Game Time!

The kids in our Maglaro Tayo! Workshop were in for a treat with this one: a class where one gets to play!  Thanks to Kuya who served as assistant to Teacher Valerie, they learned the Filipino names for different parts of the face and body.

For the little ones in our Saling-Pusa Station, mommy and daddy helped write the big words: buhok, tainga, and bibig, and remembered the body parts through traditional songs, Sampung mga Daliri and Paa-Tuhod-Balikat-Ulo!

But the big kids learned more than the names for parts of the body.  They got to move those body parts to learn about sipa and tumbang preso, though keeping a regular crocheted hacky sack off the ground seemed much easier than with this straw-covered heavy washer!

 

The kids had a bit of rest between strenuous games with a game of marbles, called holen.  Those daliri found new skills in them, and a few of the kids were naturals!  We could have moved on to a game of teks after that workout.

But tumbang preso truly captured their interest.  With the help of a few tsinelas, a tin can, and their good pitching arms, the kids learned how to have fun with these simple items just like their counterparts in the home country.

It's summertime in the Philippines right now and many are celebrating their patron saints' feast days with Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan processions.  Most homes are busy with cooking and baking, and doors are wide open for visitors.  At street corners, there are temporary wooden stages for talent shows and performances.  We won't have that here in cold and wet Virginia but through our A Slice of Pinoy workshop series, which ends in April with Mamiyesta Tayo!, a Fiesta Workshop, the kids will learn how the Filipinos prepare to party.

Join us on Sunday, April 27 at OLCG from 3:30-5:00 p.m.  Click on the registration link on the right.

Halo-Halo Colors

Can you imagine attending a cooking workshop and learning about colors at the same time?

At Paaralang Pinoy's Magluto Tayo! Workshop, we learned Filipino words for different colors by adding layers of green nata de coco, purple ube, and red beans in a cup to make halo-halo.  Teacher Valerie also prepared white pastillas to roll in sugar, and Teacher Riza cooked multi-colored pichi-pichi to dunk in shredded coconut.  What fun!

 To challenge the gamers, we had dominoes--color dominoes! to test their memories.  Is kahel the color orange to match that picture of an orange fruit?  Is itim the color black to match that picture of a pilgrim's hat?  Hmm...

For our beginning readers and writers, we had worksheets to help them remember their new words.  For the older kids, we even gave them more than one word for some colors: green is berde or lunti, blue is asul or bughaw.  And our beautiful skin color is a nice, long word: kayumanggi.

Learn along with us!  In our next workshop, Maglaro Tayo!, we will play some street games and learn the Filipino words for the parts of the body that skip, run, and tag.  Join us on Sunday, March 16 at OLGC from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.  Register using this link or click on the registration button on the right.

A Slice of Pinoy: Workshops for Kids

One of the ways we teach in Paaralang Pinoy is through workshops where kids can actually try out an  activity--perhaps molding pastillas or playing patintero, tasting the rich tsokolate é or dancing the tinikling, or singing the Batibot show theme song.

With the help of Sign Up Genius, a free online sign up form, you will be able to register for upcoming workshops this spring.  To register your children, go to www.signupgenius.com, click on Find A Sign Up and access our workshops using our email address, paaralang.pinoy@yahoo.com.  You will be able to sign up for all our workshops!  Indicate the number of children who will participate, and include their ages. (Or click the Sign Up Genius button on the right--it will bring you to our workshop registration page directly!)

Here's a sneak peek at the February 9 workshop, Magluto Tayo!  This Cooking Workshop will introduce your children to sweet treats from the Philippines.  They will put together a yummy glass of halo-halo, slice some gulaman for samalamig, and taste some colorful pichi-pichi.  We will also learn Filipino words for different foods and colors, and take home recipes to help mom and dad recreate these treats at home.

Kaya sali na kayo!  Join us and experience a slice of Pinoy.  All workshops will be held at the St. Joseph Center of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, 8601 Wolftrap Road, Vienna, VA, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.

February 9
Magluto Tayo! (A Cooking Workshop)

March 16
Maglaro Tayo! (A Street Games Workshop)

April 27
Mamista Tayo! (A Fiesta Workshop)

Simbang Gabi 2013

Sa puso ng lahing Pilipino
Siyam na gabi kaming gumigising
Sa tugtog ng kampanang walang tigil

For the first time in its existence, Paaralang Pinoy sponsored a Simbang Gabi, the Filipino Advent Novena Mass in cooperation with the various communities of the Filipino Ministry of Northern Virginia and the Diocese of Arlington's Office of Multicultural Ministries.  It was a wonderful time to show our Fil-Am youth one of the enduring traditions that their parents have brought with them.

For our particular Mass, the Friends of BLD provided familiar Filipino hymns--nothing beats singing the Ama Namin, the Lord's Prayer in Tagalog!  One of our students proclaimed a reading in Tagalog, two of our young boys served in the Mass, and one of our PP families brought up the bread and wine.  Fr. Andrew Fisher, pastor of St. Ambrose Catholic Church and former Director of Liturgy at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in DC celebrated our Mass.

As folks walked out the door, they were serenaded with a medley of Filipino carols and handed a slice of bibingka for their drive home.  Our kids may not have had to wake up to church bells calling them to Mass at four o'clock in the morning but with a little bit of imagination, they were transported to a Catholic church somewhere in the Philippines for the familiar celebration that helped them prepare for Christmas.

Panunuluyan

There Was No Room for Them in the Inn by Eugene Higgins

Marami pang tao/  Na dito’y darating…

Humanap na ng iba/  Nang hindi dilimin…

Many Filipino-American children are familiar with the Mexican tradition of Las Posadas.  At Paaralang Pinoy, we tell them of the Filipino variation of this tradition that we call Panunuluyan or seeking for lodging.  Our young students also learn a Panunuluyan script in rhyming verse created for us by Filipino novelist (and lola of Paaralang Pinoy students!)

The 2013 Panunuluyan Workshop is a focused activity in the Philippine Christmas Traditions lesson that we teach every year.  

Panunuluyan Workshop

Sunday, December 15

3:30-5:00 p.m.

St. Joseph Center

Our Lady of Good Counsel

8601 Wolftrap Rd., Vienna, VA

Continuing our Parents' Traditions

Glitter and stickers double the fun of decorating.

We call it a success when our Fil-Am kids feel comfortable dressing up a parol and humming along Pasko na Naman at one of our Christmas workshops.  As we state in our objectives, we work at helping them develop respect for their parents' traditions.

Making a parol isn't complete without Pasko na Naman in the background!

But when they look forward to these traditions and find them enjoyable, we see that as a big bonus.

Mabuhay, PP Kids!

One of our students with Ambassador Cuisia at the 2012 Dr. Jose Rizal Youth Awards ceremony

When current and former Paaralang Pinoy students earn accolades, we also bask in their glory and celebrate with them.  We may have little to do with their accomplishments but we do believe that there's something in their Pinoy heritage and our PP classes that contributed to the successful Fil-Am kids that they become.

Happily, their parents share these moments with us.  Congratulations and Mabuhay!