My lovely family
Lynn, my eldest, graduated from the Level 2 Elementary program of The Abba’s Orchard School, and so she will now be part of the program that I teach in, the Erdkinder (high school). Since The Abba’s Orchard is a smaller school, all the graduating students delivered a speech.
Here’s Lynn’s. I may be (very) biased, but I loved her poise and her well-measured delivery. She’s a natural.
Seriously, where has the time gone? Wasn’t it just yesterday when she moved up from the same school’s Casa (preschool) program?
My gosh, she’s now gonna be in high school? (Well, grade 7, since this school year will be the first K+12 school year in the Philippines. I dunno if we’re still gonna call it grade 7 or it’s officially 1st year high school)
Many of you have probably read my blog about her topping the entrance exam among the CDO graduates, and I hope her success continues as she tackles the very tough Erdkinder program.
Speaking of moving up from the Casa program, my youngest son, Happy, did just that. Now I really feel old, my little baby boy will now be in Elementary!
Every casa moving up student also did a speech (and they were adorable speeches!) Here’s Happy’s, and may I add that he’s so chill when he did his speech, even putting his hands in his pockets halfway through. What was that??
Some of my former students in attendance said, “That was sooooo Mr. Carlo!” Really? Well, I guess it’s another example of Children See, Children Do.
Casa moving up students sing, "1st grade, 1st grade" to the tune of "New York, New York."
As I often do on this site, I put in my reflections towards the end of the blog…and for this post, that part is right now. Here goes.
• The kiddos grow up so fast! A mentor of mine, who is a great parenting speaker, often says that our window to influence them is so limited. Graduation ceremonies have a knack of making me realize how small that window really is. Lynn is rapidly becoming more woman than girl, a woman with a mind of her own and a psyche already formed. Was I able to sufficiently mentor her and, through my own behavior, model what is right? Time is running out.
• The Montessori method has a knack of developing all-around excellent children. My kids, many of their classmates, and a great percentage of the teenagers that we graduate from the high school seem to “have it all” so to speak. They speak well, have great social skills, are excel in academics, excel in sports, have higher-order thinking skills, are good masters of their time, and show great self-confidence. I remember more than one transferee being a bit anxious because “all my classmates are so good.”
• Although Abba’s kids are not known to experiment with early relationships, I’m rapidly approaching the phase that every father dreads. It doesn’t help that she’s also quite pretty, and she already is getting attention from some of the boys (Grrrrr!). I’m glad the school has made it a point to give boy-girl relationship wisdom to students, but I know the next several years (like, until she’s around 40) will not be good ones for this overprotective dad.
• Happy is quite impulsive, which is something his older sisters were not. It’s the dark side of being the off-the-charts sanguine that he is. I know, of the three, he’s the one I have to put the brakes on the most, and I know that I’m gonna have to be quite firm at times. Yet another thing I’m looking forward to as a parent. *sigh*
Anyway, it’s now summer vacation here in the Philippines. I hope you like my reflections on two of my children graduating in the school year that has just ended. Check out my blog entry on the summer being a great time to teach your kids to do chores. Till my next post, God bless you all. (Oh, and comments are welcome)