Yuan now goes to preschool and his first homework was to memorize a poem.
Although we review his work after school, this is the first time that I would actually help him with a homework and I was excited to do it! :-)
Honestly, I didn't like the poem. I found it quite silly but I guess that's how poems are in nursery, they should be easy to understand.
Anyway, the first stanza goes like this:
Red, red
What is red?
The apple is red
Pretty and free
is good to see
See, I told you it sounded silly and as it turned out, Yuan seemed to agree with me because his reaction after I read it to him was:
"No...it's good to eat, apple is food"
Right! How can I object to that?
I realized the task wasn't going to be easy.
I had to convince Yuan that even if the poem sucks he has to memorize it exactly as it was written.
So I had to say:
"Yes kuya, apple is good to eat...but the poem says it is also good to see."
Thank God, he accepted such explanation and after a few tries he was able to memorize the first stanza. Unfortunately though, he didn't want to continue memorizing anymore.
So i decided to let him take his afternoon nap and try again later.
Come night, I decided to read to Yuan another stanza:
Blue, blue
What is blue
The sky is blue
Where birds flew high
and birdies fly
Paul was with me this time and his reaction was : "and birdies fly?"
To which I answered, "Yup, so kung gusto ko makakita ng birdie na lumilipad, titingin lang ako sa sky..hehehe"
What a really silly poem, I wonder who wrote it.
The "birdie comment" reminded me of a mommy whom I overheard telling his son "Yan si Big Birdie" while pointing to a Big Bird stuffed toy in a mall! Hahaha, mga mommies talaga, minsan patawa! :-)
Anyway, I read the stanza again to Yuan. I was on the third line when he said.
Yuan: "No, the water is blue."
Me: "Huh? no kuya, the sky is blue"
Yuan: "In the beach, the water is blue."
Me: "Okay, but the sky is also blue."
Yuan: "The sky is gray"
Right! It's night and yes, the sky is gray.
I realized maybe this isn't the right time for this part of the poem.
Why do children have to be so clever?! :-)
As I wasn't sure if Yuan was just trying to avoid doing his homework, I decided to ask him to just recite the first stanza once again. If he won't be able to completely memorize the poem at least he has one stanza to recite in school.
And so he went...
"Red, red
what is red?
the house is red..."
Surprised and confused, I asked...
Me: "Huh? Kuya, what house is red? it should be 'the apple is red'"
Yuan: "See, the house is red" -- pointing to his Thomas the Tank Engine toy house which of course is red!
Giving up, I decided to just try it again tomorrow morning. He was able to recite the first stanza completely early that afternon so I was pretty confident he'll remember it the next morning.
So I kept his notebook and he started playing with his white toy tank.
As he was doing so, he muttered:
"White, white..
what is white?
The tank is white"
Hahaha!!! Paul and I just burst out laughing...
I hugged Yuan and said "Ang galing galing mo!"
Even with all the foolishness and playing around with his homework, I am so proud of my son! :)