Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is NOT intended as medical advice.  Please consult with a licensed medical professional if you have any questions or concerns related to your baby's health situation.

Chesska, 3.7,  barely gets sick, but when she is ill, it will definitely stay longer and even get worse if not attended immediately.

Last week, Monday, she was feverish associated with a nasty cough. She also felt like vomiting every time I gave her medicine. So I decided to take her for a free medical check-up near our village sponsored by a certain congregation which is conducted every Tuesday.

Since heaps of people, including us,  were waiting for our turns to be checked, and the fact that it was free, the doctor was rushing checking each patient so she could accommodate everyone. When my turn came, she interviewed us about how the fever and cough started. Then hurriedly patted her stethoscope towards Chesska's chest and back but said nothing.  But she advised for urinalysis and cbc, which was performed right away in the mobile lab in front the checking venue (I doubt the facilities are clean).

A few minutes later, we got the result and went back to the doctor for the final analysis. She told me, Chesska had urinary tract infection and her cbc showed fine except that her hemoglobin's score was below the normal level. In other words, Chesska was anemic. I silently asked myself, how come she got UTI, I didn't even give her junk foods, nor I let her sip even a little amount of soft drink. To give her the benefit of the doubt, I still followed her prescriptions (after all she's a doctor).

For her UTI along with her cough, she prescribed an antibiotic, Co-Amoxiclav to be taken twice a day, 7.5 ml, for 7 days and Salbutamol Guifenesin, thrice a day, 5 ml,  for 7 days.




However, after taking the prescribed medicines plus the paracetamol I gave her, and on Wednesday early dawn until the sun shone, I noticed that her fever didn't go away. Her cough was getting nastier.  Her stomach also got upset that she had to poop several times (around 3-4) for that day. It bothered me even more. My husband and I again decided to repeat the laboratory: urinalysis, cbc, and fecalysis in the hospital that we used to consult every time Chesska got health problems. It is approximately 10-15 minutes away from our house. I was confident that the results were more reliable than the previous one because the examination lasted for about an hour (at least it was examined thoroughly....)

We brought the results to the attending physician (resident doctor) since the pedia was no longer around then (it was already 8:00 p.m). Both urinalysis and cbc were read okay, contrary to the previous results. Meaning Chesska was cleared from UTI and she's not anemic.  But we came to the worst part, that Chesska had ameoba. Again, I initially doubted the result. I stubbornly insisted that it might be only the side effect of antibiotic since Chesska suffered from frequent pooping five months ago after taking the same medicine. But the attending physician strongly emphasized that the results were correct (pointing on the paper).


She prescribed a Metronidazole for amoeba to be taken 3 times a day, 7ml,  for one week.


But that time, I was so concerned about Chesska's cough, not diarrhea or whatsoever. Because her cough was pretty bad.  I finally requested the doctor to check Chesska with her stethoscope. According to her, she heard no phlegm, but I was half-convinced. She advised me to continue the antibiotic and Salbutamol given to her by the first doctor.

While I continued giving the meds, Chesska's cough remained hard, fever persisted. On the following day, Thursday, I went to Chesska's pedia, Dr. Sweet,  asking for another opinion. She was actually Chesska's pedia ever since.  What I liked about having an appointment with your pedia was that you could discuss things thoroughly. Then she let Chesska lie down on mini-bed and checked her chest with a stethoscope, listening carefully if there were phlegms. She noticed some. Then she had her mouth open, inspecting the throat thoroughly, and gently pressed her tummy. I also handed her the lab results from the previous day, and she saw no indication of UTI shown from the urinalysis, but she confirmed Chesska had amoeba. She told me to continue the med for amoeba, which is the Metronidazole, but she increased the dosage, from 7.5ml to 9ml for 10 days. Plus she shifted the antibiotic from Co-Amoxiclav to Cefixime, to be administered twice a day, 3ml, for 10 days.


Today is our 6th day of medication, and I can see tremendous improvement in her health. I seldom heard her cough at night, unlike in the past few days, it was quite bothersome. I did not also see her poop today, and I hope she will continue to improve until the next few days.

Lesson Learned:

I wish I had gone to my pedia right away when the first symptoms occurred so I did not waste my time and money. It doesn't mean I don't trust the first check-up, it's because my pedia knew well Chesska in terms of her health from the very start, and we have consulted to her several times for years.

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I used to teach Math in grades 5-6, so I am not adept on the topic I am going to tackle about, Letter Sounds. But recently, I borrowed a Reading book from our neighbor whose child is in the preschool right now.  This book is in addition to my teaching resources to guide me teach my 3.5-year-old girl. As I went over it, I came to know that letter sounds should be taught first before letter names. Otherwise, children will be confused the moment you teach reading. I wish I had known this when Chesska was still younger. But since she knew letter names first, so be it!

So in the last week, we have been doing a lot of activities.  One of them is identifying the sound that each letter makes because it is very important in teaching reading.  According to studies, it doesn't matter if you teach children letters in particular order. But in my case, I still started with "A" (we were used to it since Kinder, right? )While I am eager to teach my child about Reading, I can't push this through because she's not knowledgeable enough about letter sounds. In fact, I created an Alphabet wall in our room, which I am going to share with you in a separate post, to review her about sounds anytime she's in the mood.

Since I started with the letter A, here are some tips how I teach the "A" sound. 

The first step was, I talked about what the letter A sounds like. At first, she was not paying attention, so I had to sing the Phonics song that she was so fond of. Finally, I got her to follow me singing.  I also discussed words that start with letter A,  still in tune of the same music - Aaaaaa Apple, Aaaaaa Ant, Aaaaa Axe. You would've figured now how silly I was (hehe). But that's one way to encourage children to learn. By the way, check out the phonics song here. 

The second thing we did was ART. I cut out an alligator mouth that looks like A. Since Chesska loves hands-on activities, I let her glue onto bond paper the alligator mouth and other parts such as eyes and teeth. I also cut out pictures that begin with the letter A and asked her to paste them below the glued picture. I compiled her first craft into a folder and will review it with her anytime.



I also prepared more activities to reinforce the concept learned. On this activity, I had her name each picture and put the clothespin on the picture that begins with the letter A. Motor skills have been incorporated as well.


As much as Chesska loves hands-on activities, she still dislikes tracing. I didn't force her when she seemed uninterested. But on this day, I got her to trace the letters (Yay!). You can print the worksheets here. 



How about you? How do you teach letter sounds?

By the way, let me share you the curriculum I have been using for weeks now. This Ebook contains hands-on, engaging, and fun activities that your kids will surely love. Click here to learn more.

It's hard to believe I'm a Math teacher once again. How's your week by the way?

In the last week, I've taught my child fine motor skills almost everyday.  If you haven't had the chance to read my previous post , check it out here. You see how important fine motor skills are to get your child ready for writing.

Since I wanted to strengthen Chesska's fine motor skills, I gave her more activities and at the same time incorporated Number Concepts on it . But before anything else, let me share you what are the learning competencies preschoolers must know about Number Concepts before they enter Kindergarten. I' m unsure whether these competencies are aligned with DepEd's (I guess not) since I just followed what's in the Ebook (US curriculum) that I bought two weeks ago .

Via: Preschool Journey by Angela Thayer

a. Count to 20
b. Count Objects With Meaning to 10 (matching objects to a corresponding number)
c. Match Numerals
d. Identify numerals 0-10 by name.

Though Chesska has prior knowledge and skills on counting and identifying numerals from 1-20 (in fact she's super advanced na!) by letting her watch videos and nursery rhymes related to numbers starting age one,  I still provide her activities to reinforce concepts already learned.

This week, I focused more on counting objects with meaning . Aside from the Ebook, I also came across tons of activities online using Montessori approach and thought of utilizing some of them in our homeschooling to keep Chesska busy and at the same time make learning fun.

Take a look of these activities that may help you teach your child about counting.

I really admired this idea. I used to think that clothespin is only for clothes , but it's super useful specially if a child can't express answers yet in writing.  On this activity, I have her count the Frozen, Nemo, and Dinosaur characters since she's a big fan of them. Then she placed a clothespin on the correct number . Motor skills have been integrated as well.

Idea from: Preschool Journey by Angela Thayer

One way to make the child grasp the concepts more easily is through manipulatives. I used computation box made of wood which I bought at the mall for 145.  I have her identify the number laid on the table and ask her how many sticks should be placed to that number . As soon as she masters this concept, I may start introducing basic addition, then subtraction.




Every time I bring out a new activity, Chesska always gets excited. The concept is similar above but in another variation. Since Chesska loves stickers as much as she loves stars, and when I first found this idea online, I immediately used it. You can download stickers  here. 

Idea from: Preschool Journey by Angela Thayer

Last but not the least, Number Match activity. Chesska is averse to writing but loves matching-type test.  We'll frequently do this not only to enrich the concept learned but also to practice her fine motor skills like writing.


I hope you find this post helpful and feel free to leave your comments below.


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Hello everyone! How's your weekend?

After going over the enrichment books I bought a couple weeks ago, I realized that most activities involved require handwriting. Since Chesska has aversion to writing just like any other kids her age, it made me decide not to follow through everything from the Ebook (a Montessori-approached curriculum) that I purchased online.

Last week, I asked my child to trace standing and sleeping lines, but out of 20 she only made 3. Then she refused to continue tracing no matter how I convince her. But I didn't force her. I am child-focused, not subject-focused. But in order to keep her motivated and interested in our homeschooling, I have to change gear, means I need to vary my strategies.  Instead of following the curriculum sequentially, I just picked several activities there that I believe would help develop her fine motor skills. I also borrowed some ideas online which I modified a bit.

Now What are Fine Motor Skills? 

Are you aware that children need to develop first their fine motor skills before they can do writing? These skills are attained when children learn to use their small muscles such as muscles in the fingers to perform small tasks such as lacing, grasping, buttoning, stringing beads, etc. When these skills are fully developed, chances are,  children will have a better pencil grip and hand control when writing.  So mommies, don't get mad or label your child right away lazy when he refuses to write, he might just need to strengthen his fine motor skills.

Today, I am going to share with you what my child did for the entire week involving fine motor activities and will extend these activities until next week if needed. Of course, I couldn't have done this without my husband's help.

Solving Puzzles

Taking the pieces apart and putting them back together again are great ways to use muscles in the hands.






STRINGING BEADS

Of all the activities this week, she finds stringing beads interesting and fun. Concentration and patience have been inculcated on this activity.




MARBLES AND TONG

She picks up marbles and transfers them into a toy pan.  She uses her fine motor muscles to squeeze tong.



SCISSOR PRACTICE

I thought she could do it without a hitch. I just learned that scissor practice is also a foundation of writing. At first, I drew a triangle on cartolina and had her follow it. But I noticed she had difficulty holding the scissor, much less cutting the triangle. But we'll frequently practice scissor skill.


LACING

I made a butterfly out of cartolina and punched holes around it. She laced the yarn through each hole.



OF COURSE, BUILDING BLOCKS


SCOOPING BEANS

She scoops the beans and places them in another plastic container. I let her feel the beans and introduce sensory attributes such as smooth and hard.



That is all for today and thank you for reading!

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These books contain plenty of activities that involve matching, coloring, identifying, learning vocabulary, and counting.





From now on, I am going to share our homeschooling journey. I will try to update my blog as often as possible for more homeschooling ideas and tips. Thank you for reading moms.

P.S. Here are our sample activities this week and previous week. 

Counting: Fill the numbered eggs with marbles. 



Writing Patterns




Lacing: It develops fine motor skills (small muscles in the fingers to coordinate).



Of course her favorite, solving a jigsaw puzzle. 




Sorting out shapes and colors.