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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: 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

Review: The Hineleban Store (hinelebanstore.com)

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I’ve been hearing a lot lately about a healthier rice alternative that is grown locally here in the Philippines called adlai (also known as adlay, Chinese pearl barley, coix seed, hatomugi, or Job’s Tears). Eager to try it out, I searched for adlai online and found only a few specialty stores that carry it.

One of these shops is The Hineleban Store, which sells adlai farmed by indigenous communities in Bukidnon. At first I was hesitant to buy from the site because it’s not even secure:

The Hineleban StoreFor an online store in this day and age, not using HTTPS is just plain lazy. Still, I went ahead and made an account (using an alternate email address) because among the few local online shops that carry adlai, The Hineleban Store sells it the cheapest at PHP 250 for a 1-kg pack. All the other shops are selling it at PHP 300+ per kilo. They also accept cash on delivery, which is good — there was no way I was entering sensitive credit card information on an insecure site.

So I placed an order, got a confirmation email, and logged out of the site. After a week of no order updates, I tried to log in to the site again. Lo and behold, I couldn’t. I tried to reset my password, but it didn’t work in Chrome or Firefox. Finally it worked in Safari, but upon logging in I found that the order is still “Processing”.

At this point I simply gave up. So I was surprised when the adlai arrived nearly two weeks later, as I had nearly forgotten about it.

TL;DR: The site is insecure and very buggy, but it’s legit. You will eventually receive your order. Points for improvement:

  • Get an SSL certificate. Seriously, plain HTTP doesn’t cut it for an e-commerce site. Even this site, which is just a blog, uses HTTPS.
  • Hire a better WooCommerce developer, or just switch to Shopify. Buggy password reset, no shipping confirmation, no tracking number — right now it’s just not up to par. Even after the order arrived, it’s still marked “Processing” on the site.

Review: 1234Cards.com

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I’ve been looking for something like a Philippine version of MOO, the top site for ordering custom-made business cards online in the US and UK. MOO is a breeze to use — you upload your design, choose the paper type and quantity, enter your shipping address, pay by credit card or PayPal, and voilà, you get your spankin’ new business cards in the mail a few days later.

Locally, there’s AladdinPrintPhil.com, but the one time I tried their site, it was so buggy that I gave up before completing my order. It doesn’t help that they have poor customer service — their lack of response to my email inquiry failed to inspire any confidence in their business at all. Businesscards.com.ph looks legit, too, but I have yet to try them, as they seem to print only one-sided business cards. There are also printers advertising their wares on the ubiquitous OLX Philippines (formerly Sulit.com.ph), but trying to buy from there entails lengthy back-and-forth messaging with sellers, who often have such horrible email etiquette, it makes me wonder whether they actually want paying customers or not. As for brick-and-mortar print shops, I’ve disavowed them after I tried one in town, and they got the colors wrong and included the bleed (!), after a turnaround time that took forever (tsk).

Enter 1234Cards.com, a worthy contender for the title of “MOO Philippines” (for business cards at least):

1234cards.com

Apparently they’ve been around for quite some time, but I only discovered them just now. Their interface is not as seamless and sophisticated as MOO’s, but locally it’s the best I’ve seen so far. They may not be as cheap as the surly two-bit sellers on OLX.ph, but I’d gladly pay extra for the convenience of not having to deal with their ilk. My experience ordering from 1234Cards.com was quite MOO-like indeed: I uploaded my two-sided design (the file specs are clearly stated on their FAQs page), entered my mailing address, paid through PayPal, and got my cards a few days later.

As for the quality, it’s not as good as MOO’s, but then MOO’s business cards cost a whole lot more. Comparing locally, 1234Cards.com’s end product is a whole lot better than the ones I got from the local shop in town.

All in all, my 1234Cards.com experience was a positive one, and I don’t hesitate to recommend them. My only complaint is that they failed to enclose the official receipt with the package, which they promised to do so on their website, and which they ought to do as a legit business. This is a big deal if the order is a business expense, so 1234Cards.com, if you’re reading this, don’t make the same mistake again.

Review: PC Express (pcx.com.ph)

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PC Express is a well-known computer store with many branches, most of which are in Metro Manila. They are obviously a legit business, but I was still apprehensive to buy from their online store, since I couldn’t find any reviews online. The only thing I came across is this forum post by an equally concerned potential buyer asking for feedback, since PC Express never replied to any of his/her inquiries (certainly not a ringing endorsement).

PC Express

Since they had the lowest price online of the product I wanted, which wasn’t available in my corner of the country, I took the plunge and ordered from their online store. Without further ado, my PC Express online store experience:

Cons

  • Less-than-seamless checkout. On major online stores, the checkout process is as easy as 1-2-3 — you click “Buy”, enter your credit card details, and voilà, you get instant email confirmation. On pcx.com.ph, on the other hand, what you get is a message telling you to wait for another email, since they have to check first if the item is actually in stock or not (!?).
  • Lack of transparency on delivery rates. There is no shipping information page on their website. You are basically in the dark as to how much you have to pay for delivery until you get the second email, which is actually a quotation. I bought the same product on Lazada Philippines, where it was more expensive, but since Lazada offers free shipping nationwide, the total cost ended up being cheaper at Lazada by P100.
  • Payment by bank deposit only. It is written on their website that they accept online payment through PesoPay, but their quotation said otherwise — payment is only possible through Metrobank or EastWest bank deposit. Dear PC Express, you’re a big company, not some two-bit seller on OLX.ph. The whole point of online shopping is to not have to haul ass someplace. Honestly, I’ve had more convenience buying from sellers on eBay Philippines who accept PayPal payments. To add insult to injury, Metrobank charges a P50 service charge for inter-branch deposits, which is borne by the buyer (no choice).
  • Poor customer service. I didn’t hear from them for two days after I emailed them a scan of the deposit slip; I had to actually call their landline in Metro Manila to confirm. I also asked for a tracking number in the same email, but nope, no reply, just deadma.

But what about the pros, you ask? Surely they have something positive going for them?

Pros

  • I got my order. Yes, they’re legit; your order will def arrive.

Aaand…that’s basically it.

TL;DR: Pcx.com.ph is more like an online stock inquiry portal rather than an Amazon.com-like online store. If you want a hassle-free online shopping experience for computer stuff, you are better off buying at Lazada.com.ph or from sellers on eBay.ph who accept PayPal payments.

Review: BeautyTeeps (BeautyTeeps.com)

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I discovered BeautyTeeps while searching online for local sellers of Neutrogena Microdermabrasion System. To my surprise, I came across a local online store that not only carried this item, but also other imported beauty products that are hard to come by in the Philippines (they’re certainly not available at the nearby friendly Watsons).

The site looks very professional and all, but I was a bit hesitant to buy because a) it’s an unofficial store, and b) I’ve never heard of this site before. A quick Google search turns up no reviews — not reassuring at all for a potential customer. If you’ve come across this post because you’re in the same boat as I was, rest assured. Shopping at BeautyTeeps was a breeze, and I don’t hesitate to recommend them.

Neutrogena Microdermabrasion System, Coral Actives Acne Cleansing Bar, and Arbonne FC5 sample set
My first order at BeautyTeeps (BeautyTeeps.com)

Pros

  • Shopping cart. No more lengthy back-and-forth dealings through emails or SMS (the common methods of transaction at places like Sulit.com.ph)
  • PayPal. Instant payment, and instant confirmation. No more hauling ass to the bank to make a deposit (the common payment method with local sellers)
  • Regular updates. Their products ship from San Francisco, so delivery takes a little while. My order took 9 days to arrive, but I wasn’t worried at all, since they sent email notices when my order was dispatched from Manila, and when it was close to arrive at my doorstep.
  • Freebies. I certainly wasn’t expecting it, but they included a free Arbonne FC5 tester kit with my order. Thanks a lot!

Cons
Nothing, really. Delivery time wasn’t an issue for me, as it is clearly stated on their website that it takes up to 10 days, so you know what to expect. Their prices are also expectedly higher than US retail prices, but buying from BeautyTeeps is still way cheaper than ordering the items straight from a US store like Amazon.com and having them delivered through priority shipping (in my corner of the country, the post office is not trustworthy AT ALL; it’s either EMS/courier or bust).