On Educating for Life: Join Us at the 2014 Homeschooling Conference

A brief look at our homeschooling journey

When our eldest child turned three years old, people started asking us about what preschool we would put him in. Our family was still based in Timor Leste at that time, and our son was a very talkative, precocious little boy, who others considered "smart" and "seemed to know a lot for a 3-year-old." 

For a brief period, my husband and I thought about enrolling him in the Filipino-owned private school in our compound. However, we felt that he was too young for school, and the tuition fee was also too pricey for our fulltime missionary budget at the time. On hindsight, I realize it was a good thing, too, because we eventually felt "called" to homeschooling.

We had actually first heard of homeschooling when I was still pregnant, from a Catholic American pro-life missionary who spoke at a conference we attended in June 2006. We felt drawn to it but never really explored it until Bo Sanchez, a well-known Catholic lay preacher and author here in the Philippines, started writing articles about it. He and his wife had chosen to homeschool their children, and eventually founded Catholic Filipino Academy, the first Catholic homeschooling program in the Philippines.

Well, once we started exploring it, we were "hooked"! It was as if God was really leading us to the homeschooling path. Our eldest is turning 8 soon -- plus we now have two more kids/"students" to -- and although there are challenging days, we still believe that we are called to home education... for now.

Come learn more about homeschooling: Join the Educating for Life Conference!

I truly believe that homeschooling is something most, if not all, parents should explore as a viable educational option for their kids. That’s why I usually encourage other parents to attend homeschooling-related events, like the upcoming 2014 Homeschooling Conference.

The conference, which is organized by Manila Workshops, The Learning Basket and Unilab, is also supported by the Homeschool Association of the Philippine Islands (HAPI). With the theme "Educating for Life: Homeschooling with Passion, Purpose and Confidence," it is an event that hopes to inspire parents who wish to explore homeschooling, and to encourage those who are already homeschooling. It will be held on September 6, 2014 at the Bayanihan Arts and Events Center from 8:00AM for registration (program starts at 10) to 5:30PM.

The morning session will be made up of the keynote speech and a performance by a homeschool orchestra. The afternoon session will have all the talks; participants can choose two talks per time slot.

Below is the line-up of talks and speakers:

Educating for Life -- Irma Chua, the keynote speaker, is a mom of six and has been homeschooling for 20 years. Educating her eldest (26) up to her youngest (15), she says that she loves the learning process that her family experiences together.

The Hands-On Homeschool Dad -- Dennis Poliquit, known as "Big Daddy Jake" over the radio airwaves, is a hands-on homeschooling dad of two sets of twins and one singleton.

The Confident Homeschool Mom -- Moira Bunyi, mom of three going on four. She has a post-graduate degree in Family Life and Child Development and has been homeschooling for five years now.

Learning in the Digital World -- Yen Galagnara was a "housemate" at Pinoy Big Brother Season 2 back in 2007. She homeschools her three children while she runs a Korean language school.

Introducing Filipino Arts, Culture, and Heritage -- Jen Bellosillo, mom of three plus one on the way, has been homeschooling for six years now. She mentors other homeschooling parents as a CFA (Catholic Filipino Academy) parent coach.

Homeschool 101: Getting Started -- Tina Rodriguez (yes, that's yours truly!), mom of three, lives a truly rich life as a work-at-home, homeschooling mom who advocates her faith through her blog, Truly Rich Mom, and through her social media presence.

Conquering Homeschool Fatigue -- Donna Pangilinan-Simpao, a medical doctor, homeschools her 3 children. Wanting to support other homeschooling families, she created the growing Facebook group Homeschoolers in the Philippines.

Nurturing the Love of Learning -- Ivy Marquez homeschooled her three children up to high school. Missing teaching her kids and wanting to share what she learned in her years of homeschooling, she opened 360 Studio School, a school in Alabang.

Here is the Learning Fee for the conference:

Early Bird Rate (sign up and pay before August 22, 2014): Php 500 per participant

Regular Rates:

Php 1000 per participant

Php 1500 per couple (We encourage both parents to attend!)

Php 500 per child (7 to 18 years old)

Php 500 for PWD

To register, please visit homeschoolingconference.com. If you have any questions, please contact: ginger@manilaworkshops.com