homeschooling iñigo: start of our endeavor

it's already the month of june and while other parents are sending off their kids to school almost everyday, i take 30 minutes of iñigo’s play time, may it be in the afternoon or in the evening, and tell him, “we will do something…” or “you will learn something...” the kiddo has really no idea of what we are doing and for him it’s just like another play. he also looks forward to this time that he can use his crayons, activity books that i was able to buy in the local bookstores, and other media for learning. our set-up is very informal, unstructured, flexible… i don’t even follow a particular curriculum right now as i feel there’s no need yet. i teach what i think he needs to learn as of the moment, not being pressured that other kids are already starting to do this and that; and i teach what i think he is very much interested on that’s why teaching him about baby animals was a breeze as he’s really into animals and nature. he was able to differentiate the coconut tree and banana tree among other trees as soon as he turned two.

but i also slowly introduce him into letters and numbers, aside from the basic concepts. he has also now mastered drawing a straight line and a round shape, not as crude as they were weeks ago.

 

my only goal for this year or school year is for him to get familiarized with our homeschooling routine and hopefully, he'll get used to sitting down for 30-minutes to an hour everyday so that when by next year and we are already subscribed in a particular curriculum it’s easier for me to teach him more serious stuff. it’s still hard to teach someone in his terrible two so am taking it easy right now. i also like to develop his zeal for learning and that the initiative to "sit and study" would not come from me but from him. 

 

i was teaching him the sequence of the letters

proud of his accomplishment

working on his activity book

he was a good pupil here as he followed mommy's instructions =P

learning the vowels thru his activity book and magnetic letters

btw, if you're curious on what activity books am using right now for iñigo it's the little genius and easy to learn (ETL) books series which we bought from powerbooks (one of iñigo's favorite stores these days as we're able to read other books for free. hehe). each only costs php 60.00 to php 65.00. it's really for preschoolers as their target age range is from three to four or five years old. i also bought some imported activity books in booksale which i find useful in the coming months.

another bo sanchez's article on homeschooling

i'll just give the link:

http://bosanchez.ph/will-homeschool-work-for-your-kids/.

jude and i are seriously considering to homeschool iñigo for pre-school and--if i still can--up to grade 3. we decided that the formidable years is with us.

afterwhich, the daddy will enroll him in his alma mater... as if the mommy or the child has a choice. hehe.

i think i won't have a hard time teaching iñigo his lessons as the kid is really passionate about learning... i just have to make learning a fun thing for him to do. he loves reciting the abc's and the 123's; i can talk about science topics with his eyes glued to me as if he's so amazed on how mommy knows a lot of things... este, how things around him work. he absorbs words fast... it's just this afternoon when i was stunned when i heard him use the word "pobably (for probably)" correctly. oh my, am really a proud mom and i can't help but share it here... this is our site anyway. harhar.

i just hope the kiddo would always be like this and won't get bored when it's already study time... or i might tell the daddy to send him early to don bosco.

 

 

every kid starts with homeschooling...

a lot of parents doubt if they have the skill to homeschool their kid. in fact, i was one of those parents. but as i was told, i also realized that i am already doing the job of a teacher for my son... but the difference is it's in a more relaxed and unstructured manner.

my son should thank me as i'm a "cool" teacher for him... and my style is somewhat lax. little did he know that i don't want to stress myself. hahaha.

but honestly, i just let him learn what he wants to learn by now and learn the other things when he's ready. simply put, NO RUSH--my mantra as a mom.

as far as he can imagine...

you remember the toy that i bought him for his first birthday? it's the wooden blocks set. i also bought him the wooden train set, which added to his collection. he's very much into these toys and these alone can keep him busy for hours. i love it! haha.

and what i love more about these toys is it develop a lot of skills in him: imagination, creativity, balancing, building, shaping, pretending, etc. he can now manipulate the blocks set and train tracks on his own. he can build a round railroad, a sloping railroad, a straight one... he's an engineer in his own rights. =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i heard someone criticizing schools which did nothing but ask its pupils to imagine and fantasize. i winced. it's what i wanted my son to primarily do at his age. hehe.

the little bookworm

he began flipping book pages even before he took his first solid meal and i'm glad that now, reading books is always part of his daily routine. he has his set of favorites such as eric carle's from head to toe, sandra boyton's goodnight mooon and runaway rabbit, and joanna cole's i'm a big brother. the dr. seuss books are just waiting for him to learn to read.

speaking of reading... jude was very impressed with his son when he heard him reading words. even without the pictures, iñigo can now read some words like apple, lion, horse, dog, cat, umbrella, fish, etc... words that he frequently see in his books. he also can read the names of the popular establishments: chowking, SM, jollibee, mc donalds, kfc... even tapa king. hehe.

though i am happy on his new skill, i still doubt that sight reading will do him good later on. i am not yet keen of introducing reading until he's five or six, and by then i guess he is already ready to read through the phonics method.

aside from sight reading, he also knows most of the letters by now and can recite the alphabet song, although still slurred in some letters like "w" and "x". but as i've said, no rush... it wasn't me who taught him anyway, but himself... see? =D

count him in

iñigo saw our family photo in our PC desktop and began counting, "one daddy, one mommy, one nyigo (for iñigo)... yehey!". it was a funny moment for me, but it was also the start of iñigo's skill on counting.

i taught him how to count even before his second birthday but he was not contented to stop with any number and he continued until he's done with "10". so six apples was as still 10 apples for him. hehe. but now that he has matured, iñigo would count correctly. he would count the teddy bears in his book, the plates on the table, and whatever he sees around the house... then followed by "yehey!".

he also knows how to motivate myself. =)

Q & A portion

mommy: what's your name

iñigo: nyigo!

mommy: how old are you?

iñigo: two!

mommy: where do you live?

iñigo: cabuyao! (with a twang, feeling kano)

mommy: what's your complete name again? iñigo bustamante...

iñigo:  nyigo mante...

mommy: bustamante

iñigo: cabuyao!

yeah right... our son has also a tendency to be extra PILYO!

***

artistically challenged

my son also has his own share of weaknesses and one of them is arts. he's not interested in coloring and drawing figures. though he would ask for a color or pencil, and paper, but give him a few minutes and he's no longer interested. i also bought him a molding clay but he's not too keen...

the most that he can do is draw a round shape and identify some colors.

but it should not come to us as a surprise as both of his parents are also not into arts. =)

the only thing he does best in the arts section is photography... este, taking pictures. =) i guess you will be surprised that the photo below was taken by him.

he made the tower--12 blocks stacked up--all by himself, too.

there you are. iñigo's report card in his 28 months of learning and growing. i realized that it's kid's semestral break this time and most of them already received their report cards... so i thought of also doing my son's own report card for his milestones, accomplishments, and waterloos. =)

if iñigo will have home as school...

then it will be less expensive for daddy and mommy than sending him to the best school (because he deserves this) in our place;

then mommy doesn't need to stress herself and her little boy during exam weeks;

then learning will be more fun for iñigo as he can devote more time on his interests, aided by more field trips than the usual once a year;

then he doesn't need to compete with the other kids and he will learn that success doesn't need to go along with competition;

and he doesn't need to deal with bullies, sick classmates who'd share viruses with him, and boring teachers who make learning a not-so-fun thing to do;

then he doesn't need to mingle with kids that were raised with different values;

then daddy and mommy will be the main influence on his life;

and so daddy and mommy is forced to devote more time with him everyday...

to teach lessons and more importantly values, to motivate, to know first-hand of his strengths and weaknesses, to play and enjoy life...

so when it's time for him to go the big school we know that he's MORE THAN READY.

 

p.s.

homeschooling seems to be so ideal so we're doing all the research and preparation. we're not yet 100% sure on this but as of now, it's the best education that we can think of for our son from preschool to primary education.

 

homeschool or waldorf school?

this is my dilemma right now and i think this remains as one of my major concerns until next year when iñigo is ready for a formal schooling. i should be thankful though and consider myself lucky as i have other options now other than sending my kid to a traditional school. but the downside of having many choices--i can't figure out which one is the best for the little boy and for us too as parents should also be 100% involved in their kid's education.

allow me to tackle these two modes of learning and the potential benefits we're banking on, alongside my concerns and the setbacks i foresee:

homeschooling

it was jude who introduced me to the idea of homeschooling as he was fascinated on how some millionaires in the US homeschool their kids instead of sending them to private schools, which they can greatly afford. i have faint recollection on why i entertained the idea and researched further but it's this link that made me convince that homeschooling is a good, if not, a better option for our son's education:

http://catholicfilipinoacademy.com/cfa/10principles.php

though we are not equipped with 18 units in education, we have what his future teachers lack and that is full knowledge of our son's capacity. i bet it would still take time for them to know that iñigo is more "words smart" than "numbers smart". but more than anything else, my son is "body smart". i am making this assessment because i don't want to end up like the other parents who put pressure on their kids to excel on academics when in fact, their kids really can't because their intelligence doesn't dwell in science or math but in arts or sports. both the parents and the kids just end up frustrated. but hopefully, with the help of homeschooling, i can gauge my son's strengths and weaknesses and try other teaching approach so i can deal with the latter more effectively.

also, i see homeschooling as a medium to discipline me or jude (take note: it's us and not the kid) to set aside real quality time for our kid for two to three full hours a day. that's a lot of real bonding moment for us, don't you think?

and how can i forget... homeschooling is the cheapest as there's only a little tuition, no uniforms, no school bus, no baon, etc. we can have the flexibility on where to put our money for iñigo's development/ 

my only concern with homeschooling is, "can i do it?" (i will definitely be the teacher here) or do i have the mastery of the subject to teach my son the lessons infallibly. aside from this is my patience is also questionable and i can be really mean to iñigo when he's acting up or becoming extra-naughty. it may just defeat the purpose i have mentioned a while ago and instead of becoming closer to me, iñigo may see me more as the "tyrant mom". hehe.  

waldorf school

i learned about waldorf or steiner education from the n@w group as someone brought it out for discussion. i became more interested and followed the thread on this topic. for some of you who are clueless on what's waldorf schooling is all about, here's a little backgrounder i got from wikipedia:

"The Waldorf approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning,^[3][4][5] developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component.^[6][7] Studies of the education describe its overarching goal as providing young people the basis on which to develop into free, moral^[8][9] and integrated individuals,^[10][11][3] and to help every child fulfill his or her unique destiny (the existence of which anthroposophy posits).^[2][12] Schools and teachers are given considerable freedom to define curricula within collegial structures.^[13]

Waldorf schools approach learning in early childhood through imitation and example.^[27][28] Extensive time is given for guided free play in a classroom environment that is homelike, includes natural materials and provides examples of productive work in which children can take part;^[21] such an environment is considered by Waldorf pedagogues to be supportive of the physical, emotional and intellectual growth of the child through assimilative learning.^[28] In Waldorf schools oral language development is addressed through songs, poems and movement games. These include daily story time when a teacher usually tells a fairytale, often by heart.^[22] Waldorf kindergartens and lower grades discourage exposure to media influences such as television, computers and recorded music, as they believe these to be harmful to cognitive development in the early years.^[24][29]"

what i like best about waldorf education is it doesn't push the kids to learn everything at an early age. it enhances first the kids' love, ar at least the curiosity to learn. the pace of learning is more relaxed than in any other school. i also like it's principle regarding electronic media exposure particularly television and dvds, as i believe that nothing beats the mother-kid interaction when it comes to learning.

now here goes my concerns...

as you can see some of waldorf school's principles seem to be a tall order for us and i don't think we can adjust with the lifestyle it offers. i already visited the waldorf school near our place and i admit everything is ideal--the ambience is so serene, teacher-student ratio is only 1:10 at the most, no tv and other electronic devices for the students, the toys are all made of wood or indigenous products, the clippings in their bulletin board are encouraging the parents to eat non-fat foods and use only organic products in their households--and we are not sure if we have a place on this kind of system.

jude winced on the idea that he can no longer watch tv and eat junkies as we must set an example to our son if he's already enrolled in that school. so there's the question again, "can we do it?" tuition is no longer an issue as we think that the rates of other progressive schools in manila are 50-100% pricier. it's the change in lifestyle that we think we are not yet ready to take.

so which one of these schools? mini mini mini mo... =)