A lot of professionals in this country are working overseas. Yes, these professionals teach, build structures, take care of the sick and the elderly as well as take care of other people’s children in foreign countries.

These kababayans are all over the world from New Zealand and Australia, other Asian countries,  to the Middle East to Europe to the Americas while others do New York job search.

As a parent and a teacher, I ask myself: Who are left to teach the children?

Truth is, this is one of the reasons why we homeschool, apart from the fact that we only pay half of how much we would when the children are enrolled in regular school.

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*kababayan = fellow country men

There is a certain stage in a child’s life when the once bubbly, perky and chatterbox child starts to withdraw and talk less.

What has happened to your child you once looked lovingly at you and “worshiped the ground” you walk on? The child became a teenager. Or a tween for those who radically changed overnight.

Yes, they still talk at length especially when they need that new pair of shoes, or they want to try an acne treatment gel a friend is using or maybe just to ask for more spending money.

• You try to reach out, they just look at you.

• You try to talk to them their words seem vague.

• You ask them questions, you get grunts and/or monosyllables. Sometimes you just get a strange look.

So, how can parents communicate with their teenagers?

• Try to “listen” not just with the few words that are being said but especially the words left unsaid.
• Maintain eye contact with them when you talk.
• Be positive and try not to dig up “dirt” and past mistakes. The child is still learning, help her/him recognize life’s lessons and not dwell on the negative effects.
• Get your message straight to the point.
• You were once a teenager so you might say you are a Been-There-Done-That (BTDT) which means you know something about what your child is going through.
• Learn to meet halfway, to compromise.

Remember, teenagers will push you to your limit so it is best to prepare yourself and know how to handle whatever situation will arise.

The love for reading books and spending time playing toys that are not battery-operated and/or plugged seem lost in this young generation because of the presence of tech gadgets and fast-paced television shows (ok then, web TV for some) which most of the time, occupy their spare time.

One of the reasons why we have decided to go cable tv-less is to minimize the TV viewing of the children so they have time to read books and play with their toys.

Yes, my kids  are missing out on some fad animation shows that “everyone was raving about”. So?

I know we miss a lot of great shows too.

The educational shows they can’t watch, we get the DVD.

The animation shows they don’t get to watch can also be watched in the web or again, DVD, at a controlled time, when they have finished their homeschooling tasks.

The breaking news can be watched through the news sites. (My Twitter feed is a wealth of breaking news by the way)

Not all catv channels are good anyway because there are some who just show ads about the latest fitness equipment, the best weight loss products and even the latest kitchen equipment. Yes, and if you call now, you will get a 10% discount

We are learning about animals, we watch one of our collections like the BBC documentaries on animals.

We are learning about the planets, we read “The Universe” book and look at planets taken from satellite images.

So  there, I don’t think they mind not having cable tv which is losing revenue due to web TV so the companies are now thinking of new ways to lure more/new customers.

No can do.

I read this article entitled How Social Gaming is Improving Education.

I agree with most of the points raised in the article. Learning about difficult concepts through interactive means is one of my “tools of the trade” when it comes to homeschooling my two younger children.

We have watched videos of blooming flowers, a spacecraft lifting off, looked at the photos of the different planets and learned about different historical places to visit in the country, among others.

Not only that, my youngest daughter learned to draw difficult figures otherwise not (normally) possible for children her age. Oh, she can now play difficult songs using her recorder whereas a few weeks ago, she was learning three-note songs

Thanks YouTube for having drawing and music teachers who are oh-so-patient.

The son, on the other hand is becoming more savvy with money matters, budgeting and calculating how much he will earn through his Cafe World. We have incorporated budgeting and mentally calculating how much we will pay when we check out items at the supermarket. He loves statistics which is a key factor with some of the game he loves playing with.

Despite these electronically-attached and internet-based learning, they still managed to play with things that are unplugged. Once a week ( i know, this should be more frequent) we de-stress by running.

And yes, we read books too, especially since they are required to do oral book report for the English subject.

Yes, we are running out of books to read as of the moment.

Our youngest daughter is good with the arts.

She was able to learn how to play the recorder by just watching YouTube videos. She can also play the piano by ear. She can also draw well by following instructions from yes, YouTube videos. She has a hard time with mathematical problems though. Oh well..

Musician and/or graphic artist in the making? She says she wants to be a teacher. Ahem.

Our son on the other hand is great with numbers.

He is good with statistics and is quite interested in gathering data on things he find interesting like world population, areas of countries, top speed of exotic cars and even world records like tallest buildings.

This early I am thinking that he can do well in actuarial science, you know that discipline about statistics, economics and risk taking (read: life insurance policies among others).

Yes, I know I am getting ahead of time when I think about this since he always say he wants to be a chef. Ok then…

Our eldest daughter, on the other hand, wants to do something that is connected with designing.

Do you know what your children are good at? Do you know what they dream of becoming when they grow up?

Balanced. Balancing.

Performing show dogs entry here. Sparrow on a tree branch entry here.

My youngest daughter and my husband, balancing themselves as they go down a river embankment to wade in the river water.

Our son went down alone and hubby and our youngest daughter went together. I told them to be careful going down (I had that painful sprain at that time so I wasn’t able to join them).

The kids had a lot of fun of course, never mind if they were cold after wading in. Our son said he wanted to go back there when we visit my parents again, and probably have picnic

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