The Benefits of Homeschooling With an Accredited Program

There are many ways to go about homeschooling. Sometimes I get enamoured by the idea of homeschooling without accountability. Just going about it on my own without the pressure of submitting portfolios, grades, and getting assessments. Accredited programs have requirements that need to be met on top of the actual homeschooling. This added work can be unpleasant.

For example, I would prefer not to submit portfolios (which we have to do for TMA Homeschool). But over the years of having to turn these in to show my children’s work, I have amassed a wonderful collection of their homeschool years. Their portfolios serve as memory books of what they learned and how far they have come. My kids like going through them and seeing how they have grown, too. Interestingly, when Edric and I met with a very important DepEd official, she said that portfolios are one of the best ways to assess a child’s progress. Yeah! Go TMA Homeschool! As far as I know, TMA Homeschool was the first accredited homeschool provider in the Philippines to implement this.

Even though homeschooling under a program can be more challenging, it has many valuable perks. Accredited programs provide transcripts and records which makes it easier to transfer your children to the conventional school in the future. Some programs also track your child’s progress and give you feedback on a regular basis. Others organise events to gather enrolled families together, or set-up cooperatives where families can meet together in smaller groups on a more regular basis.

There are no perfect homeschool organisations. Some may do a better job than others but at the end of the day, an accredited homeschooling program’s biggest plus is the security of knowing that your child’s work is validated. After all the effort you and your child put into the homeschooling experience, this matters a lot. With records to prove that they have moved from one level to another, these documents save a parent the hassle of having to convince schools that their child was actually receiving an education.

In a perfect world, homeschoolers shouldn’t be given a hard time when it comes to transitioning to conventional schools. Yet until that point when Philippine education catches up to homeschooling, we have to be smart about the choices we make. I am all for homeschooling, and I want to safeguard the right of a parent to teach his or her child. But there are many ways to preserve this right. One route is to find a dependable homeschool provider that allows parents enough flexibility to choose how their child will be homeschooled and what materials they will use, but dictates helpful parameters that are intended for the good of the family and their homeschooling experience. For now, this happens to be the option our family has taken.

So far, I’ve been pleased with where we are headed. My third son, Titus, just had his moving up ceremony last week. He was promoted to 1st grade.

How do kids get promoted to the next level? At TMA Homeschool, parents submit grades for their child and these are reviewed by their Family Advisor or Academic Consultant. A kindergartener is assessed based on a checklist of skills. Being able to read is one of the more important requirements because they will build on this skill in first grade. For elementary students, a portfolio is submitted quarterly along with the grades. For more seasoned homeschoolers, a portfolio can be submitted every semester or at the end of the year (with the approval of a consultant to do so.) The consultant provides a check and balance for parents and meets with the homeschooled child during the portfolio evaluations. These evaluations are generally informal but they allow the consultant to dialogue with the child. The child is also given the opportunity to present his or her work.

At the end of the year, elementary and high school homeschoolers are given an achievement test. This becomes a diagnostic for the parent to refer to – what did we do right this year, how can we improve, what are my child’s areas of strength? of weakness? Personally, I find these assessments very helpful because they provide an objective measure of where my kids are at. (There’s no need to have kids study for these assessments, either, so it’s a more accurate portrayal of what they know and do not know so far, the way they think, problem-solve, and process content.)

Graduation for TMA Homeschoolers happens at three stages — after kindergarten, 6th grade, and Senior year.  At TMA Homeschool, graduation is unique. Besides receiving certificates, children also receive a character award from their parents. This award is announced during the ceremony.  

We gave Titus the character award of being loving. He is a kind, thoughtful, tender-hearted son who thinks about others before himself.

Another special part of the graduation is a child reads a letter of appreciation to his parents which is very sweet because they say things like, “Thank you mom and dad for homesechooling me…” which is always wonderful to hear!

To celebrate his transition to 1st grade, we also ate out as a family. Congratulations my dear, Titus! I applaud your hard work this year!