TFC Shows

*from ABS-CBN interactive site

My youngest daughter informed me that her secondary friend Erwina subscribed to TFC to watch Jericho Rosales in Pangarap na Bituin. It could be so amusing to hear it considering that Erwina is a Malay girl (who is sort of obsessed with everything Filipino) and TFC has no subtitles. How could she understand the language?



But on second thought, we should be proud, right? Imagine, a foreigner is supporting TFC here. So, it is confirmed, TFC is being watched not only by Filipinos but also by locals. ( though I really don't know how many Erwinas are there.)



My daughter who is working in an MNC here has a few Filipino colleagues too who are high flyers. Whenever they have time to talk, they avoid politics, "masakit lang sa ulo..", they reason. And what do they enjoy talking? TFC programs of course.



Here at home, my family is really a TFC fanatic. Not only does it makes us closer to the Philippines, it also makes our family closer. Our dinner time everyday are more enjoyable whenever we talk about those shows or whenever my husband imitate some expressions we heard from the show. We really laugh out loud whenever he'll say that he is more handsome and can act better than that Marudo (Zanjoe Marudo).



So it is obvious, we are really watching Kokey. We really enjoy the show. We really feel we are children experiencing those light moments of simple happiness.



So if you want to know more about that Kokey, subscribe to TFC now. Don't feel you are baduy. There is no word baduy when you are overseas, believe me....

(I can only watch Boy&Kris whenever I am on MC or on leave because it is being shown only in the mornings. If only it will be aired in the evenings, my enjoyment will be more complete.)

Tighter controls....

My daughter showed me this article from Digital Life of The Straits Times. This is an important information for those who are planning to travel to US. So I am posting the article here.

Tighter controls for travel to US

The United States is moving to tighten immigration and customs controls, which it says are vital to keep terrorists at bay six years after the Sept 11 attacks.

Foreign travellers will need to provide 10 digital fingerprints on arrival instead of two currently, and their personal data will be trransmitted to the US before their plane takes off. This will be implemented from November.

Ten US airportts will initially have the capability to collect the 10 prints before all ports of entry are covered by the plan by the end of next year.

All US embassies and other posts issuing visas to visitors will, by the end of this year, be able to collect the 10 prints for verification at the points of entry.-AFP

My grandkids

Here are my three grandkids.

In a few more days we will be with them.

And that will be the best.

Getting fewer....

I visited the technorati site just last night. I found out that there are only a few blog sites that link to my site now. My reaction? The same as before when I found out that a few erased mine from their links. Of course I am affected. But what should I do? I also never did my part. Though I visited blog sites, I never ever dared to write any comments. I am aware that in order for me to be in their blogroll, I should visit and comment. That's the way it should be. Also, I neglected to update my links.

When I started blogging, I was very keen to visit and comment. Then all of a sudden, I stopped commenting. My buzzy bee friend made me a coward. Who then is she in my life? Crazy me...

Anyway, I also admit I got no time too. I was busy with my course. Now that I am free. I can visit sites again and make friends. I hope so.

And so what if I only have a few links. It was not my main goal to be visited. My main goal is to write about anything that interests me.

So I will still continue blogging, even though only a few visits my site.

Longer days...

Nowadays, I can feel so obviously that the days are getting longer and longer. I am always tempted to count the days and it made me weepy. My husband told me to concentrate on what I should do. But I am also getting nervous of the outcomes.
Ahh, I should think positive everytime. And I should be happy for even though the days may be getting longer, I know for a fact that my desire will be realized soon. That will be the best of everything.

My personal reflection on my research project

Reaction
I was amazed of the power of the printed words since young. As my parents surrounded my young life with lots of storybooks, I became so interested in reading stories which developed an adult reader in me. But in my young mind then, how I wished that my own mother read those stories for me. I was sure that there would be positive outcomes on me and a sense of unexplained joy I would felt if only my own mother did oral storytelling with me. That is why; I know how it felt for a child to wish that his own parent read stories for him orally. I know the longing. I know the feeling.

So when given the chance to do a research, parent involvement in oral storytelling was the first idea that came to my mind. I became keen to prove that there would be positive outcomes for parent involvement. It took me a while to understand that in order for me to prove that, I should be specific on what outcomes I wanted to assess.

Having studied the specific outcomes I wanted to measure, I then embarked on the research project. Though I was enthusiastic, I found along the way that it was not that easy doing the project. I started with the survey for parents. I found some parents to be cooperative, but others took them longer to return the survey forms. Looking for the appropriate books to use for intervention was also a difficult task. Then it hit me hard. How could I provide storytelling kits to my ten participating parents? Ahh, I got no choice but to photocopy the two books I selected in 10 copies each. But my course mates questioned the copyright issue. How dare them to question me when I felt so stressed already? Upon reflection, I was thankful that they brought out that issue for I was able to make the necessary action by providing/pasting notes that they are only meant for the research and not for monetary gain. To make it short I photocopied in colour those pictures for my picture cards and laminated all of them. Imagine, I laminated 200 picture cards, 200 name cards and 200 phrase cards for the storytelling kits. Though stressed and tired, it made me happy for I was able to provide nice materials for the parents.

The development of test format for Vocabulary and Word Recognition measuring expressive and receptive skills on those areas was also taxing. With my previous knowledge of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, I was able to decide on how to go on with the test format. Marie M. Clay’s Observation of Early Literacy was also an inspiration for me in the design of the test format. After a lot of revisions, I finally came to a final test format.

I also developed the survey checklist in gauging parent involvement in oral storytelling and the evaluation checklist for the actual intervention. Though I included items that may not be relevant at the moment, I am confident that the data gathered would be helpful in future research.

Over-all, I am happy that I did this research for I have proven that there is no hardship that could not be overcome. I am also happy that through this research I was able to actually enhance the relevance of parent involvement in oral storytelling. The most that makes me happy is the fact that I became instrumental in forging the bond between parents and children through this experimentation.

Learning
I learnt that parent involvement in oral storytelling can increase scores in word recognition and vocabulary acquisition and was made stronger by the findings of my research. That is why in the future, I will always stress the value of oral storytelling to parents. I will always be available for them in helping them how to be more involved with their children. I can even suggest some techniques on oral storytelling and provide opportunities for parents to be more involved in storytelling.

In the future, I can also conduct a survey or research on the whole centre regarding this topic. I can do a similar research using bigger subjects/participants. I can also use the data I gathered to further some research.

One foremost thing I want to do in the coming future is to relay to parents the findings of my study. I can tell the parents of each child the result of the test administered. In this way, I can convince parents more on the significance of their involvement in oral storytelling to their children’s vocabulary acquisition and word recognition. When they are convinced, surely, they will continue to provide oral storytelling sessions to their children. Their children surely. will grow up to be adult readers and storytellers too in the coming future.

Congratulations...

This is my second daughter. She graduated from RMIT here in SIM Campus.

We are of course so proud of her.

She is currently working at PriceWater House Coopers.

We wish her the best.

On saying goodbye...

I already reiterated that I wanted a happy goodbye. But still people made it so hard for me. I know I should be proud that they like me, or in other words, they like my "working person." I appreciate that my "works" are being recognised. That makes me happy.

But surely, the most that can make me happy are my grandkids. And so I have to say good bye. Good bye friends, good bye all. Please make my last days happy. Please.....

The Ultimate Bourne

Matt Damon's movie opened in cinemas here in Singapore last 16th of August. It was only last Saturday when we were able to watched it at Causeway Point. Well, it was a fast paced movie and compared to the first two, the Bourne Identity and the Bourne Supremacy, it made me glued to the screen from beginning to end. Yeah, I was not able to finished eating my small bag of popcorn. meaning, I enjoyed the movie.

The movie magazine First, has this ads: Remember everything. Forgive nothing. Yeah, how can Matt Damon forgive those people who made him Jason Bourne when in reality he was David Webb?

Hmm... For me, I can also remember everything. And that made me so negative these past few days. I can't forget. I can't forgive.

I just hope that someday, I can forgive and forget.......

Red and White

Yesterday, we had our centre celebration for National Day. The teachers and all the children wore red and white as they are the colours of Singapore. We celebrated through song and dance. We also had our children's quiz and games. Over-all, I enjoyed the celebration with the children. The part where all the children sang with gusto is the one I liked the most. It is really a nice feeling when you hear children sing "one people, one nation, one Singapore".

Okay, I am not a Singaporean, but I am happy to be a part in inculcating love for own country to the children under my care.

So, to my adopted country, Happy Birthday!!!!