Everyday Adventures: 2020

Rise Brighter PH: Sun Life Foundation's Response to COVID-19 Pandemic Challenges

By Mommy Donna and Kib - August 30, 2020

COVID-19 has hit the Philippines hard. A lot of Filipinos have lost their jobs, businesses are closed, people get infected with COVID-19, schools shifted to online learning, among others. There is a slowdown in our economy, which caused a slump in the overall GDP and GNP. We all hope that sooner than soon, we will be able to go back to our everyday lives again.

Despite all the negativities that are happening around us, some institutions are willing to lend a helping hand. One of the companies that are true to their promise of alleviating poverty is Sun Life Foundation.

On its 125th founding anniversary of Sun Life Philippines, Sun Life Foundation has recently launched Rise Brighter PH. The initiative is Sun Life Foundation's way of helping the country rise to a brighter future. Rise Brighter PH was introduced via an online media conference last August 27, 2020.

Rise Brighter PH has two significant projects: Sun Pera-Aralan 2020 and Sun Life Barangay Health Stations.

Sun Pera-Aralan 2020

Sun Pera-Aralan 2020 is a behavior-based financial management program that aims to address financial insecurity and indebtedness among public school teachers. Sadly, the majority of the public school teachers are in massive debt, that they are having difficulty stretching their monthly budget. Mr. Alex Narciso, President of Sun Life Foundation, can relate to the public school teachers' dilemma as he was a former high school teacher.

Sun Pera-Aralan 2020 makes use of Peso-Sobre, a simple and straightforward budgeting tool that helps teachers to properly allocate their monthly salary into weekly funds. There is also a Facebook support group for the public school teachers under this program so that they will be connected with their fellow teachers and volunteer Sun Life advisors. AHA! Behavioral Design partnered with Sun Life Foundation in this program.

Sun Pera-Aralan was launched last year with 10,000 teachers, which yielded remarkable results. The teachers under this program were able to properly manage their budget and stretch it until the next payday without needing to borrow money. The project also taught teachers to save; thus, they were able to have funds during the time of quarantine.

For this year, Sun Pera-Aralan is targeting to help 125,000 public school teachers.

Sun Life Barangay Health Stations

The Sun Life Barangay Health Stations will be focusing on providing sustainable health care solutions to the most impoverished areas in the Philippines.

Barangay Health Stations are the most accessible source of primary health care in the Philippines. However, not all barangays in the Philippines have the luxury of providing health care to their constituents. As of March 2019, only 21,053 out of 42,045 barangays in the Philippines have health stations. There is still a need to provide health stations to the rest of the barangays in the Philippines.

Sun Life Foundation has partnered with Health Futures Foundation, Inc. to make the Barangay Health Stations project possible.

Sun Life Foundation aims to build eight Barangay Health Stations this year, and the first beneficiaries of this project are the barangays in the province of Batangas.

A few of the services that the Sun Life Barangay Health Stations will provide are free vaccines, medical consultations, and seminars about health care and maintenance. Sun Life Barangay Health Services also aim to train barangay health workers and health cluster leaders so that the project would be a sustainable one.

In the next five years, Sun Life Barangay Health Stations aim to serve 125,000 Filipinos.

Beacon of hope

Sun Life Foundation wants to be a beacon of hope of the Filipinos during this time of the pandemic. This is Sun Life's way of giving back to society and helping the nation rise again.

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Barliccino

Barliccino: Newly-Released Barley-Infused Coffee from Santé

By Mommy Donna and Kib - August 18, 2020

Coffee is the most favorite drink of most people. It gives people comfort and it also serves as an energy booster for some. Coffee has antioxidants that also help in boosting the immune system.

Personally, I love coffee, but I don't consider myself as an addict. One cup a day is enough for me. It doesn't matter if it is brewed or instant, as long as it is coffee, it's fine with me. If I have a chance, I also like tasting different kinds of coffee.

These days, we cannot have coffee dates with our friends. My son and I would sometimes go to a coffee shop to study and work. These days, you can only order coffee for takeouts.

I can say that I'm lucky to have a coffee brewer at home. Even if I miss going to coffee shops to drink freshly brewed coffee, I can have a signature coffee drink at home.

Last time, I wrote about Santé's business opportunity (please read about it here) and I encourage everyone to check it out, and I learned recently that they released a new product called Barliccino. It is Santé's coffee mix infused with barley. One cup of Barliccino provides a foamy, delicious, and comforting escape to the real cappuccino goodness. Since it infused with barley, expect a different twist in your usual coffee and an added nutritional value on it.

Barliccino is sweetened using stevia, a healthier and natural substitute for sugar. One sachet of Barliccino has only 1.63 grams of natural sweetener. It has low-calorie content too (52 calories), so people who are conscious about their caloric intake need not worry about the additional calories they will take when they drink a cup of Barliccino. In addition, it has a non-dairy creamer, perfect for people with lactose intolerance.

Barliccino will be soon launched on Santé's website, but I am really sure that this is one product that everyone should try! Be a business owner at Santé to get special discounts.

Visit santebarley.com to know more about the company, the benefits of barley, and other products sold by Santé.

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barley

Business Opportunities From Santé

By Mommy Donna and Kib - August 18, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected a lot of Filipino families. According to the latest statistics, 45% of the Filipinos lost their jobs. As a result, these people are now looking for other ways to survive and to be able to provide for their daily needs.

In addition, one of the realizations that people have during the pandemic is to give health importance. Nowadays, people are paying attention to their health by taking supplements and eating nutritious food. Households are also starting to grow their own fruit and vegetable garden.

One of the ways that people think of to earn money is to sell commodities.

People must know first what is the most popular item bought by people. Since there is a need to boost our immunity to be able to fight COVID-19, food supplements are now one of the popular commodities in the market. Santé is one of the active companies in the whole world selling barley drink and supplement and vitamin C supplements.

I have read a lot of health benefits in barley and I want to try taking it to improve my health. In addition, we already know the health benefits of vitamin C. Santé's Vitamin C contains 568 mg of Sodium Ascorbate. It is non-acidic and can be taken with an empty stomach. Apart from the barley juice and supplement, Santé also sells nutritional drinks, body care, oral care, and skincare products.

Santé products can be brought via direct selling and it continues to provide business opportunities for those people who are looking for ways to earn. Those who sign-up to be an independent distributor of Santé products can sell their products online. People these days prefer to purchase online than going to physical stores.

Santé is now active in promoting business opportunities to Filipinos who lost their livelihood due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The people behind Santé made sure that their online ordering system is working properly so that they would be able to accommodate new sign-ups and bulk orders. Santé business owners can also transact via a mobile app for easy transactions and monitoring.

Those who signed up at Santé can also sell the products worldwide. Santé is present in 10 key cities in the world.

It's easy to be a Santé business owner! Register on their website at santebarley.com to register and to know more about the product and the business opportunity. Check the live Facebook training sessions below.

There is no harm in trying. Check out Santé barley business opportunity and who knows, this might be the one you're looking for to help you in easing up your life in these challenging times.

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book review

My Takeaways From "The Overseas Fabulous Pinay"

By Mommy Donna and Kib - July 28, 2020

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educ8.ph

Online Learning Works! Here are the Reasons Why

By Mommy Donna and Kib - June 18, 2020

One of the first online jobs that I had was teaching English as a Second Language to Koreans. It was fun and challenging at the same time because there are kids who are participative and kids who are having a bad day. Don't worry, the kids who are having a bad day are not always like that. Later on, they participate in the discussion.

These days, a lot of Filipino parents are adamant in enrolling their kids to online learning programs. They feel that their kids won't learn so much compared with face-to-face learning. Unfortunately, the situation that we have at present does not allow face-to-face classes. The feasible options that parents have these days are online learning, homeschooling, and taking a gap year.

The parents need to think deeply on which learning route to take for this year for their kids.

Parents see homeschooling as the most feasible and workable option at this time; however, parents are half-hearted in pursuing homeschooling due to a lot of factors. As a homeschooling advocate, I do not also want to push homeschooling because there are lots of things to consider before taking this route. It is a decision that you cannot do overnight.

On the other hand, parents are also not confident about taking a gap year. They feel that their kids will be idle and lazy during this time. They want their children to continue learning, they want their kids to be busy during this downtime.

For parents who do not have the confidence and patience to teach their kids and who are anxious about their kids being left behind by their peers, online learning is the way to go.

Online learning has been accepted as a mode of learning fifteen years ago. First world countries such as the United States, South Korea and Japan have been utilizing this for their children. Parents are also okay with virtual learning and are supportive of this method.

Online learning is also being utilized by some schools in the Philippines, but overall, this mode of learning is fairly new to most Filipino learners. A lot of parents are hesitant to try online learning because they felt that their children won't learn anything and won't be able to maximize learning online.

When we let our kids watch YouTube or go to educational sites, that's actually online learning. For online learning to be effective, parents must be more open and receptive in using other means of virtual learning such as Zoom or Skype for their child's education.

Here are some of the advantages of online learning:

Online learning can address all learning styles. One of the worries of the parents is that online learning might not cater to their child's learning styles if learning is done virtually. Teachers are skilled to address each students' learning styles whether the classes are done virtually or physically. The teachers have undergone rigorous training in conducting online classes so that the quality of learning will not suffer. Teachers can also adapt to virtual learning and maintain the same level of concern to their students.

Online learning is not all about having a robot as a teacher. The students have still real teachers so parents do not need to worry about their kids being left out.

Online learning can address both synchronous and asynchronous learning. As I've mentioned earlier, in online learning, there is still a teacher who will monitor your child's learning. The child will not be mentored by a robot. The child will still have an opportunity to talk to their teachers should they need assistance.

There can be synchronous and asynchronous learning modes depending on the online learning program of the school. There may be days that the whole class will meet virtually and there are days that the teacher will be able to address each students' concerns individually.

Online learning can develop a student's computer skills. Now that we are living in the digital age, it is crucial that everyone should have computer skills. These days, kids learn the nitty-gritty of computer easily, so by exposing them further to other apps and software, it enhances their computer knowledge and interest.

Online learning can be as effective as face-to-face learning in terms of the acquisition of knowledge. In a regular school set-up, teachers are also using technology as one of the tools in learning, so using technology in a full online learning set-up is nothing new for the students and the teachers. Teachers still provide the information needed via live or recorded virtual classes. Students will not be shortchanged in terms of learning.

Online learning can teach important life values. Online learning is still all about serious learning, so students must take their classes earnestly so that they will be able to pass their course. Students still need to study hard even if the classes are done online, and that's perseverance, diligence, and hard work.

Online learning can cut travel time. Going to school takes time, so through online learning, the students need not travel for hours to go to school. They only need a few minutes to log in for their class. They do not even need to take a shower nor brush their teeth, but of course, it is highly encouraged that they dress up appropriately for video classes.

Online learning can offer flexibility. I have been doing online jobs for the past ten years and I'm glad that I can do my job anywhere as long as there's an internet connection. I was able to connect to my clients even if I'm abroad or in the province.

Online learning can also offer the same convenience! They can log in anytime (if the schedule for classes is flexible) and anywhere (as long as the environment is quiet and conducive for learning and the internet connection is strong) for classes.

Since online learning is flexible, it is also prone to procrastination. Just be firm with your goals and have a strong motivation to finish the online course.

In the Philippines, most schools are redirecting to online learning. One of the promising learning platforms is Educ8 Philippines. It is an initiative started by a fellow Filipino Aldrin Magno, who dreams of providing quality education to the Filipinos. Through Educ8 Philippines, Aldrin aspires to provide Filipino students, teachers, and schools a reliable solution for distance learning. Educ8 Philippines aims to cater to all levels, from grade school to college and to also provide quality education to public schools.

Educ8 Philippines dreams to provide education at par with highly developed nations. This is a promising platform that is why I am personally supporting it.

Online learning works! The only thing that the teachers ask from the parents is to trust the system.

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animals

How to Teach Your Kid to be an Animal Lover

By Mommy Donna and Kib - June 02, 2020

One of the things that I wanted Kib to be is that he has a heart for living all living things (plants and animals). Being a nature lover myself, I want Kib to learn how to take care of the environment.

As young as a year old, I already exposed Kib to different animals. His first pet was a hamster, then a rabbit, fish, and now we have a dog (see related blog posts here and here).

By letting Kib to be exposed to different kinds of animals, I also gave him an opportunity to learn about these animals and see animals that we don't see on a normal basis. We learn about these animals together.

In addition, exposing Kib to different animals taught him to be emphatic. He learned about the sad plight of some of the animals in the world.

Taking care of pets also gave Kib a sense of responsibility.

There are some parents who do not have penchant over animals but would like their kids to be one... but how?

Here are some tips for you that I personally tried and tested:

Bring your child to the zoo. The best way to expose a child to different kinds of animals is to bring him/her to a zoo. Bringing a child to a zoo at an early age gives a child an opportunity to be acquainted with the different animals. If there is a chance to touch the animals, let your child touch them so that he/she knows the different textures of animal coverings.

When you bring your child to the zoo, say the name of the animal, it also helps that you also give some information about the animals so that your child will learn more about the animal.

Try to go to different zoos as not all zoos have the same animals in their sanctuary.

Do not show that you're afraid of a certain animal. I know this is difficult for you not to show disgust or fear towards the animals but bear in mind that FEAR IS LEARNED. My son likes snakes, but I don't. He would even touch crocodiles (with supervision from the experts), but you won't force me to even pose beside that animal. I would simply tell the animal handler that I will take photos instead (with a smile).

Before, my son is scared of dogs. He doesn't like playful dogs, but he would touch dogs who are just lying down. Since I like dogs, I showed that dogs are nice animals. I would even encourage him to pet the dogs we see in parks and shopping malls (with permission from the owner).

The only animal that my son is scared of is frog because I'm scared too, hahaha. I just can't be cool when there's a frog around.

So parents, try to keep your cool when you want to introduce an animal to your kid, no matter how scared you are. You may also want to try conquering your fear too!

Go to museums to learn about prehistoric animals. Sometimes, there are animals that we cannot see anymore. Visiting museums to know about these extinct animals is also a good venue to learn about it. In addition to that, museums also include preserved animals that are still existing at the present time. There might be a chance not to see these animals in real life.

Have a pet. The most practical way to introduce animals to your child is to have one! Having a pet at home will not only teach your kid about the animal but it also teaches values, like responsibility and care for living things.

My son had a hamster, rabbit, and fish in the past, and now, he has a dog.

Ask your child about his/her favorite pet and buy books about it. Books can be a great resource of information. Feed your child's interest in animals by buying books about it. You will get surprised that your kid will tell you facts about the animals that you don't even know. Checking the Internet is also a good idea to make a research about the animal.

Watch TV shows or documentaries about animals. Watching documentaries on National Geographic or Discovery Channel is also a good way to learn about animals. Kids are in awe to see animals on their natural habitat.

These tips will help your child to become an animal lover, and who knows, he/she might be the next Steve Irwin!

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book authors

Understanding Copyright Law

By Mommy Donna and Kib - May 31, 2020

These days, we have been seeing a lot of "For Sale" worksheets on social media to keep our kids occupied during the community quarantine. However, it has also been noticed that these worksheets are either downloaded from a free website or from a paid online subscription. In addition, some electronic copies of well-known novels are also given for free.

The violation of Copyright Law was raised upon seeing these materials online.

I posted a question about this on my personal Facebook account to know the scope of this law. I only know that the law is protecting printed materials like books. I am not sure if the law also protects books in PDF format and paid subscriptions.

A friend of mine sent me a link to read about Copyright Law.

I thought that there is no provision on the electronic format of the materials on the first glance until another friend who is a paralegal in the United States sent me a message about my question. She read the law and told me that there is actually a provision about the digital format. However, it is weak.

So, let's define Copyright Law first before we go to the juicy details.

Copyright Law is protecting the original intellectual works in both artistic and literary forms. This covers books, pamphlets, articles, scripts, lectures, newspapers, music, etc. The Copyright Law is created to protect the interest of the author, writer, composer, artist, etc.

However, there are also written materials that are not covered by Copyright Law, such as ideas, concept, and public documents such as legislative writings and court documents. It also includes digital contents such as Facebook status updates, photos, videos, blog posts, audio files, and games. Digital content is something that is produced specifically for distribution over the Internet.

The Philippine law on the protection of written works are very strong; however, with regards to the digital content, it is still a gray area.

The Copyright Law is applicable on the day of creation of the work.

The piece of work is covered by the Copyright Law while the author lives and an additional fifty years after the author passed away.

Violation of the Copyright Law is called copyright infringement.

Copyright infringement is a criminal act violating the provisions of the Copyright Law. The most common violations of the Copyright Law are the following:

When the copyrighted material is sold by a third party without giving proper credit or portion of the sale to the author;
When the copyrighted material is distributed for free without the permission of the owner; and
When the copyrighted material is shown in public without seeking the permission of the owner

To know more about Copyright Law, read more about it here.

Now that you already have an idea about the Copyright Law, how can we apply it in electronic copies of written works?

When you purchase a digital format (PDF) of your favorite book and you decided to share it away for FREE, you are violating the Copyright Law.

When you purchase digital formats (PDF) of your books and you decided to SELL it without the permission of the author, you are violating the Copyright Law.

When you photocopy the WHOLE BOOK without permission from the author, you are violating the Copyright Law.

When you paid a subscription of worksheets or any other material, and you decided to REPRODUCE and SELL it, you are violating the Copyright Law.

When you SELL free downloadable materials, you are violating the Copyright Law.

Those who will be caught violating the Copyright Law are punishable by law.

1-3 years imprisonment and a fine amounting to Php50,000-150,000 (first offense)
3-6 years imprisonment and a fine amounting to Php150,000-Php500,000 (second offense)
6-9 years imprisonment and a fine amounting to Php500,000-Php1,500,000 (third and subsequent offenses)

So, to avoid violating the Copyright Law, here are the things that you can do:

If there are missing pages or misprints on the material, ask the publisher or author directly for a copy of the missing page.
For free resources, give the source/URL instead of giving the actual downloaded material.
For PDF copies of the book, encourage your friends to purchase it instead.
For paid subscriptions, tell your friends to subscribe instead.
Buy the original book rather than photocopying the whole book.

Let us respect the works of the authors. They worked blood and sweat on their works so let us give them what is due to them.

I also call on our legislators to review the Copyright Law to update the provisions there.

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curriculum

The Truth Behind Curriculum and Learning Styles

By Mommy Donna and Kib - May 06, 2020

During this period, a lot of people are in the hunt for a school for their children. One of the things that parents consider is homeschooling their children.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people interested in homeschooling is higher compared to the previous years. Parents are scared to put back their children in schools for fear of acquiring the disease.

One of the things that the parents ask about homeschooling is the materials or the curriculum that their kids will use.

The curriculum is defined in several ways, but somehow the overall concept is the same.

The curriculum is an academic program containing topics for each subject. The curriculum is planned annually by the school or by the teacher. It serves as a guide for the parents so that there will a smooth flow of discussion of the lessons.

The curriculum is important because it is used to also measure student competency. It also serves as a plan for success because the teacher is prepared for the lessons that he/she will teach to the students.

In choosing a homeschool provider, there are two types of curriculum in homeschooling: open curriculum and boxed curriculum.

The open curriculum is giving the parents the freedom to customize the books needed per subject. In an open curriculum program, either the school has a recommended list of books or the parent will choose books. The books chosen by the parents outside the recommended list need to be approved by the school. Since we are in the Philippines, the curriculum that the parent will choose for the child should be aligned with the Department of Education's (DepEd) standards.

In an open curriculum, parents prepare the lessons for their children. Some parents reason out that the open curriculum option helps in addressing the learning style of their children. There are parents who find joy in preparing for the lessons, that is why they opt for open curriculum. Also, there are parents who want the best materials for each subject; that is why they also choose the open curriculum for their children.

The boxed curriculum, on the other hand, is a set curriculum for all subjects, complete with discussion points, activities, and even tests to measure the child's understanding of the topic. The parents do not have to worry about the execution because everything is on the manual. The boxed curriculum has been tested and proven to be effective as the content was made by the experts.

Both types of curriculum are actually good. Choose the curriculum which will help your child learn and enjoy, and not because of your child's learning style. I'll explain this point later, but let me first define what learning styles are.

Learning styles are ways an individual learns. It can be auditory, visual, or kinesthetic, or a combination of other learning styles. An auditory learner learns best in listening to podcasts or records, or just by listening to the speaker. A visual learner learns best when he/she sees the presentation slides, or sees the actual object. A kinesthetic learner learns best when he/she does things with his/her hands and body.

A student can learn from any of the three different learning styles, but there is one dominant learning style on which the learning is optimized.

Do you choose a curriculum to address your child's learning styles?

Honestly, the curriculum does not have anything to do with addressing the child's learning styles. The curriculum does not include the manner of execution of the topics. It is the teacher who addresses the learning style and not the curriculum.

Do not confuse the curriculum with the lesson plan. The lesson plan is the actual plan on how a particular topic on the curriculum will be taught. This is where the teacher considers the child's learning style so that the child may have a full grasp of the concept.

Whether you're using an open curriculum or boxed curriculum, you can still incorporate your child's learning style. It is not true that a boxed curriculum will offer limited learning opportunities because everything is served on a silver platter.

We have been using a boxed curriculum ever since we started homeschooling. We used Sing, Spell, Read, and Write (read about it here) when Kib was in preschool and Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) up to the present. I chose these two curriculums because I had personally encountered these two curriculums (SSRW when I was teaching at a preschool, and I used ACE when I was a grade school student). The boxed curriculum has helped me in lessening the prep time in the lessons because I'm a busy person. The boxed curriculum has also taught my son to be independent by trying to figure out the concepts on his own with minimal supervision. It does not mean that I am a lazy mom, but I just wanted to use our time wisely and efficiently.

Did the boxed curriculum limit my son's learning? Definitely no!

I made sure to supplement my learning by doing things apart from answering his school materials. It may not totally supplement the current topic my son is learning, but it gives him an idea about something.

Did the boxed curriculum address your child's learning style? Yes!

My son loves reading, so I never had any problems letting him read long texts. However, my son has difficulty in Math so I let him watch videos on YouTube to further explain the concept. We go on trips to learn about the culture and the environment. I make sure that I let my son to be exposed to different learning styles so that he won't have any problems adjusting when he studies in a regular school.

A fellow blogger, May Palacpac of Fully Housewifed, also shared her thoughts about using a boxed curriculum. She was happy to discover the joys of using a boxed curriculum in homeschooling her three kids. She admitted that at first, she thought that a boxed curriculum will limit her children in discovering new things. However, when she tried using a boxed curriculum, she realized that a boxed curriculum has made their time valuable while she continued to support her children's interest in performing arts. She mentioned that the choice of a particular curriculum is all about the mindset of the parents (read full text here).

To sum it up, whether you are using an open curriculum or a boxed curriculum, it is the role of the parent to address the learning style of the child. The curriculum is a guide of topics and lessons and does not take care of your child's learning style. Whatever kind of curriculum you will choose for your child, I believe that you wanted to give the best to your child.