Raising Boys

Dylan finishes third grade March 31, 2008

Two years ago, it was unthinkable he’d ever go down from first to fourth. But he did, in second grade. A year ago, we had worked hard to improve his standing in class. Apparently, not hard enough. Dylan finishes third grade at seventh place in his class of 33. He still gets a medal, though.

The Science and Technology Education Center (Stec) awards medals to all those in the top 10 of the class. That’s probably because it’s a close fight and the differences in the grade averages are only a few points or less than a point in some cases.

It would a lie to say that I’m not disappointed. I think though that I’ve understood enough to accept that my son did his best and if he’s still seventh–despite high scores in the periodical exams and quizzes for most subjects–then he’ll never be first despite his achievements and efforts in class. Those are really my last words on the subject, despite the temptation to say more. From now on, I’m putting emphasis on what he’s learning and not on how he’s graded in school.

Dylan finishes third grade also with these awards: High in Naturalist Intelligence (Stec’s equivalent of the science award) and High in Mathematical/Logical Intelligence (or a math award).

The recognition rites is scheduled for tomorrow.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows July 22, 2007

We got our copy of the seventh Harry Potter book Saturday afternoon and I read well into the night and morning (of Sunday), too, by the way.

I finally finished it this morning, despite my 4-year-old son’s admonitions for me to “stop studying (which he equates with reading)”, and overall I think it is a fitting end to JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

The controversial spoilers that came out a day or two before the book’s simultaneous release, which I read by the way (I guess I’m not that of a fanatic), have it all wrong. The photo of the book cover and the titles of the chapters were correct but they couldn’t have been more wrong about the gist of the story.

Sea sojourn April 9, 2007

Somewhere between one island and the next, I got stung by a jellyfish. I felt something like a thread wrap itself around my left leg like an anklet before a confusing mix of pain and itchiness hit me. It was a horrible sensation.

I hobbled to the motorized outrigger boat that we rented for our island-hopping adventure off the seas of Mactan in Cebu, and one of the boatmen suggested that I put ice on it. It worked and, thankfully, no one else got stung.

The boat was anchored a few meters away from Sulpa, an island so small you can go around it in less than 20 minutes.

I was on my way to the islet from the boat docked several meters away when the stinging happened; the children in our party were already brought there to swim and play in the shallows.
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Summer learning for Dylan April 4, 2007

After some urging from me, my son Dylan agreed to set aside a fraction of his time during the summer break to improve his handwriting.

Since I have for so long wanted to teach him how to write but wasn’t quite able to find the time, I’ve decided to hit two, no three, birds with one stone by having him write about something that interests him on his notebook and type and save this in our PC afterwards.

This way, he’ll improve his handwriting, learn how to write, and familiarize himself with some computer applications.

We’re starting with the basics in writing and I told him to think about the five Ws (who, what, why, when, where) and one H (how) of his chosen topic and try to answer these questions in his composition.

He chose to write about his family and below is the product of his first writing assignment. He has written about two other topics since this one. Later on, we will be improving his writing outputs and I will also be posting those here.

My Family

My family is small. There are four people in it. My mother, father, brother, and I make up our family. My mother’s name is Marlen D. Limpag, she’s a writer. My father is Max Sherwin T. Limpag, he’s a writer. I have a little brother who is four years old. His name is Lennon and he makes me frustrated and angry most of the time. But I love him because he is my brother. My name is Max Dylan and I am eight years old. I would like to be a scientist because I would like to study space and animals of all kinds. I was named after my father and my father’s favorite musician.

That math contest again February 12, 2007

My 8-year-old son Dylan hates Math contests or he hates the intense reviews that accompany them and complains at how he has the bad luck of again being chosen to represent the second grade in the competition.

The dislike probably stems from that time in first grade when he was among three pupils picked as contestants for the Math Teachers Association of the Philippines (MTAP) contest and had to cram for the elimination exams.

They reviewed like crazy for two days–from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., it was enough to make a 7-year-old cry. One of the contestants, not my son, did cry, probably because he looked out the window while solving around a hundred review problems and saw that it was getting very dark.
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Lennon’s transformation February 7, 2007

I’m really getting the hang of raising my young son and what better way to start writing again in this blog than with an update on our improving relationship.

Lennon, 4, has shed off his tantrum ways, and turned into this amiable and likable kid who seeks to please me and his dad and by extension his brother. The transformation is such a complete turnaround, it seems to defy explanation.

It was not even four months ago when he’d cry, scream, and kick, pinch, hit anyone he could lay his hands on just to get his way.

Between now and then, my son has turned into this friendly kid who says hello to and smiles at everyone in the neighborhood.