A former colleague, KT, lost his laptop, 2 mobile phones and cash earlier

Horror of horrors!

One of the things I fear most would be this one especially since I have precious photos and confidential reports regarding my students in my files. I use an encryption tool for the confidential files as well as some photos but still laptop insurance is totally unheard of in this country. Or maybe it is just me

There is this interesting article I read about entitled  “Putting a Private Detective in Your Laptop“. This article lists down several anti-theft software programs for your laptop which can track down activities done in your device: capture emails and sites visited, take screen shots of the user and/or provides information on the user’s current wireless access point.

Wow. It is important too to password protect your device to keep the files safe and hope the passwords won’t be guessed correctly. But if you use any of the anti-theft programs, you have to have an open log in account for “guests” so that the program you installed will get activated.

Furthermore, take care of your devices and do not carry them with you if you don’t really need these.

One of the leading cause of illnesses among the elderly (and those who are young too) is hypertension. Medication is the easy way out of this illness because these are readily available, that is if one can afford to purchase these. The harder part to do in managing the illness are dietary and lifestyle changes.

Some who tend to make light of this illness would even kid that they would rather get sick because they ate scrumptious food rather than be deprived of their favorite fat-laden, full of cholesterol artery clogging meal.

Haller? Ok lang kayo?

My mother-in-law is prone to hypertension and we know that she frequently visits a doctor. Her living away from her children is a cause of worry. I just hope one of my in-laws give her a pulse oximeter so that she can monitor herself without having to travel to go to the doctor when she feels sick.

We can’t really tell if and when hypertension will strike (let’s hope it won’t) so it is best we try to live a healthy and happy lifestyle

Purple bow on a box that had a sweet surprise waiting inside.

Do you want to see what the sweet surprise is? Please click here.

Happy weekend!

photohunt

Classes have started a few weeks ago in this country. For us who used to home school and have no real concept of time pressure and doing “homework”, the past two weeks were really challenging.

I am just thankful that the school my children go to is not a traditional school where the teachers prattle on all day and the students just stare at the walls sit-down-and-pretend-to-listen type of school.

For me, study skills are not just about taking down notes, passively listening to the teachers, memorizing dates, names and definitions, reviewing to get good grades in tests and/or reading books.

For me, study skills involve active listening, discussions, allowing the children to explore their surroundings, interactions between the teachers and the students and/or among students themselves.

My youngest daughter’s notebook had strange penmanship in it: turns out they were asked to choose and ask one of the security guards and one of the teachers to write their names, hometown and language spoken for their Social Studies subject. My son tells me they form groups and have discussions as well as play games as they learn about root words.

Study skills should have the children motivated to understand concepts, rationalizations and discover answers to their questions.

My son tells me how they each got each other’s height in class using a measuring tape for a concept they are learning in Math. continue reading this entry »

Yep, rainy days are here. Much as we have continually made known our not enjoying the scorching summer heat, the refreshing rains are here to stay for several months. Rainy mornings and afternoons are welcome but heavy downpours, floods and the illnesses that go with it are not welcome. At all.

Swimming is one of the most enjoyable activities during summer.

Warning: swim in clean pools and not those in need of aquatic weed control

I admit I miss summer. And why not? We can relieve ourselves and feel cool despite the summer heat through various ways like cool food and ok, swimming but we can’t prevent floods from doing damage.

There are several ways to prepare for incoming (I pray that that wouldn’t be the case) typhoon months and a few of these things are:

• eat healthy and take a lot of vitamin C
• prepare a disaster kit in a sealed container: flashlight, working batteries, candles, matches, canned food, bottled water, medicines, special tools
• be sure to have emergency numbers easily accessible
• make back-up plans with family members, just in case something happens
• inform concerned people about situations in your areas before these become critical

As I go about checking my emails and other stuff posted online, the house feels empty and the silence inside seems to echo. I hear other sounds outside but I do not seem to take much notice.

The kids are on their way to school now are there already at this time since the school service came around 5:30am. Yes, we are homeschoolers no more.

I know I should be thankful for this means less work and stress for me, the teacher mom, but then again, my two younger children have been with me for everyday for almost nine years, save for some time away they spent to stay with the grandparents.

I anticipated asthma attacks since I know the little boy will feel tired, imagine waking up 5am when he is used to waking up around 9am or even later. They get home very, very late since they have to wait for the school service to come back after bringing home the early graders.

We have done everything to keep the little boy‘s asthma attack at bay by not making him tired, wiping perspiration especially from his back, and giving all three of them healthy food. We were even on the lookout for allergy mattress covers.

I worried about how they will cope but it seems they are coping rather well. They say they miss being home and they miss me but they have found joy in meeting new friends, learning from other teachers beside me (hmph, LOL). They anticipate participating in clubs, performing onstage and riding a bus for field trips. In short, they just like going to school, “kahit nakakapagod” meaning, “it is tiring”. I really hope the enthusiasm will be like this till the end of the school year and I have a feeling that it will.

They didn’t have to adjust a lot since they have been “going” to their new school for years, to watch big sister perform in school programs or whenever we have to go there for an appointment.

I think I am the one having separation anxiety and not them