"The Home is our Classroom!"

Written By Felichi Pangilinan-Buizon

Photography by Jojo Buizon

The Teaching Nanay's Note:  Here is an article by Ms. Felichi Pangilinan-Buizon, a veteran homeschooling Filipina mom who is also my sister in Christ & fellow church member.  Originally published in Metro Working Mom Magazine, some of the information may be old & outdated, but Felichi's insights are timeless!  All italicized & bold portions are for emphasis, by me.  May you be blessed, as I was when I first read this. =)

In 1992, my husband and I were invited to an orientation on home schooling.  The couple that invited us had five children, one whom was still in high school and the other, attending one of the prominent universities in Manila.  My husband and I were impressed when the couple told us that their kids – who were homeschooled – did well when they shifted to a traditional school setting.  They excelled academically, were well liked, and were elected to leadership positions by their peers.

Homeschooling is an alternative form of education where a child learns at home through individualized instruction by the parent instead of in a formal school setting.  It is most popular in the US where over a million kids are currently being homeschooled.  Prior to the 20^th century, homeschooling was the most common and accepted mode of education.  Prominent prople like Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Agatha Christie, and C.S. Lewis were all homeschooled.  Even our national hero Jose Rizal received homeschooling from his mother, Teodora Alonso.

In June 2000, Time Magazine ran an article on George Abraham Thampy, that year's Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee Champion.  George, who was homeschooled, also placed second in the National Geography Bee just two weeks prior.

At that meeting, my husband and I were introduced to a form of education that encouraged not only the development of a child's intellect but also his spiritual, social, and moral upbringing.  Success was defined not as academic excellence or high grades, but rather, the pursuit of a life that pleases God.  This was the thing that impressed us the most.  We wanted to rear children whose aim was to please God, rather than themselves or their peers.  We knew that if they learned to put God above all, the character and excellence needed to face life's many interruptions would follow.  We realized that a homeschool setting would give us countless teaching opportunities that would develop in them a thirst for God.

My mom, who is an educator, always emphasized to us that the first seven years of children are their formative years.  After that age, they are pretty set in their ways.  And so, this is the ideal time to instill in children values such as God-consciousness and others-centeredness.  It would also be the best time for us to curb wrong behavior.  We cannot nip it at the bud if we are not around to nip it.  Our society's morales are fast being eroded; even cartoons require parental guidance.  As parents, we need to take bolder steps to develop strong children who can wait and who say “No”.  This made the option of homeschooling even more attractive.

This is why, in 1996, after further research, prayer, and yes, trembling, my husband and I decided to homeschool our daughter Talitha, then three and a half years old.  I belong to a generation of kids that stayed home until age five, before enrolling in formal school.  I grew up in a happy home, endowed with a rich childhood experience.  Now that I am a mom, I want the same for my children.

Taking responsibility for their training would require commitment from us.  We were ready to give it.  Since we no longer needed to work long hours to earn enough to put our children in select schools, we would have time for them.  I shifted from full time to part time work to be able to give my child 45 minutes to an hour of uninterrupted fun learning, three days a week.

My husband and I were one in our goal.  Agreeing as a couple was important, so we could handle the occasional feelings of inadequacy.  We welcomed the eager support of other homeschooling families that have been an endless spring of inspiration and creativity and have introduced us to a variety of curricula to use.

The Rewards

After almost five years of homeschooling, what rewards have we seen in our children?

Family bonding.  Learning together has made us closer.  As we get to know each other more, we learn to love each other better.  We find more time together since we do not have to rush each morning to beat the traffic, or leave the children when we go out of town because they will miss school.  As a matter of fact, what could have gone to exorbitant tuition fees was instead used for travel and countless field trips.  My children have been to more places than I have when I was their age, enriching their concept of the whole world they live in.

Love for learning.  Applying the I. I. (individual instruction) method, we are able to tailor our teaching style to correspond with their dominant learning abilities.  Through time together, we have discovered these abilities.  Homeschooling has an advantage of being delight-directed.  Talitha enjoys music and loves storytelling (she delights in the rise and fall of an expressive voice).  She learned her phonics through music and began reading at age four.  It is amazing to watch her memorize the different atmospheres, the continents, and the different food groups through songs.

Our son Joshua enjoys music, movement and the use of his hands.  Music has made math concepts easy for him to grasp.  At age five, he can read a list of words while being tickled.  He has no qualms about kneading mud and handling large earthworms.  He will be open to learning fractions for as long as you bake with him.  I am intrigued by his fascination for writing numbers 1 to 100 on several sheets of paper.  Both enjoy working on their lessons outdoors, so we make it a point to schedule visits to parks or public libraries.  As we incorporate their delights into their studies, learning becomes fun, as opposed to being a chore, and we are able to capitalize on their enthusiasm.

Being “little helpers”.  Homeschool is not “school at home” where a child puts on a uniform, and for the most part, sits behind a desk within the confines of a room for six hours a day.  Learning at home takes less time and provides a three-dimensional environment that allows a child to learn by doing.  This develops independence early in life.

The home environment is such a rich venue for lessons on practical life.  Here they are trained to make their beds, feed their pets, apply first aid, set and clear the table, fold their clothes, refill the water containers and ice trays, shine their shoes, wash their tea sets, vacuum their rooms, operate a computer, help Dad change tires, or simply put things back where they belong.  With the goal of learning, we also take them with us when we go to the grocery, bank, car shop, market, etc.  Many of these lessons I only learned later in life since there was not enough time after school or the helpers were there to rely on.  I am delighted at how my little tykes can be such big helps around the house.

Enhanced social skills.  Talitha, at five, was invited to play a role in a training video for a commercial bank.  At the taping, her role called for her to talk with a man in his 40s.  They got along so well that my daughter asked me if she could sit with him for lunch.  When the actor was called for a take, she sought out the two-year-old son of the makeup artist and spontaneously took on a caregiver's role.  After some time, an eight-year old Indian talent came, and she did not hesitate to make friends.

I was amazed at how instinctively Talitha adjusted her social behavior to correspond with whomever she came in contact with.  Could this be a result of being homeschooled?  At home, she does not need to compete for the attention and affection she needs.  This encourages a high self-esteem.  At home, praise is immediate and so is discipline.  When her selfish tendencies are caught, she is corrected.  At home, she has opportunities to relate to elders, older ones, peers and younger ones alike.  Unlike school, students are age segregated where high schoolers have little to do with the first graders.

The current trend towards early education bewilders me.  I feel it is premature to take very young children away from what they need the most:  the personal guidance, constant care, and comforting presence of their parents.

God-consciousness and others-centeredness.  Once Talitha asked me why children would line up to talk to Santa Claus, I told her that children believe that Santa has some kind of magic to make their wishes come true.  To this she replied, “I want God's magic more than Santa's.”

Or the time Joshua asked me if a spaceship could come close to the sun, I told him that the sun was like  a fireball and nothing could possibly come near it without melting.  To this he replied, “Jesus can.”  I was also touched when Joshua asked me to pray that his older cousin would stop teasing his younger sibling.  I was thankful for his compassion and sensitivity.

In the Bible, there is a specific charge to parents where we are called to teach our children in God's ways by talking about them when you sit, lie down, and walk by the way (Deuteronomy 6:5-7).  It is God's desire that we make it a daily preoccupation to acquaint our children with the Lord.  I count it a blessing to watch them grow, affirming and applying their faith.  These rewards motivate us to pursue this alternative path of education.  The journey can be arduous at times, but the experience has been a tremendous source of joy and inspiration.

So how long do we intend to homeschool?  My husband and I have chosen to commit a year at a time.  Covered with prayer, at the end of each year, we assess our children, the times, and ourselves, then we decide on whether to proceed or not.  And for as long as the Lord, who holds our children's future, wants us to homeschool, we will continue to enjoy the benefits, make the most of our responsibility, and look forward to releasing in this world, children with character, prepared to meet the challenges of life God's way.

Homeschooling? What's that?

SCHOOL AT HOME

by Karen Galarpe

Good Housekeeping, Philippine Edition

January/February 2003

Two families share what it's like to have your children go to school right at home.

The Teaching Nanay's Note: This article will help inform Filipinos who are curious or interested about homeschooling in the Philippines. A concerned father was referred to me by a member of our small group, inquiring about homeschooling, that's why I'm posting this now. To all homeschool-parent-teachers-to-be (that was long!), may you find this informative & useful.

School Fun at the Tan-Chi home

The sound of Mom's school bell a few minutes before eight a.m. meant classes would start soon in the Tan-Chi household. And so Carolyn Tan-Chi would race downstairs with older siblings Peter Jr., Joy, Paul, and Candy. the children would take their seats and, after a short prayer, each would open the booklet containing their respective lessons for the day.

For four hours, their mom Deonna would teach them subjects like Science, Math, Reading, etc., and check on their work, which were on different levels. At times dad Peter, a pastor of Christ's Commission Fellowship (CCF), would teach Bible and Math. There was recess and then dismissal at 12 noon. "After that, we had the time to play basketball, table tennis, and golf. We'd swim, ride bikes, and do other things like practice the piano," says Carolyn.

That was how life went when the Tan-Chi children attended grade school in their homeschool. Today, all of them are achievers:

• Peter Jr., 28, a management engineering graduate of Ateneo, works in the family real estate development company, Asiatic Development Corporation.
  
• Joy (now Mendoza), 28, finished English in Ateneo and during her college days was captain of the soccer team that played in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) games. She is now director of The Master's Academy homeschool program based in CCF.
  
• Paul, 24, finished business management at Ateneo and is now taking his master's degree in computer studies, also in the same school. Back in college, he was a member of the basketball team, which played in the UAAP games. He also works for Asiatic Development Corp.
  
• Ruth, 20, nicknamed Candy, is now in the US studying dentistry. At Faith Academy where she finished high school, she was named salutatorian, Most Outstanding Senior Female, and Most Outstanding Senior Female Athlete.
  
• Carolyn, 18, is a B.S. Psychology freshman at the Ateneo. She is also a member of the basketball varsity team that competed in the recent UAAP games.
  

"They're all achievers by God's grace. We have taught our children a sense of responsibility, and this included being responsible in their studies," says their mom Deonna. "We never forced them to study. As homeschooled children, they just developed a love for learning." Now how did she do that?

Why homeschool?

Deonna's eldest child Peter Jr. was in sixth grade at Jubilee Christian Academy in Quezon City when she heard about homeschooling from a missionary friend. "I went to her house and saw her homeschool room. I saw the impact of homeschooling on her children. And I felt I wanted to do that because my children left home early in the morning, were gone the best hours of the day, arrived home at five p.m., then had tons of homework. I was like a drill sergeant when they were home: 'Hurry up! Shower! Study!' I didn't want that kind of life for my children."

Besides, she says, in a class of 45 children, the kids still do most of the work at home. Deonna felt she could teach the kids herself. She was also uncomfortable whenever her children would question what she would say, telling her, "But teacher said..." She felt she was losing her authority.

Her husband Peter also realized that the benefits of homeschooling far outweighed the concerns. "Parents are supposed to be teachers. What happened was parents have become just providers," he says. "We don't impact our children because we don't teach them. And I was entrusting my children at the best time for them to learn to teachers I didn't even know."

Easy as 1-2-3

Deonna then went to Faith Academy, a missionary expatriate school near their home. She got their scope and sequence list---what a child is supposed to learn---and then went to National Bookstore to buy textbooks. She got a blackboard, transformed a room in their home into a homeschool classroom, made lesson plans, and started teaching.

"I was excited to study at home. I remember enjoying it. I don't remember missing friends. I was with the most important people to me---my family," says Paul. Carolyn also enjoyed the experience and became "best buds" with Candy. "Mom was a fun teacher. We were excited---not pressured---to learn," adds Joy. Peter Jr. had trouble adjusting in the beginning. "At first when I told him to open a book, he would groan, 'Oh, mom...' Later on he would study on his own," says Deonna. "He was transformed from a tired student to a student who was hungry to learn."

She adds, "Research for homeschooling has shown that homeschooled kids gain confidence by being with parents so they become leaders." The proof: When the children got to high school, they were all accepted at Faith Academy, with some even getting accelerated. And they all excelled in both academics and sports. Getting along with schoolmates was a cinch as they had mingled with other families who homeschooled.

Now that they are all adults, Peter Jr., Joy, Paul, and Carolyn are one in saying that, in the future, they will also homeschool their children.

School Days at the Buizon Home

Felichi Pangilinan-Buizon was newly married to dentist Jojo Buizon and not even pregnant when she heard Peter and Deonna Tan-Chi talk about homeschooling in CCF. What really impressed her was hearing the Tan-Chi children share their experience. The children seemed different from other kids---they appeared to have a real passion for learning and a desire to live good lives.

Intrigued, Felichi did research on the Internet. "I got so excited as I discovered many things," she gushes. "For one, I learned that in the U.S., the homeschool in itself is an institution. And the homeschooling community there is known to excel academically. Research I came across showed that it doesn't matter what the mother has finished academically; children thrive and flourish in a homeschool setting."

Of course, there were fears initially---that of rejection and the lack of moral support, given that Filipinos put much importance on formal education. But to Felichi's surprise, she met a number of parents who were homeschooling their children and found the support she needed. Husband Jojo also backed her.

Felichi cherished what her own mom used to say: The first seven years of a child's life are the important formative years. "I said, 'Sige, kahit for the first seven years, we'll teach them what we know and pass on the values we want them to have."

Years at it

It's been six years since Felichi started homeschooling in the two-story Buizon home. Her eldest daughter Tahnee, nine, is already in grade four, while Joshua, seven, is in grade one.

Using the curriculum developed by the School of Tomorrow in the U.S., which she got from the Living Heritage Academy in Las Pinas, Felichi relates academic lessons to everyday life. When they were studying constellations in Science, they laid out a mat in the garden and gazed at the sky. For math lessons in fractions, they baked. (Joshua proudly says that he can bake a pineapple upside down cake. Tahnee can cook corned beef.) Just recently, they did a science experiment on the kitchen counter, adding vinegar to soda to make carbon dioxide.

PE classes means swimming in their grandparents' home in Antipolo, football at the University of the Philippines campus, and rollerblading inside their house.  Josh says school is fine. "What I like about it is I get to stay home." His favorite subjects are Science, Writing and Reading.

Tahnee agrees, saying she gets to stay home and play a lot. After the lessons for the day are over, she and Josh play house using chairs, pillows and cushions.  She also sometimes helps out Josh with schoolwork, and relishes affixing her initials on his papers as "Supervisor".

Confident children

Homeschooling enabled the Buizon children to learn at their own pace and in their own style. For instance, Tahnee loves music. Mom then used a preschool curriculum that taught phonics through song. "that helped her read at age four," says Felichi.

The children have also become more independent. They work on their assigned lessons independently unless parental supervision is recommended. Josh has even become a little handyman of sorts, even learning to clean the inside of a VHS player.  "I feel my children have grown very confident because they received the attention they needed. You see, in a classroom setting, they would have to compete for the teacher's attention. In homeschool, when they raise their hands, they get called," says Felichi. When last summer Tahnee joined Trumpets for an acting workshop, her teacher, actor Carlo Orosa, was very impressed with the child's confidence and attitude.

The Buizon children thrive and look forward to homeschool every day. In a few years, Kyla, their youngest sibling, will be joining their daily lessons. Well, she's actually sitting in already even if she's just one year old.

Inset: What Educators Say

Homeschooling is a nontraditional way of education. We asked two educators what they think about it. Rose Aligada is working on her Ph.D. in Reading Education (University of the Phils.) and holds an M.A. in Special Education (UP). She is president and co-founder of Learning Inn and is a parenting speaker of the Center for Family Ministries. Maricar G. de Ocampo has Ph.D. units in Counseling Education (De La Salle University), and an M.S. degree in Teacher Education (Bank Street College of Education, New York). She is an education consultant.

Q. What can you say about homeschooling?

ALIGADA: As a special educator, I am open to all alternatives to regular schooling. This will allow more people to be educated, especially in areas where there are only a few schools, or it is difficult for children to go to school for some reason, such as when children are sick or are in a war-torn area.  It's very attractive because it encourages bonding among family members and enables children to learn values directly from their parents. The homeschool program may also highlight the spiritual component, depending on the curriculum. In homeschool, learning is individually paced depending on how fast or slow a child learns.  The Department of Education (DepEd) would have children who homeschool still go to a regular school to get modules and exams. The base should still be a regular school.

DE OCAMPO: Homeschooling is one of the answers to many parents who are looking for alternatives to traditional education. It has been practed for a while (abroad) but only quite recently in the Philippines. I highly recommend it to students who have difficulty in adjusting to a regular school schedule. The DepEd has a curriculum and modules to be followed. Parents have to be committed to follow through with the education of their children.

Q. In your experience, how do students who have homeschooled fare compared to their peers who attended regular school?

ALIGADA: It's quite common in special schools like Learning Inn. Some children get sick for a while and cannot go to a regular school. Other children may have parents who travel for work; education gets disrupted. Homeschooling becomes an option for them.

DE OCAMPO: There have been students who have been homeschooled and are doing well in regular schools. They may be children who have been sick for while and have had to stay home. They are taught at home so that they will not be delayed for the next school year. Then there are children who have a hard time in transition situations like from a preschool environment to regular schools, or children coming from abroad going to regular schools here. Children who develop school phobia because of a traumatic experience in their previous school may be homeschooled. That also goes for children who cannot really adjust to regular or traditional schools.

The most important thing to remember in homeschooling is that the parent is the teacher---he or she is the consistent mentor and tutor of the child.

Q. Would you recommend homeschooling? If so, under what conditions?

ALIGADA: For as long as the child is unable to go to school, I'm for homeschool. That is better than doing nothing at home. But parents should make sure the child does not lack opportunities to interact with his peers.

There should also be regular supervision given by a teacher in a regular school. The homeschool program should be approved and accredited by DepEd. One cannot move up the ladder of grade levels without DepEd approval. Parents should go through the proper channels.

DE OCAMPO: I would recommend homeschooling to parents who have really thought about the commitment and the work it takes to teach their children. They have to research thoroughly about homeschooling and its effects, and see if their children will benefit from this experience or not.

Hey, Don't I Know You from Somewhere????

Maybe you do...I used to have a blog entitled "The Homeschool Nanay", which I stopped updating for about a year now.  Why?  Hmmmm...I had to rethink it.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE homeschooling...no question about it!  And I will continue to promote it as my advocacy, my ministry, my mission.  But then, what about the rest of the nanays & tatays out there who send their children to traditional schools?
I realize that the Lord will hold ALL parents accountable for how their children will turn out, regardless of which type of education they choose.  And yes, it is possible for parents to be successful as the primary educators of their children, even if they're enrolled in a traditional educational institution!  What's the catch?  They need to be fathers & mothers after God's own heart!
So here's to all moms & dads out there, most especially my kababayans.  In case we've met before, some of the first few posts will be familiar to you, as I will be moving some posts I believe are important for homeschooling wanna-bes or newbies.  And if not, then I welcome you!  I hope to be able to share information, knowledge, and hopefully some wisdom with you, as we raise our children to become everything our Lord Jesus Christ wills for them to be!

Hello from the Teaching Nanay!

Hello, World! Yes, I'm a Filipina stay-at-home mom of four, ages 17(girl), 12 (boy), 10 (boy) & -whew!- 6 (girl). I homeschool our 2 boys & youngest girl now, while our eldest is a college freshman! We are Evangelical Christians.
This is our sixth year of homescooling, and so far, I have never regretted the choice we made. Let me tell you about how I got started...
The year 2002 was a landmark year for me. There was the diagnosis of our anencephalic baby girl back in November 2001, which led to her death in March 2002 upon her birth. And there was the death of my eldest sibling, Dinky, in August 2002. All these happened while I was sales manager for a leading product line of a global IT company's personal computer division. 2002 was important for my career too, because I was given a "transitional" promotion, i.e., I would be promoted from a team leader to a full-fledged manager for the product I had handled for the past 5 years.
Let me tell you, I was so proud to be part of that company, mostly because I firmly believe it was God's will for me to have joined it. When I had stumbled into my career in information technology back in 1993, I never could have imagined that I would one day work for one of the biggest computer companies in the world! Of course, I'll save that story for another entry...
Anyway, I was quite pleased that everything seemed to be going my way at work, despite the two sad events I had mentioned, not to mention the out-of-this-world quota my product line had been given! But there was something terribly, terribly wrong...I WAS NOT HAPPY!
All the signs of success were there...my product line's booming business prospects, the rosy prospects of quota achievement by year-end, the confidence & respect of subordinates, co-workers, bosses and our company's business partners, and the unwavering support of my husband and family...but still, I WAS NOT HAPPY! I began wondering, WHY? "The past years were not as good as this year was," I thought, "and I was happy then! But why not NOW?"
Deep down inside, I knew, it was God's "fault", as I had thought back then. And that was what I was afraid of! "The Lord giveth, & the Lord taketh away!" chanted my mind, but my heart argued, "It was God's will that put me here!" This battle within me raged on for months, reducing me to tears while I was at work many times. Indeed, the Lord was calling me to leave the company, and I was wrestling with him. There were many "good" reasons for me to stay, including the fact that we believed that my family needed two incomes to survive. But He made it very clear to me as I prayed to Him for months, "You don't belong there anymore. Period!"
So, after drums of tears, and despite the "nonsensical" nature of the Lord's request, I decided to heed His call & leave my career. And from the moment I made that choice, the "unhappiness" that had hounded me all those months was gone! Just like that!
In prayer, I requested for many signs from the Lord so He may confirm that I was following His will, and not mine. The most telling of all the signs I requested for was when I started praying for my inclusion in the company's early retirement program. One afternoon in November that year, I met with the company's HR Director, a respectable and friendly executive whom I looked up to. After asking about being retrenched, she stated matter-of-factly: "First of all, it's something you can't request for. Secondly, given your excellent performance this year, it would be easier to recommend you for promotion rather than early retirement!"
Given the bleak prospect of receiving a retrenchment package, I decided to let go of the request & to push through with my resignation. But the Lord has a wondrous sense of humor! In mid-December, the HR Director called me, advising me to forego submitting my letter of resignation, for I was made part of the retrenchment program! God is truly AMAZING!
After leaving the company, a headhunter approached me for an opportunity to work for the world's biggest software company. I admit, the chance was too good to just pass up, so I went through the usual routine---testing, interviews, etc.---to see if it was God's will for me to work for this company instead. I had passed every single step of the recruitment process with flying colors, according to my headhunter, and it seemed that I was a shoo-in for the position, UNTIL after I was interviewed by the company's general manager. My headhunter reported that the software company had abruptly changed its decision about hiring me, and they wouldn't - or couldn't - say why! There I was, laughing so hard after being told that I was rejected, and my headhunter was scratching his head! I told him not to worry, I somewhat expected his "bad news".
Just when all this happened, my husband and I heard about a homeschooling seminar for people who wanted to learn more about it as an alternative to the traditional education system here in the Philippines. Admittedly, we attended because we had no idea how we were going to send 3 children to school on my husband's salary alone. But as we sat and listened to the testimonies of many homeschooling parents & families that day, it was undeniable - the Lord was calling us to homeschool our children, because it is the best way to educate them, because it is God's way. And though there are days when I wish I was facing my former company's management board for a sales update meeting rather than my children, He reminds me that homeschooling will reap eternal rewards for me & my family! And that's why I'm here!