GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
Some Pinoys abroad homeschool their children to save money, effort
Some Filipinos abroad, especially those without educational benefits for their children, have turned to homeschooling their kids to save money and to spare themselves the trouble of attending to the needs of their children at school.
“We did not prefer homeschooling at first. But later I decided homeschooling rather than make my children drop out,” said Marby Dorado-Sipin, whose husband, Noel Bravo Sipin, is an emergency medical technician at the Abu Dhabi Police (Ambulance Department).
“Wala kasi kaming educational benefits so we opted for it. Nung una, yung panganay lang. Then naging dalawa sila. Yung ginagastos namin sa dalawang bata, isang tuition lang sa isang bata,” she added in an interview through Messenger on February 25.
When Marby Ann’s children –Ramoel Christian and Raven Gabriel –came back to the Philippines with her, they were able to adjust easily.
“When they entered a regular school, hindi naman sila nahirapan mag-adjust and got good grades naman. Yun lang they don't have the sense of competition. Basta okay na sila sa grades nila, hindi sila nag-e-exert ng effort para mag-honor kahit kaya naman nila mag-honor.”
Reg Casanova, whose husband, Sly, works for a multinational IT company in Malaysia, has also put their son Bastie in a homeschool after spending two years in a traditional school.
“We moved to Malaysia in August 2012. Bastie at the time was 4 years old. We enrolled him in a Chinese Montessori pre-school [but] after two years of traditional pre-school, we opted to look for other schools for our son,” she recounted in an email interview in February 24.
“We never actually had any idea about homeschooling until we met another Filipino family in 2014. At first, we were hesitant since [homeschooling] will take a lot of courage and patience to be solely responsible for our son’s education. We asked ourselves how we will teach the hard subjects and if we are credible enough to be teachers.”
Only after Reg attended a seminar on homeschool teaching in 2015 did she “finally decide to go in that direction.”
“I was inspired to take the leap and be more engaged in my son’s well-being. [Homescholing] also gives us flexibility on location and timings as learning can be done anytime, anywhere.”
“Teacher Lory” has settled for homeschooling for her daughter while in Saudi Arabia, too.
"I am homeschooling my daughter since she was 3 years old. Then I enrolled her in one of the international schools here in Jubail when she was in KG2 (4 years old) and KG3 (5 years old),” she shared in an interview through Messenger on February 25.
But “Teacher Lory” decided to homeschool her child again – and her neighbors’ kids.
“I started homeschooling my daughter again since she turned Grade 1. She is now 7 years old and is in Grade 2. My neighbors heard that I will be homeschooling my only daughter so they asked me if I could also homeschool their kids.”
“I always prefer homeschooling. It has more advantages. In a big school there are so many stressful factors which discourage kids to be themselves and develop their own talent at their own pace. In homeschool, confidence is built from within. The kids learn more values and could focus more on each academic topic. Learning here is based more on their understanding rather than their ability to memorize trivial facts. Lastly, it is more economical, relax and family-oriented.”
A couple who had worked and lived in Qatar had preferred to homeschool their adopted son as well.
“My husband and I were working in Qatar before we adopted Teo. When our family moved back for Tatay’s new work, we were already set to homeschool Matteo,” shared Wilhelmina Alba-Contreras, a stay-at-home mom who makes personalized rosaries for the faithful in Doha.
“My husband work for an oil and gas industry. Pay is good and most of these kinds if companies have education allowances. We chose to homeschool because we want to provide the best education possible and we believe that homeschooling will do just that.”
“I have been a pre-school teacher since 2000 and have seen the changes in both systems. I believe that we cannot teach the next generation the way we were taught so I believe that homeschooling is now the way to teach this very generation.”
Ni Anne Leon, a full-time homeschool parent in Canada, has a nearly similar thought.
“The advantage lies primarily in the passing on of the faith. The challenge now is in the application individually and collectively as a family unit as we journey into the future, seeking God's will in our lives while trying to glorify Him in everything.” —LBG, GMA News
