Mom Diaries: What Is It Like Teaching Kids at Home?

We really admire all of you Moms for doing everything in your capacity to keep your kids productive, happy, and consistent in their progress! Homeschooling can be challenging especially when you have more than one child to take care of along with work responsibilities, but it can also be rewarding to witness your child learn and grow. There are different approaches to teaching your kids and every learning experience is unique, too! So, we talked to Mommy Charina, Mommy Chanel, and Mommy Marielle to know more about what it’s like homeschooling their young kids based on their own personal experiences. Check out their stories right here!

Mom Diaries: What Is It like Teaching Kids at Home?

Mommy Charina and Cale

Charina Dañas is a financial consultant and a part time college instructor with two boys: Cale who is 5 years old, and Constantine who is 3 years old. Mommy Charina decided that homeschooling was the best option for 5-year old Cale this year after observing his participation during an online summer class.

(Pull-quote Layout) “I noticed that he was just watching his teacher and classmates the whole time. There was a time when the teacher encouraged them to sing and dance and I asked him if he likes to join them and he said, ‘I just like to watch them mom.’”

As a college instructor, Charina is more attuned to handling older students or young adults. So one hurdle she had to face was unlearning and relearning teaching strategies to be able to home school her 5-year old. Add 3-year old Constantine running around in the mix, you can imagine how things can get quite chaotic at times.

(Pull-quote layout) “Before doing homeschooling, I had to read a lot of blogs to understand the different strategies and tips on how to do our daily learning schedule. At first, I tried imposing a topic daily but what I noticed is it takes a long time for him to finish or he won’t finish the activity if he is not interested. When I started following child-led learning, we became more productive since he is asking a lot of questions.”

Mommy Charina also gives Cale options and allows him to choose what he wants to do for the day whether it be his worksheets, to read books, or to build something.

(Pull-quote layout) “The materials I use are from my own research. I have a list of things that a 5-year-old should be doing then I search for activities that will achieve that. He’s happy every time he paints and I’m seeing improvements in his artworks but I see his interest in math because of the show Number Blocks.”

(Pull-quote layout) “I see his growth in everything and I’m getting to know him. I feel fulfilled as a mom knowing Cale has learned something new because of what I taught him.”

 

(Header Layout) Mommy Chanel and Cassie

Chanel Abelo-Aldaba is a full time mom and a part time commercial model. You might have seen Chanel in popular advertisements on television and on print! She has two kids: 4-year old Cassie and 2-year old Joaquin. Chanel is also a former Sunday school teacher for 4 to 6 year old children at her church, and so the current situation became an opportunity to share her love for teaching with her own daughter through homeschooling.

(Pull-quote layout) “I want to give my child a rich learning experience and focus on character building, so I decided to be the one to guide her. I also value face to face interaction and I believe in its capability to develop a child's communication and life skills.”

Chanel and Cassie are currently following the Charlotte Mason method for homeschooling under an accredited homeschool provider. Chanel sourced materials from their provider as well as online shops which she discovered through researching. What makes homeschooling a challenge, however, is when little Joaquin is running around, and distracting his big sister. Having other work duties also makes it quite difficult for Chanel to manage her schedule sometimes, but this mom always powers through.

(Pull-quote layout) "It has been both enjoyable for me and her because I learn along the way and I let her enjoy learning without pressuring her. I want her to embrace learning and to not be afraid of it.”

Chanel also shares that Cassie seems to enjoy Literature the most because she loves having stories read out loud. The apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree, because Chanel is a book lover herself!

(Pull-quote layout) “She gets thrilled when I read stories to her and ends up asking a lot of questions. There's a time limit for every lesson. We keep it short so as to develop hunger for learning. She always begs me to read to her more! I love books and it doesn't feel like a task when I read to her and introduce new words and ideas.”

What makes homeschooling rewarding for Chanel is when Cassie applies the values she learns in everyday life.

(Pull-quote layout) “It becomes very rewarding when I witness my child apply the values that I teach her, for instance when she willingly shares a snack or a toy to her brother, and when she remembers a previous lesson and brings it up on a random day.”

 

(Header Layout) Mommy Marielle and Yain

Marielle Justine Sumilong is a full time instructor at a state university. She is a mom of two boys: 4-year old Yain and a newborn baby. Mommy Marielle just gave birth to her second child two months ago and now she’s back at work as a faculty member as well as Yain’s teacher!

(Pull-quote layout) “Although we have been doing learn-through-play activities at home since he was one, I have only formally enrolled my eldest, Yain, in a homeschool provider this year. Yain loves to read, cook, and paint, and he’s currently into Lego, ninjas, and superheroes.”

Marielle has also been introducing Kindergarten-level activities to her 4-year-old since the start of the quarantine in March. By the time Yain’s program officially started last June, they were already prepared with a set homeschooling routine.

(Pull-quote layout) “The biggest challenge we’ve encountered so far is trying to effectively balance the time we spend on his academics, his hobbies, and his co-curriculars. We want to maintain a holistic approach to his homeschooling, therefore, we try to make sure that we don’t spend hours on academic subjects only. He currently loves making crafts, cooking, doing martial arts. We try to devote ample time everyday so that he gets to practice these activities regularly.”

Much to Marielle’s delight, Yain has developed a liking towards numbers and problem solving. He even asks to do more exercises and worksheets! How amazing is that? Yain is also a visual learner, so his mom teaches him Math concepts using pictures and objects like pompoms, legos, and real money when they talked about Philippine currency.

(Pull-quote layout) “I discovered recently that I enjoy teaching Science a lot despite being a communication teacher by profession! Concepts in Science require familiarization and memorization, I am always forced to come up with creative, out-of-the-box activities to keep him engaged. I try to go beyond just making him memorize the name of body parts, the classification of animals, the parts of a flower, etc, by thinking of hands-on, sensory activities where he can see those concepts at work.”

Mommy Marielle values having the flexibility to choose what to teach, how long they will study in a day, and what materials to use. There’s no need to pressure themselves to cover a given number of topics within a fixed timeline and they get to turn everyday chores into learning opportunities as well.

(Pull-quote layout) “We get to follow our child’s lead and be attuned to his interests, learning capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. In turn, he seems to always feel excited and motivated to learn. Being able to see Yain develop a love for learning at a young age makes homeschooling him a truly rewarding experience.”

 

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