teacher-teacher and the summer that was..

It's the last day of the summer month and the rainy and "floody" season is nearing...yet the heat is still almost intolerable. Whew! I'm supposed to go banking today at BPI but because of the heat outside and remembering today's a pay day..with sluggishness on the side, I decided to defer it 'til tomorrow. Will just have the whole noon blogging or perhaps will take a nap.

As today's the last day of May (wow..time flies by so fast huh!), just want to blog what kept me busy throughout the summer season. As you know, I've been unemployed for almost two months now and it's my first time to have this long break from the corporate world since I graduated four years ago. Haven't job hunted yet as I'm still waiting for a civil service qualifying exam scheduled on the 30th of July. Afterwhich, will try to get in at Napocor. (wehehe government naman para makakurakot naman...niyaha just joking!) Besides, ewan ko basta I'd like to rest muna and make bawi to my hubby. When I was still with GT, I seemingly lost time para asikasuhin siya because of overwork. And of course, we'll take this chance and still trying to conceive our little bundle of joy while di ako stressed.

Anyway, I could say na kahit unemployed ako, I've been productive naman. My mom-in-law who owns a pre-school at home was kind enough to give me a summer tutorial for an incoming Kinder 2 kid for a month. I tutored John Clyde at home every tuesdays and thursdays, 2 hours each session. At first, I was kinda hesitant. Well it's not that I don't like it but teaching is just not one of my passions and I'm quite uncertain I may not efficiently teach him. Teaching to read may sound easy but it's not..especially if you're not artistically gifted and having a hard time drawing objects. Oh yes I have to draw objects whenever I'm giving him a review test to gauge if he indeed mastered the sounds of vowels and consonants, consonant blends and dipthongs. I have to learn how to draw (with books as my reference of course) an octopus, a sleeping boy, a yelling girl, a blowing face, etc. Two objects I'd rather master to draw are the rat and the cat. Waahhh! I was meaning a rat but he gave me a cat answer. That goes to show my drawing is that bad...huh?

Another thing I had difficulty teaching him was the difference of long and short a vowel pronunciation; Vowel o pronounced as /ow/ or as short /a/; and the difference in pronouncing /o/ and /u/. At times, we're doing ok but whenever his being moody gets in the way....hay, nagpapagod lang ako. He can read but was easily distracted. Medyo may pagka-antukin din, like me hahaha! One problem with him is his unfamiliarity of the English words. He would know what a "barko" is..but he can't distinguish a ship from a boat. He doesn't know what a train is. He had a hard time differentiating tree and three. There's the hard part, isn't it? Even if he knows how to read the vowels and consonants but doesn't have any idea what that word means or implies, he still won't get it and it won't retain in his head. Nevertheless, one thing I like about this kid was his being open and madaldal. He wouldn't bring his baon for merienda but he has plenty of stories to tell about his family. At times, when I'm getting impatient waiting for his answer with my big staring eyes, he can make me laugh because he would also make "dilat" to me. Hay I miss that boy. There's even one time when we were on the picture-sentence association part:

John: He...helps..his...fa-ther..clean..the..room. (with the period representing his reading speed)

Mai: Very Good...now tell me in Tagalog, what does that means...

John: Siya daw...nihe-help niya father niya...i-clean yung room.

Mai: Niyek!

Ok sa translation noh?

There's also another one, I was asking him to fill in the missing letter in "f _ t" with the picture of a stout boy on the side. It took him analyzing my drawing and when he seem still doesn't get it..

Mai: ano ba yung nasa drawing?

John: boy na mataba

Mai: tama..so ano ngayon yung missing letter? ano ba english ng mataba?

(John still staring at me blankly)

Mai: Yan o si kuya...(pointing to his fat brother who's being tutored by my sis-in-law)..ano tawag sa katawan ni kuya?

John: (in an exciting and confident answer) MA-MUSCLE!!!!

**toink**

I have been paid meagerly for that month-long tutorial pero it's just ok kasi di naman ako napapagod. At least, it keeps me busy while waiting for my husband. Most importantly, it feels rewarding knowing that your student learned from you in the end. Yes, at first, John had difficulty reading simple words like "bag". A month after our tutorial, he can now read father, mistake, thumb, whistle, etc. though slowly but at least he already CAN read it. Niyahaha, ibig sabihin my drawings improved, too! hehe!

Way to go John Clyde! Make teacher mai proud. :)