After featuring Julian Francisco V. Estigoy from Bur Dubai who can name all the 50 states of America at the age of two and Baby Matt Adriel “Drei” Pinpin-Pallan from Abu Dhabi who can already read, write and knows all about the planets at two years old, more Overseas Filipino parents are sharing with The Filipino Times their unique learning journey with their smart babies.
In Abu Dhabi, we found baby North George Halibas who already loves reading at the tender age of one.
Yes, you read that right. According to Baby North’s parents, they noticed that he can already identify letters even before he turned one.
“As early as two months. He already knew how to close and open his hands when I or his cousins will say close open. And then the next big milestone was when he was 10 months old, as he was able to identify and pronounce some alphabets. Everything is not planned. We observed that he is very attentive (both visual and hearing), so we think this is why he learns fast,” shared baby North’s mom, Mary Cris Bagtasos.
His parents are both ecstatic and have a bit of worry with his fast learning skills.
“As parents, we are proud of our baby, overwhelmed with all the milestones he achieved at a very young age. But on the other hand, we are somehow worried because he might easily get bored when he will be attending school,” said Bagtasos.
Apart from reading, baby North’s favorite thing to do is counting and singing nursery rhymes.
“At 1 year and 8 months, he can count from 1 to 50; he can count by 10’s up to 100; he can count backwards from 10 down to 1; can count fingers and objects; can identify numbers (written from 1 to 100); knows the 7 days of the week; can recite alphabets from A to Z; can recite alphabets in descending from Z to A; can identify alphabets written in uppercase and lowercase; knows the shapes and colors; can read two and three letter words; can read a sentence; knows animal sounds and can identify animals; and can identify fruits and vegetables and their colors,” shared Bagtasos.
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His parents, Bagastos and Alfonso Halibas III, who hails from Davao City and Iligan City respectively, believes that his advanced learning pace can be attributed to North’s learning environment.
“We believe that it is nature and nurture. His diet includes white meat, fruits, and veggies. We are not feeding him processed food. We make sure that all are cooked, and fruits are integrated in his daily diet,” shared Bagtasos.
Apart from a healthy diet, they also encourage parents to allot attention and spend more time with their children to foster faster learning.
“We just make sure to give attention to him most of the time, spend time playing with him if we are not working. We don’t allow him to play alone. We talked to him even if he does not respond to us,” said Bagtasos.
Baby North’s parents emphasize that training one’s child to learn early begins with intentionality, focus and proper guidance.
“Spend more time with your baby as much as you can. The formative years of a child (8 years and below) is the most critical period of growth and development in a child’s lifetime. So make use of these period to nurture and train your child. He might not respond when you talk but eventually he will learn from you and mimic your actions. Playing for them is the language of love. When I try to introduce North to new things, I make it a point that it is like we are just playing. He follows me and then eventually he is doing it on his own, like phonics and animal sounds,” said Bagtasos.
The couple loves sharing baby North’s milestones on social media and looks forward to seeing him grow into a smart boy who will soon make our country proud. Baby North will be turning 2 on January 2023.
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