Yesterday was the beginning of exam week for my children. I actually like studying with them except that I think I give my eldest daughter too much pressure. Math was yesterday and it was a breeze, I guess since she did very well in the “dummy tests.”

Here are some tips in studying with your toots:

1) Prepare for the exam two weeks prior.

2) Prepare notes for all major subjects in case she needs to familiarize and memorize alot of facts. This is actually important. I have actually started to teach my daughter how to memorize important facts for example in science, by using mnemonics and acronomyms for easy memorization.

3) Make dummy tests. In my case, I like to prepare 2-3 dummy tests. Mostly I use the first dummy test to check the readiness of my daughter. From there, I tailor the second dummy as a review and ensure I include the ones where she can get high scores to encourage and boost her confidence. Once she is confident, I can give her the hard dummy test.

One of the things I have learned in school through the years in UP is the wonders of simple note taking. I started teaching my daughter the habit of making her own notes rather than copying her teacher’s board work. I have also taught her to study and read ahead, then make notes so she can familiarize hereself and perhaps memorize the important facts as she go along.

However, one of the most important studying style that I found effective with the children is the intermingling or inclusion of important topics in science or whatever subjects into daily conversations. My daughter, I found, seem to retain more information this way.

For more information about studying and helping children improve their habits, click here.

My children and I had nasty asthma attacks last week triggered by the smoke after my neighbor decided to burn dried leaves with trash infront of my rented house. I took the children to the clinic last saturday and monday morning, my eldest daughter’s asthma took a nasty turn and my aunt decided to take her to a different doctor and that doctor decided she is not letting us out of the clinic and she wants to treat my daughters in the hospital.

When my children were admitted, the personnel in the emergency room refused to accept our HMO and refused to admit my children without downpayment of P10,000. My cousin whose father is a good friend of the owner of the hospital convinced the cashier not to charge with the guarantee that my HMO will cover the hospital bills. She looked at our card and shrugged that my HMO is not accreddited with their hospital.

Luckily, my children and I are insured and our HMO is international and is accepted anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, the small private hospital in the city refuses to make the effort to check our HMO and insurance coverage just because they are unfamiliar with the insurance firm and they needed to call an international number to verify coverage.

It took me half a day just to convince them to call and only 2 calls to my husband’s company to seek their assistance to contact the insurance company since the hospital refuses to call them since they’d have to use the international toll free number. You could only imagine my despair and anxiety since TWO of the children were admitted and though the hospital bills will not be as expensive as the hospitals in Manila, the fact that I do not have money pouring out of my ears makes this recent hospitalization a heart throbbing, mind boggling and headachy experience.

Our coverage is comprehensive. When I delivered my youngest in a small international hospital, out in the southern province in Thailand, my delivery and all check ups were all covered by the insurance. It did not take them long to get a Letter of Guarantee and everything was covered, no money out for me.

My husband’s company told me that the hospital should email the HMO and they will respond immediately in a matter of minutes, but when I asked the hospital if they have internet facilities, they said they have no internet. What?! No internet? Not even dial-up? Anyway, so it was non-existent, so I had to convince the hospital administrators to call my husband’s company so they can more or less convince my hospital that we are indeed covered.

All these haggling and convincing took me out of my daughter’s room for almost half a day in total. I kept on going in and out of the room just to make sure the hospital is making their effort to contact my HMO. Good thing my HMO in Antwerp called the hospital after my husband’s company called them to call the hospital and send them the precious Letter of Guarantee. I could not believe I had to go to all of these nonsense when in Manila we have charged more than what was charged here, and our HMO covered everything. It made me think of other people whose family members are hospitalized and they have no HMO or even with HMO that are not recognized by hospitals. How about those patients who doesn’t have the means to pay their mounting hospital bills? It reminded me of the documentary Sicko, by Michael Moore, wherein he showed how the socialized health care of countries like Canada, France and Cuba differs from the health system in the US.

Watching how the uninsured American struggle with system seem so pathetic compared to the health system that the Filipinos currently have. Makes me laugh remembering my father’s relief when some of my mother’s hospital bills were shouldered by PhilHealth. What if the regular Filipino knows that in Canada, people can go to the hospital and be treated fairly for free at all times? I can only imagine the happiness of Filipinos in Canada are experiencing. No need to put downpayment in private hospitals. No need to plead for doctors to give you discounted professional fees… I wonder, would our health system improve like that of France and Canada? In my dreams, perhaps…

When one is economically strapped, one tends to shake and roll on the signs of any sickness. Sadly, my children and I are often plagued with allergies that triggers our asthma attacks. After awhile I have not have any asthma attacks, only those pesky allergic rhinitis which just means endless sniffles in the morning and goes away as the day progresses. But now, the asthma is back. I whizz at night and early mornings now… I went to the clinic a week ago and the doctor presribed those usuals: Ventolin, Seritide and Virlix (eyes-rolled)

What else is new? My children have the same medications only on smaller doses… What I find amusing was the fact that my cupboard is starting to look like a mini-pharmacy already.

Does anybody want some?

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After a long and hot vacation, not to mention the adjustments that my children had to underwent since my separation from my husband, my children could not wait to go to school. They were so happy to return to their school and see the few friends they made since they had moved back to the countryside.

My children were very resilient. They went back to their schedule, made friends, and meeting more cousins. I think having the right combination of children their age to mingle with and meeting children who had gone the very same path they are undergoing now helped. I have a cousin who had separated from her philandering and abusive husband 7 years ago. She looks at me knowingly and helps me with my children mostly as she know the changes and transition is more crucial with my children.

She had been my “shoulder to cry” on and we swap horrid and sordid stories about our husbands and we both thank God we are not with them in agony anymore. Though my story is more different that hers simply because I choose to leave my husband while she was forced to leave hers by her family. Enough of the sordid details of my life… how’s yours?