Naga school kids revel on stories of motherly love
By Juan Escandor Jr.
Bicol Mail
So interactively involved, dozens of Naga City school kids revel on stories of motherly love during the read-along session Saturday as moms and dads watch in the sidelines at the second-floor of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) Center at the Naga Central School (NCS).
Supporting the passage of an ordinance of Naga City that may penalize corporal punishment at home and advocating “positive parenting and discipline by ending corporal punishment to children, the Read-Along was the third installment of the Plan International, having conducted one in Cebu and Makati.
Television host Sheryl Cosim, the first story reader, was able to unravel snippets of home life from second graders in an afternoon sharing session after reading a story “Love you forever,” a story of motherly love that begot the same love from a son in the end.
Cosim is an award-winning host and anchor of several multi-awarded programs both on television and radio, with almost 14 years of experience in the broadcasting industry.
She won the KBP Golden Dove Award for the Best Public Service Show Host for “Salamat, Dok” in 2008. She is also a three-time winner for Best Morning Show Host for the PMPC Star Awards.
Cosim currently anchors three shows on TV5: Aksyon news program; Alagang Kapatid, a health and public service program; and Aksyon Solusyon, a public service program. She also hosts Todo Balita on DZMM Radio.
Colorful and vivid, the prose of the story of Robert Munsch enthralled the second graders from NCS 1 and 2, Naga Parochial School (NPS) and University of Nueva Caceres (UNC) about the journey of a nurturing mother to a child, from babyhood to adulthood.
A “positive discipline” indeed, according to Cosim, ambassador for ‘Child Protect’ country program of Plan International Philippines, the story shared a mother’s unqualified love to a child no matter what.
She asked the kids who among them say “I love you” to their mommy and daddy and vice versa to set the subject of the story.
With illustration of a mother seated on a chair rocking her new baby, projected in the tarpaulin, she introduced to the wide-eyed second graders the story of a mother who endures a son’s individuality with an unqualified love, throughout the stages of the latter’s life.
In essence “Love you forever” tells of a story of how love begets love, where a mother character shows the essence of love in an unknowing way to a son who passes it on to the next generation.
Like cycle of love or positive karma, so to speak, the son reciprocated the love to his mother when she was old and sick and expressing his love with the same song his mother sang to him.
With the melodious rhyme, Cosim involved the kids in a freestyle sing-song of the lines “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.”
Towards the end of the story, the son sang to his old and sick mother “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living, my Mommy you’ll be”. It concluded with the son passing on the loving cradle to his child.
Drawn to the story, the kids seemed to find humor and chuckled at picturesque lines that described the travails of the mother while understanding and loving her growing child.
Along the way, Cosim drew out from the kids relevant life experience like how they were disciplined at home advising the parents to avoid giving punishment to children.
Reign, in a quivering voice, shared how his parents would talk to him whenever he committed mistakes when he is “makulit” and told not to do it again.
Enzo revealed how his parents imposed time limit in indulging with his gadgets and whenever he violates it he is grounded which made him turn his attention to reading books.
“It (reading) encourages me to read more books,” he said, when asked what he benefits he got from reading books.
Complementing the first story which was written in English, the second story “Papel de liha” was read by City Councilor Cecilia “Nene” de Asis, one of the proponents of the proposed ordinance that promotes positive and non-violent discipline of children in Naga City.
De Asis is also involved for years with semi-government initiative Bantay Pamilya program which gives support and assistance to abused children and women.
“Papel de liha,” written by Maria Corazon Remigio, was the 1995 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, Short Story for Children.
Embracing the same theme of unqualified motherly love, she engaged the kids with a Tagalog narrative that portrayed a dedicated mother whose hands were made rough by household chores she did for the family.
Made more enjoyable with the oral reading participation of the kids, De Asis asked them to read melodic words like “imis-imis” or lines like “kiskis dito, kiskis doon,” “kaskas dito, kaskas doon.”
Narrated in first person by an unnamed child who after hearing an aunt named Maring that the mother’s hands were becoming rough like a sandpaper, she found out how soft the hands were as they gave comforting touch when she is sick.
Perhaps an allegorical representation of the nurturing love of the mother, the hands of the mother gives life.
