Unschooling James and Adam

     James was so determined to watch Iron Man 3 and he kept on bugging us about it even when we were in Baguio. We spent our budget for leisure activities while we were there, so we had to say no, unfortunately. But with James' persistence, begging constantly, he convinced Tatay, his grandfather, to give him money for the movie tickets.       Tatay, knowing "schooling" as the only way to get an education, is the most worried person in our family about unschooling. He has done his best to provide for his family and worked hard to send all his children to university and supported a few of his grandchildren to acquire a college diploma. He even gave us the liberty to choose any school, including international and exclusive schools, where we can send the boys with him paying whatever it may cost. It was tempting, but unschooling is the only way we know to get a REAL education. In fact, he doesn't know that he is already helping our boys learn a lot!...

When Robin Williams said "Carpe Diem" in the movie Dead Poets Society, we took it very seriously. On this trip, we didn't just seized that day, we seized the night as well! For the last time, Kennon Road kept us awake and amazed, it almost felt like the clouds rose up earlier than usual just to bid us goodbye. I love feeling small and vulnerable in the middle of the road cutting through powerful mountain ranges.  Around 10:30am, we reached Meg's place after making a wrong turn and accidentally passing by smaller towns in Pangasinan, including the busy streets of Manaoag. But we took it as a plus and carried on, learning as much as we can about these places. We thought we were already late for the Dawel River Cruise, a government initiative to promote Pantal River as they celebrate Bangus Festival, so we decided to head to the beach, James and Adam's priority for the day. However, on our way, we passed by the station where the "catamarans" were p...

After a heavy breakfast, we headed out to exchange cars at Jomar's brother's house because we needed a four-wheel drive for the next destination. On the way there, we enjoyed even more mountain views, passing by local trading posts, and seeing houses built on the side of the mountain, I mean houses with 3,4, or more floor levels!  Winaca Eco Village was our last stop in Benguet before going home and we can say we saved the best for last. We had a short bathroom break and then walked to a playground where we explored two model houses, an Ifugao house and a Sagada House. All four of us enjoyed the obstacle course, giving us more endorphin, making the trip more enjoyable. James and Adam tried wall climbing for the first time and I thought I should take the challenge as well, so I tried the "High Ropes" or canopy walk, learning about my fear of heights. I just felt like I have the responsibility to show my kids that it is good, even fun, to take tasks that scare t...

Despite our peaceful and cozy slumber under warm blankets on a cold La Trinidad weather, we had to wake up to our phone's alarm. We set it at 7am to give us prep time before our 8am strawberry farm tour. It's just walking distance from the house so we got on our feet right after a cup of warm coffee (also produced up North) and some Valley Bread (local brand of white bread loaves), toasted and topped with coco jam. We passed by a local market filled with fresh fruits and vegetables harvested in the valley and lines of souvenir/pasalubong shops brimming with strawberry products, as well as wooden and woven crafts.  As soon as we reached the booth where we had to sign up for the strawberry picking, an ice cream vendor handed us spoons of irresistible strawberry ice cream to try. With the sun warming us up for the adventures of the day, we helped ourselves indulge a bit with cones of this cold, sweet treat. Then we headed to where the strawberries are, finding out ...

     We did not have any plan, but our trip started with an idea. An idea to go to a place or places we've never been as a family. It's James and Adam's first trip to Baguio and it's our first trip to La Trinidad Valley. Both nature and tourist attractions were in mind but above all, we just wanted to be on the road. Since the boys were babies, our time spent in the car, rolling and seeing people, places, things, and events happening in different ways are experiences we all enjoy, sometimes, even more than the destinations. So, instead of a plan, we stick to the idea, to have fun, to stop if something interesting pops up, if there's a need to pee or eat or stretch a bit, and to try a lot of new things. Good idea, right?      So we contacted a friend whose family was in La Trinidad and we were able to arrange a homestay accommodation. We packed some clothes and some drinks for the road, as well as some DVDs for the boys. We did not bring food because we ...

        It was Daddy's 50th birthday! To celebrate, we thought we'll just order some food and focus more on enjoying the party, besides, we didn't want to add more heat to what summer has been generously providing. However, we ended up making tortilla from scratch! We were not able to buy taco shells (they were mostly broken) so we decided to tweak our simple birthday menu a little bit. Tang loves Mexican food so we decided to make beef quesadilla instead. When I tried rolling the dough, I felt joint pains in my hands and fingers so I asked the celebrant to do the rolling for me. We trimmed the edges to make them closer to a circle and tried them fried. They turned out good, especially with the taco dip. It was thick cream (instead of sour cream) mixed with a taco seasoning I bought in Sweden last year.                    We almost scratched "mais con yelo" (creamed corn, sugar, milk, and crushed ice)  ...

Eat-all-you-can!                 It was Debbie's(cousin) graduation party and we had a fun time celebrating with family and friends around delicious Japanese food. James ate as much sushi as he can and Adam had as much shrimp as he wanted. Sugar is not off-limits so the boys also gulped some soda and desserts. James learned that he should not drink too much soda as soon as he felt stomach ache when we got home. I guess that's a better teacher than me being a control freak mom and telling the boys what they can or can't eat. I hope that the experience has taught them to listen more to their bodies to know which food is good for them and which ones they should limit.                

Let's Play Dough!             To cool off a bit, we did our grocery shopping after lunch and the boys had something sweet and cold (James had an ice cream cone, Adam had a Paddle Pop) . On our way home, Adam had an idea to make homemade play dough for the second time. We used rock salt on our first try and I did not think of mixing it with water to make a solution before adding the flour, since the recipe says put everything in the bowl. We ended up with a "rocky road" ball of dough.  James suggested that we should try the "cooked" dough version (the same version Tita Lis used) and that's what we did.             They wanted to invite their playmates to make it with them but with our home feeling like a solar oven and knowing that we will be using the stove, having three more boys was not a good idea. We just invited them when the dough was ready for coloring. They had fun creating Ninjago faces, pancakes w...

From Batman & Robin to Cole & Kai                          Both boys have been interested in a lot of things since they are babies (maybe since they were inside the womb, writing this post reminds me of all the kicking and twirling). They can't just sit still, they always have to touch, smell, look closer, taste, ask questions, learn more, and I think this is also why we choose to unschool. We saw how they are naturally curious and their sense of wonder and imagination is way beyond classroom walls.  However, with all the wonderful and exciting things around them, there are a couple of things that stand out, that matter to them more, and that they feel are more relevant than others.                A week or two ago, we still had Batman, Robin, Spider-man, and other DC and Marvel superheroes on the kids' bedroom wall (which I think ONLY serves as their gallery, we ...

                          Sleep-over!               My friend from college, Meg, who has been very dear to me, together with her boyfriend, LT, stayed with us for a night. We had a simple dinner together and they finally had a glimpse of how it is to be in our family, complete with sprinkles of the chaos, a dash of routine, and a bucket of fun! The boys had a blast playing superheroes with them, complete with masks and suits. They even had LT be Batman for a couple minutes, thanks for being such a sport! James and Adam, and also the grown-ups, enjoyed some spuds and chocolates they brought for us. Yup! We eat chips and candies at home, they make us happy, but we do it occasionally, usually when we have company. :) I do not worry that much now, compared before when the boys were younger. They eat fruits and vegetables, so we feel lucky and do not feel guilty with some treats e...

      While skimming through pictures on Pinterest, I stumbled upon an experiment using two very simple household staples, egg and vinegar. It made its way to our list of activities but it was never offered to the boys as something they might want to do ( with unschooling, we, the parents, only ask the boys if they want to do activities with us, we do not impose ). Well, until the boys got very curious with some dinosaur eggs they are selling in a bookstore. I thought they were too expensive but luckily, their aunt, Tita Daisy, saved the day! She's familiar with those eggs and had tried them with her son. So, James got a green egg and Adam got a red one, his favorite color.        If you would notice, Adam's dinosaur is "pre-matured". He was too curious to wait for the jar of water, so the first experiment came to the conclusion that the dinosaur eggs are just like chicken eggs, they can break easily. The second experiment involved James, picking ...

For the Love of Food and Family     Our typical Sunday looks like the pictures on top, an ensemble of two things that fuel our lives, food and family (it's even more awesome because it's free!). Tatay, my father-in-law, has already established this weekly tradition of treating the family to a nice restaurant, or sometimes, for a special feast at their home. What else can make us happy than a happy tummy, right? Well, that's one thing but definitely not the number one on our list. The company of our family makes the food taste better, so that's kind-of a pre-requisite!         Sundays have enriched our unschooling life, not just because we are usually surrounded by even more people who love us, but because it's also the time when we usually discover new things. Since we are already out, we take advantage of the opportunities to take time and look around, just for the sake of curiosity. So, last Sunday, after some pizza and pasta, we spent som...

Exploring Angono         April is becoming hotter and hotter but that did not stop us from our adventures as unschoolers here in the Philippines. Having over-populated pools and crowded tourist destinations in mind, we came up with Angono, Rizal as our next classroom.         Just in time for lunch, we hit Balaw-balaw Restaurant as our first stop, which is famous for their exotic Filipino cuisine and a gem for Angono's Folk Food and Folk Arts. In fact, a film crew was there to feature their art gallery, explore its rich culture and history, and sample their mouth-watering local dishes. James and Adam ordered Pork Sinigang (Pork and vegetables in tamarind-base soup) with rice and for a more local flavor, we also tried "Ginisang Balaw-balaw with Baboy at Talong" (Sauteed Pork and Eggplant with fermented shrimp paste).          Culinary and visual arts is definitely a perfect combination. James and Adam...