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Homeschooling the early years: how our toddler learned the alphabet and numerals through play

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This post is part of my series on homeschooling. Click here to read more.

Without much active instruction, our child could name all the letters and digits by age two, and at nearly three years old can recognize simple phonogram sounds and count to a hundred. This definitely wasn’t part of our early childhood homeschooling plan, as my husband and I are not fans of early academics. We firmly believe that play should be the focus of the early years.

We certainly didn’t drill this information into our toddler, but our toddler still learned them independently through playing a lot with a few particular toys, which are now quite well-worn. It really is true what they say about young kids being like sponges: they just can’t help but learn even when you’re not actively teaching them.

While we’re not in a rush to do academic stuff, this is still a welcome development. If you wish to have your toddler learn the alphabet and numerals in a fun and engaging way through play, I highly recommend the following toys, which have our child’s hearty stamps of approval:

Let’s Learn ABCs by Kidsbooks PublishingLet's Learn ABCs by Kidsbooks PublishingThis is a big alphabet board book with colorful pictures and sound buttons that play each letter and The ABC song.

Mr Pencil’s Scribble & Write by LeapFrogMr Pencil's Scribble & Write by LeapFrogThis is an interactive speaking toy that teaches letters and numbers, as well as common shapes and objects.

Learn Bath Letters & Numbers by MunchkinLearn Bath Letters & Numbers by MunchkinThese are foam letters and numbers that float in the water and stick to the walls when wet, making bath time more fun.

Sophie la girafe: Let’s get Counting! by DK PublishingSophie la girafe: Let's get Counting! by DK PublishingThis is a board book, but I’m including it here as it taught our toddler to count to 100. We didn’t do anything special; we just read it aloud to our child many times as it’s one of our child’s favorites.

Letter Factory by LeapFrogLetter Factory by LeapFrogThis is an animated movie, but I’m also including it here as it taught our toddler the simple letter sounds through their infectious phonics song. Our child watches this from time to time during our child’s allotted screen time.

Homeschooling in the Philippines: our early childhood curriculum plan

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This post is part of my series on homeschooling. Click here to read more.

Kids grow up so fast, and before you know it, they’re school-ready. Our child is still a toddler, but I wanted to plan our independent homeschooling curriculum in advance so I don’t scramble at the eleventh hour.

I’m glad I started early, because there are a TON of programs out there. My husband and I want a secular curriculum; luckily someone already made a list of truly secular programs. From there, I picked the ones I like best after reading and watching reviews from other homeschooling parents.

It’s possible that our child won’t like a program or two, and that’s okay; this curriculum isn’t set in stone. The beauty of independent homeschooling is that if a certain material isn’t working for your child, you can modify it or use another, unlike traditional school where you basically have no other choice.

This plan is only for the early years, up to ages 7-8. Hopefully this would be helpful to other first-time indie homeschooling families in their curriculum shopping. Most of these programs, while US-based, are available as digital downloads, so shipping is not a problem.

Preschool

Blossom & Root Early Years Playing Preschool by Busy Toddler

I’m a fan of Finland’s early childhood education, which focuses on creative play and promotes a late start to formal schooling. Personally, we don’t plan to give formal instruction until after our child turns 5. Right now we simply do a lot of read-alouds and let our child play, play, play. It’s a lot of work to think up of new and creative activities to do every single day, though, so we plan to get the abovementioned play-based programs.

Kindergarten to Grade 2 (K-2)

We will take an eclectic approach of half formal, half unschooling:

Formal – English, Mathematics, and Science

I want our child to have a thorough grounding on these core domains. I believe that a strong foundation in these three is invaluable for everyday life and for learning all other subject areas. The programs I chose are all highly recommended by other secular homeschooling families, as they have proven to be very solid, interesting, and effective.

Unschooling – Everything else

All other subject areas, plus anything else our child wants to learn, will be through child-led, interest-inspired learning.

English

Logic of English Foundations

Logic of English (LoE) Foundations is a comprehensive, all-in-one program that uses the Orton-Gillingham approach to teach literacy. It covers phonics, reading, spelling, handwriting, vocabulary, composition, and grammar.

Mathematics

Essential Math by Singapore Math Primary Mathematics by Marshall Cavendish Education and Singapore Math

Singapore Math (SM) is a rigorous program that uses the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract (CPA) approach to teach arithmetic. It can be suitable for all types of learners. There are many SM textbooks available, but I gravitate towards Primary Mathematics as it was the original program used in Singapore for 25 years, during which period they consistently topped the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).

Science

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding: A Science Curriculum for K-8 and Older Beginning Science Learners by Bernard J Nebel, PhD

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) is a systematic and integrated approach to teaching the fundamentals of science to children. Its walls of text may seem daunting at first glance, but the book is actually an instruction manual for the teacher and not a textbook. The material itself is taught in a hands-on, experiential manner that stimulates critical thinking through observation and Socratic questioning.

Social Studies / Araling Panlipunan

  • DIY

We liked to travel before COVID-19, and we planned to do some worldschooling so our child can experience the Philippines and the world organically and in person. Obviously we are shelving this plan until a safe cure or vaccine is developed. In the meantime, we still plan to DIY this subject area, as it can be boring to just read a recitation of facts from a textbook.

Fine Arts, Health, and Physical Education

  • DIY

If our child shows a keen interest in sports or the arts, our plan pre-COVID-19 was to sign our child up for classes of our child’s own choice. Again, this plan is shelved indefinitely for lessons and activities (Charlotte Mason-inspired picture or music study, exercise, etc) we can do in the safety of our home.

Filipino

  • Undecided

There are many Filipino programs by local educational publishers, but it’s difficult to research about them online because there are almost no in-depth reviews available.

My husband and I are consciously raising our child to be multilingual, so we’re not worried that our child will be poor in Filipino, unlike so many kids these days who are English-only. I plan to borrow used Filipino textbooks from relatives and friends with older kids so I can review and compare them myself. If you have any recommendations for good Filipino programs, let me know in the comments section.

Update: I don’t know if it’s completely secular, but Wikahon by Adarna House looks promising. Will go with this program if I can’t find a better one.

Homeschooling in the Philippines: where to buy local K-12 textbooks online

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This post is part of my series on homeschooling. Click here to read more.

For first-time independent homeschooling families, choosing learning materials may seem like a daunting task. Some use foreign textbooks from the US and other countries. Others create their own curricula using mostly free resources online, while unschoolers often don’t follow any curricula at all.

If you prefer a more ready-made approach that adheres to the Department of Education’s K to 12 Basic Education Program, you can simply buy textbooks from local educational publishers. Most of these publishers cater only to institutional clients with large wholesale orders (i.e., schools), but a few sell to individual retail consumers. And in this time of COVID-19, it is best to order online. Only retail-friendly local publishers with online stores are listed here.

Update September 2020: Third-party online sellers who carry textbooks from other publishers are now listed at the end.
Update August 2020: AKLATAN, the first all-Filipino online book fair, is happening on Shopee later this month (16-18 August 2020). Over 40 local companies, including several educational publishers, will be offering their books on discount. Click here to read the official announcement from the Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP).
We haven’t personally purchased from any of these publishers, but they are well-known entities whose textbooks are used in schools nationwide.

Anvil Publishing

Anvil PublishingClick here to view their entire catalog. They also publish picture and fiction books for kids and teens.

Vibal Group

Vibal GroupVibal has been quick to adapt to the “new normal” by releasing a new line of textbooks designed for home-based learning called Learn at Home: Academic Books. They also have a Smart Homeschool Kit, and a line of children’s picture books called Chikiting Books. (Update: Vibal seems to have discontinued the former; instead they have the following new lines: Self-Learning Modules, Smart Class, and Smart Wizard).

St Mary’s Publishing

St Mary's PublishingThey don’t have their own online store, but they are officially on Lazada and Shopee.

REX Book Store

REX Book StoreOnly Senior High School textbooks are available on their online store, but I’m listing them here in case they decide to sell their elementary textbooks online. They also have a line of picture books for kids called Hello Animals!

Third-party sellers

About book blog tours: guest author posts that work for me

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This is old, but from kt literary (via bookshelves of doom):

What ARE the options for the, let’s call it as it may be, midlist author who may not get sent on tour by her publisher, and isn’t going to get the exclusive cover reveal or interview on the big entertainment sites? Blog tours are popular because they are free for everyone involved, minus only the cost of a few review copies, and sometimes not even that. But do they work? If you’re an avid reader of a certain blog, does a guest post by an author make you check them out, or do you skip them, to hear more from the bloggers you came to the site to read?

I’m always looking for good books to read, so I follow a couple of book blogs on Google Reader. However, I almost always skip blog tour posts. In the same way that I’ve developed ad blindness to web banners, I’ve developed “book blog tour blindness”. Their contests don’t entice me either, as most prizes are dead-tree versions (I don’t read novels in paper anymore). Even if they do give away free ebooks, most are still US-only.

So how can an author reach a reader like me, for whom blog tours are mostly noise?

Write a guest review, for one thing.

I follow book blogs mainly for book reviews and recommendations. Over time, I’ve had to unsubscribe from several because they had too much non-rec stuff going on. But if the guest post were also a review, then I’m not likely to skip it, especially if it’s a well-written one of a fairly interesting book. The author can then promote his/her own book with a short description at the end in the author info section.

Trust me, I’m more likely to click the link to Amazon or wherever this way. On Goodreads, I’ve discovered a few authors through their insightful reviews of their favorite books. I figure that if I like books they also like, then perhaps I might just like the books they wrote themselves.

Author Maureen Johnson wrote about turning down blog tour requests, saying, “because I’m writing on the same subject (ME! MY BOOK!) the pieces are going to get VERY REPETITIVE AND BORING.” But this way, the reader doesn’t get noise, the host blog gets quality content that brings traffic, and the guest author gets to write about a different subject, presumably about a book s/he likes, on top of promoting his/her own book in a non-spammy-ish way. It’s a win-win-win for everyone.

Hysteria trailer

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This is interesting:

(via Smart Bitches, Trashy Books)

If you’re thinking this is an outlandish piece of fiction conjured by some perverted male mind, think again. I read an interesting book concerning the same topic last year: The Technology of Orgasm: “Hysteria,” the Vibrator, and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction by Rachel P Maines (via Promantica). Very well-researched and informative, and quite readable for an academic work. The lengths people went not to acknowledge that hey, women could get horny, too. Truth really is stranger than fiction.