i heart my son's Waldorf Daycare

As a mum, you want your child in a safe, nurturing place that is a home-away-from-home. My heart leaped for joy when we found Waldorf-inspired St. Michael Playgarden when Benny was two years old. He is now 4 and a half and it is his last semester there, but if you are looking, searching and praying for a place for your little one- like i was- this may be the answer ;)



Nurturing the Whole Child … Head, Heart and Hands

Waldorf/Steiner Education views each child as a growing human being of body, soul, and spirit, all of which must be nurtured by education in thinking, feeling and willing.

ST. MICHAEL PLAYHOUSE (formerly MIKAEL PLAYGARDEN) places human development of Head, Heart and Hands at the center of its work and daily program. It prepares young people to meet the world with inner confidence, to trust in the value of each human being, and to think and work with initiative in their lives. Following the indications of Austrian scientist and philosopher, Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), the children learn through creative play, imitation and rhythm in the context of their own stage of development. The capacity for serious academic work and thinking in formal school is first nurtured through healthy play and artistic learning at the day care in preparation for the kindergarten and lower school. Children are encouraged to learn in awe and wonder about the world around them.

Between birth and age seven, the child learns mainly through imitation. The atmosphere surrounding the child is filled with beauty, morality, and role models worthy of imitation. At this age the children need warmth and protection to develop their capacities in a natural, supportive, non-competitive and free atmosphere for creative play and work.

The arts and practical work are the bedrock out of which Waldorf/Steiner education nourishes creativity, thinking, feeling life, self-discipline and health in its students. By educating the whole child in these rich and creative ways, we hope to encourage young people to bring the highest human capacities into their adult lives as they become citizens of the future.


My little big boy Benicio doing his laundry in the sunshine

MISSION/VISION

To nurture and educate responsible individuals who are free-thinking, purposeful and compassionate, working in community towards social transformation.

• Our program integrates the child’s developmental needs to enhance intellectual skills and inner strength.
• Our deeply committed nurturers work together to foster each child’s sense of self-reliance, concern for community, and moral purpose.
• The child’s educated, disciplined imagination will be the foundation for leadership into the future.


Tita Winnie telling a story for the children

School year 2011-2012, Second Semester

Daycare:
Tue-Fri, Nov 8, 2011 – Mar 30, 2012 (with holiday on Nov 30); Christmas break: Dec 17, 2011 to Jan 9, 2012

Half Day 8:30 - 12noon
Full Day 8:30 -4pm

Fees are per semester and inclusive of all education materials and 3 (full-day)/ 2 (half day) healthy organic/bio-dynamic meals per day

Parent-Child:
Saturdays, Nov 12, 2011 – Dec 17; Mondays, Nov 14 – Dec 19
Parent chooses either Sat or Mon. Fees are per 6-week block and inclusive of all materials. The child must be accompanied by one parent.

Saturday, 9:00am-11:00am
Monday, 9:30am-11:30am


Tita Josie letting the children assist in preparing the meals

For more information:

G/f, ISIP Center, 6241 Palma cor Mañalac Sts., Bgy. Poblacion, Makati City
Mobile: 0917 847 0848; Email: St.Michael.Playhouse@gmail.com
Facebook: St Michael Playhouse Makati

Meanwhile, we would like to share with you these wonderful articles on Steiner/Waldorf education:

Waldorf Education in Public Schools
Harvard Education Letter
Harvard Graduate School of Education
http://www.hepg.org/hel/article/515#home

The article above gives good insights on the state of the American public school education, and how Waldorf/Steiner programs are being implemented in public schools with positive results

A Silicon Valley School that Doesn't Compute
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/screen-time-higher-than-ever-for-children-study-finds.html?_r=2&emc=eta1

This article talks about the interesting choices of top computer techies and executives to send their children to a Steiner school

Preschool Tests Take Time Away from Play - and Learning
Scientific American
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-death-of-preschool

Finally, the article above makes no reference to Steiner education, but makes a strong case for why more play, and less direct instruction and academics, is critical for a young child's development


Benicio the park sweeper during a trip to the park

INDIGOBABY turns FANTASTIC FOUR

IT'S OUR BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!








Map to Ayala Westgrove, Sta. Rosa Laguna

directions:

From Manila to Ayala Westgrove:
take SLEX and STA ROSE exit.
turn right and follow road all the way about 4.5km until Laguna Blvd- youll see signs to Ayala Westgrove.
... Ask guard for directions to Main gate of Ayala Westgrove.
(straight then left on first main intersection then right on first street- end of which is main gate.

To Kidsgrove from Gate of Ayala Westgrove:
From Main Gate, turn right to SAMPALOC DRIVE.
Straight until you reach the end 9round about)
Then you'll hit a bridge then right on 2nd street ARATILES:*

Our Promos for the Three's Company Party

Waldorf is the Way

Waldorf School Education is not a pedagogical system but an Art – the Art of awakening what is actually there within the human being."
- Rudolf Steiner


My Little Artist Benicio and his wet-on-wet work of art!!

A Sneak Peek into how Benicio was kept productive this summer
http://indigomanila.multiply.com/journal/item/413/Waldorf_is_the_Way

ST MICHAEL PLAYHOUSE offers a two-times-a-week Parent-Child program for children under a year old to 2-3 years old, accompanied by a parent.

Benny attends the 4-day or 3-day Daycare program for children 2-3 years old to 5 years old.

Hand Embroidered Placemats for Parent-Toddler- made with love and intention by
St. Michael's nurturers


Getting ready for Wet-On-Wet Painting with solid primary colors


Set Up for the Summer Story Telling:
Si Iklong Tipaklong at Higad...
a story about helping friends...finding new friends...having fun...
(All made with sooo much intention by the titas of St. Michael!)


Children learn to wash up and clean after themselves

ST MICHAEL PLAYHOUSE is on the G/f, ISIP Center, 6241 Palma cor Manalac Sts., Bgy. Poblacion, Makati, a few minutes from Rockwell and Bel-Air. Mobile: 0917 847 0848
st.michael.playhouse@gmail.com

My simple handmade project!

Benny and i saw this online and now we want it! I pray i find time to make for all the kiddies i love dearly!!

Made this for Benny last week..his name is Ellie the dragon! :P

but now he's got wings and eyes, except both different buttons since bolt chewed the other black one away!


Ellie the dragon and Ellie the horse..both named Ellie..or E.L.E. (Everybody loves Everybody!) -Ben's favorite name these days:P


Ben flying our handmade paper kite tonight..Tomorrow, the wind.

A cookie from my babe

Benny came home with an oatmeal cookie for us that they baked at Mikael today! I was impressed as usual because he remembered ALL the ingredients!

Mikael Playhouse
Nina Martinez
Tel: 754-8020
Cel: 0920-922-0479

hello again darling lunchbox

hi!!!

some updates..

1. i now live in San Juan with my fabfabfab partner and dear friend, with our big babies and business. been here for a week and although it is taking some time to adjust, i love my space, and the feeling of being on my own.

some things in my life need to be fixed..so here it is, time and space to think and be free. fly free.

took a single jeep to DV yesterday and are now official bazaaristas! (yeeeeah!) how cool is that! excited to go back there again.

2. moved on from a helper that did not make me happy to..no helper again. but it's cool. ben and i are managing and waiting for an angel! couldn't stand some things about her, and although she was game to do gigs, late night taping and whatnot, i couldn't settle. besides, now, mum's got more time to ben plus good babysitting friends! killing 2 birds w stones;)

3. baby angelo! although i am a major extra, it is my claim to fame to be a part of Arkeofilm's newest production..to be released in July and is a nominee for Cannes!! is there any chance i can go??? as a candidate for the Best Extra award maybe??!!?!? teeheehee!! oh, and ben was in the film too..and earned P500 to do it! how cool is that mah little boy, making his keep at a young age! sooooooooo excited for the movie in july!! must watch!

4. baby Led weaning ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!
Because of this great invention, Benny is a fab eater!! Sometimes, i'd think, was this invented for lazy mums like me, who have some modern excuse to let their kids run free, eat big dangerous chunks of food, and pee in their undies??? BUT NO!! because of BL, ben now ASKS for food! not like many other kids who are chased by yayas, spoons hovering in the skies, TV's to distract them, Benny, walks around (if he get sick of the chair) and comes to me to get a mouthful of whatever. I LOVE IT! He actually knows what he wants, tries new things and eats!!! Like a real big person! So nappy changing is now more exciting, with all the scents and colors present, but what the heck..my boy eats and i am happy about that!!

5. making extra dough..looking for ways and means to make extra $$$ and so far, God has been good. a gig here and there, possible ads and whatnot, plus learning to save, live lighter and happier..works for me! i do wonder though about the future..and worry about the day when i will need to go back to work (F$%&K no:()..but then again, maybe that day will never come..and maybe i will be a professional racket-eer who owns a large and booming business called INDIGObaby!! it could happen. so while ben grows, we work and make ends meet..school, we'll deal with you when the time comes.





aw man missed this.

the teeth have arrived

benny has teeth!

first sign, three kings January 7, 2008. A little sharp thingee from the bottom jaw.





Then two days later, a BIG one on his upper jaw. Then suddenly...

this....




my little easter benny is really a bunny wabbit!

i catch my heart thumping a bit stronger now when he feeds, scared that he might feel the need to use his little fangs on me! so far, just a couple of ouchie moments that are remedied by gentle reprimanding and explaining, "Ben...that hurts me. Please don't do that again."

He's a smart one and knows not to bite the boob that feeds. ;)

The Sweet Life

been really busy as the bazaar is coming up in 3 days! its goin to start noon on friday, all the way til 9pm..then again sat and sun! wow...im sure M and i (and our babies!) will be super tired..but looking forward to fun and sales and good contacts! it's all happenin' for INDIGObaby!



guess what!!! my ex boss called me last thurs pm asking me if i could do a racket for them the next day, speaking engagement daw. so i was like, ok, what do i have to do..turns out i had to present a powerpoint that they made, and say that i was a SKIN EXPERT who has been doing herbal remedies for 5 years!! i wanted to take the job, but 1) could i do it? 2) what about benny????

was able to get elisa to agree to watch ben in alexandra, mama nuca's house, as the talk was in tektite, 5mins away! liz is great with kids, in fact, she was the one who taught me to hold a baby, before when i was preggy pa. and she's free coz she just graduated and is looking for a job.

another prob, i only had 5 oz of stored milk! the night and morning were spent expressing as much milk as i could get, total of 10oz.

i reviewed the powerpoint presentation that night and it was on herbal soaps, 8 varieties of fab ingredients and benefits. not so hard coz i was familiar with most of them..thanks to papa and naturally yours!! thats why R thought of me i guess:)

so the next day, we ventured to deposit ben at alexandra, get him and liz settled in, then me to meet the client and discuss the talk i was going to do in the next hour! small talk small talk, then i told her about indigo and our fab new organic line for mums and babies. turns out, she knew someone in the QTV show, The Sweet Life of Lucy Torres and Wilma Doesnt, the guy who casts guests on the show!! she immediately called her contact and recommended, no more like sold, us to them and said that they HAD to feature us!!! we gave the guy our multiply address and i called him after.

sunday, he calls me and asks if we were free to shoot monday!!!! omigosh!! yes! we were taped yesterday, benny me, monica and santi! as guests on the show! it'll be aired end of november still, but fab still coz we were able to plug the alabang bazaar we are joining in december:) lucy and wilma loved the kids, along w the entire crew and staff:)

as our segment was about to get taped, benny decided to get hungry and fussy, so i had to feed him under our Indigo Reversible Nursing bib..i was feeling a bit sad coz he'd miss his chance at being seen on national tv, and i said to myself, i'd raise his feet up nalang as say "hi, this is benny!"

so thy started taping us, intro intro..lucy said, "we have with us today, indigo baby's yummy mummies monica and denise with babies santi and benny....then (i am not joking!!!) benny, who was nursing and asleep under the bib, pops his head out from under the bib and looks around at everyone, as if he knew it was time for him to come out and show himself to the world!! with drowsy eyes and the i-just-got-up-but-am-still-cute face, ben was amazing! hahaha! it was soooo funny i swear!



we demonstrated the nappy clutch, the bib, and all the other items. it was great!! mons and i are so amazed at how it all came to be! parang the world is conspiring to help us out...so indigo gets big and we never have to leave our babies alone!! :)

p.s. oh, the talk went well by the way..turns out i knew more than what was expected of me! ;) good job dee!

in the danger zone

Benny, at almost 7 months, moves.

And he moves a lot.

Started with slithers backwards, turning over and getting stuck, rolling, humping, pouncing (with growling), climbing, pulling.

Needless to say, to leave him on the bed, or anywhere alone would be dangerous.

The other day, as he dozed off to dreamland (or so I thought), I got up and answered a phone call in the other room. I didn't dare disturb him coz naptime equals Dee time, for shower, food, and net (busy busy is good good!).

In less than two minutes, I entered back into the room to find Ben awake, on the corner of our queen-sized bed, on his knees and with his hands on the arm of the rocking chair by the bed...giddy and bouncing with a big grin on his face as if he were saying, "Mum!! There you are!!"

I ran (four steps from the door to the bed) and grabbed him in panic that another second away could mean another fall..more painful than the previous one!

Safe and in the bed, we played and fed until he napped again after. Phew! Fearless Benicio.



In other news....

it has been 12..yes twelve days since Benny has seen daddy-o.:( Because I am mad, holding back and not communicating. But B has also not tried to see us, or at least Ben. No call, no text, no asking if he could come visit (Sometimes I wish he were somewhere around spying on us at least.).

Can't comprehend how he could stay away this long. *sigh*

oh well..if he did come, i don't know how i'd act or what i'd say anyway. Just pondering.

poop in the toilet

weeeee!! Benny poo-ed in the toilet twice tonight!

i think our trial at elimination communication is working..well slowly, but better that than nothing.

i started trying the method roughly two months ago, and since Ben is a lampin (cloth diaper) baby (thank god to my grandmother for this input, we fought about cloth vs. plastic when i was pregnant and i am sooooooo glad i gave in!), it makes it a bit easier.

i got some tushy wushy diapers and have been using them at home and for short trips outside. so far so good. i also went on two weeks of running to the toilet, watching out for peeing cues and signs, waking up at night with the bed soaked coz i was too tired to wake up and change a cloth diaper, until i said, nevermind...one thing at a time.

then today, wearing his chino pino care of yummy mummy monica, benny grunted as he was going to poo..i rushed him to the toilet, removed him nappy, and sat him on the toilet, alone this time, not between my legs as i was wearing a camo skirt. he pushed and pushed and smile at me between dropping little mustard paste into the bowl, as if he was proud to do it! i was impressed and kept patting him on the back with pride :)

then again, later tonight, as i was in between lampins, benny started grunting while feeding on my lap (yes, i leave him naked and free sometimes and have made a very nasty mess, but it is just toooooo nice to see him naked!). he moved his fingers to him bum and we just looked at each other and i knew: he was going to poo. again, he did it in the toilet!





i'm impressed. maybe this elimination communication is working! pee is a bit tricky to catch, tiresome too, but starting with one thing is better than none at all:)

cheers to benlove and mum dee!

starting solids

october 8..benny celebrated his half-year mark..my my how time flies. really.

that meant introducing some solids to his diet. as an Open 24/7 No Reservations milk machine, the idea of food for benny was a little bit scary.

"oh no, what if he likes the food better than me?"

I was worried.

I saw how he looked at us with intent in his eyes when we'd eat on the dinner table. I watched how his head would turn to an almost right angle as he sat on my lap and looked up as my fork traveled from the plate to the mouth. He was ready.

So I did it. I introduced my sunshine boy to oatmeal three mornings ago...first with a little bit on my clean finger, then with his spoon. He took to it well. It was adorable how he opened his mouth and leaned towards the spoon.

Oatmeal dripped from his lips, but he enjoyed it. So did I. (Even if I had a sudden fear in my head about the day when he'd stop drinking my milk:<)

So I have officially started solids I guess. I used oatmeal from the local grocery, ground to a powder in the blender, and cooked in a little water. He eats very little so far, but we enjoy his feeding paraphernalia from Baby & Co (except I had to exchange the cute colorful ones because they were made in China!!)

Food glorious food.

The funnest part of it all is that Ben still adores my milk-giving breasts! Even if they have shrinked to size, adjusted to his need, he giggles and half whines with desire when I position myself next to him in the bed right before a feed. Like he really wants it. I love that.

A friend of mine had a daughter refuse her breast after five months of mix feeding. The infant enjoyed her new fake nipple. This friend of mine experienced depression. I am guessing it was the grieving from weening?

I know it will be hard for me...so milk, keep flowing and Benny, keep sucking!

coming to terms

my little darling baby will be five months in a less than two weeks..how time flies.

a few days ago, i was again hit by the anxiety bug that made me stress about my life and how i feel like it is going nowhere. before, i was sinking in the pit alone..now, i have my son to worry about.

a friend pointed out that maybe i have not truly come to terms with the whole 'mommyhood' idea. yes, things have changed. priorities, everyday life, relationships, (my size!!), the way i feel about things. on a good day, i can experience these changes and take things in stride. on a bad day, (fridays mostly coz those are the days when i feel alone at home and resentful that my partner is out havin' a ball livin' the bachelor life!) things can really get to me...to the point that i want to fly away and start over.

i love my son..with all my heart. i want to give him the best..this of course means finding the best person for myself, who will love me and my son unconditionally, treat us right, take care of us and make the world a sunshiney place. whether or not that person has arrived is beyond me today. that is what stresses me out. the what if's sink in.

so i accept that the whole mum idea is still in transition within me. it doesn't mean that i love my son less..it doesn't make me a bad mum and does not deserve my guilt. simple fact is that i am going through changes that bring with them a bunch of wacky emotions to deal with..



here's to a happy and healthy life for me and my darling son benny. wherever the wind will bring us, there will always be sunshine:)

loving the latching

this is just to express my gratitude and joy that my little benny is a great sucker..from day one, when we were both new at this, he readily came to me with eagerness and latched. some babies don't even do that. and it is sad i guess.
there is great fulfillment i get from breastfeeding my baby and after 4 months, i sometimes worry about what my life will be when benny grows up and weans himself away from me.. i think i may need some weening as well! anyhow, this wil be a long time from now since benny and i are loving the latching!



lately though, he has become very hyper and so fond of playing that he feeds less. less, compared to his feeding-almost-every-minute days, but still enough to keep him staying healthy and happy. i notice though that trying to feed him when he is not hungry is a bad bad move. we both just get frustrated thn give up. the consolation of it all, is that when this little boy is hungry he latches immediately and without hesitation. i love that.

a friend of mine whos baby is a 'light sucker' has to pump 24/7 to give her baby enough milk. we jokingly planned to make benny latch onto her one day to get the milk flowing and maybe entice the baby though show-and-tell. before, i thought this idea to be sick (sharing teet!! eeeew!). But now, if it were in desperation, i would consider sharing my milk or letting my baby receive from someone else if i couldn't give. it would maybe break my heart, but i'd do it for him.

luna was born yesterday, august 15, 2007 at 7.1 lbs.
luna, little luna..with her murmur in her heart. be strong little one, we're all praying for you.