homeschool

Homeschool Help: Homeschool Mom Blogs in the Philippines

May 17, 2013 1 Comment

As the new school year starts in June, it will be our 4th year homeschooling the kids. My daughter will be an incoming fourth grade student while my son will be in first grade. The past years have not been easy. It required a lot of discipline, commitment, perseverance and grace from the Lord. There were days when I wasn’t sure if I should continue in homeschooling or not. But then, the Lord always finds a way to speak to my heart and reassures me that this is what He wants us to do.

One of the ways that God continues to speak to me is through other homeschool moms blogs. When I feel lost, and unsure what to do, I often come across their blogs and find inspiration.

Here are the Filipino homeschool mom blogs that I read often and have been a source of encouragement to me, maybe they will be useful to you as well.

Winnie of Living and Learning

Racquel of Beyond Books and Walls

Joy of Teach with Joy

Mariel of The Learning Basket

Connecting with other homeschool moms is important in one’s homeschooling journey. It is here where you can find support and encouragement.

Motherhood Thoughts

May 11, 2013 6 Comments

I am at a loss for words. Whenever I think about motherhood, I can’t seem to find the appropriate words to describe what I want to write about it. Being a mother for the past 9 years, I have changed and grew so much.

If you ask me to enumerate what are the joyful moments of motherhood, I won’t be able to chose! From the first time I laid my eyes on my babies or our late night breastfeeding sessions or hearing them talk for the first time or seeing how much my kids love each other, there are just too many wonderful moments that motherhood has brought to me.

If you ask me to enumerate what are the unforgettable moments, I would say that it was when my son cried as I was explaining to him why he needs to be disciplined or when my daughter needs to do something that she doesn’t like to do. These are the moments when I see my kids grow and mature. Stretching out from their comfort zones, learning from their mistakes and trying something new.

One day, all of these will be nothing but memories. I am overwhelmed with gratefulness to the Lord for every moment that I get to spend with my kids. As we spend each day together, I have come to know them and truly see their heart. I myself have changed and grown in ways I never could have if I didn’t become a mom.

Thank you God for giving me the gift of motherhood.

Filed Under: motherhood, reflections

Traveling Around the World

May 9, 2013 Leave a Comment

Before I became a mother, one of my dreams has been to travel around the world. I didn’t know why but I have always been facinated with other world cultures and people from other countries. I remember joining clubs in college which has nothing to do with my majors but because of my love for other cultures, I didn’t hesistate joining. I wanted to learn other languages like Japanese, Spanish and French. When I saw an opportunity to learn the Sign Language while in college, I enrolled myself and immersed myself in the Deaf Society too.

Eventually, I understood that I don’t want just to visit another country but I want to immerse myself into their culture and life. I see meeting people from other places and areas as a way of growing and enlarging my own perception of life and how great our God is. I know that I can learn so much from others and hopefully, I will also be able to impart the love of Christ to them.

But since I had my children, I embraced my role as a mother and didn’t pursue that dream. Instead, I took on the role of motherhood knowing that God has called me to nurture and to train my children in the way He has instructed me. I have been homeschooling the kids for the past 3 years now. This has allowed us to study about the world geography and world cultures more.

We play pretend that we are in another country and discuss the coutry’s culture, dress, money, population, government and other details. Then we research around the web, just like the london heathrow car hire – Easirent.com and pretend we are renting a car for hire and visiting the famous landmarks of the country. We try to listen to the different languages and speak it too. If possible, we try to eat the different cuisine too.

I am grateful to God that He has turned my passion so I can teach my kids about world geographyand the different people of the world. Who knows? Maybe someday, my kids will be the ones who can travel around the world and share God’s love with them.

Filed Under: homeschool, my thoughts

Toby’s Preschool Graduation

May 9, 2013 3 Comments

My son has never been to a conventional school since we have chosen to homeschool him. When we began homeschooling him at 4 years old, I wasn’t very confident that I was doing a good job because he doesn’t seem to be very interested in school work. Every day, we had to begin with playing together and doing fun activities before starting to read or doing any math. He wasn’t interested in reading or writing at all. Well, I heard an advice before to just keep doing fun activities and to keep reading together. So this is what we did, and by the end of preschool years, I am amazed that he can now read and write well and above all, I’ve seen him grow in obedience through the years.

Truly, by the grace of God, my son has passed his final assessment and is now eligible for first grade in the coming school year. He particiapted in the graduation ceremonies of The Master’s Academy last April.

The preschool years passed by so fast but I have no regrets as I look back with so many treasured memories togeter. I am so glad to have seen his progress through the years and how he is growing up, loving God and his family. I am tryly grateful that God has given our family this opportunity to grow together, serving Him and living our lives for His glory!

Filed Under: homeschool, my family and kids, Toby

Home School in the Woods Great Empires Review

April 29, 2013 Leave a Comment

My 9 year old daughter is very much interested in world history. So when we were asked to review Home School in the Wood‘s Great Empires Activity Studies through the Schoolhouse Review Crew, we were both excited to see what we will learn through this activity study!

The Great Empires Activity Studies consists of PDF files which includes texts, projects and printable activity pages. The 14 empires in the whole study includes Ancient China, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Arab Muslims, Engish Empire, French Empire, German Empire, Japanese Empire, Mongols, Russian Empire, Spanish Empire, United States and the Vikings. The projects lists include recipes, games, maps, hands-on projects based from the text, some crafts and list of reference literature which you can use for further in-depth studies.

The text materials for each empire consists of 1-3 pages and activities consists of 5-10 pages. Each empire study can be covered in 3 days, depending how in-depth you would like to pursue the study of each empire. It would take you less than 2 months to go through the entire Great Empires activity study. You can do the activity in any order since each empire is independent of the other but if you would like to see the chronological order of events in world history, you can use the Timeline provided as your guide.

We are on summer break already so my daughter is able to work on the Great Empires activity study at least 3x a week. We didn’t follow the chronological order of the empires, instead we chose the empires according to preference. We worked on the Vikings first since she is most interested in them. We read the text and immediately after our discussion, we worked on the printable projects like creating a map of the voyage to Vinland and researching about the Viking Longboat or Longship. Then she created her own Viking coins.

She read the French empire next and worked on the important moments in France’s history. She cut out the figures and put them in chronological order. She enjoyed this activity very much because she was able to remember the famous people we have studied in our history lessons months before. It is interesting to see that she is able to retain so much information.

The Spanish Empire is another interesting empire for her because it shows the different Spanish explorers who discovered many parts of the world, including our own country, the Philippines.

I myself enjoyed the activity study because of it’s hands on approach and brief history summary. It gave me an overview of world history in less than 2 months. My daughter enjoyed the activity study immensely because she loves to read and do the hands on activities. Though the suggested grade for this activity is elementary students, we would recommend this activityfor students in 3rd grade and above because there is a lot to read. You can get the entire study at a very affordable price of $18.95 only for the download version and $19. 95 for the CD version.

If you’d like to know more about this product or see the other activity studies from Home school in the Woods, click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew!