Debra Bell invites YOU to the 2012 Philippine Homeschool Conference!
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Tag Archives: homeschooling
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Homeschooling as an alternative to sending kids to school (GMA News Online)
Mainstream education in the Philippines has been around for more than a hundred years. The idea of sending your child to a conventional school has been so ingrained in our psyche that schools are normally considered students’ second homes, while teachers take over as parents inside the classroom.
By the time children start to walk and talk, parents start to canvas for the most reputable school that will raise them best, and one they can afford at that.
But a new movement led by the Homeschooling Association of the Philippine Islands (HAPI) is changing the landscape of education by advocating homeschooling in the Philippines. Established in 2009, HAPI is an organization composed of homeschooling families, as well as various accredited schools who offer home school programs.
Its chairman Edric Mendoza quickly clarifies, “Homeschool is different from home study.” Home study is schooling supervised by a teacher or a tutor who drops by a student’s house.
“Home school, on the other hand, is a form of education where the parent is the teacher and the child is the student,” Mendoza says to distinguish the two forms.
Click on the link to read more and then share your thoughts below: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/256144/lifestyle/people/homeschooling-as-an-alternative-to-sending-kids-to-school
“School at home” (Rappler.com)
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – It is said that a child’s first teacher is his mother. Expand that concept into a comprehensive and structured learning set-up: your child studies at home and has you as a teacher.
“Technically, anybody can homeschool,” says Edric Mendoza, president of the Homeschool Association of the Philippine Islands (HAPI), a non-stock, non-profit organization that represents several homeschooling providers and independent homeschoolers and groups.
Since HAPI’s launch in 2010, it has grown to include approximately 3,000 member parents and children. It works with the Department of Education, aiming to elevate the idea of homeschooling from being an alternative to a prime education option.
“Our idealistic perspective,” he continues, “is that homeschooling transforms the family—in a good way—and, thus, if the family is transformed, society can be transformed; ultimately, the country can truly be transformed. Thus, our tagline: Building the nation through homeschooling.”
Click on the link to read the whole article: http://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/107-family/3610-school-at-home
4 Ways to Teach Your Preschooler at Home
Here are simple ways to enhance your preschooler’s learning at the comfort of your home.
Guest post by Teachermama Tina Rodriguez
Whether your children are in regular school or are being homeschooled, here are a few suggestions on how you can incorporate learning into their everyday routine:
1. Read, read, read.
a. Set aside a specific time every day to read aloud to your child. The single most important thing that you could ever do to instil a love of learning in your kids is to read to them.
Even as early as the infancy stage, children can learn to appreciate the beauty of the written word, and pick up the skills they need for language and speech development. Your baby or toddler will be soothed by the sound of your voice, and books with interesting pictures will keep her entertained for good chunks of time.
b. For little ones in the preschool stage, spend time every day reading aloud and teaching your child the basics of phonics by introducing beginning letter sounds at every opportunity you can get. For example: When reading together, say “We’re going to read a book now. Book. Book begins with the letter sound “buh”. “Buh, buh, Book.” You can also do this during other parts of your child’s daily routine – eating, bathing, playing, bedtime routine, etc.
Click here to read more: http://www.smartparenting.com.ph/kids/preschooler/4-ways-to-teach-your-preschooler-at-home
Visit Teachermama Tina’s blog here: http://teachermamatina.blogspot.com
HAPI Media Launch (March 10, 2012)
Gallery
This gallery contains 11 photos.
Homeschool Association of the Philippine Islands held their first media launch last March 10, at Expo Kids in Rockwell.
Why Homeschooling is Best for your Preschooler
Here are some tips to get you started on homeschooling your preschooler.
Guest post by Teachermama Tina Rodriguez
The preschool years are a precious time, not only for children but their parents as well. It is a time of wide-eyed wonder, discovery, gaining independence and learning life skills that will help one survive the sometimes-stormy years of adulthood.
It is no wonder then that for many parents, sending their children off to preschool during the tender years has been replaced with another option: to homeschool preschool, or, in the words of homeschool preschool mom, writer and advocate Susan Lemons : “homepreschool.”
Quoting from Jane Claire Lambert, founder of Before Five In A Row, a homeschool preschool “gentle learning” curriculum:
“Now is the only early childhood you will ever be able to share with your child. These are golden years. It might be worthwhile to once again thoughtfully consider how you really want to spend your time. What could you put off until later in order to maximize and preserve these few precious years with your child? Your sacrifice today will mean a stronger academic and emotional future tomorrow. Your love, time and attention mean so much. In a child’s world, there is simply no substitute for you!”
Click here to read more: http://www.smartparenting.com.ph/kids/preschooler/why-homeschooling-is-best-for-your-preschooler
Visit Teachermama Tina’s blog here: http://teachermamatina.blogspot.com
Travel: One of the Best Teachers
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
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
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.
