Heart and Mind of a Homeschooling Mom: Rosanne Rodriguez Unson

Have you heard about the online bookstore The Learning Basket? We are featuring one of the beautiful mommies behind one of our favorite online bookshop today, Ms. Rosanne Rodriguez Unson.

Hi Sanne! Can you share a brief introduction about yourself?

I’m Sanne, wife and mother of a 4-year old girl. I work part-time as an IT professional in Ateneo and I am the other half of The Learning Basket, an advocacy that was started by my friend, Mariel, where we promote the idea that parents are our children’s first and best teacher.

We officially started homeschooling when my daughter was 2 but we were doing “learning” activities without the label even before then. Reading aloud was a big part of our daily routine from when she was a newborn.

Why did you choose to homeschool your child?

Here’s something that I wrote as I was reflecting a few months ago about this:

Honestly, my husband and I go back to this same question every now and then, and so far, we’ve arrived at the same answer – we want her to enjoy her childhood. Even before she was born, we knew that our daughter will not be put to school at a very early age. We wanted her to be free to move and play and explore whenever she can and wants because this is what children should be doing. We want her to grow up with a true love for learning. We want her to wonder and marvel at the things around her, not because of a school requirement, but because our world IS truly wonderful and marvelous. We want to ignite a passion for reading and/or and/or math and/or science and/or art and/or music and/or sports, not because of academic pursuits, but because to find one’s passion is to find happiness. We want her to grow up in full awareness of God’s love for her and we believe that it is by our example of loving God and loving her that she can truly see this.

It has been a wonderful ride and we are enjoying having front-row seats to our daughter’s growth and development.

What are method or curriculum do you use with your child?

We are using Five in a Row combined with Catholic Heritage Curriculum as our primary curricula. We also use supplementary materials and montessori activities that tie up with whatever our daughter is interested or what we feel needs attention (virtues, art, music).

Are you enrolled in a DepEd accredited homeschool provider or others? Which one?

Not at the moment but we are planning to enroll in an accredited provider by June.

Until when do you plan to homeschool your child?

Right now, we plan to do so for preschool. This changes about monthly. Haha.

Share one lesson you’ve learned over the years about homeschooling.

More than what you teach your child, it is what you learn with her and through her that will amaze when you’re homeschooling.

Do you have any other tips you’d like to share.

1. No two children and homeschools are the same so try not to compare.

2. The simpler, the better. They often learn when you least think they are learning.

3. Pray. It is definitely not a lifestyle for everyone, but if you feel that you are called to it, I strongly recommend trying it.

4. Inform yourself and read up about homeschooling. It’s not as daunting as we often think it is.

Thank you Sanne.

Read more from Sanne at her column in The Learning Basket. If you have any questions for Sanne, please leave a comment and we will try our best to answer.

To read the rest of the series, please check Heart and Mind of a Homeschooling Mom.