RP's Academic Journals Online

I found two links that will lead you to a collection of Academic Journals, one is the PhilJOL and the other is Public Knowledge Project:

1. Philippine Journals Online
2. Public Knowledge Project   

Read, read and read some more. There is no excuse for not reading.

For Sale: Used Teacher Resource Books

After donating several books in Imus Public Library and the now-gone-defunct-closed The Children's Library-Imus, I still have twenty books to share to all interested readers out there but for now, I'm only selling the thirteen books.

These books were sent to me from New York and all are in very good condition. Classroom teachers, homeschooling parents, scholars, education major students and bookworms will find the books interesting and will be very helpful in teaching their children and students.

Please send me an email or drop me a note in the comments page, leave your name, mobile number and/or email address.

Item # 1: Kid’s Big Book of Games. Hours of fun awaits inside this incredible paperback book. Kids will enjoy 176 pages of word, logic and mind games. Perfect for long plane and car rides. (The answers are at the back.) Price: PhP 100.00

Item # 2: TEACH ME MOMMY is a 281-page, ready-to-use, completely-organized tool that will help you prepare your preschool-aged children for school while giving them the individual attention they need.  Paperback.  Price: PhP 475.00

Item # 3:  Teaching Art with Books Kids Love. Teaching Art Appreciation, Elements of Art, and Principles of Design with Award-Winning Children's Books. Paperback. 

Price: PhP 325.00

Item # 4: Innovations: The Comprehensive Toddler Curriculum. 

The Innovations series is a complete, interactive curriculum for infants and toddlers. In addition to the wealth of activities, each book includes these critical components: applying child development theory to everyday experiences; using assessment to meet individual developmental needs; using the physical environment as a learning tool; developing a partner relationship with parents; fostering an interactive climate in the classroom; and educating parents.

The Innovations series is a unique combination of the practical and theoretical. It combines them in a way that supports beginning teachers, informs experienced teachers, and provides a complete program for every teacher!

Price: PhP 850.00

Item # 5: Raising Young Children Well.

Recipes for success with early childhood's most difficult issues, from the experts at the North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center.

Ever wonder how to keep your cool when your child is all steamed up? What to do to support your child in the face of divorce and loss? How to get a toddler to go to sleep? This collection of the best articles from the award-winning Parent & preschooler Newsletter offers specific advice, respected research, and simple real-life examples to guide parents and professionals through the trials and tribulations of early childhood. Expert contributors discuss a wide variety of topics, including how to deal with a stubborn child; how to face the hair-raising moments of parenthood; and why good sibling relationships can improve your child's attitude in preschool and beyond. Written in an intelligent and supportive style, this book helps readers gain a practical understanding of complex developmental and family issues. Developed by the North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center, an organization that is nationally recognized for its commitment to children and families, this collection is an invaluable tool for parents and professionals.

Price: PhP 650.00

Item # 6: A Work in Progress: Behavior Management Strategies and a Curriculum for Intensive Behavioral Treatment of Autism by Ron Leaf and John McEachin (May 1999).

Guide to Educate Children Diagnosed with Autism Through Applied Behavior Analysis

Price: PhP 550.00

Item # 7:  How to Manage Your Early Childhood Classroom[Paperback].

The goal for early childhood teachers is to create and manage a developmentally sound and enriching learning environment. The practical tips and tools in this book will help teachers do just that.

Price: PhP 350.00

Item # 8:  Behavioral Intervention for Young Children With Autism: A Manual for Parents and Professionals[Paperback]

A growing body of research shows that many young children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders can derive significant, lasting, and sometimes dramatic benefits from early intervention based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis. This manual, inspired by that research, provides a wealth of practical information for parents, professionals, and others concerned with helping such children. Authors include parents whose children have been the beneficiaries of a science based approach to autism treatment, as well as many noted researchers and experienced clinicians.

The manual gives the reader concrete information on how to evaluate treatment options and differentiate scientifically validated interventions from fads and miracle cures; assess children s skills, needs, and progress objectively and systematically; teach children a wide variety of important skills, ranging from basics such as listening and looking, to complex language and social skills; and determine who is competent to deliver and supervise behavioral intervention.

Price: PhP 850.00

Item # 9:  Complete Early Childhood Curriculum Resource: Success-Oriented Learning Experiences for All Children [Paperback].

Over 370 games and activities to add fun, excitement, and meaningful learning experiences to any early childhood program.

Price: PhP 750.00

Item #10:   The GIANT Encyclopedia of Theme Activities for Children 2 to 5: Over 600 Favorite Activities Created by Teachers for Teachers [Paperback]

This popular potpourri of over 600 classroom-tested activities actively engages children's imaginations and provides many months of learning fun. Organized into 48 popular themes, from Dinosaurs to Circus to Outer Space, these favorite activities are the result of a nationwide competition. Join the ranks of teachers who are already using and loving this valuable resource.

Price: PhP 650.00

Item # 11:                              Transition Magician

Strategies for Guiding Young Children in Early Childhood Programs

Price:  PhP 450.00

Item # 12: Creative Resources for the Early Childhood Classroom 4th edition.

Price: PhP 1,500.00

Item # 13:   Complete Early Childhood Curriculum Resource: Success-Oriented Learning Experiences for All Children [Paperback].

Over 370 games and activities to add fun, excitement, and meaningful learning experiences to any early childhood program.

Price: PhP 750.00

Songs for the Sick and Tired

What do you do when your home and sick? Do you watch hourly news that only speak of death, tragedy and killings made mostly by the people that's supposed to protect us? Or do you stay in bed and listen to your favorite songs?

For the past three weeks I've been sick with body pains, coughs and flu and after all the medication that made drowsy, I listened to these:


At the end of the day, it's really a blessing to have your family beside you, caring and loving wife and children: And at six in the evening, it's nice to gather as a family and pray the Angelus:

R.I.P. Aaron Swartz

I don't know you and the only time I learned about your existence is when you ceased to live. The news of your suicide paved the way for me to find out about your life and works. With everything written about you, almost all in the light of a genius, I feel sorry that the world lost another man like you.

Thank you for everything. Thank you for fighting for a free access to the sum of all human knowledge.

Your death is just the beginning of another round of fight between good and evil.

To pay tribute, I am posting your Guerilla Open Access Manifesto.

Guerilla Open Access Manifesto

 Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves. The world's entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations. Want to read the papers featuring the most famous results of the sciences? You'll need to send enormous amounts to publishers like Reed Elsevier.

There are those struggling to change this. The Open Access Movement has fought valiantly to ensure that scientists do not sign their copyrights away but instead ensure their work is published on the Internet, under terms that allow anyone to access it. But even under the best scenarios, their work will only apply to things published in the future. 

Everything up until now will have been lost.

That is too high a price to pay. Forcing academics to pay money to read the work of their colleagues? Scanning entire libraries but only allowing the folks at Google to read them?

Providing scientific articles to those at elite universities in the First World, but not to children in the Global South? It's outrageous and unacceptable. "I agree," many say, "but what can we do? The companies hold the copyrights, they make enormous amounts of money by charging for access, and it's perfectly legal — there's nothing we can do to stop them."

But there is something we can, something that's already being done: we can fight back.

Those with access to these resources — students, librarians, scientists — you have been given a privilege. You get to feed at this banquet of knowledge while the rest of the world is locked out. But you need not — indeed, morally, you cannot — keep this privilege for yourselves. You have a duty to share it with the world. 

And you have: trading passwords with colleagues, filling download requests for friends.

Meanwhile, those who have been locked out are not standing idly by. You have been sneaking through holes and climbing over fences, liberating the information locked up by the publishers and sharing them with your friends. But all of this action goes on in the dark, hidden underground. It's called stealing or piracy, as if sharing a wealth of knowledge were the moral equivalent of plundering a ship and murdering its crew. But sharing isn't immoral — it's a moral imperative. Only those blinded by greed would refuse to let a friend make a copy.

Large corporations, of course, are blinded by greed. The laws under which they operate require it — their shareholders would revolt at anything less. And the politicians they have bought off back them, passing laws giving them the exclusive power to decide who can make copies.

There is no justice in following unjust laws. It's time to come into the light and, in the grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture.

We need to take information, wherever it is stored, make our copies and share them with the world. We need to take stuff that's out of copyright and add it to the archive. We need to buy secret databases and put them on the Web. We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file sharing networks.

We need to fight for Guerilla Open Access.

With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the privatization of knowledge — we'll make it a thing of the past. Will you join us? 

Aaron Swartz
July 2008, Eremo, Italy

RP's K to 12 Education Curriculum

I found this very helpful page about the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum, created by the men and women behind the OP Web Development Office, within the Presidential Communications Group of the Office of the President of the Philippines. Here it is, The K to 12 Basic Education Program.

It has a free download section for K to 12 Curriculum resources and the pages are in Question and Answer form.

Philippine Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law

The man who once said "Kayo ang boss ko" is the same man who signed the Reproductive Health Law last December 21, 2012.   Two years into his presidency, PNoy has made enemy with the institution that helped his mom get into Malacanang, the Catholic Church.

PNoy, do you think Boy Abunda will ever take you in as the poster boy for his Make Your Nanay Proud foundation? If your mom is alive today, what would she tell you? The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has lost big time against you and I don't really know how they'll recover from this.

Here is a copy of the law also known as Republic Act No. 10354:

RH Law

Homeschooling: Hiking in Talim Island

I finally found a good excuse to visit Talim Island. Our homeschoolers' topics were plants, land forms and bodies of water. Talim is found in the middle of  Laguna de Bay, enclosed by the provinces of Laguna and Rizal.

I used to stay at my aunt's place in Baranggay Navotas and then traverse the steep hills to reach my other aunt's place in Baranggay Subay. Subay and Navotas hasn't change a much except maybe for the proliferation of motorcycles and paved roads which make it annoying and scary for the activity we had last December 26 and 27: Hiking.

We were accompanied by my cousins Otep, Jacenth and Cayoy. We had fun in collecting samples of plants and flowers, looking over the cliffs and enjoying the breeze. My cousins were amused and I guess impressed with how our children were hands-on with their learning. The kids knew exactly what they wanted to do when we set foot in Subay-- discover the place as much as possible.

It was the the first time for my kids to visit the island and I took up the role of a historian-slash-tourist guide as we walked along the hills with drizzle and cold breeze. Thanks to the Christmas storm than made our walk so much easier. While walking, I told them stories about the birthplace of their lola, the hospital where we used to run around and reminded them of the once creepy places I was so scared of when I was their age visiting the place.

Nice fun times with the kids. Will I have another chance at this? I don't know but one thing is for sure: homeschooling our kids has offered us opportunities to learn together and have fun as a family on the side.

I can't ask for more.

Feast of Theotokos

The first day of the year, January 1, is a Holy day of obligation. Theotokos is a Greek title of Mary as the Mother of God. Theotokos means God-bearer and this was decreed in the year 431 during the Council of Ephesus.

Theotokos, Mother Mary's Divine Motherhood, Perpetual Virginity and Perfect Sanctity according to Catholic Encyclopedia:

Mary's perpetual virginity

In connection with the study of Mary during Our Lord's hidden life, we meet the questions of herperpetual virginity, of her Divine motherhood, and of her personal sanctity. Her spotless virginity has been sufficiently considered in the article on the Virgin Birth. The authorities there cited maintain that Mary remained a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to her Divine Son, as well as after the birth of Jesus. Mary's question (Luke 1:34), the angel's answer (Luke 1:35-37), Joseph's way of behaving in his doubt (Matthew 1:19-25), Christ's words addressed to the Jews (John 8:19) show that Mary retained her virginity during the conception of her Divine Son. [65]As to Mary's virginity after her childbirth, it is not denied by St. Matthew's expressions "before they came together" (1:18), "her firstborn son" (1:25), nor by the fact that the New Testament books repeatedly refer to the "brothers of Jesus". [66] The words "before they came together" mean probably, "before they lived in the same house", referring to the time when they were merelybetrothed; but even if the words be understood of marital intercourse, they only state that theIncarnation took place before any such intercourse had intervened, without implying that it did occur after the Incarnation of the Son of God. [67]The same must be said of the expression, "and he knew her not till she brought forth her firstborn son" (Matthew 1:25); the Evangelist tells us what did not happen before the birth of Jesus, without suggesting that it happened after his birth. [68] The name "firstborn" applies to Jesus whether his mother remained a virgin or gave birth to other children after Jesus; among the Jews it was a legal name [69], so that its occurrence in the Gospel cannot astonish us.Finally, the "brothers of Jesus" are neither the sons of Mary, nor the brothers of Our Lord in the proper sense of the word, but they are His cousins or the more or less near relatives. [70] TheChurch insists that in His birth the Son of God did not lessen but consecrate the virginal integrity of His mother (Secret in Mass of Purification). The Fathers express themselves in similar language concerning this privilege of Mary. [71]

Mary's divine motherhood

 Mary's Divine motherhood is based on the teaching of the Gospels, on the writings of the Fathers, and on the express definition of the Church. St. Matthew (1:25) testifies that Mary "brought forth herfirst-born son" and that He was called Jesus. According to St. John (1:15) Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Word Who assumed human nature in the womb of Mary. As Mary was truly the mother ofJesus, and as Jesus was truly God from the first moment of His conception, Mary is truly the mother of God. Even the earliest Fathers did not hesitate to draw this conclusion as may be seen in the writings of St. Ignatius [72], St. Irenaeus [73], and Tertullian [74]. The contention of Nestoriusdenying to Mary the title "Mother of God" [75] was followed by the teaching of the Council of Ephesus proclaiming Mary to be Theotokos in the true sense of the word. [76]

Mary's perfect sanctity

Some few patristic writers expressed their doubts as to the presence of minor moral defects in Our Blessed Lady. [77] St. Basil, e.g., suggests that Mary yielded to doubt on hearing the words of holy Simeon and on witnessing the crucifixion. [78] St. John Chrysostom is of opinion that Mary would have felt fear and trouble, unless the angel had explained the mystery of the Incarnation to her, and that she showed some vainglory at the marriage feast in Cana and on visiting her Son during His public life together with the brothers of the Lord. [79] St. Cyril of Alexandria [80] speaks of Mary'sdoubt and discouragement at the foot of the cross. But these Greek writers cannot be said to express an Apostolic tradition, when they express their private and singular opinions. Scripture andtradition agree in ascribing to Mary the greatest personal sanctity; She is conceived without the stain of original sin; she shows the greatest humility and patience in her daily life (Luke 1:38, 48); she exhibits an heroic patience under the most trying circumstances (Luke 2:7, 35, 48; John 19:25-27). When there is question of sin, Mary must always be excepted. [81] Mary's complete exemption from actual sin is confirmed by the Council of Trent (Session VI, Canon 23): "If any one say that man once justified can during his whole life avoid all sins, even venial ones, as the Church holds that the Blessed Virgin did by special privilege of God, let him be anathema." Theologians assert that Mary was impeccable, not by the essential perfection of her nature, but by a special Divine privilege. Moreover, the Fathers, at least since the fifth century, almost unanimously maintain that the Blessed Virgin never experienced the motions of concupiscence.

May we all start our year in peace with ourselves, our brothers and sisters and with the God that we believe in, whoever they maybe.

2012 JBS Manila Chess Battle II

The results are in for the JBS Manila Chess Battle II which happened over the weekend at Robinson-Otis, Paco, Manila. There were three divisions: Open, Rating 1950 & Below and the 14 and Under.

In the Open division, IM Barlo Nadera claimed the Championship spot with six points and higher tie-break points over the other six-pointers. On second place is FM Paulo Bersamina, third is Narquingel Reyes, fourth is Jerad Docena and on fifth is Ruel Abelgas. They make-up the top five finishers of the Open division, each having six points.

On sixth spot with 5 points is GM Bong Antonio. The Open division had 120 players and looking at the list, Bong Antonio was the only GM to play in the event. The usuals were not around like Dableo, Dimakiling, Paragua, Torre, Barbosa, Laylo and Bitoon. Except for FM Paulo Bersamina, there weren't any participants from the youngsters like Mejia, Garcia and So Kua.

I wonder whatever happened to the Ochoa brothers.

Here is final standings for the Open Division:

Results of 2012 Open Division, JBS Manila Chess Battle II


And in the 1950 and Below, there's not much news except that it was won by Genghis Imperial and followed by Jan Roldan Oriendo.

Final Standings:

Results of 2012 1950 and Below Division, JBS Manila Chess Battle II

And lastly, the future of Philippine Chess, 14 and Under:

  Result 2012 JBS Manila Chess Battle II 14 & Under