My First Step Whole Child Development Center

To all the amazing moms and mother figures in our My First Step family, thank you for the love, patience, strength, and gentle hearts you share every day. 🌷

Your presence creates safety, growth, and meaningful first steps for our children. Today, we celebrate you and all the beautiful ways you nurture with compassion and courage.

Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at My First Step! 🤍

🍽️ MEALTIME LAB 🍎
Supporting Positive and Safe Food Experiences 💙

A gentle one-on-one summer support program for children with food sensitivities and aversions, together with their parent or guardian.

This program focuses on:
💙 Positive food experiences
💙 Sensory exploration
💙 Emotional safety around food
💙 Small brave steps without pressure

📅 May 11–14, 2026
📍 My First Step Whole Child Development Center

👨‍🏫 With Teacher Rico Lalusin
Inclusion Support Coach

👨‍👩‍👧 One-on-one setup

📌 Session 1 includes initial assessment and parent consultation.

This is NOT feeding therapy and does not replace medical or nutritional intervention.

📩 Limited slots only. Message us to reserve. Please find the Registration form in the comments.

Every family has a story. Every journey has courage behind it. 💙

Today, we share Keziah’s story, a journey filled with acceptance, patience, hope, and love.

Through the ups and downs, her family reminds us that DIFFERENT IS NOT A DEFICIT, and that true growth happens when children are supported, understood, and celebrated.

At My First Step Whole Child Development Center, we are honored to walk alongside families like theirs, building confidence, belonging, and brighter possibilities for every child.

As April comes to a close, our commitment to Autism acceptance and meaningful inclusion continues every day at My First Step. We hope that stories like Keziah’s inspire our wider community to listen more deeply, understand more compassionately, and create spaces where every child is truly welcomed.

Maraming salamat to the Apelado Family, Ma’am Di Vine, for your openness in sharing your journey and for your powerful advocacy in supporting other Ausome families. Your story gives strength and hope to many. 💙

🌈 May every child’s rainbow be seen.

Walking together, SHOWING UP TOGETHER. 💚

Proud to be part of the Angels Walk for Autism at SM City Tuguegarao, hosted by Autism Society Philippines - Tuguegarao!

Sa My First Step Whole Child Development Center, dala namin ang aming core values of emotional safety, strengths-based support, family partnership, at community collaboration, dahil naniniwala kami na ang tunay na inclusion ay ginagawa nang sama-sama.

Thank you to our families and learners for showing up with pride. 💚





One walk, one community, one shared purpose. 💚

Food Confidence Day was filled with brave steps, warm hearts, and colorful tables of love. 🍽️💙

Thank you to our families for showing up, preparing hearty foods, and trusting the process. The variety of dishes you shared created a beautiful space where our children could explore food in a safe, positive, and supportive way.

Despite the warm weather, our learners gathered, explored, and shared meals together: looking, smelling, touching, and for some, even tasting new foods. These small steps are powerful steps toward building confidence and healthier relationships with food.

To our CHILDREN, thank you for your BRAVERY.
To our PARENTS, GUARDIANS, and TEACHERS, thank you for your PATIENCE and SUPPORT.
Today reminded us that when families and schools work together, growth becomes a shared journey.

This is what community looks like.
This is what confidence looks like.
This is what showing up looks like. 💙

Still in celebration of Autism Awareness Month, My First Step Whole Child Development Center continues to create meaningful experiences that support our learners in gentle and positive ways.

On April 21, Tuesday 11AM our Grade School learners will gather for Food Confidence Day, a sensory-friendly activity where children explore different foods together using their sight, smell, touch, and (if ready) taste.

This activity is designed to support children who may experience food sensitivities or aversions, helping them build comfort and confidence around food through curiosity, patience, and positive shared experiences.

There will be no pressure to eat, because sometimes, looking or touching is already a big step forward. 💙

🍱 Parents are kindly requested to coordinate with their child’s class adviser regarding the assigned food category to ensure variety of home-prepared foods for the activity.

Through structured support, variety of foods, and a calm environment, we hope to help our learners associate food experiences with safety, confidence, and positive experiences.

Because confidence grows when children feel safe enough to try, at their own pace.

It’s How We Show Up, one small step at a time.

🍽️ Food Confidence Day
📅 April 21, 2026 (Tuesday)
⏰ 11:00 AM
📍 School Gym — My First Step WCDC

💙

Yesterday, our community truly showed up. 💙🎨🖌️

Yesterday’s launch of the Squares of Presence Art Exhibit at SM City Tuguegarao was more than a ribbon cutting, it was a celebration of courage, creativity, and belonging. This meaningful project was spearheaded by Teacher Rico Lalusin, our Inclusion Support Coach, together with our dedicated Art Appreciation Teachers, whose vision and collaboration helped bring this exhibit to life.

We witnessed families standing proudly beside their children’s artworks, teachers cheering quietly in the background, and learners beaming as their stories were shared through colors, textures, and imagination. Every square on the panels reminded us that inclusion is not built alone, it is built together.

The artworks with blue ribbons stood as symbols of pride for our Ausome learners and their families, a reminder that our children are not defined by Autism, but by their personalities, strengths, and the many beautiful ways they show up.

This exhibit also celebrates the dedication of our Art Appreciation teachers, who allowed learners to simply be, not aiming for perfection, but honoring authenticity. Because when children are trusted to express themselves freely, their voices become visible.

To our parents, teachers, staff, partners, and friends, THANK YOU FOR SHOWING UP! Your presence turned this exhibit into a living example of what inclusion looks like in action.

And to our learners:
WE ARE PROUD OF YOU! Every square tells your story.

📍 The Squares of Presence Art Exhibit is open until April 30, 2026, at SM City Tuguegarao, Ground Floor beside Mesa Restaurant.
We invite everyone to visit, reflect, and celebrate the beauty of differences.

💙🎨

Although kaunti lang tayo tonight, what mattered most was not the number, kundi ang lalim at tunay na kahulugan ng community building in practice.

Sa gabing ito, we allowed ourselves to pause and look back with kindness.
We opened our hearts habang binabalikan ang mga magaganda at challenging moments ng nakaraang school year. Moments of growth, pagod, patience, and quiet victories.

We also took time to thank ourselves, for every effort, big or small.
Sa bawat araw na pinili nating magpatuloy, mag-alaga, at umunawa, this past school year mattered.

Hindi man laging madali, still, every step mattered.
Every quiet effort, every small decision, every moment of choosing care, all of it counted.

🌸 K-Squared: Kwento at Kalinga thanks this beautiful community: parents, guardians, caregivers, and teachers, for continuing to show up, share, listen, and hold space for one another.

Hanggang sa susunod na pagkikita,
kwento lang, kalinga lang, honoring every step. 🌿

Congratulations to another brilliant student, Tarun Ethan Jace Gannaban, for successfully passing the 2026 TCSHS Entrance Test! He now joins our two Pisay passers, who automatically qualify for TCSHS.

We are incredibly proud of these outstanding achievers whose dedication and perseverance continue to inspire our community. Their success is a shining reminder that hard work truly pays off. 🌟

🎨✨💙 You are invited!

In partnership with SM City Tuguegarao, join us for the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of
Squares of Presence: Every Square, A Story of Showing Up,
an inclusive student art exhibit in celebration of Autism Awareness Month. 💙

📅 April 15, 2026 (Wednesday)
🕟 4:30 PM
📍 SM City Tuguegarao – Ground Floor, beside Mesa Restaurant

💙 Wear blue and witness how our learners express their voices, strengths, and individuality through art.

💙 Every square tells a story. Every child shows up in their own way.