A Pandemic and Homeschooling
Among the dreadful things this COVID-19 pandemic has caused, one aspect that was directly hit and greatly affected in our country is the education system. During a time of complexity, while there was an ongoing debate whether to open or delay the school year, a number of parents have decided to give homeschooling a try.
Inasmuch as many experienced homeschoolers have been suggesting the idea that these first timers have should not be confused with what home education really is, I believe the community owe these families a helping hand as we, too, were once new and ignorant with this approach.
I can imagine moms having anxiety as they figure out what will happen to their kids this year, asking questions like, does my child have to stop school until a vaccine comes along? or will homeschooling work for us? I'd probably feel the same if I were on their shoes. And since a lot of my friends asked me the same questions, I decided to share my story and went live to talk about homeschool. Today, I am writing about it hoping to reach more families who are having difficulties navigating this new path.
Honestly, I was as clueless as you are right now about what homeschooling is when we started. I was a young mom back then, still lost between a new career and building a family, I had this mindset that since I was brought up in a traditional home, it just felt natural for me that my daughter, RyRy, should go to a school and have the same experience that me and my husband had. But partly, I also had these personal issues with schools like the long hours spent there, bullying, the system and culture. I realized the only way to go is for us to choose from the select top schools in the country but this won't come cheap and it's very unlikely we can afford it.
Luckily, our church disciplers that time, who happened to be homeschoolers, mentored us and made us realize that there were other ways for us to give RyRy the education she deserves and that our circumstances back then should in no way affect our dreams.
Definition of Homeschool Terms
To be able to clearly explain what goes on in a homeschool set-up, let me define first some common terms you'll probably hear in the community:
Home Education or Homeschool - a way of educating a child in a home by a parent or a tutor
Indie or Independent - families not enrolled under a provider
Homeschool Providers - DepEd accredited service providersthat caters specifically to homeschooling families. They act as the school to homeschoolers, they help you in choosing curriculum, assessing your child, and provide necessary documents.
DepEd Accreditation - what you need to have documents necessary for college or job application
PEPT or Philippine Educational Placement Test - a DepEd exam taken by those who were not able to attend formal school (i.e. indie homeschoolers, out of school youth). The PEPT certificate will then become the equivalent of Form 137
Curriculum - a program that you need for you studies like book and other materials
ALS alternative learning system - DepEd program for homeschoolers and out of school youth
Our Homeschool Journey
We started doing informal lessons when RyRy, was just 4.5years old for which we focused on phonics. When she turned 5, we decided to enroll under a homeschool provider and simply followed their curriculum. We relied on using materials like Sing, Spell, Read and Write, Math-U-See and the use of the internet.
Upon choosing to homeschool, I had this perfect vision that I would be able to handle this smoothly and would stay on track and nothing would go wrong. Well, nothing really went wrong. But you know, life is so unpredictable that the same year we started out was also the same year we welcomed our new baby, moved houses and was also the time we were most challenged financially.
The first two years of homeschooling was anything but a bliss for us. We struggled adjusting and I overlooked our daughter’s readiness for formal lessons which eventually lead to stress and trauma. Learning became a chore for her. Oftentimes she would dread our classes and would throw a fit which would likewise affect my mood. But whenever I would feel frustrated, Mike would remind me that RyRy is just 5 years old and would ask me what I was like when I was 5. This helped me realize that not all children are the same and that I should never compare our family to other families I see on social media.
After a year of being enrolled under a provider, we decided to take an even more flexible and somewhat cheaper road: indie.
During our independent years, we explored the curriculum Five in A Row but I felt quite empty inside. Finally, I met Charlotte Mason through a friend and through Ms. Mason's principles, I finally found a deeper meaning on why we do what we do.
Why Homeschool?
According to my research, families choose to homeschool because of either reasons:
availability of schools
religious beliefs
practical reasons
issues about bullying
flexibility
poor quality of local schools
financial and health issues
We personally chose this path because we had a different perspective of what education is. We believe education is not just about learning math, language arts, science—it’s not just about the academics. It is also about skills and character building.
It was also important for us who and what influences our children most especially during their formative years where their brains are basically like sponges that absorb everything they hear and see. Finally, we also believe that learning happens everywhere—when the child plays, reads a book, or pursues a skill.
Education for us is not and should not be confined in a box.
As a hands-on mother, homeschooling likewise gave me a deeper purpose in life. I was able to better connect with my children which for me is such a huge blessing.
On another note, homeschooling has great benefits too, like:
(but probably more applicable pre-pandemic) kids don’t have to wake up early, they don’t experience heavy traffic, less stress for the children because their schedule is more flexible.
it builds strong relationship between child and parent.
kids are not hurried, they get to be kids. They’re free to explore at their own pace.
the children becomes part of the team. They’re not merely an audience watching you do chores but they get to be involved.
as a parent, I am also learning.
and my favorite is they get to express themselves freely. Because the relationship between parent and child was built and was built strong, communication is very open. Our kids can tell us anything and they can correct us anytime.
This is the first part of a two-part post about starting your homeschooling journey. Go to the second part by clicking here.