Category Archives: The Homeschooling Blog

The Ironies of Learning

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As we’ve homeschooled Arielle and Kayla these past 4 years, I’ve learned these and continue to remind myself that:

Less is more.

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It’s better to study in chunks rather than in big gulps.

It’s better to immerse in a topic rather than try to study all the chapters in the book from cover to cover. (I don’t think we’re even required to finish the entire book in all subjects every schoolyear! Do schools actually do that?)

Slow is fast.
The more you take time to teach a child how a thing works or about a topic in such a way that he/she would be able to grasp the idea and see the big picture of it, the faster it will find its way to his/her memory bank.

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Absent From Books But Still Learning

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We didn’t feel like homeschooling today.  I felt we three girls needed a break from our daily routine and so we took a day off from our books and worksheets (except Arielle wanted to do a worksheet in Science).  We spent the day cooking and baking!  Kayla has been very interested in culinary lately perhaps because of the Culinary class in their Hybrid Homeschool Program and the new tv show Junior Master Chef. In fact, she now dreams to become a chef someday!
So what did Arielle, Kayla, and I cook and bake?  For lunch, we cooked beef salpicao and Kayla wanted to learn how to makemashed potatoes.  With instructions orally given to her by her Papa during breakfast, she was able to do the mashed potatoes on her own.  The beef we bought yesterday from the grocery didn’t turn out very tender but our helper said she can pressure cook it so we can still have it for dinner. Something quite didn’t turn out right with the Devil’s Food Cake but it can still be eaten and the decorating that I did with it was  appreciated!
Even if we did not stick our noses to our books or laptops, today was rich in hands-on learning!  What SKILLS exactly did the girls learn today?
1. How to pick out the ingredients we would need in the grocery (Kayla and I went on a quick trip to the grocery yesterday)
2.  To put away grocery items upon arriving home
3. To pay attention to another person when he is speaking  or giving instructions
4.  Knife skills:  slicing meat, vegetables, mincing garlic

Five Years of Homeschooling … So What?

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For the record, we are currently finishing our 4th and last quarter of our schoolyear.  Our HOMESCHOOLING schoolyear (a deep breath here).  Yes, it’s “we”, “our” and not “our daughters” quarter and “their” schoolyear.

As I sit in front of the computer and stare at my screen, I ask myself “What really did we gain from this out-of-the-norm option we had taken five years ago?” (Now, for a sip of coffee … Did I hear somebody say “out-of-this-world” or was that “out-of-your-mind”?)  It definitely has not been smooth sailing all the way but despite the many bumps, potholes, pit stops, and roller coaster rides in this journey (journey: my personal metaphor of how homeschooling has been to us), I must humbly say that the cruisin’, smooth landings or touchdowns every end of a schoolyear accomplished is a constant and faithful reminder of God that He is in control of everything, even if there were a lot of moments when it felt turbulent and out of control.Just like when travelling to a place, especially for the first time, we have “pasalubongs” or souvenirs from our homeschooling journey which have accumulated these years  and which I personally find most memorable and worth keeping.  I have a few which are my favorites:

1.  Learning takes place anytime, anywhere, everytime, everywhere.  It is not anymore limited within the four walls of the classroom, to what the teacher always says, when the bell rings, or when it’s time to take the quarterly exams.  Homeschooling has tore down those classroom walls and truly has made the world our classroom.  We learn hands-on, real-time, and sometimes, in the most unexpected and unconventional places, with ordinary, extraordinary but real people and scenarios.

Travel: One of the Best Teachers

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A few weeks ago, my family and I had the chance to go on a short vacation to Singapore.

Flight from Manila took 3 hours and it was all our first time in this so-called “Little Red Dot”, also referred to as the “Lion City”.  It was a brief 5-day stay but each day had a full itinerary and at least one must-go-to destination.
Here’s how we planned out and maximized our stay in the city:

My So-Called Unconventional Homeschooled Life

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MANILA, 2007 –  While most parents nowadays homeschool from babyhood and up, I was homeschooled starting at age 15. Quite late! My parents enrolled me with an American home school program when we came back to live in the Philippines back in 1994, after living abroad for 11 years. They soon decided to homeschool all of us (myself and my two brothers). I’d say my homeschooling experience was rather eclectic, though. We used a school-at-home approach for “traditional” subjects, but we gained a lot of real-life learning experiences through our involvements in youth ministry.

Having started homeschooling at a late age, the experience was, at first, a difficult concept for my relatives to understand. Of course, grandmother expected me to go to her alma mater, as all her other
daughters had done. I had to deal with the fact that I wasn’t like my other cousins who went to exclusive girls/boys’ schools like Ateneo, and the like.

But nevertheless, our family went on homeschooling. While homeschooling, I also did odd jobs, like copy edit and write for an inspirational magazine. I did illustrations for publications. I did several apprenticeships in the editorial field, even the music field, and I got heavily involved in youth ministry. When I finished my formal high school education, I eventually got a US high school diploma.
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They Will Bloom in Time

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My third son, Titus, didn’t start talking quite as early as my two older sons. But I always believed that in God’s time he would become more verbally expressive and articulate. Although he talked before two, his speech wasn’t always intelligible.

Titus as a 2 year old (with chocolate & saliva dripping down his chin)

In the last month before he turned three, however, he became such a chatterbox. During one occasion, out of the blue, while Edric and I were having a conversation, he poked his head between us and said, “What are you talking about?”  At the dinner table when he balanced a lollipop on its head, he said, “Did you see that? It’s amazing!” However, just two months prior to this he could barely complete a sentence!

I knew a homeschool kid who didn’t read until the age of 9 or 10 but when he finally did, he started reading Charles Dickens!

I’m sharing this because it is a reminder that all our children have their own time tables to bloom. My eldest son was speaking sentences clearly at the age of one, but he only learned to ride a bike without training wheels at the age of 7. His cousin, on the other hand, didn’t start talking until later, but rode a bike without training wheels at the age of 4.

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The Most Well Mannered are the Most Well Socialized

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Most parents who ask me about socialization mean well. Their general perception is that homeschooled kids are isolated from the world and lack opportunities to be with their peers. What I find interesting is that parents can be more concerned about the number of friends their children interact with rather than their social development.

I like the way this site described social development in children. “Social development refers to the process by which a child learns to interact with others around them. As they develop and perceive their own individuality within their community, they also gain skills to communicate with other people and process their actions. Social development most often refers to how a child develops friendships and other relationships, as well how a child handles conflict with peers.” Social Development in Children

The reality is, I seldom meet a child who is unable to make friends, whether homeschooled or not. Children are relational, some may be more quiet or reserved than others, but if you put two children who do not know each other in a room together, they will gravitate towards each other and be friends in no time.

As parents, our greater concern ought to be equipping our children with social graces. Are they well-mannered and polite? Do they know how to be sensitive to cultural differences? Are they comfortable at formal occasions or gatherings? Do they know when to avoid drawing attention to themselves?

Three weeks ago, Edric and I realized how important it is to prioritize our children’s “social instruction.” Both of us decided to take our kids to Isabela without bringing along our house help. We said,”Wouldn’t it be great to bring all four children without any yayas? Let’s try doing everything ourselves!”

After being with American homeschooling families (who had an average of seven children), Edric and I thought four didn’t seem like too many. He was going to be preaching at a church in Isabela that weekend but I didn’t have to do anything except watch the kids so I was totally okay with that. I usually like to be really hands on with the kids anyway.

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Prepare Your Child for Life Success

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Life success is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love others as yourself.  It is a life defined by peace, faith, true joy, and legacy – making a difference in this world for Jesus Christ.

Parenting success is doing everything we can to prepare our children for life success.

The gospel of Mark puts things into perspective when it says, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36-37) Let me rephrase the question from the perspective of a parent, “what good is it for my child to gain the whole world – wealth, prestige or power, but lose his soul?”

I believe that many children lose their soul when they are in school. Well-meaning parents send their child to a reputable school to get them educated for future success but there is always the danger of one or more of the following:

-          The loss of innocence and purity

-          Negative influence of peers

-          Emotional disconnection or distancing from parents and siblings

-          Pressure of materialism and having to keep up with trends

-          Emphasis on the wrong values

-          Internalization of or confusion due to a world-view that is not biblical

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My Children Belong to You

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When I joined a church-wide fast about three years ago, I surrendered my children to God. It was one of the most difficult spiritual experiences I have gone through as a parent.

Why? When I was young, something traumatic happened to me (which I may share at a later time), and while I believe that God certainly used everything for good in my life, I had this fear that something “bad” might one day happen to my children. I put bad in quotation marks because as a follower of Jesus, I do believe that God is ultimately in control of our lives and is purposeful, good, and wise in all that he does. However, I also know that tragic occurrences bring pain and I would never want for what happened to me (or anything remotely similar to it) to ever happen to my children.

As I prayed to the Lord during that fasting week, I felt there was something blocking my communion with God. And as the week progressed, God revealed to me that I was not able to surrender my children to him. It was then that he spoke to me.

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It All Boils Down to Love & Relationships

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The quality of homeschooling is very much affected by the quality of your relationships in the home. When my husband and I have tension in our marriage or our emotional tanks are not full, these things have a negative effect on my interactions with the kids. If Edric and I let conflicts remain unresolved, I actually have NO desire to homeschool the kids. I am too preoccupied nursing my own wounds and frustrations and I want to be alone. “What can I do with and for the kids today?” is a question I don’t want to put any energy into answering.

God convicted me one morning when I woke up feeling exactly like that. Edric and I had dealt with an issue the night before and it left me feeling very down.  When he left for work the next day he said, “I love you” and hugged me, but I didn’t feel like hugging him back. He said, “Do you love me?” I said, “Yes,” but I did not look at him in the eye. And he said, “Why aren’t you looking into my eyes when you say it?” So I said, “I love you” and looked into his eyes but my heart wasn’t right. Even though we both apologized to each other, I wondered why I was holding on to the hurt. So I did the first thing I didn’t feel like doing. I read my Bible, spent time with the Lord, and prayed about it!

When my relationships are not okay, I am often sure of one thing.  The main problem is my relationship with God. Something needs fixing.

As I thought through my emotions, God convicted me. He said, “You need to take a good look at yourself, especially your feelings, attitude and expectations and process them. You have four kids who need you, a husband whom you are going to spend at least 30 more years loving, and if you keep up your ‘poor me’, self-centered perspective, you are going to have a miserable marriage and family.”  Well, that didn’t make me feel better at first, but it all made sense.

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