Homeschool of Asia Pacific Orientation - Live and Online

For all you parents out there who may be considering HOMESCHOOLING, here is a review based on an orientation we attended, conducted by one of the newest homeschool providers in the Philippines: Homeschool of Asia Pacific or HAP. Their website is at http://homeschoolofasiapacific.com.

It's a relatively new homeschool and hubby and I were able to attend the free orientation about a month ago at Eastwood Cybermall. The directress, Mrs. Bev Alarcon, and her husband have been homeschooling for about 3 years. At the live orientation, there were about 4 other couples present with us, and one single lady who was attending in her aunt's behalf. There was also a fellow Catholic mom (I'm not sure if the other parents there were all Catholics), Liza, who has been homeschooling her kids for EIGHT years, using the Catholic Heritage Curricula or CHC from the US. (You can read about Liza's homeschooling journey at their multiply site: http://hofach.multiply.com/).

Anyway, Mrs. Bev's live orientation was quite informative and there was time for question and answer afterwards. Prior to the orientation, each couple/person there (except us, she seemed to have overlooked us) had the chance to introduce themselves and share why they were considering homeschooling. A lot of the parents cited stress on their children as the main reason. Some even had their kids undergo psychiatric care because of the stress they got in school! Gosh, kids these days!

On our part, we came away from the orientation further affirmed of our conviction to homeschool. Although hubby and I did not decide to use HAP as our homeschool provider (I have emailed Mrs. Bev some questions that I preferred to ask her privately and am still waiting for her reply) at least we know that we have other options aside from Bo's Catholic Filipino Academy or CFA. Actually, Mrs. Bev had shared that they had previously homeschooled with CFA but found some regulations that were not agreeable with her and her hubby. As for us, we also went to CFA's office (about a week or two before we attended HAP's Orientation) to inquire about their curriculum. The next parents' orientation is scheduled for next school year, so we were advised to purchase the DVD of the orientation for P50.00. (I'll blog about it in  a separate post). Anyway, we were also advised to enroll Tim next year, when he has already turned 4 (on October 10 this year).

Currently, hubby and I are still deciding on WHEN exactly to start and WHAT MATERIALS we will be using.

If you are interested to know more about homeschooling, specifically with Homeschool of Asia Pacific (HAP), you can check out this SlideShare Presentation that Mrs. Bev uploaded online (she is a web developer too, so the HAP website is VERY informative):

LATEST HAP ONLINE ORIENTATION

View more presentations from Bev Alarcon.

Homeschool Education Levels Well Above National Averages - U.s. - Catholic Online

Last week I was able to talk to a fellow missionary mom who said that her husband was not too keen on homeschooling because he wanted his son to learn leadership skills, and how would he do that if he didn't have any classmates to lead? I told her that maybe he (and she) could read up more on all the online resources that actually support the "cause" of homeschooling especially those that feature great people in history who were actually homeschooled, like those listed below:

(Source: http://www.home4schoolgear.com/famoushomeschooler.html)

Inventors Alexander Graham Bell Thomas Edison Cyrus McCormick Orville Wright & Wilbur Wright			Artists Claude Monet Leonardo da Vinci Jamie Wyeth Andrew Wyeth John Singleton Copley
Presidents George Washington Thomas Jefferson John Quincy Adams James Madison William Henry Harrison John Tyler Abraham Lincoln Theordore Roosevelt Woodrow Wilson Franklin Delano Roosevelt			Composers Irving Berlin Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Anton Bruckner Felix Mendelssohn Francis Poulenc
Scientists George Washington Carver Pierre Curie Albert Einstein Booker T. Washington Blaise Pascal

I also found this inspiring article that further cements the case for homeschoolers and trying hard homeschoolers like our family. :)

Homeschool Education Levels Well Above National Averages - U.s. - Catholic Online

Here's to homeschooling - the BEST education you can give your child! :)

The Month And A Half Or So In Review

I was inspired by Mommy Michelle to update this blog when she started doing her "A Week In Review" posts. I realized that it's been more than a month since we've arrived in the Philippines (my gosh!) and more than 2 weeks since my last post here (I've been regularly updating my Truly Rich Mom blog though. Check it out at http://trulyrichmom.com :)

Anyway, a lot of things have happened to our missionary family in the past month and a half or so. One of the most significant things was Rysse's 1st birthday party which we celebrated with a Noah's Ark theme at a local swimming resort (small but NICE!). Remind me to post pics and tips on how to throw a Noah's Ark birthday party in a Philippine setting later on, ok?! The event turned out to be a reunion of sorts for extended family and close friends, a true celebration of God's faithfulness to Rysse and our family for the past year! :)

We have not been giving Tim any "lessons" as regularly as when we were in Timor Leste (which was usually at least once a day for about 30 minutes, three times a week). It's been a kind of "vacation" for him I guess. I didn't want to push anything on him considering he's already had a lot to adjust to (settling in, moving from my in-laws' place in Cubao to my parents' place in Cainta every other week, adjusting to not going with us all the time to the Home Office, etc etc). However, I'd like to think that Tim's homeschool preschool journey has been ongoing although not in the "subject matter" that most teachers think kids his age may need. By God's grace, Tim has "matured" and seems to have outgrown certain things that used to frustrate hubby and I:

1. He has learned to say "po", "please", "thank you", "sorry", and "excuse me" appropriately with less prompting from us.

2. He has gotten over his fear/aversion to:
 (a) having his hair cut - he went to the barber shop willingly with his Lolo Rading and Papa, and even volunteered to go first! (What a pity, Papa was unprepared and didn't bring a camera so we have no proof! Anyone willing to donate an I-phone our way?! hahahaha. Anyway, Tim shows off his new haircut in the pic below, taken at Rysse's birthday party :) And yes, that's me, trying to sing karaoke! hahaha)

(b) having his fingernails and toenails cut while awake - I used to cut his nails when he was asleep because he absolutely refused to have them cut! Now he is more than willing to do so! (Although most of the time, he wants his Papa to do it, not me! Which means "Hurray!" for me! hahaha)
(c) having his ears cleaned - The same situations as his nails. But last week his Tita Gela cleaned his ears and got out a huge bit of ear wax, which has probably been growing in size since Tim was born! hahahaha.

3. He is less of a picky eater now, and knows basic table manners (elbows off the table, say "excuse me" when you're going to leave the table). He eats most of his meals with other family members now too! (Before he would eat separately, we'd usually feed him earlier to save time!)

4. He is getting better at sharing, taking turns, waiting for his turn (although he still has his melt-downs, especially at the end of the day when he's tired from playing).

5. He has picked up a few more Filipino words. Perhaps watching TV with his lolo and lola isn't such a bad thing after all. He learned what pula and puti mean by watching Sa Pula, Sa Puti with his Lolo Rading, hahaha. (Although, we have been more vigilant lately about what he's been watching. And make sure to watch with him as much as possible, so we can explain things when he asks about them. And PUT OUR FOOT DOWN when the programs are not for him i.e. get him out of the room as much as possible or ask for the channel to be changed).

6. He has been praying spontaneously a bit more often now (his morning and evening prayers with us don't count here). Especially with the recent typhoons and rains lashing down upon the Metro. (He's scared of thunder so he always says "Mama, let's pray to God to stop the storm. And no flooding. No thunder. etc") Oh, and just this evening, when we were saying our night prayers, he said "I wish Jesus could come here at Lolo Rading's house, and his angels too.. *pauses for a while* Oh.. and God too!" HI-LA-RIOUS and oh so heartwarming! :) Moments like these just make me ever so grateful to be his Teacher Mama!

7. He has learned that the "office" for Papa and Mama is no longer just outside our bedroom, as it used to be in our mission house/office in Timor Leste, but is now somewhere else. Which means that most of the time, he has to be left behind when Papa and/or Mama go to work. In the beginning, he HATED this and would throw tantrums. BUT he has learned to ADJUST, and now only protests occasionally. Thank YOU Lord. (Although I'm hoping our working arrangement will change SOON. Please po Papa Jesus!)

Anyway, so far, these are the things I believe Tim has learned DESPITE our lack of "formal learning". I still believe that life lessons are some of the MOST important things for him right now anyway, so I won't be pressured by all the comments like "He's turning 4 na? Shouldn't he be in school?" etc etc. :) HOMESCHOOLING PRESCHOOL is STILL the WAY to GO for US. :)

For all those who have been following our homeschooling journey, and have been HUGE sources of support and prayers, THANK YOU SO MUCH. May GOD bless us all. :)

P.S. I almost forgot. Hehe. By God's grace, we have never missed out on READING ALOUD to the kids every day. During our bedtime ritual, we read at least three books to Tim with Rysse occasionally listening intently alongside him (other times, she plays with the books or practices turning the pages). In connection to this, I JUST LOVE BOOKSALE BOOKSTORE! Secondhand books are the way to go! :) Love it love it love it! :) We must have bought, I don't know, like 20 plus new "old" books so far, mostly from Booksale. Hahaha. Thank YOU Lord for providing all these blessings! We heart You! :)

Challenges of Homeschooling In Our Homeland, the Philippines

It has been a week since we arrived in the Philippines. I haven't been able to blog much (or go online much for that matter) as we've been staying at my in-laws' place since we've arrived and have only been using Smart Bro prepaid for our internet connection. It is kind of slow (ironically, our broadband connection in Dili was much better!) and so I found it kind of a hassle to blog. Also, I don't know why but it seems that when we're at my in-laws' place, I tend to crash earlier (usually when we put the kids to sleep) and sleep on until morning. (Usually when I fall asleep earlier in the evening, I wake up in the wee small hours of the morning, and then do some work or blog or FB). Perhaps it's the adjustment to life in Manila. Ironically here we do a lot of commuting (we had not just one but TWO mission vehicles in Timor!) and maybe that's why I am more tired at the end of the day. Especially since we bring the two kiddies along with us most everywhere we go. Well, I hope my body adjusts soon.

Speaking of adjusting, sleep routines and commuting and lack of internet time aren't the only things our family and I have been adapting to. I have been very vocal about our desire to homeschool our children, particularly Tim, our eldest who is turning 4 in October. this is partly why this blog was born actually. However, after only one week in the Philippines, this desire, no, CONVICTION, has already met with a lot of questions and semi-negative comments from people (who probably mean well but may not be totally informed about what homeschooling entails and results in). These include members of our own families and community and friends who of course are mostly concerned with the children's socialization / forming friendships with other kids. Personally, I don't blame these people for being concerned, but do feel a bit put off when they insist that regular schooling is THE only way to go. I for one firmly believe that each family and each child is unique, and homeschooling may be the call for some families (like ours) and regular schooling for others.

One of the things that homeschooling detractors don't realize is that homeschooled kids have so many options and opportunites for socialization. Even here in the Philippines! One of the homeschooling mom's blogs I've read actually describe her kid's "after-school" activities with Kids Ahoy, which is something that hubby and I plan to explore with Tim, if God-willing, we can afford it! The good thing is, Tim is eligible for CFA's homeschooling program only when he turns 4 and a half, which leaves us about 10 months to prepare financially, emotionally, logistically, and of course, spiritually for homeschooling.

Since we are at present fulltime lay missionaries (or in our community's terms, fulltime pastoral workers or FTPWs) dependent on monthly missionary allowances (or salaries in other words), we are currently exploring alternative means of earning extra income to meet the needs of our growing family. Needless to say we believe that God will provide, and this He does every day without fail! Indeed we are truly rich and blessed! I know that God will also provide for Tim's and Rysse's education, in His own time and way. Blessed be His name!

I also know that there will be more challenges, questions, detractors, negative comments ahead of us as we continue to explore, discern, re-discern and decide on how far we will go on this homeschooling journey. But I am not discouraged. I WILL NOT BE. Because I know that God is with us. And I also know that negative comments, questions, doubts and challenges to homeschooling usually come about due to a lack of deeper knowledge, understanding and acceptance of homeschooling. And so today I say, bring it on! Whatever happens, God will lead us and empower us, in ALL aspects of our lives! Yehey! May God be praised!