Photoblog: Scenes From SMP's Baking and Cooking Class

Yes, I'm not yet done documenting this part of her summer. I'm happy that now the nurturers at SMP try their best to document the kids' activities through photos so the parents get a glimpse of what's happening inside the classroom. Thank you, Titas!

All photos were grabbed from SMP's facebook page. 

DAY 1: Break making (Waldorf bread with basil and raisins)

Tools of the trade all ready to start their adventure!

tito alan, the day care's kitchen master joins the kneading fun!

ready for the oven!

Day 2: Turning Japanese - Learning to make maki/rolls

the photo caption in SMP's page went something like: "she had the last piece"
she did say she liked the cupcake rice (because she insisted they were making cupcakes that day).
and  honestly, it was her first time to eat maki rolls. she liked! yay!

Day 3: Cookies and Cupcakes Galore!

they paired the cookies with a refreshing mango-banana smoothie.

scrapping off mangoes. she never does this at home. and she was never fond of mangoes.
but after this,  she volunteers to help 'slice' and serve during mealtime.

masa! masa! 

freshly baked goodies

They also had a group picture during the last day of this 3-day class. That one goes to my growing collection of 'class' pictures. I hope someday, when she sees those photos she will still recall how fun her summers were because of activities like these.

Three Days Of Summer At St Michael Playhouse a.k.a. Baking and Cooking Class

Last week, the little girl had to wake up a little earlier than usual to make it in time to her Baking and Cooking class in St. Michael Playhouse in Makati. I found it super cute when I would wake her up and she'd respond: "ANG HIRAPPPPPPPPPPP! DI KO MABUKSAN EYES KO! DI AKO MAKAGISING!" She's just very excited to spend time in SMP we didn't have to force her out of the bed. She was making the effort to wake up on her own (albeit, yes, eyes that are very uncooperative hahahaha). I seriously hope that when the time comes that she had to be in school by 7am the wake up scene in our household would remain as cute as this. 

So how did the 3-day class go? Oh they were very productive, super fun days based on her stories. She was never this open with sharing stories of how her days went but those 3 days were different. She was just too eager and excited to tell us what they made in class, who her new friends were. 

For documentation's sake, I will try to narrate the events that took place from Day 1 to 3, as told to me by the little miss. I hope my memory won't fail me. 

Day 1: Bread making

Little Miss, Ate Inday and the Daddy left the house before 7a.m. so the Daddy can bring the little miss himself to Rockwell. You can just imagine how excited she was knowing she's leaving the house ahead of me. She's also imagining that she's coming to work with her daddy. Funny kid, ain't she? Wanting to become an office girl at a young age while her wonderful parents are wishing to be at the exact same place where she is now. 

So they arrived earlier than call time which is 8:45am. Her dad still was able to steal some time to get her photo by the door but since he had to rush to work, he was not able to meet the nurturers anymore. By 845am, the door opened to welcome them. And they went on with their day. When we got home that night, we had this small bun waiting for us. It was good. Tasted healthy. Haha. 

Day 2: Cooking

The next day, the daddy couldn't take them anymore so it was just her and Ate Inday who travelled to Makati. No complaints despite the long ride (of almost an hour and a half). And before she left, she announced they were going to bake cupcakes that day. So that got my sweet self really excited. I had thoughts of cupcakes (I swear I could even smell it in my head) and slowly baking in the oven all day.

But (to my disappointment), she came home with cupcakes of a different kind. "They're still cupcakes mommy! Rice cupcakes!" Silly girl!

Day 3: Pastry baking

During the last day, I was able to escape work (albeit for just a few hours) to personally take her to school. I was told by Tita Marcy (one of the nurturers) that the little miss was such a hardworker. She takes her tasks to heart and is very industrious. Yay for that little girl. Keep it up!

She also got her wish granted during the last day as the main agenda for that day was to bake cookies and cupcakes. She told us later that she had fun kneading the dough and cutting up the cookies into different shapes. And she went home with these:

I wish I was personally there to witness everything she did step-by-step. But of course that wasn't really possible. I'm just glad she's finally sharing school stories to us openly (unlike before when she it would take us a lot of prodding before she'd share bits of this and that). This time she had detailed stories for us. This time of the year is really a special time for her. I can tell she really loves being in SMP. I wish it's near so we can enroll in more summer activities. Right now, one class is what we can handle because we really do not want to tire her up since summer is also intended for her to rest.

Hopefully next year little girl. We can enroll in two classes. We'll see.

The last time I heard from SMP, they still have a few slots open for their Woodworking class and Arts and Crafts class. If you're interested, go ahead contact them.

Woodwork and Gardening Class At St Michael Playhouse

traditional photo by the daycare door

Maia recently finished Woodwork and Gardening Class At St Michael Playhouse (A Steiner inspired daycare). The class was only intended for 12 students and the slots were already filled when I called to sign up. But since we were just so eager to join, they decided to accept us. I just love everyone behind this daycare (and I bet so does Maia). 

I initially planned to have Maia join the first 2 classes - Baking and Cooking then Arts and Crafts - but I just couldn't escape my deliverables at work so I had to push plans until finally, I got clearance to at least take a day off so I could bring Maia to the first session of this last class. The class ran for 3 days - Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 2-415 in the afternoon (which was just perfect since Maia's active during this time of the day).

The class was to be Maia's first official kiddie class where she will be left on her own. I was all kinds of emotions when I was bidding her goodbye on the first day of class but she proved my fears wrong by showing to me how ready she was to be in school. When I came to pick her up she was all cheerful and just excited to tell me about the things they did in school. She showed no sign of dislike whatsoever. 

This class however being the least of my choices among St Michael's 3 offerings this summer had me setting my expectations at lowest (on second thought, it was even to none). I only had three goals enrolling Maia into this class:

- To establish a summer tradition/routine. I wanted her to have something to look forward to every summer and having already gone to summer class last year, I wanted to make it a yearly thing for her.

- To check and reinforce her independence. With her officially starting Kindergarten this June, I wanted to see how emotionally ready she was. And she did great. She was more than ready to take the plunge. Some friends were even kidding me that it's probably me who is going to suffer separation anxiety come June (and that's probably very true).

- To have fun. I really wanted for Maia to get the chance to mingle with kids other than the ones she's always with in our village. And St Michael (in my personal opinion) is one of the best places to do that because Maia gets to be in a school set up and yet don't get really burdened with school work. And I am leaving her in the hands of well-trained nurturers. Plus she gets to bond with mostly Waldorf kids who (again in my personal opinion and experience) have gentler demeanor. It wouldn't hurt if she gets to pick up some of that gentleness (I know that's shooting at the stars with only three days of exposure but...) as well. :)

I'm glad I didn't set any expectations as this turned out to be a really great, awesome experience for Maia. Till next Summer, St Michael! I hope there's going to be a repeat next year! 

one of maia's favorite activities - the freeplay! she never forgot the toys
and their 'sleeping' quarters and the minute she learned she was coming back,
she immediately planned on raiding this part of the classroom. lolz

Leaving you with photos of Maia in class (that I grabbed from St. Michael's Facebook page):

They had a wonderful class photo but I have yet to ask permission to post the photo here since it has faces of the other kids and I don't know if the parents would permit me to post them here. 

GARDENING

Getting some potting mix into her pot of Stevia plant

Day 2, "Hello There Planty!"

Day 3, "We're going home to Cavite today Planty!"

WOODWORKING

Kids helping and observing Tito Robert and a classmate at work

playing with the car wheels

the kids' creations (we aren't sure though if maia indeed made her car,
she kept saying i wasn't ready to slice mommy (which i reckon means
she didn't like the sawing part - she developed a fear of knives and
pounding lately)

ST. MICHAEL PLAYHOUSE is located at the 
Ground Floor
6241 Palma cor Manalac Sts.
Bgy. Poblacion, Makati City 1210
(just two minutes from Rockwell Drive)

Call now to schedule a school tour.
Call or text 0917-847-0848 or email 
st.michael.playhouse@gmail.com