A little sad?

What should parents do when they are confronted with certain issues in their kids' education?

I was not able to blog yesterday about my kids' progress in school because I have a 4-day out of town workshop. The venue actually has a free broadband internet at their business center but unfortunately their server was down since 7 days ago. Now, I have managed to sneak out of the place and visit "civilization". Actually, I went home.

I was so happy seeing new "very good" stars marked in both Aurens' and Michaels hands. Actually, Aurens has two cute stars. I was very excited to see their diaries and was looking forward to tutoring them on their assignments.

There we found our issues:

1. Aurens is learning to write the letters of the alphabet. But the Filipino Alphabet is giving us a hard time matching the photos with the letters. Aa shows with it a CRAB representing "Alimasag", Ii for Itik (Duck), Qq has the former president Quezon's head, and Tt shows a DRAGONFLY because it represents "Tutubi". Should we tell the school to teach our kids the English Alphabeth first with the pictures in their english names? or should we just let them go on with their curriculum, and we instead adjust by spending more time telling our kids that the CRAB they used to know is actually alimasag, and that the head of a guy is actually Quezon, and that DRAGONFLY is Tutubi and the ducky duck they like to sing with is now ITIK?

2. The teacher of Michael wrote that we need to teach the kid to distinguish boys from girls and the things that they used differently. In the era of unisex, we find it hard to identify which ones are strictly for boys and which ones are "just" for girls. Besides, my gender sensitivity trainings remind me that we have to be conscious all the time about our actions and teachings so as not to perpetuate the wrong notion or perception that girls (or women) are weaker than boys (or men). Labeling certain things as just for boy or for girls may reinforce the roles that are attached to those labels. Should we tell the school to open themselves in a new paradigm which incorporate even in early age the issues of justice, peace, and women empowerment? Or should we just let them continue with what they think is best for our kids, and think that in due time, our kids will get to learn these somewhere, somehow?

3. I asked the Yaya whether the teachers gave comments about the kids when she fetched them. Aurens' teacher told her that Aurens seems to be slow in "everything"... in eating his snacks, in writing, etc. I can not believe what I heard. I know Aurens to be very fast... lively, alert, inquisitive, and even hyperactive! So I asked further. Then I learned that he was last to finish writing the alphabeth because he was last to finish his snacks. Hmmm... although I was quite sad about the comment, I knew the reason behind and we have a solution. Unlike Michael, Aurens has defective front teeth which explains why Michael likes to eat more ice cream than him. Well, generally, Aurens can not eat much or fast because of the defect. We once asked his dentist to pull out these teeth but she suggested that we just let it be because eventually the permanent teeth will replace them. Now, we are decided to really take it out. And maybe, we can also give him baon that can be easily be consumed... what else but his favorite... spaghetti or noodle soup.

We will appreciate you notes on this. Thanks!