Providing for Our Son's Education

Lately, my wife has been repeatedly asking me to buy her a newer car. I figure that it’s due to the heat she experiences when she rides in our 1989 Nissan California. It is not tinted and is usually parked out in the street , exposed under the sun. This does not help cool the car in anyway but does the opposite, in fact. The air conditioning is not as cold as the new cars.

How nice it would be to have an Auto Allowance so we could make a downpayment on a new car and just pay a fixed monthly amount. But, this is an idea that is far-fetched in our case. And we are both content with what we have as of the moment.

Currently, we are paying mortgage and this is until 13 years from now. In addition to that, we are saving up for the education of our son who will be turning four this May and will start schooling this June.

We decided to homeschool him and we’re now in the process of inquiring about certain details from School of Tomorrow (Accelerated Christian Education) but we intend to register our son in the next few weeks which will cost about P15,000 instead of P21,000 because of my status as a full-time minister and then P3,000 every year after that. After our son’s assessment, we’ll know how much more we need to pay for the one year curriculum materials and manual. It will either be an extra P8,000 for one year or P12,000 if he doesn’t pass the reading readiness test. We are confident that God will supply all these needs as He has always shown Himself faithful.

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

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Reasons Why We Plan to Homeschool Our Child

Many surveys have shown that parents in the US now prefer homeschooling for their children's education over the traditional system of education. What is interesting is that these results are increasing every year.

My wife and I are one of the many couples who have made homeschooling a preference. Some of the reasons why we plan to homeschool our three-year-old son this coming school year are:

1. We as parents can choose which subject we want our child to improve on. Flexibility is one of the strengths of homeschooling. Kids are able to develop their talents since they choose the courses that are aligned to their interests and gifts that are discovered at home.

2. Homeschooling also provides flexibility in time. This is a benefit to parents who are employed and do not have time to monitor their children's education. With homeschooling, they can choose the time they want their children to have classes. They are also the one who schedule the activities of their children. In our case, I am glad that my wife chose to take it upon herself to focus on teaching our child, full-time, at home.

3. I have observed from missionary friends who homeschool their child that they are more independent and responsible. They learn to deal with different age groups and are not confined in a classroom setting. They develop independence since they will not rely on friends for their homework and other activities.

4. Finding a homeschooling program is now easy since there are a lot of schools and religious organizations that offer this option to parents. Schools are now more accepting to this method of teaching that is why it is no longer limited to a small group or a selected social class. For our child, we chose the School of Tomorrow system (formerly known as Accelerated Christian Education).

Homeschooling is not only dependent on how good the teacher is but on how parents actively cooperate with the program. Active involvement of parents to their children’s learning is a must in homeschooling and that is also what we want. We want to be actively involved in our child's education. Yes, it would require and demand proper guidance and full support from us as parents in order for our son to learn and excel with the homeschooling program. But we are positive that this will all be worth the time and effort as we invest our life in our child through homeschooling.

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On Starting a Christian School in Makati That Uses the School of Tomorrow System

Our intention to start a Christian school using the School of Tomorrow system in our church in Makati has never died. Actually, when my wife and I began researching about schools two years ago because of our now three-year-old son, the desire to start a school continued to grow. I saw to it that I learned the School of Tomorrow system so I did everything to convince our senior pastor to send me to the administrator’s training.

I have been exposed to Christian schools using the School of Tomorrow system (also known as Accelerated Christian Education) before and have been impressed with students who studied using this system. That’s why I wanted to learn the philosophy and the methodology of this system which uses an individualized curriculum per student.

Even though our church encountered some Startups & Growth Challenges, the reason why we haven’t started the school yet, we still want to pursue this direction for our ministry. We want to provide an alternative to parents in Makati for their child’s education and we want to be able to provide quality academics guaranteed by the School of Tomorrow system.

How is this guaranteed? You see, students entering the system are given a diagnostic test (for both entering a school and the home schooled. They are then placed in the curriculum in each subject at their own pace and performance levels which are determined by the results of the diagnostic test. The format of the School of Tomorrow (SOT) curriculum allows the students to advance as they demonstrate mastery – a key component in the SOT system. The system generally requires 80% (90% for model schools) grade in the exams before a student advances to another unit in the curriculum.

But aside from academics, we want our school to provide education that helps develop children into individuals who will make their relationship with God and their personal responsibilities to their family, church and community a priority in life. Character building is another important component of this system and curriculum which is founded on theistic philosophy.

So, right now I am in the process of fulfilling other requirements of SOT Philippines so we can start working on starting a Christian school that uses the School of Tomorrow system.

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I Need to Learn How to Make a Feasibility Study

It was three years ago when the need for our church to start outsourcing funds or finding ways to augment expenses. That was when the idea of starting a Christian School using the School of Tomorrow system (formerly known as Accelerated Christian Education or ACE) came up. I started praying about it and eventually, presented it to my senior pastor. I was then given funding for the administrator’s training where I learned the system and the philosophy behind the system of School of Tomorrow.

But after going through the administrator’s training, one of the requirements that I needed to start the school in our church was a feasibility study of the Christian school that we wanted to start at our church’s present location. This was one thing that kept us moving forward with the plan.

It was a blessing that this afternoon, I met with someone who could help me start the feasibility study. He is a friend who works with a research company that probably uses some survey software to help them with simplification of their survey work. I actually am considering doing the feasibility myself because my friend mentioned how much the feasibility study might cost me and it’s too expensive for me, but I first need to learn how to make one. I hope to find a good book soon on how to make a feasibility study. Too bad I didn't pay attention much about this subject in college.

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