Angel's Marvelous Surprise

Four-year-old ANGEL, my daughter. My little baby. I left her for a while to a friend’s home to take a brief overseas trip. Last week, I shed a tear when I came home and saw her again. Here’s a marvelous surprise: my Angel can now speak fluent English (our native dialect is Tagalog), read letters and words, count numbers, and behave more politely! And that’s only within a span of 2 ½ months! She was “home-schooled.”

While my pastor-friends Ed and Janet were relating to me about Angel, they helped me see something deeper regarding children’s education. Most of us, when asked to gauge the education of our children, think immediately of school on campus. I suppose very few of us would fit neatly into believing that the home can be a school, even a better one. I do thank my friends Ed and Janet for showing me how parents can be better teachers and investing some precious time on my little Angel.

Angel is 4. What an excellent laboratory of fast learning pre-school is! Her age is so tender. She can learn well if taught well especially at this time. Play is my Angel’s favorite stage for learning so I’m always like a child when with her. I also notice that she needs a lot of hugs and kisses to blossom. She seems to easily forget what I say. But she never forgets how I make her feel.

I’m so glad for my better Angel. It reminds me too that although her Dad had his share of twists and bends, he too got shaped to be better - stronger and more faithful - during the time she’s being home-schooled. Angel and Angelo - under the loving hand of the Master Teacher.