From the beginning of Level 2 towards the middle of it, there were instances that our son dreaded his Math subject. But as we went towards the end part of Level 2, it was even the first PACE from all his 7 subjects that he completed first! He actually got the hang of Math and began looking forward to it. I so love the mastery approach of The School of Tomorrow curriculum. And have I mentioned, that I am but so relieved?! Aside from them being good at directions (I have no need for my dezl 560LT when I’m around the both of them) and their love for music, the little guy has taken after his father after all, even in Math.

We will head on over to Level 3 come January 2012. Vacay mode it is for us three.

Even before we were homeschooling, he was pretty much a confident young lad, volunteering himself every chance he gets during parties.  He makes friends easily regardless of what age group a person belongs to. At 5 years old, I’m not sure if this comes with the fact that he does not get bullied like other kids with self-esteem issues who goes to regular school or it is just the way he is built.  Whichever is the case, I consider myself very blessed as he is not just growing up to be a happy, confident person, but a joy to be around with too.

This confidence in him, we both get to benefit from in our regular homeschooling sessions.  It translates to his confidence to read through paces instructions, stories and practically every single thing that he has to go through our regular days.  I never thought homeschooling will be such a breeze at this stage. I have always heard that it becomes easy during middle school but not so much yet during pre-school. We have the School of Tomorrow curriculum to thank God for. I really cannot imagine using any other curriculum.

Meanwhile, homeschoolers on this corner will have a quick blogging hiatus. We’ll be off to our once a year family vacay. Just a quick KL getaway, nothing fancy as that of Branson vacation packages. But we’ll be back before you know it.

The hubby and I originally prayed about being able to start a preschool in the church where he pastors (www.sbcmakati.org). But for some reasons (including the fact that the church building’s locations isn’t a conducive one) this plan has not flourished yet. God has His perfect time. And because we are so sold out to the School of Tomorrow’s curriculum, we chose not to give our son second best. Hence, we chose homeschooling via SOT’s curriculum.

Choosing School of Tomorrow was really a no brainer. Looking into insurance quotes would have been more confusing than choosing this curriculum. The values that the School of Tomorrow prioritizes to instill in children alongside its very effective curriculum make for the very things we have in mind for our son’s education.

Having zero teaching experience for myself, the prospect of being responsible to teach my own child how to read, et.al. scared me off one time or another before we officially got down to signing that contract. We are currently doing the Preschool with Ace and Christi curriculum. It is the School of Tomorrow’s learn to read program. My son has learned to read half way of the curriculum and I have not even started actively teaching him how to read. The focus is for the child to learn the letter sounds. Its program is so effective that it allows for the child to retain what he learns during the class.

As I have tried to figure out how Preschool with Ace and Christi is effective. I concur that it is the overall dynamics of the program. It has a mutlisensory phonetic approach designed to prepare a child for the individualized instruction of later programs. Preschool with Ace and Christi acquaints the child with phonics through animals, songs and stories. My child has learned to associate letter sounds, alphabet sequence and word relationships. It also has additional activities that help the progress of the child’s overall physical and character development.

As we go along the Preschool with Ace and Christi’s curriculum, there were several moments during our class that I would be convinced all over again that we have chosen the right program, even as the curriculum essentially reinforces the very things that we have already been teaching him especially when it comes to character building lessons. It totally affirms that we have chosen the perfect curriculum for our son’s education.

It’s fun how the School of Tomorrow curriculum is able to incorporate all these learnings to a preschooler in such interesting way.  I believe this to be the primary reason why my son is able to pick things up fast and retain them.   

The call for homeschooling roots back to the time that my husband and I prayed about the possibility of homeschooling right from the time when my son was still an infant.  Both of us having no previous homeschooling experience, we knew we were to tread an unfamiliar road.  My husband attended the administrator’s training in School of Tomorrow (SOT) some years back.  He prayed to be able to build a preschool in our church that could serve as a ministry arm in the church (Sumulong Baptist Church-Makati) that he pastors.  For so many weeks and months, he would not stop raving about the excellence of the School of Tomorrow curriculum and the quality of the students it produces.  I just listened and I got convinced even as I heard testimonies upon testimonies of people vouching for it. We then decided to earnestly pray about homeschooling, which is also an available option if we decide to enroll our son in a school that uses the School of Tomorrow curriculum.  

As we prayed about it, the Lord allowed for us to see that it was definitely the way for us to go. He gave my husband and me peace in our hearts regarding this matter. We went to have a look-see at regular schools, but as good as the schools were, the confirmation of God just wasn’t there. Praying about it and giving God the ultimate decision and Him giving us peace about it are the main things that got us convinced that we are called to homeschool.  As tiny as our house is, He still made it possible to make that one corner available for my son’s school office. And we were able to become creative how we use the rest of our house for every other activity in the curriculum. It’s just fun to see how God put everything together and now we thoroughly enjoy homeschooling and its benefits. 

Eye means “find” or “look”
Crayon means “color”
Finger means “trace,” “point,” or “place your finger on”
Marker means “draw”
Ear means “listen carefully”
Mouth means “say”
Stop sign means “do as Ace is doing” (the picture of Ace handing Miss Content a PACE will serve as the instruction to turn the PACE in to the supervisor for scoring)
Scissors means “cut”
Glue means “glue”
Question mark means “think”

I only had to explain the visualized instruction to him once on our first day and he got everything by heart. Of course, he already knows all these things and we are more or less just reviewing the lessons that he already knows. What he is definitely benefiting from Preschool with Ace and Christi program is the development of his fine motor skills. He knows his past and present tense way before we started homeschooling. He already even knows his numbers and can add simple numbers. What we are working on is his writing skills, which admittedly, I have taken for granted to focus on. But right now his lines are less crooked, circles are more of circles than otherwise.

The curriculum uses letter sounds and not letter names to teach toddlers, for which, I am really glad. This validates what we have done from the start. We are just beginning I know and it will be more fun as we go along. We are really grateful that the Lord has allowed for us to home school.