With the threat of Covid-19, many parents are fearing the coming opening of the school year. DepEd has delayed school opening to August, but it doesn’t mean that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 would have been effectively controlled by that time. At this time, homeschooling has become a very attractive option for many families. One homeschooling provider that you could consider is School of Tomorrow, under which we are managed. You can know more about them through their website, sotphil.net.

• Related: Benefits of Homeschooling at This Time

Why We Chose School of Tomorrow

Hubby and I have always considered homeschooling our children long before we got married. We did not really intentionally talk about it, but the idea of learning from home has been more attractive to us than going to regular school.

Our homeschooling ideology is a mix of Independent Homeschooling, Unschooling, and Curriculum-Based or Provider-Based homeschooling.

Thankfully, hubby and I both had the same stand and perception of homeschooling. It is important that both parents have accepted homeschooling as the best way to educate their children.

This is the reason why there was no question that we would choose this path for our own kids. Moreover, this united mindset helped us navigate the early years when 95% of the people we knew discouraged us from doing so. Read: Handling Negative Opinion About Homeschooling the Positive Way

Anyway, so among all the homeschooling providers in the Philippines and abroad (yes there are so many), why did we choose School of Tomorrow? Here are the reasons why.

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Missionary friends have used it.

More than a month before our wedding, hubby and I went on a short-term missions trip to Banda Aceh in Indonesia. At that time, they were ravaged by a tsunami and many communities were wiped out. We went there to encourage and bring help to the Christian missionaries living there.

We have lived with a couple most of the time that we stayed there and it was there that we learned about School of Tomorrow. It seems that a lot of Christian workers use it because of the PACE system it employs. Plus, I think there’s a special discount for church workers and missionaries.

The children of missionaries who have gone through the PACE system are already grown-ups. They didn’t have trouble shifting to a regular university for their college degrees nor with assimilating into society. Of course, it still depends on home culture and parental supervision, but it just means that the curriculum is “enough”.

About PACE

PACE is the acronym for Packets of Accelerated Christian Education®. It is specially designed by breaking down the conventional style textbook into bite-sized, doable workbooks. In short, they are called PACEs.

Each PACE is similar to a unit in a textbook used in regular schools. Each level has 12 PACEs per subject. In level 1, Shane has 7 subjects. Meanwhile, Achi Shawna on level 5 has 8 subjects.

What we like about it is that PACEs integrate Godly character-building lessons into the academic content. Additionally, there are self-instructional activities designed to develop thinking skills and create mastery.

• Related: Four Types of Learners: Understand Your Child’s Learning Style For A Better Homeschooling Experience

Lesons are very easy.

We have a different mindset towards education. Hubby and I feel that there is really no need for our children to go through very difficult subjects, stressing them out at a young age as well as ourselves.

PACE lessons are very easy to complete. As long as they know how to read and write, they can very well achieve their daily goals in no time. That is why the average school day can last for only 4 hours.

PACE teaches kids independent learning.

Contrary to what many parents believe, we don’t “teach” our children while homeschooling. Instead, they learn by themselves. They read their PACE workbooks and answer the problems after. Moreover, they get to check their own answers based on a score key. As for exams, the parents need to check them and record the scores.

If the kids don’t understand something — that is the time they come to us for clarification or further research. In case we don’t know the answer, we can always seek Google. hehe

Requirement from parents is minimal.

As I have mentioned, PACE is designed for independent learning. You can help your child set the goals for the day, but they are left to themselves to answer and monitor their progress.

• Related: Homeschooling in Bacolod is Best for Our Kids

Of course, as a parent-supervisor, you should check periodically if they are doing their work. Most kids, like ours, tend to get distracted with many things. But other than that, the PACE system doesn’t require a lot of work from parents.

Bible verses and values incorporated in the lessons.

One of the things that we really appreciate with PACE is that it features a Christian curriculum. Bible verses, Jesus, and other Christian concepts are naturally included in the lessons.

Also, there are stories in each PACE that revolve on basic Christian values and virtues.

Most affordable among all providers.

One of the biggest considerations for us in choosing School of Tomorrow is the cost. I believe that they are the lowest-priced among all the homeschooling providers. That is important for us, not only because of the family budget considerations but also because we can use our extra money somewhere else.

• Related: Why Do We Send Our Daughters to Ballet School?

Our kids are very talented and we would like them to get extra training in areas where they excel. In order to do that, we need to set aside budget monthly in order to pay for their trainings. I am not sure if we can still afford these special lessons if the kids to go a private school with all the tuition and miscellaneous fees.

• Related: The Garcia-Sanchez School of Dance | Bacolod Dance School

Encouraging Educators’ Conference and events.

In the past, we were required to attend a parents-supervisor orientation before we could start. These were held in Manila or Cebu. But I am not yet sure how this is going to be after the Covid-19 lockdown has been lifted.

But aside from the orientation, there are special student events as well as an annual educators’ conference. While I sometimes complain about the expense, these events are actually very encouraging and uplifting – not just learning. It’s like a personal retreat attending these events.

Other Homeschooling Providers

There are many other homeschooling providers in the Philippines but most of them are based in Manila. It really depends on what you want for your kids.

In our case, we are already happy with School of Tomorrow. We are now entering our 7^th year with them.

Contact Details

School of Tomorrow
MJS Avenue, Levitown Executive Village,
Brgy. Don Bosco, Paranaque City 1711
Philippines
Tel. No. (63) (2) 8822-9663

More homeschooling posts

Meanwhile, you might be interested to read about other homeschooling articles in this blog:

• Activities for Kids During Home Quarantine for Covid-19
• DIY Chinese New Year Field Trip for Homeschooling Kids
• Raising Einsteins: Bacolod Intervention and Tutorial Center for Children with Special Needs
• Silay Heritage Tour for Araw ng Lahi
• Teaching Kids How to Budget Money
• Benefits of Dress-Up Play for Children
• Teaching Financial Literacy to Our Kids
• BACOLOD HOMESCHOOLERS NETWORK: Making a Difference
• Chinese New Year Activity for Kids
• The ShoeBox Project Bacolod | Sharing Hope and Love
• Bacolod Homeschoolers Araw ng Lahi Negros Museum Tour
• Bacolaodiat Festival and Spring Festival Gala for Chinese Cultural Experience
• Tips on How to be a Responsible and Environmentally-Conscious Traveler