I attended my third home schooling conference last September 6. I missed last year’s, but I was able to attend the two conferences before that.
This time, however, Jay came with me which makes it my most favorite HS conference of all!
This year’s home schooling conference had a great lineup of topics for the growing community to chew on. I’ll be breaking it down in a three-part blog series in the coming weeks.
Recharging the home schooling dad
The founder of HAPI (Homeschooling Association of the Philippine Islands), Edric Mendoza, was there to open the conference with his usual inspiring and highly encouraging…I don’t know what you call it…motivational talk (?)
I was really glad that my hubby got to hear him speak about home schooling.
Jay’s been very supportive about educating our children here at home and he’s been more involved this year – diving into Saxon Math, JavaScript programming and Bible devotions with Pablo. He’s also the one accompanying him to his Soccer classes early Saturday mornings and teaching him how to play guitar.
Jay moved one of his free days to Thursdays so he can walk the kids to their Chorale, Dancing and Arts classes because I have to work till afternoons and would only be able to join them after I log off.
I really appreciate my husband for being proactive in what we do and I thought it was good refueling for him to listen to other home schooling dads talk about their own views in home education.
All these, after all, can be very exhausting and discouraging at times, especially when you’ve limited yourself to just your own system of doing things.
This is what home schooling conferences are for, to refuel, to recharge, and be refreshed.
Home school a nation!
One of the things I like about Edric Mendoza speaking is that he always shares of a bigger vision.
He’s not just talking about the little techniques here and there, he’s always referring to how one family can be a catalyst for the changes our nation is believing for.
In his words, “Change our country, one family at a time”.
Home schooling is a privilege
Edric went on to remind us what a privilege it is that we’re able to home school our children.
This brings to mind about a German home schooling family in the U.S. who sought the help of the home schooling communities when they were being ordered deportation back to their home country not too long ago.
They didn’t want to go back because there, they would be facing cruel punishment for having home schooled their children which is against their law.
Home schooling families in the Philippines face a lot of criticisms especially from people who know nothing about homeschooling, and there’s a lot of pressure from families and friends who can’t see beyond traditional educational setups, but we don’t face the risk of having our children taken away from us or being thrown into jail because we’ve chosen to take on the roles of teaching our children.
The home schooling dilemma we face here seem petty compared to theirs, don’t you think?
Anyway, two other things that Edric said that day that resonated with me are:
1. Home schooling is good parenting
More than the academics, parents should focus more on teaching our children to read the bible and helping them to apply God’s word in their lives so that they will always choose to honor God and do what is right even when they’ve grown up.
If teaching your child character is not your priority in home schooling, then you have missed the essence of home education.
2. Surround yourself with people who are better than you
You can’t learn from people who are in the same level as you are. You learn from people who can add to what you know and who are better with the things you want to do.
If you want to succeed in home schooling, listen to those who’d gone ahead and be open to learning from them.
The Hands-on home schooling dad with Dennis Poliquit
One of the sessions that day was on being a home schooling dad. The speaker was radio personality, Dennis Poliquit who is also a home schooling dad to five kids.
Dennis talked more about how dads can contribute in home schooling, stressing that it doesn’t always have to be teaching the academics, but more importantly, actively instilling discipline and values in your children.
We’re raising three boys so this one here is extremely important to me. I’m not underestimating the values that moms can teach their kids, I teach my kids the bible, but I believe that it makes a world of difference when Jay takes over.
Be a team
Dennis also talked about how a husband and a wife must be united. If there are things that we disagree on, we must talk about it among ourselves and not in front of our children as this has a negative impact on them.
This is something Jay and I need to work on. Since we’re like North pole and South pole on a lot of things, we tend to get into discussions in front of our kids. So we resolved to stay united in front of our children. It’s only been 4 days and so far, we’ve been doing well on this.
Love your spouse
Dennis discussed loving your wife, treating her right, honoring her in front of the children and filling her needs.
He gave examples such as calling her up in the middle of the day, listening to her rant, allowing her some “me” time, taking over the chores at night so she can rest, and to make her feel loved, important, accepted and beautiful (or something to that effect).
I agree.
I love my children and I adore them but I need help, too, because the reality is, no matter how hard we try, there are no real super moms.
It also matters a lot to me that Jay is taking the initiative to learn more about home schooling and is helping me more with our children’s education.
More next week!
Photo ops with fellow home schoolers, WAHMies & Mommy Bloggers at the conference.
So there you go, those are my notes and Jay’s. I hope that those who missed this year’s conference can somehow pick up a thing or two from what I’ve shared here.
I’ll be sharing about the session, Introducing Filipino Arts, Heritage and Culture with speaker Jen Bellosillo on my next blog, so watch out for that.
This year’s home schooling conference was organised by the formidable women behind Manila Workshops, The Learning Basket and Beyond Silver & Gold – Ginger Arboleda, Marielle Uyquiengco and Michelle Padrelanan together with other home schooling moms.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6.
“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” Ephesians 6:4.
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” Philippians 2:3.