Nobody gets more excited in a kid's first day of school than his/her mom. Today is my eldest son's first day at school. He always say he's excited but today he woke up late, haha. He got tired from last night's malling.

Yesterday, we were oriented that we leave the kids and just go back to fetch them, thus laying their independence as school kids. I'm proud of my son, he didn't show any sign of fear as I leave him. His biggest classmate cried frantically as he saw his yaya leave the room. He got wild! But nah, we can't laugh at the kid. I remember when I was their age, I would cry so hard so my mom won't leave me. Scared me, but brave Josiah. :)

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Who wouldn't want intelligent kids? I'm sure every parent would want their kids intellectually stimulated, and logically leveled. My hubby bumped into Grolier agents a few months ago and enthusiastically told me about these educational tools. So we went again to the mall to check on them. We agreed on purchasing two educational tools that will be of mind stimulating and logic foundation building to our two boys' active brain synapses.

These are Logico (Primo and Picollo) and Fun Thinkers. These are educational tools that makes learning fun, not burdensome. These are attractive, well organized and easy to use. The Logico comes in series, Primo and Picollo. We chose Logico Primo because our boys are still preschoolers. We must admit, they're pricey but it will be worth it. We both believe that we should invest in every tool available to sustain and nurture our kid's growing minds. 

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Grolier Logico Primo is for Logic enhancement for preschoolers (ages 3-6 years old). It is designed to develop skills in visual discrimination, pattern awareness, sorting & classifying, sequencing, number sense, and letter recognition while the child is having fun playing with the Logico board game. In short, it helps improve the child's IQ while having fun.

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Look at how my eldest son's face light up every time he answers all items perfectly. :)

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Grolier Fun Thinkers is an easy matching game. Comes with a board game with 16 tiles and 10 books.

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Even my two-year old son enjoys his Grolier Fun Thinkers matching board game. He doesn't have a clue that he's actually learning, and enhancing his thinking skills. All he knows, he's having fun! :)

Playtime is learning time. Or should I say, learning time is play time. LOL. Isn't that fun to know?
 
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Six years ago, I was a June bride! My longing to be one was granted, thank You Lord! Any girl would dream of the perfect moment to be wed to the object of desire, her very own prince.

Time flies so fast that I couldn't even believe it was already 2186 days with hubby. Yeah 2186 days of happily ever after. 'Ever after' doesn't mean the much fantasized 'perfect' relationship. It's a concoction of life's sweet moments, bitter truths, sour experiences, salty situations. After all these years, I've come into conclusion that no one can really be happily married unless there's a love triangle with God. God should be involved - the Center, that is.  I can't fully love hubby (and vice versa) if it were not for God's loving example and sustenance.

Happy 6th anniversary, hon! Looking forward to growing old with you, and you alone.  ;-)

 
Parents must always be aware of what their kids are watching. We are bombarded daily with shows that showcase violence, sex, greed, or even lightly put - naughtiness and trash talk. I was alarmed when my eldest son uttered the word 'stupid'. We never use the word, nor other immediate members of the family my kid interacts with. No, not from school because he's not yet attending school when I heard him say the word. Where could he have heard it if it were not from some cartoons. I only let him watch cartoons when he's alone while I'm doing my household chores.

Cartoons should be for kids. But the way they are put, they hardly reflect values that should be inculcated to budding, innocent minds. The words sucker, dumb, stupid, looser are not for kids (neither are for adults as well). Sadly and frustrating, cartoons do use such. Sponge Bob Square Pants is one. There are even frequent slapping, attacking, and bullying like those from Tom and Jerry, Tweety, and even Mickey Mouse shows. I don't know why cartoons are not being regulated as to the use of language and content.

There are  just a few cartoons left that go for what they were made to be. But they're for preschoolers only. These are Nickelodeon shows, Nick Jr. cartoons. These are aired in the Philippines through the Nickelodeon Channel every morning, weekdays.

These Nick Jr's preschool shows promote social and thinking skills through playful entertainment and connected learning.
  • Blue's Clues
  • Wonder Pets
  • Bubble Guppies
  • Umi Zoomi
  • Dora the Explorer
  • Go, Diego Go!
  • Ni Hao Kai-lan
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But what about post preschool stage? I've been on the look for good grade-school and up cartoons but left disappointed because I can't find even just one ideal show that promotes right values and use no foul language.

In the meantime, while my kids are still preschoolers, I'll make most out of these preschool cartoons. After this stage, I shall continue my search for shows that will be of benefit, rather than pollute my kids' minds.