a multiple intelligence summer + giveaway

Summer was a vacation from school but it wasn't a vacation from learning for me and my daughter.

I see summer as a way for her to learn more about life, herself, history, practical learning, sports, interaction and many more.

I'm not really the preachy type of parent but I'd just like to share with you my methods because from experience, I find that it really helped my daughter come out of her shell.

My daughter used to be extremely timid to the point that it was already affecting her life and preventing her from taking advantage of new opportunities.

She didn't have enough confidence in herself. I knew that I had to try and figure out why she felt that way and do something about it.

After discussing it with my husband, we figured that the best way to tackle  her feelings of inadequacy was to equip her with knowledge and various skills to help her realize and improve her self-worth.

We stopped focusing too much on school and her grade point average. Instead, we enrolled her in various extracurricular activities and sports like swimming, football and volleyball.

We also tried our best to expose her to as many new experiences and cultures as we could.

The result was short of a miracle. Almost overnight, we witnessed her shed her layers little by little.

She wasn't afraid to strike up a conversation with new acquaintances anymore or assert her beliefs and wants (She used to say okay to everything even if we knew her feelings were the opposite). She also began to sing and dance without a care in the wind plus her grades and performance in school improved significantly despite us not pushing her as much as we used to.

She bloomed into a confident young lady in a span of a year and we couldn't be happier.

So as not to break her momentum, we made it a point to carry things over during the summer to prepare her even more for school year 2015 (while trying our best to still make it feel natural and fun☺).

We dedicated the first 2 months to travel.

During that period,we made sure to include historical and educational places in our itinerary so she can learn more about art, Philippine history and culture via experience.

On free days, we would teach her how to swim and do other sports.

The key was to prevent her from having as little idle time as possible. 

It was really entertaining to watch her play tour guide to our friends during a trip to BenCab museum. I didn't realize how much she absorbed during our previous visit but I later found out that she absorbed all the stories I relayed to her about the different paintings and passed it on to them. Her favorite topic was Sabel (BenCab's favorite muse).

 

Towards the latter end of summer, we began to structurize our teaching style a bit more to wean her slowly back into the classroom atmosphere.

We purchased some learning books and spent a few minutes completing activities daily.
I would also let her do the ordering and paying each time we had merienda outside to help her learn the value of money and practice adding and subtracting without pen and paper.

She really enjoys it especially when baristas give her special on the house treats for being a cute and independent kid (hehe).

And last but definite not the least, I really made it a point to encourage her to read for leisure over the summer. Less iPad and TV, more books.

We spent countless days in bookstores. I would let her browse as long as she wanted til she found the perfect book to take home with her.

These are a few of her favorites:

Now that school's back, we're both super confident about her performance because of the preparations we did over the summer.

She's not worried about learning division or history or having new classmates because she already knows what to expect and now she can approach learning with confidence.

How about you? 

Myself, alongside Progress Pre-School GOLD  believe that every child is inherently bright and brimming with intelligence.

Share a photo of your child’s latest

achievement as a comment on this

Facebook post for a chance to win prizes

from PPSG!

SAMPLE ENTRY:

"Despite being years younger, my daughter managed to be an excellent and reliable tour guide to my friends!"

see poster for more details. good luck! 

☺

10 winners will be chosen!