We chanced upon the Colors of Autism Spectrum Paintings and Photographs exhibit at the SM North EDSA’s The Block Saturday night.

We seldom venture to this mall nowadays so I was so happy to be able to see the exhibited works of children with autism.

Here are some of the photos that I quickly took. My son was starting to have a tantrum and didn’t want to stay on that floor because he wanted to eat already. This is going to be a separate post.

Colors of Autism Spectrum, August 29 – 31, 2008, The Block, SMNE

Some of the photos and news articles in the exhibit.

Being a participant in one two three four weekly photo memes, I have seen many photos of wonderful places and things around the world.

I have marveled at classic as well as modern architectural structures, admired flora and fauna, smiled at the smiling faces of children from different races and so much more.

If there is one thing that I have enjoyed looking at are photos of doors. Yes, doors, like iMom‘s family business.

Doors from Europe are the ones I particularly enjoy looking. These doors have characters, in my opinion.

I noticed that i do not have lots of door photos in my files. I have a few of our front door with a door knob that looks like something made by Schlage, with its Christmas trimmings. I also have a few photos of hubby’s family home, and again like our door, with Christmas trimmings.

So two weeks ago when we went to have our own family field trip with our two homeschooling kids and one non-homeschooling daughter, I decided to take notice of doors. And take photos too.

Here are three photos I want to share:

Details on one of the Manila Cathedral’s massive doors.

Konsulat Generalny Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej

Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel in Fort Santiago

Thanks Mitch for this award, the Kind Blogger Award.

Whatever this Kind Blogger Award means, I am sure this is special.

Kind? Hmmm… Let me count the ways.

Please do not misinterpret that I am not. Kind, that is. I even blogged about the World Kindness Day almost two years ago when i was new at blogging.

I mean, I am kind to people depending upon the circumstances. You need help finding professionals who can help you children who has developmental problems? I would be kind to you.

You need a shoulder to cry on? I am here.

A sounding board who will listen to your woes? I am still here.

But if you have reached your credit card limit, well, that is another story, I may not be able to help you get out of that blind spot

Saturday, participants posts photos based on a theme. The theme for this Saturday is BEAUTIFUL. I have posted so many beautiful photos, (ahem ahem, of course, these are mine so the photos are beautiful for me) here in some of my latest PH entries: colorful, bright, water, and any photo.

For me, nothing beats the beauty of nature.

Whether at the beach,

or the mountains

or flowers

And even a leaf.

Nature has so much to offer so we should all do our best to take care of it.

I wish everyone a beautiful weekend and remember, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

photohunt

Sit.

One of the first things children need to do before they are ready to do some learning.

Sit.

One of the precursors in determining the attention span of a child.

Of course,not because a child is sitting down does not mean that the child is ready to learn.

For children with language processing problems, this is how to tell them to sit down. Not “Come sit here on the red chair.” or “I need you to sit now so we can start our lesson.” Chances are they will not be able to grasp if the message was about coming, sitting, the red chair, the starting, the lesson.

Why do children need to learn how to sit?

They sit when they eat. They sit when they do table top activities. They sit when they need to have a haircut. They sit in church. They sit when they are traveling. They sit when they wait for their turn at the doctor’ clinic. They sit when they watch tv and play with their computer games.

On the other hand, sitting does not mean that there is learning happening. There are those who just sit and not squirm but are not really learning anything.

Some children learn better when they are on the move.

Those schools that have the “Sit-down-and-listen-to-the-teacher” method should be avoided, if there are other alternative school. Children are active individuals and they won’t sit still for a long time. It is important to alternate both movements and table-top activities for them.

Click these Symptoms of ADHD and What to do if you Suspect Your Child has a Learning Disability?

This article, A Letter to My Grandmother by Dale S. Brown describes what she went through when she was growing up.

Another wonderful read: Beware the Sitting Trap.

Last night when we gassed up at a nearby gasoline station, my son saw a poster announcing the Singapore Night Race happening on September 26, 2008.

He asked is we can go to Singapore and watch the race.

Hubby said we can’t because the tickets are very expensive.

How expensive?

Just the walkabout price is the same as the plane fare itself, S$168 or PhP5,400+.

Those who will watch in the grandstands have tickets that range from S$248 – S$1388 or PhP 8,000 – PhP 44834.60. Whew.

We listened to him explain that it is going to be a wonderful race because it is the fist time Formula 1 will have a night race. He also further said that what will add to the excitement would be seeing the glow of the brakes on the wheels which can’t be seen during seen during daytime races.

I suddenly popped up an idea. “What if we get the inexpensive flight tickets to Singapore and go there during the week when the races are due?”

Hubby answered me back, “And where would you watch the races?”

I answered back, “From the hotel windows, like what they do at Monaco.” In the Monaco Grand Prix, people watch from the hotel balconies. Some even watch from the deck of their luxurious yachts.

So I started to wonder what else can be seen from hotel balconies like maybe Las vegas hotels where one can savor the sights and sounds of this vibrant place.

Not to go somewhere far, the view of the Manila Bay sunsets from those building along Roxas Blvd. must be fascinating too.

Back to the Singapore Grand Prix topic, just when this event is just so near, I really wish my boys would be able to watch a race like this, I am sure it is going to be a dream come true for them. On that note, I think I need to get some very good earplugs for my son because he does not enjoy the sound of revving engines