Everyday Adventures: September 2016

homeschooling

From Roots to Wings: Philippine Homeschool Conference 2016

By Mommy Donna and Kib - September 26, 2016

0 Comments

Nutri-10 Plus

How Do You Keep Your Child Healthy?

By Mommy Donna and Kib - September 23, 2016

0 Comments

Gabay Guro

9th Gabay Guro's Teacher Tribute: Building the Nation One Teacher at a Time

By Mommy Donna and Kib - September 21, 2016

I am not sure if I have already mentioned on my previous blogs, but I am a teacher by profession. Before I became a teacher, I was an HR practitioner. I attended graduate school and took up Master of Arts in Childhood Education in 2001 and I graduated in 2005. In between those years, I also had short teaching stints. I also acquired my professional teaching license in 2002. Presently, I am no longer teaching in a regular school but I'm teaching English to foreigners for the past ten years.

#tbt During my teaching stint at Greenhills way back 2003. I had so much fun then, teaching toddlers ABC and 123. While I am no longer teaching in a regular school, I am still a teacher-mommy to my homeschooled son and to my online ESL students. October is World Teachers Month, and @pldtgabayguro would like to honor our beloved teachers by giving them a tribute this coming Sunday, September 25th, at MOA Arena. #salamatteacher #teacherfest2016 #pldtgabayguro #proudtobeateacher @inthemeanntime @seemefromwithin @tai_chi_girl @kherry14

A photo posted by Donna Donor (@donababe) on Sep 20, 2016 at 12:02am PDT

I love being a teacher. I love being able to inspire people to be good in what they do. I love being able to give knowledge that they can use for their future. I love being able to encourage people to explore beyond their limitations.

I am so glad that PLDT is recognizing the efforts of teachers through Gabay Guro initiative. Teachers are considered as unsung heroes and shaper of future. Without teachers, there will be no lawyers, doctors, politicians, etc. in the world. Gabay Guro pays tribute to the teachers all over the country--and nearby countries--by bringing attention to their heroic deeds and at the same time, providing them with the necessary tools to contribute to the change in the lives of their students and their families. There are a lot of teachers in their country who put their hearts into their profession and yet their efforts are not fully recognized. Gabay Guro aims to uplift the morale of our teachers by giving them trainings, modernizing the school facilities, giving scholarships, providing livelihood and housing programs, and by even giving them entertainment and tribute to their efforts.

Gabay Guro

Gabay Guro started nine years ago through the initiative of like-minded PLDT executives who bonded together over coffee for an advocacy for teachers. With a common dream of being a catalyst of change in the lives of teachers, Gabay Guro was born and became the CSR arm under PLDT-Smart Foundation.

Gabay Guro has five project pillars: Scholarships, Trainings, Housing and Educational Facilities, Livelihood Programs, Broadbanding and Computerization, and Teacher's Tribute. Gabay Guro is trying to reach all teachers from North to South.

PLDT Gabay Guro executive volunteers Gary Dujali and Chaye Cabal-Revilla talk about the upcoming activities which will help build the nation one teacher at a time.

Presently, Gabay Guro has over 1,100 scholars in various state colleges and universities nationwide. As of August 2016, there are 496 active scholars and 167 are projected to graduate by next year. More than 300 have passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). 137 scholars of Gabay Guro graduated with honors (112 cum laudes and 25 magna cum laudes). For further teacher education, Gabay Guro has partnered with the local government.

Gabay Guro has already conducted trainings for over 16,000 teachers. At present, it runs eight training programs for teachers around the country, namely: Teacher's Treasure Chest, English Proficiency Training, Computer Literacy, Emotional Intelligence, Teacher's Armor, Leadership Training, IT Sustainability and Literacy, and Unleashing Creativity in Teaching. Moreover, Gabay Guro answers to the needs of the times by doing grassroots anti-drugs trainings in schools.

On Gabay Guro's initiative on Broadband and Computerization, this project has made a great impact nationwide. All partner-schools were recipients of either computers/laptop or internet connectivity from either PLDT or Smart.

In addition, Gabay Guro recognizes the shortage of educational facilities as one of the major disaster area in the Philippine education system. Gabay Guro has taken cudgels in the construction of classrooms in the provinces, mostly to those provinces that have been hit by debilitating calamities. More than 40 classrooms have been constructed and donated in Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, and Capiz.

If your school has a particular need (e.g. classroom, computers, etc.), the school principal must write a letter to Gabay Guro for a request. The Gabay Guro team will then evaluate the request.

Gabay Guro team is also proud to announce that the membership is increasing. They are now seeing more than 20,000 members by the end of 2016.

Teacher's Tribute on September 25th

Every year, Gabay Guro is holding a tribute to teachers at MOA Arena in line with the World Teachers Day celebration in October. Organizers make sure that in this event, teachers will be treated like royalty. For the past eight years, raffle prizes have grown to be the staggering house and lot and vehicle showcases and livelihood opportunities.

For this year, the Teacher's Tribute will be the biggest. It will bring the biggest celebrities all in one event to pay tribute to our beloved teachers. This will be held on September 25th, 2016 at MOA Arena. Some of the country's biggest celebrities who will be in the show are Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Ogie Alcasid, Gary Valenciano, Pops Fernandez, James Reid, Nadine Lustre, Lea Salonga, and Sharon Cuneta. There will be other surprise guests on this special day for teachers. Take note: celebrities will perform for free!

Jona V. rendered a special song to the media during the press conference. She will also be performing on September 25th at Gabay Guro's Teacher's Tribute

Gabay Guro's Teacher's Tribute is the day when our beloved teachers get to let their hair loose, meet the biggest celebrities, be treated to a whole day of entertainment and huge raffle prizes like house and lot and vehicles. These raffle prizes are well-thought of as a way of recognizing the efforts of our hardworking teachers and as a reminder of their invaluable presence in our lives.

This year's Teacher's Tribute is supported by Perry's Group of Companies (house and lot sponsor), Foton (vehicle sponsor), Intel, Devant, Motorlandia (Honda and Suzuki motorcycle sponsor), Ropali, Penshoppe, National Bookstore, Enchanted Kingdom, Splash, Tempra, Flanax, Bonamine, Vivalyte, Mundipharma, Gardenia, Bic, Art Attack, Microsoft, SmartBro, PLDT Ultera, Talk N' Text, and 51 Talk.

This event is exclusive for teachers only, and teachers can attend for free! Check out Gabay Guro's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts or visit their website www.gabayguro.com for more details.

Don't forget to thank our teachers for what we have become right now :)

0 Comments

100% Whole Mom

I'm a Certified #LysolMaxiMom! Introducing Lysol Maxcover to Philippine Market

By Mommy Donna and Kib - September 17, 2016

This is the third time that I got invited to attend an event of Lysol and I really feel honored because we really use Lysol at home. I'm proud to say that I'm a Lysol Mom, weee!!!!

We started using Lysol religiously in 2008 because my father got sick and bedridden. We need to disinfect his bed and his room regularly. In addition, I had a toddler then so I also needed to disinfect his things too.

The latest Lysol event that I attended was the launch of Lysol Maxcover. This has been launched in the United States early this year and yes, Philippines is the first international launch of this product because based on the statistics, Filipinos use Lysol most of the time.

I super love what is written on this tarp, "Embrace motherhood with the beauty, style, and grace of MaxiMom"

The launch was held at La Creperie in Makati and it was led by 100% Whole Mom ladies (Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio, Cheska Garcia-Kramer, and Marilen Faustino-Montenegro). 100% Whole Mom is a passion project inspiring moms to make happy homes, embrace her beauty, and nurture her heart. This trio conducts workshops that ascertains self-care for moms, filled with practical advices, beauty basics, writing exercises guided by reflective questions, connecting and sharing stories with other moms, yummy food (yes!), and exciting prizes!

Meet the 100% Whole Mom ladies--Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio, Marilen Faustino-Montenegro, and Cheska Garcia-Kramer

Marilen talked about organizing our living rooms. Since the living room is the central part of our house where it also serves not only as a place to receive guests but also as child's play area, entertainment area, study area, among others. Marilen suggested the following to organize our living room:

Use decorative trays
Use decorative baskets
Clean and organize immediately

Marilen talked about how to organize living rooms. Marilen is an interior designer by profession

Cheska talked about acquiring the habit of cleanliness at home. I found out that for one to develop a particular habit, it takes 66 days to do so. And yes, cleanliness is an acquired habit. To develop a habit of cleanliness, Cheska devised a 3-step process:

Step 1: Set a reminder (place reminders on each area of the house with cleaning instructions)
Step 2: Start with something easy to start (provide cleaning materials needed for cleaning and disinfecting, NEVER use cleaning materials intended for bathrooms to kitchen sinks; there should be a separate set of cleaning materials for each section of the house)
Step 3: Reward yourself and your family members (commend each family member for keeping up the good habit)

Cheska also stressed that it is important that the cleaning materials are also properly organized (she admitted being an obsessive-compulsive mom, hihihi). She gave out these practical tips:

Organize cleaning materials in a pail (medium-sized pail with disinfectant spray, toilet bowl cleaner--if the pail is for toilet and bathroom use, rag, utility sponge, tile brush, mop)
Place each pail on different parts of the house that needs regular cleaning (toilet and bathroom, kitchen, garage, etc.).
Post a reminder on an inconspicuous spot on each part of the house to clean the room everyday. It is also recommended that a task chart is made to check if each task is accomplished on a daily basis.

Cheska talked about acquiring the habit of cleanliness. Being an OC mom herself, she really taught her helpers at home how to clean their houses. Yes, she knows how to do house chores!

Rica talked about having a clean heart. It is also very important that we keep our heart clean (not only our surroundings) because it also shows our character. Rica mentioned that whatever we put to our hearts also radiates from the outside so it is better to put in good things in our hearts. If we put good things in our hearts, we usually release these things:

Encouragement
Confessions
Forgiveness
Apology

Rica talked about having a clean heart

Their talks were really inspiring! Although allotted time was short, I was able to go home with a lot of takeaways from their talks.

To introduce Lysol Maxcover, we played a game, Family Feud style. We were asked to identify the top ten things in the house that is difficult to clean.

Me and my co-mommy bloggers are brainstorming about the things that are difficult to clean inside the house, I'm their secretary, hihi

Based on the survey, here are the results:

Do you agree with the results? Thanks to Mommy Roxi Santiago for allowing me to use this photo

Lysol Maxcover is designed to cover and disinfect larger soft spaces because of its mist-type spray. Unlike the regular Lysol canister, Maxcover has 2x wider coverage. It has wide-angle spray which completely and evenly covers large areas, such as King-size matress! The ultra-fine Micro Mist can uniformly reach crooks, crannies, and crevices with no overwetting (yes, it dries quickly compared with the regular Lysol canisters). Lysol Maxcover has the same formula that kills 99.9% of bacteria while eliminating odors to leave behind a surprisingly fresh scent.

Lysol Maxcover comes in two scents: Garden After Rain and Lavender Field. It also comes in just one size, 15 oz. (425g). It is now readily available in the market, you can buy it in supermarkets, hypermarkets, club stores, groceries, and drug stores.

Here's the newest addition to Lysol family, Lysol Maxcover. See the nozzle? It's different from the regular Lysol canister

Check out the TV commercial for Lysol Maxcover:

Let's keep our houses clean, organized, and tidy! Don't forget to also clean our hearts too!

Class picture with Lysol team, 100% Whole Mom ladies, and my co-mommy bloggers

0 Comments

craft

Hobbies to Business: An Event I'm Proud Of

By Mommy Donna and Kib - September 12, 2016

This is my second time to help out Marge Aberasturi (also known as The Happy WAHM) on her workshop. The first time was held November last year and her talk is about becoming a virtual assistant (VA). She said that it'll be her last to talk about virtual assistance because she is gearing into talking about entrepreneurship.

Congratulations @thehappywahm on your workshop today! #wahm #virtualassistant #vasucess

A photo posted by Donna Donor (@donababe) on Nov 14, 2015 at 3:11am PST

As early this year, I've been asking her for her next talk. She said she is still busy with her family and work. I just again asked her about her workshop by June. I asked if she would like to have her next talk at The Parenting Emporium. She said yes, so I immediately coordinated with The Parenting Emporium for available dates. The date given to me was August 27th, which is barely a month after it was given to me. Marge was a bit hesitant to push thru because she said that the preparation time is short. I assured her that a month is enough to do promotion and invite possible sponsors to the event.

So, she immediately made a website for the event, http://hobbiestobusiness.com. Originally, the event title was "Passion to Profit", but there's already a website with the same name. While the event website is on the works, we were already promoting the event on Facebook. We've already started contacting possible sponsors to this event too.

As the event day comes near, inquiries about the event started to come up. The Hobbies to Business website was updated every now and then to make it appealing to the interested parties. Sponsors also confirmed their commitment to support the event.

Twelve participants attended the talk. It was very intimate, the participants were relaxed. The venue was styled by one of the sponsors, Crafquitec. We had a shabby chic theme, a table was set-up to display all the goodies from sponsors, the tables and chairs for the participants were also cozy to sit on.

Today's event was a success! Congratulations @thehappywahm for conducting another talk to help aspiring hobbyists turn their passions to business! Excited to see how these ladies will thrive in their businesses! Thanks to @theparentingemporium, @crafquitec, @goldencraftsph, @lifeispeachy.ph, @bitesofloveph, @mamachows, @jazonlineshop, @mrspcuyugan, @brownrootscreatives, @paysismom for your support! ❤️❤️❤️ #workshop #hobbiestobusiness #passiontoprofit #craftedcrafts #hobby

A photo posted by Donna Donor (@donababe) on Aug 27, 2016 at 9:10am PDT

Participants were sitting cozy during the talk and they're all eyes and ears to Marge

Participants were all eyes and ears during Marge's talk and they were really taking down notes about the topic. They all went home with a lot of takeaways from the event, planning their game plan for their own businesses. Hopefully, sooner than soon, these people will eventually promoting their own businesses online and I'm excited to see them thrive and fly.

I was also encouraged to put my own business after the talk. I'm praying to God to give me the best opportunity for me to be able to share my talents and knowledge to others as well.

I felt so accomplished after this talk, weee! I've met new people and encouraged them to really push thru with their dreams to become an entrepreneur.

I would like to thank those people who helped in making this event successful:

The Parenting Emporium for being the venue partner for this event (rerun soon!)
Crafquitec for providing the very nice gift bag for all the participants and for the shabby chic set-up
Bites of Love Ph for the salted egg potato chips sample (sooo delicious!)
Mamachows for the bread (it's also sooo delicious too!)
Goldencrafts Enterprise for laundry samples for the participants
Peachy.ph for the cute bottlecap ref magnets
Jaz Arts and Crafts for the felt flower ref magnets
Pickings for prizes (small jars of dips and spreads)
Crochet by MrsC for the prize (table runner for the early bird)
Brownroots Creatives for prizes
The Techie Mom for web hosting discounts to all participants

Yummy salted egg potato chips by Bites of Love and felt flower ref magnets by Jaz Arts and Crafts

Delicious Spanish bread by Mamachows and mango-melon-carrot juice by Bites of Love

The table runner giveaway by Crochet by Mrs C. given to the early bird!

To all those who will read this blog, I would do encourage everyone to check out their products and inquire from them! Let's support these entrepreneurs especially that the holiday season is coming near :)

Yes, you read it right, there will be a rerun of this talk very soon! Watch out for it!