I like writing about homeschooling because this is one of the advocacies that I support and believe in.  I like what homeschooling does to me and to my son.  Yes, I still receive a lot of criticisms about our lifestyle, I just bear in mind that I cannot please everybody.  I do what I believe will benefit my son the most and I'm happy to reap rewards from it.

Homeschooling still raises controversy around the world.  Some countries ban homeschooling, and if a family is caught homeschooling, the parents might face charges by the government.  Like the case of the Romeike family, a German family who sought asylum in the United States because it is illegal in Germany to homeschool.  They faced deportation but with the grace of God, they were allowed to stay in the United States indefinitely so that they can continue homeschooling.  You may read the story about it here. 

In the Philippines, we are blessed to have homeschooling as an option to educate our children.  Presently, there are 15 million school-aged children in the country, and only about 700,000 licensed teachers are there to teach these children in both private and public schools.   You can see the burden of the school teachers in providing quality education to our children.  Our country lacks teachers to reach out to all students all over the country.

Good thing, the Philippine Constitution upholds the right of parents to teach their respective kids (Article XIV, Section 1).  This provision from the Constitution resulted in Department of Education (DepEd) to create a "Home Education Program" (Memorandum No. 216, Series of 2007) to encourage and protect over 12,000 homeschoolers in the country.  Out of 12,000 homeschoolers, approximately 7,000 of them are affiliated with different homeschool providers who comply with DepEd standards and requirements; the rest are unregulated, or what we call 'independent homeschoolers'.

For so many years, homeschooling was thought of only for children whose parents are licensed teachers because they are more knowledgeable or equipped enough to teach their children.  Thank God for the Internet and other available resources available today, parents who are not Education majors can already teach their own children without thinking much of their qualifications to be a home teacher.  As mentioned by Debra Bell on one of her books (The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling), "Our pioneer days are over."

Presently, we can hear a lot of stories from homeschooling families on how homeschooling helped their families in improving their way of living.  Edric Mendoza, President of Homeschool Global (formerly TMA Homeschool) said that, "Being able to homeschool is a privilege that not many can avail of, but for those that can, it is literally life-changing." 

Homeschool Global is one of the homeschool providers in the Philippines.  It is a Christian organization focused on providing comprehensive homeschool services.  Homeschool Global has already been in the business for 17 years and it serves over a thousand students in 21 different countries, from preschool to Grade 10.  They also offer US and Philippine accreditation assistance.  Presently, Homeschool Global is now expanding to establish hubs all over the globe.  

Homeschool Global's logo.  Homeschool Global is big on bringing the learning experience to the max.  The stylized round emblem alludes to the home: books on all sides--windows and doors of opportunities for learning, roof of protection against the dangers of "not knowing".  Its round shape punctuates globalness--literally, as the students are now global; figuratively, it means families can homeschool anytime, anywhere. "The works is truly our classroom."

Edric Mendoza, President of Homeschool Global

Gerry Argosino, Managing Director of Homeschool Global

• Passionate -- actively commited to the cause; energetic
• Unconventional -- creative, out-of-the-box, resourceful, imaginative
• Nurturing -- proactive, sincere, "walking alongside"
• Competent -- able to get things done excellently, always looking for better ways of doing things
• Christ-centered -- the standard for what we do and how we do things