's "menu" included a crayfish and a 10-inch earthworm. They were a bit queasy about it but after their curiosity and inquisitiveness had set in, the imagination, too, went awry.

Both specimen were from Sonlight Science 6 kit. We are planning another dissection Saturday on the next quarter.

As an added activity, we watched a video entitled "What is the 'Best' Evidence That God Created?" from Answers in Genesis featuring Carl Kerby. Read the blurb here.

What lie on our floor if not books...

noreply@blogger.com (paulnteng) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:58:00 +0000

..of course, kids with books =)

Homeschoolers helping out

noreply@blogger.com (paulnteng) — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 16:55:00 +0000

I found this afternoon a very productive one so far. The GBC homeschoolers helped out in sorting and packing goodie bags for the prison ministry. The GBC prison ministry conducts regular bible studies to inmates of Los Banos and Bay Municipal Jails. The inmates will receive the bags in behalf of their families.

Hey, it's Breezy's 13th!

noreply@blogger.com (paulnteng) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 14:15:00 +0000

And we pray he will continue to grow in the knowledge and fear of the Lord.

Lil's Grasshopper

noreply@blogger.com (paulnteng) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:52:00 +0000

Li'l caught this humongous grasshopper this afternoon and decided to detain it, observe it and take some pictures - just for a while. She placed it in a jar with punctured lid and convinced me to take her photo with it before letting it go. It measures over 3 inches long.. the spires on its legs annoyed Li'l's nimble fingers, which made her decide to let it go on our front lawn. The green creeper will definitely have a good home there but I hope it would not feast on my herbs. They say that presence of big grasshoppers in your yard indicates clean air (no pesticides, etc.) - or could also be the lack of predators like birds (which absence indicates dirty air, too). Hmm, which is which really? Perhaps, the children would love to find that out.

Homeschool year ender, best ever! (so far)

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 12:57:00 +0000

Our homeschool group year-ender was a two-day affair which started with a sumptuous dinner. Each family prepared a dish or two for everyone to share with. Our menu included baked and grilled fished, vegetable kebab, roasted meat, salad and passion fruit yoghurt ice cream.

Watching a rather serious film after that heavy meal was surely a challenging feat. Everybody looked tired and wanting to hit the haystack. "I am David", a story of a boy's "escape" from a concentration camp to travel to Northern Europe and find his mother, is an internationally acclaimed movie based on the novel of the same title. Breezy recently read the book and added it at goodreads. We went to bed after midnight amidst small noises of children struggling to get some sleep but too excited to succumb to its power.

Amazingly, yet lacking in restful sleep, people were up even before the sun peeked through the trees. The sky was overcast. We were still hoping for a cloudless perfect day. Still, we set our minds and bodies to go outdoors. 2010 is ending and we sure hope to make it the best year-ender yet. We started our trek towards Jamboree via the backroad near IRRI housing. Everybody agreed it provided ample warm up to oil our gears...

Let the photos speak for themselves...

Who says homeschooling is dull and boring??

Familyhood

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 21:31:00 +0000

The Grace Baptist Church Family-hood Camp is an annual activity, set on the last weekend of the anniversary month, where members and their families spend time together to reflect on God's grace throughout the year.

Regular visitors and their families are also encouraged to participate in many of the activities. Often held in a private resort, the families stay for the night to enjoy the fellowship and share in the preparation of meals. Our pastor Noel Espinosa leads the group in exhortation, devotion and hymns and engages the youth in bible quizzes and games. GBC celebrates the 29th year of the goodness and grace of God since the ministry began.

GBC family

We won!

One word, one sylla....

kainan na!

Pinoy barbecue.

The battlefield of the boodle fight.

Rice, rice and more rice

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:30:00 +0000

In southeast Asia, particularly in the Philippines, rice is a major staple food. For most Filipinos, this grain is eaten in almost every meal. However, through the recent years, in some homes, pan de sal and hot noodles, a chinese influence, (like this one) have also gained popularity on the breakfast table. In our home, rice is often served with vegetables and poultry or fish for lunch. Salad, soup and a little bread usually comprise supper. Breakfast tends to be heavy with pan de sal, cereal, or noodles. If not, we would also have rice with salted egg, some kind of "daing" (dried or stock fish) or "tinapang bangus" (smoked milkfish) and some steamed veggies, usually okra or camote tops. Another way of serving rice during breakfast is hot champorado (recipe) or arroz caldo (recipe). When we were in Sri Lanka, I learned to prepare string hoppers and egg hoppers with rice flour. I still make them as time allows and when rice flour is available.

So today, the homeschool bunch went through a totally different rice experience. To better appreciate this Filipino staple, we visited the RiceWorld which is just in the neck of our woods. This is located in the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Laguna. We have learned that most Asian countries produce rice in arable, low-lying, irrigated area. Even in rainfed upland areas, rice may also be planted. Exhibit in the museum includes both age-old and modern equipment farmers use to plant, harvest, dry, mill and store rice. We also visited a parcel of farmland where rice has just been harvested. The recent strong typhoon have destroyed most of the crop. The grains where harvested but were unfortunately soaked in flood water, its value and quality already deteriorated. Sad to say, a farmer may not earn profit if calamity strikes his field, if he gets to harvest at all.

Hello Riceworld!

A micro rice mill designed for small farms.

Some traditional farm implements.

An old rice cereal grinder.

Most countries in Southeast Asia produce rice for food.

Homeschool bunch goes to RiceWorld

Salvaging the harvested palay soaked in the flood.

A strong typhoon affected the crop due for harvest.

Missions day

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 14:29:00 +0000

While schools all over the world celebrate UN Day, we, the GBC homeschoolers in Los Banos, commemorated this event with a different twist and called it Missions Day.

What exactly is Missions Day? Instead of the predictable yet traditional costume display, each homeschooler would choose, exhibit, present a missionary and a host country. The exhibit should depict the life of the missionary and his walk with the Lord, the host country and its culture. Each child is also encouraged to present their exhibit with a multimedia report focusing on the impact of the missionary's life, his conversion and the country where he/she served.

Details of this event will be featured in our upcoming GBC Homeschoolers Blog.

Homeschool community and friends...

we got pets

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:28:00 +0000

Buster, the puppy and the neighbor's cat with Breezy and Lil, ala musicians of Bremen.

And the neighbor's cats which decided to adopt us... Whiskers and Charcoal!

Lil's Phonics Museum

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:27:00 +0000

Today marks a special day. Lil Ruffin gets to open her Phonics Museum box from Veritas Press and start her first lesson. We have been reading together plenty of faves from VB and Breezy's younger book collection. Although we have already finished the first book of Sing, Spell, Read and Write program, positive results in VB's studies with VP Scholars Online encouraged me to shift Lil's foundational learning towards classical education while still using some Charlotte Mason methods. I am confident this will give her a good start if we plan to enroll her with Veritas Press in the future as the Lord wills.

Here is Cathy Duffy's description and review of Phonics Museum.

Phonics Museum is a multi-sensory program. Here Lil sprinkles silver glitter to an armor from a story we read earlier.

Filipino Homeschool Camp

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:25:00 +0000

As the month of August ends, the GBC Homeschool Group cooked up a unique way to celebrate our "Buwan ng Wika" (National Language Month). What better way to commemorate the Filipino culture and language than to have an overnight all-Filipino-food-games-dance-and-more-camp. Three families with a dozen kids lumped together to make a great day and a half.

Here are some photos. I will not delve much about it here. Details of the camp and more photos will be featured in our GBC Homeschool Group's upcoming blog which entries will be written by the homeschool children themselves. Watch out out for it

My Mother's 80th Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:19:00 +0000

We visited my mother who celebrated her 80th birthday. We had a small family thanksgiving lunch for her with the family.

We thank the Lord for His grace, goodness and mercy exemplified in the life of my mother. Our loving Nanay, Lola, and sister in Christ. She is a strong woman of faith, my father's best partner in his pastoral ministry,

our Nanay, Anacleta Marquez Angelito.

Coring's graduation photo.

Here she is with Lil Ruffin.

art class, day one

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:22:00 +0000

I have taken some photos of the GBC homeschool support group on their first day of art class. Details of this activity will be published in our upcoming homeschool group blog.

Quite a colorful day.

Some kitchen science

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:20:00 +0000

Today, Breezy has some kitchen tricks up hi sleeve... well, with the help of a science book.

Watch him while he attempts to observe changes in boiled red cabbage juice as he drops calamansi, milk, vinegar, saliva and clear soda separately. Let us see.

Careful, Breezy! What are you doing with such a large knife to slice a tiny bit of calamansi (a native citrus fruit which is smaller than lime)? Besides, a chopping board would make that task easier and safer.

He squeezes the juice in the dish, observes the change in color...

Hmmm, let us see what happens with the milk..

Actually nothing happened there, except that the purple gets bit murky.
The purple with pink stain is still the citrus dish.

The purple juice with milk drops is the further dish.

This time, Breezy tries vinegar.

Interesting!

SO, what's next? Saliva, ugh...

Nothing significant, its color remains unchanged.

With clear soda?

It shows slow but significant reaction...

and fizzy, too!

I wouldn't want to bore you with our observations and lab sheets here. Why don't you try it at home and use some variation with the common things you can find in your kitchen? It will surely sate some curious cats..

dragonfly on my line

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 04:45:00 +0000

Hurt No Living Thing, by Christina Rossetti, 1830-1894

Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing,
Nor cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap,
Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,
Nor harmless worms that creep.

frisbee and some wwii tidbits

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:19:00 +0000

Who says P.E and history are polarized subjects? We have done both in one session.

We decided to take a afternoon break at the nearby campus of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos. Drawn to the beauty of this place, our decision to live here is mainly driven by its verdant surroundings, clean air and the vibrant campus has to offer. We moved here in 2001 after living in congested Metro Manila for several years after marriage. From then on we have met a community of believers who welcomed us as a part of their family and with it a homeschool support group. What's more, I got reconnected with many old friends from college and the campus ministry I worked with decades ago. As a child, I grew up in Quezon City (also in Metro Manila) and moved here at the age of 16 to attend the university. Now, my kids decidedly call it home after having been relocated to and fro through many airports for over 5 years.

Sometimes, homeschool has to be taken outdoors. We have been holed up at home due to the rains. So this afternoon, we decided to make it a little bit more active...

We drove along Pili Drive..

To this wide green field..

With an awesome view of Baker Hall, a structure dating way back to World War II.

A historical marker clearly tells its story in Filipino.

My feeble attempt in English translation:

PLACE OF INTERNMENT CAMP IN LOS BANOS

This place was used by the Japanese forces to

incarcerate Americans and other foreigners in 1943.

It was raided by the joint forces of Filipino guerrillas

from the members of ROTC Hunters, HUKBALAHAP,

Chinese Squad 48, including President Quezon's

Own Guerrillas (the PQOG), Marking group,

and other non-regular troops in 23rd February 1945.

The joint forces was organized by Lt. Col. Gustavo Ingles,

a member of the Hunters and a representative to the

American forces who commandeered the

Southern Luzon guerrilla forces led by

Lt.Col. Honorio Guerrero and the ROTC Hunters.

On the First Raid, they successfully controlled the

outskirts of the camp, and with the help of the American members

of the Company B 511 Paratroop Infantry they freed the prisoners.

NOTE: Listed below are some links for those who desire further readings on this historical event.

After this history tidbit, we started playing frisbee.

Ooops! Direct hit!

Lil Ruffin decides that mown grass is more interesting though

And starts picking them up

What is she up to this time?

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Whoa! That was close.

Oh, tired but elated, and water all gone.

As the sun is waning, 'tis the time to go home...

How we thank the Lord for being able to enjoy it all. I should be featuring this place more often, for I promise you, Los Banos is a very engaging place.

And should you have an urge to look up for more details of that heroic raid. Here are more links to click and read.

The Angels Came at Dawn , an account by Robert A. Wheeler, a Los Banos Internee.
World War II: Liberating Los Banos Internment Camp. Cached article of Historynet.com
Raid at Los Banos Wikipedia entry.
Los Banos Internment Camp list of Internees and updates

Bignay harvest

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:18:00 +0000

The vacant lot at the back of our yard yields a full grown bignay (Antidesma bunius)tree now laden with fruit that has started to ripen. Its heavy branches sulkily droop down bearing so much weight as if waiting for quick relief. The other night we heard a huge crashing sound. When we checked out what happened, we found a whole big branch, full of fruit fell on the ground. What a waste! Many of the fruit are still unripe and has a very unpleasant sour cum pungent taste in the mouth. We harvested the purplish dark ones and made fruit juice. Bignay is rich in Vitamin C, anti-oxidants and fiber. It's a refreshing summer drink, too! It can also be made into wine and jam. My husband attempted to make jam after this harvest but without the pectin, it remained soggy so it still landed on our blender as a smoothie =). Cheers!

“Indigenous Materials Should Be Utilized While They’re Still Here”

is an article written by Clarito A. Caisip about the other beneficial uses of Bignay.

Whoa! Do you see what I see?

Yup, it is our Breezy trying a hand on tree-climbing... one of my simple joys as a child when I was growing up.

Here's the one that fell to the ground with a loud THUD!

Oh! It's the branch..NOT the boy. LOL!

Macapuno delight!

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 06:15:00 +0000

Look what a friend brought us today! It was harvested from Sison Hill where my brother-in-law keeps a lot with a macapuno variety, rambutan and some mango trees.

A coconut mutant, the macapuno has no water in it but a jelly-like substance fills up the core. It is often used in baking cakes, making ice cream or cooked with sugar syrup for halo-halo treats.

Here are some links where you can find more about this exotic tropical fruit of a palm.

Market Manila: Macapuno

Yummy recipes.

Macapuno Ice Cream - blogger concocts a macapuno ice cream with malibu rum.

Ube - Macapuno Cake rated as a 4-star recipe by all recipes.com.

Macapuno Balls

As for me, I made the easiest stuff I know, I had the kids scrape out the meat and make jam... yummy with pan de sal for breakfast. Try it!

Baguio with GBC sisters

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:13:00 +0000

I brought the 2 girls with me and join some sisters from Grace Baptist Church in a road trip to Baguio for a few days getaway. It proved to be a refreshing time as we strengthen bonds with each other. I also want to commend Ate Rhory who gave a wonderful dinner treat in spite of her absence (she flew to Qatar earlier than we wished). I am adding this entry perchance she would want to see how it went... and yes, we enjoyed the lovely meal, lakwatsa and shopping. We love you, Ate Rhory!

And here are some shots that captured my interest..

The sampayan. A proof that the sun shines and sets wherever on earth one goes... we have seen the same scene in the many third world countries we have visited.

Fields of strawberry and leeks.

Leeks are drying up? Hmmm.

Strawberries with "blankets" =) as a protection from elements.

And they get mosquito nets, too?? teehee!

Not a good season they said, a kilo costs a whopping P150!

And who would forget the ukay-ukay (sorry, I forgot to take photos; I need my two arms to carry the bags) and of course, strawberry TAHO, which is just...

your basic taho (soya)

Some sago and strawberry..

YES, BIG LUSCIOUS STRAWBERRIES!

Mix 'em all heartily together and you get your Strawberry Taho. =)

And it did warm our otherwise coooold, foggy and rainy Baguio adventure.

aaay, pagod!

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:12:00 +0000

(Hohummm, we are exhausted)

After almost a month of unpacking, arranging, rearranging, fixing organizing and reorganizing.. the dust settles in.

No one can show our exhaustion better than our dear Lil Ruffin, who is actually the most resilient of us all and could easily doze off to recharge her energy anywhere it strikes a low. How I wish we could do the same!

Now, that almost everything is set in its place and we have gone through the month of chaos into a more livable state of abode and place of learning for the family, I simply must rest in God and trust in Him that adjusting will be a lot easier for all of us.

May God be praised for precious sleep. Tomorrow, we labor on!

Living among the boxes

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:03:00 +0000

The boxes came and we are now living amidst 79 of assorted sizes and shapes!

VB dozes off after attending her Veritas classes overnight.

Sleep fort!

Downstairs, the reat of us starts opening huge boxes and assembling some furniture.

Breezy gets a had on putting together the collapsible piano bench from our old piano back in Sri Lanka. We sold that one and bought a refurbished one here.

Aaah.... My old couch!

Must get the work done quickly... haven't seen the pots and pans yet and I am tired of cafeteria food.

There still plenty of work to be done here..

family gatherings

noreply@blogger.com (maria) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:09:00 +0000

A wonderful reunion with loved ones we haven't seen for a long time..

Cousins playing the "PIT" game.

Well, this is just about 1/5 of the whole clan. Wish we could have a real grand one someday... God-willing.

We found a place...

noreply@blogger.com (paulnteng) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:04:00 +0000

...and we love it!

We are thankful to those who have helped us look for a place. We prayed for a suitable space for homeschool, library and garden. And God met our needs. Indeed, our God is great!

Dining and kitchen view. The loft serves us our resource room.

It is semi furnished. However, we had a piano delivered the other day. The rest of the furniture here came with the house.

With many of our stuff still arriving, I am hopeful we have a lot of space for all those books and shelves, The loft is just perfect!