HOMESCHOOL OF ASIA PACIFIC PHILIPPINES

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Do not overburden your child so he will be successful. Divide new learning skills into small segments so that it will be easy for him to excel in it. Avoid over-stimulating the child. Do not “keep him busy” and avoid the “nothing to do time”. The “nothing to do time” which is pressure-less and stress-less can be the most creative time of all. It can be a time where he can relaxedly bond with the family. It can be a time where he can just play as he wants and still feel fulfilled. It can be a time of exploring new things spontaneously.

Allow your child to have a real FREE time. That time can be the opportunity for a breakthrough in his life.

Does your child lack sleep due to so many academic and extra curricular activities? Parents should seriously consider the effect of a lost one hour of sleep in a child. Some scientists theorize that lack of sleep during formative years can alter permanently a child’s brain structure. Moodiness & depression are symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation. Does your child suffer these? If yes, give him enough sleep. Don’t schedule too much activities in one day.

Going out with your kids can still be moments of learning. Homeschooling is not just about books and lessons. It is about life. Spontaneous sharing of information and storytelling are still parts of homeschooling. Remember, homeschooling and learning is preparing your child to face real-life not just test papers, quizzes and academic requirements.

It is better for a child to study out of his interest than force him. Make ways to motivate your child. Give him rewards after. Explain how his lessons will make him get his goals in life. Connect the lessons to his hobbies and interests. Be creative.

1. Use your child’s toys in presenting lessons. He will be delighted to listen.

2. Maximize the internet in providing audio-visual presentations of lessons. This is free and interactive. Your child will be more interested in the topic. Use online math games to teach math.

3. Let your child enjoy his childhood. Let him play. Don’t overload him with too much tests and assignments. He is a child only once in his lifetime.

4. Teach your child according to his/her learning style to be more effective. Observe is he/she loves music then use sounds in the lessons. If he/she loves pictures and videos, use them to integrate your lesson. If he/she is physically active, let him/her do experiments and hands-on activities.

HAP homeschooling is giving your child the freedom to be himself. No labeling, no bullying, no stressful tests and homeworks!

All children need to know they are loved. For children with special needs it is even more important. Homeschooling gives special-needs children teachers (the parents) who truly love them and intimately know their weaknesses and strengths. This gives parents a tremendous advantage in delivering an effective education program to their children.

Homeschooling also gives the parents an opportunity to teach what really matters. Having a handicap, as I have said, is a daily struggle. A handicapped child is constantly aware of his weakness and inability and this can often regularly lead to feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy. In homeschooling, parents can spend much time teaching their special-needs child that they were created in the image of God. They have worth and value because God loves them. Their struggles and difficulties have purpose in glorifying God and being conformed more into the image of His Son.

They can learn “not to lose heart. Though our outward man is decaying, our inward man is being renewed day by day. For this momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (II Corinthians 4:16-18). If a child accepts Jesus as his Savior and believes He died on the cross for their sins and rose again, he knows he will be healed one day in heaven, if not before.

Weakness and disability remind us of our mortality and our great need for a Savior. The spiritual object lessons to be drawn from the our children’s handicap are endless and of eternal value to them and the whole family. I can truly say my multiple sclerosis and Amy’s limitations are blessings that are reaping tremendous spiritual growth. God is teaching us to walk by faith, not sight. (II Corinthians 5:7).

Excerpt from : http://www.home-school.com/Articles/phs40-chrisklicka.html

Objective studies demonstrate that parents provide a superior form of education for their special-needs children by teaching them at home. Contrary to the claims of the education elite, parents do not have to be specially certified or have special qualifications to teach their handicapped children at home.

In fact, in one of the most thorough studies performed thus far, Dr. Steven Duvall conducted a year-long study involving eight elementary and two junior high students with learning disabilities. He compared one group of five students that received instruction at home with a group of five students who attended public schools. He was careful to match the public school students to the homeschool students according to grade level, sex, I.Q., and area of disability. Using a laptop computer, Dr. Duvall sat in on teaching sessions and took an observation every twenty seconds, creating tens of thousands of data points that were then fed into a statistical analysis package. Usually his research included a second observer who double-checked Dr. Duvall’s readings. Dr. Duvall recorded and analyzed academically engaged time by students during instructional periods. He also administered standardized achievement tests to them to measure gains in reading, math and written language. His results show that the homeschool, special needs students were academically engaged about two and one-half times as often as public school special needs students! He found the children in the public school special education classrooms spent 74.9 percent of their time with no academic responses, while the homeschool children only spent 40.7 percent of their time with no academic responses. He also found that homeschools have children and teachers sitting side-by-side or face-to-face 43 percent of the time, while public education classrooms had such an arrangement for special needs children only 6 percent of the time. This was a tremendous advantage for the homeschoolers.

His study further demonstrated that the homeschool students averaged six months’ gain in reading compared to only a one-half month gain by the special public school students. Furthermore, the homeschool special-needs students during the year gained eight months in written language skills compared to the public school counterparts, who gained only two and one-half months

Dr. Duvall summarized, “These results clearly indicate that parents, even though they are not certified teachers, can create instructional environments at home that assist students with learning disabilities to improve their academic skills. This study clearly shows that homeschooling is beneficial for special-needs students.”1

It is interesting to note that Thomas Edison was expelled from public school at age seven because he was considered “addled” by his public school teacher. He lasted only three months in formal schooling. Over the next three years, his mother taught him the basics at home, and as Edison himself stated, “She instilled in me the love and purpose of learning.”2 Without any special qualifications, Mrs. Edison helped her son overcome his disabilities to be come a great inventor.

Once again we see homeschooling works for any child!

Excerpt from : http://www.home-school.com/Articles/phs40-chrisklicka.html

Roles of a teacher In community

1. contributor to the development of skills of the nation’s human resources
2. inspiration to the next generation of nation’s leaders

Examples from a past teacher

1) Teacher as a contributor to the development of skills of the nation’s human resources

My p.e. teacher in fencing is an example. I attended the basic fencing class in college. There Mr. Jimenez, a national team member, was the instructor. With his drills, I became interested in the sport. With his invitation, I joined the fencing club of Ateneo de Manila. With his coaching, I was able to perform well in the national opens that the Fencing Association chose me to as one of the fencers to represent the Philippines. In the 1992 Southeast Asian Fencing Federation, I was able to contribute my victories in my matches leading our women’s team to garner a Gold Medal for the country. It was an honor to give honor to my beloved country. I felt like a Philippine heroine during that time. I was proud to be a Filipino and was proud to wear the colors of the Philippine flag in my jacket.

2) Teacher as an inspiration to the next generation of nation’s leaders

Again my p.e. teacher in fencing inspired me to continue pursuing the sport of fencing. Right now, I am a coach teaching young Filipinos in my fencing club Ezkrima (ezkrima.com). There I teach the basics of fencing and guide my students in competitions. It is now my turn to be a contributor and an inspiration to the next generation.

We as homeschool parents can do much more as developers of Filipinos, our children. We are the daily inspiration our children look up to, our children who belong to the next generation of leaders. Never forget that.

By Mrs. Bev Alarcon, HAP Directress

From Prof. Renato Constantino’s Book, The Continuing Miseducation of the Filipinos

“Education must both be seen not as an acquisition of information but as the making of man so that he may function most effectively and and usefully within his own society.”

I totally agree with this. Education should not be mere memorization of information just to pass tests. Education must be relevant to the Filipino and to his country. Education must empower him and teach him to discover what he can do for his own progress and the progress of his countrymen.

“Experience has shown that children who are taught in their native tongue learn more easily and better than those taught in English. Records of the Bureau of Public Schools will support this. But mere teaching in the national language is not enough. There are other areas that demand immediate attention.”
I totally agree again. It is easier to teach preschoolers to read ba, be, bi, bo, bu than long a, short a, long e, short e, long i, short i, long o, short o, long u and short u.

Provide and enrich educational experience by using a variety of resources and learning materials like books, Internet, videos, photographs and others

Interact with your homeschooling mentor. Keep the necessary contact numbers ready in case you need guidance

Enjoy your home schooling sessions and put your own creative ideas into practice.