Homeschooling Your Kids with Special Guest Teresa Dumadag

Welcome back, parents, to another episode of the No Problem Parenting Podcast. Today I have a special guest with me who's here to talk about all things homeschooling with discipline, faith, and fun. Teresa Dumadag is a multi-award-winning author and Amazon bestseller. She's published 10 books and is the blogger behind an award-winning blog called Hands-On Parent Well-Earning.

She's the president of Full Life Cube Publishing and Event Services, as well as an international speaker and an executive parenting, homeschool, life, and career transitions coach. Teresa is a mom of three boys whom she's homeschooled since birth. She lives in Manila, Philippines with her husband and her three boys. Whether you're a current homeschool parent or you're considering whether homeschooling is right for you and your children, listen in as Teresa shares with us her unique and intentional way of homeschooling her kids.

So welcome to the show, Teresa. I am so excited to have you here. I have lots of families and clients who are currently homeschooling their kids. So this will be a really fun way for us to support those moms and dads that are homeschooling.

So welcome to the show. Thank you, Jackie. Thank you for guesting me here in your show. I'm excited also to share what I have experienced in the past years as a homeschool mom.

Yeah, and how many years have you been homeschooling? I've been homeschooling for at least 10 years because I started homeschooling my eldest child intentionally when he was two years old. Two years old already. Even sometimes we're not even thinking of school until those preschool years.

But tell us a little bit about your story and how you got started and why you discovered that your two-year-old needed homeschooling. So when he was a toddler, I discovered that he has a very strong will. And I was really having some difficulty trying to make him follow simple rules at home. So my husband and I, we've decided that we will bring him to a developmental pediatrician to help us with our firstborn.

So I was a first-time mom, and I was troubled. Are kids really like this? Those were my thoughts during that time. And when we discovered that one of the reasons why my child is acting that way, it gave me a sense of relief.

But also, I felt challenged because my husband and I discovered that our eldest child was gifted. And being strong-willed is one of his traits as a gifted child. And that started our journey as a homeschool family. The doctor told us that it would be good to customize his lessons and his curriculums to his pace.

because he's being bored with the lessons that I have given him. We discovered that his intelligence or his intellectual age is double his biological age. So he was only two years old, but he was ready for kinder and grade one material. So the doctor was telling me, you need to give him more challenging materials.

You have to engage him more. You have to give him more activity so that he does not become bored and he doesn't have as much behavioral issues as he is having right now. And so far, we are so grateful that we have discovered that he is gifted and that there is another option for us to educate him, and that is homeschooling. I think a lot of times when kids start acting out behaviorally, the first thing we think is, oh, we have to do some sort of consequencing, consequencing, discipline, behavior modification, you know, and really try to rein them in and structure everything for them and get them to obey the rules. When actually, when we seek first to understand the problem, like you and your husband did, it was like, we need to reach out and find out, is this a behavioral issue or what is going on and how do we handle that? And lo and behold,

you discover he's just not being challenged enough. And so we're going to talk a little bit about some of the things that you were able to then do some of the activities and ways to keep him not just entertained, but he craves learning, right? He is a smart cookie. And you have three boys, right? So are all three gifted children? The first two are already assessed to be gifted.

The youngest shows similar signs of giftedness, although not yet assessed by the developmental pediatrician. So you're a homeschool mom. You started with your, when your first son was two, he's now 12 and you have two other children. And so you're very busy as a stay at home mom and homeschooler. And you're also a blogger behind the award-winning blog called Hands-On Parent. Can you tell us more about that? Yeah, I'm really quite busy. I have a lot on my plate, But that is something that I have decided I will take on because even before I got married, I really had a vision that I wanted to be a hands-on parent to my children.

When I was still single, I really decided that when I am already married and with children, I will just work from home and I will be doing consultancy work. I will choose not to work full-time in the office, but I want to prioritize my children. And that was the inspiration behind my blog. I wanted to earn, but according to my terms, according to my availability.

And it was perfect for our setup because homeschooling is so flexible. It allows me to be with the children, be their main teacher. And at the same time, in the afternoon or in the evening, I'm able to write my books, I'm able to prepare for my talks, and I'm able to do the projects that I choose to accept. So it's like I'm having the best of both worlds.

Yeah, that's great. That's excellent. And I'm going to put a link in the show notes to your Hands-On Parent blog. Let's get into what are the main benefits of homeschooling your children and your family as a whole.

For the past years, I've considered the main benefits in our homeschool as our time together. My children and I, because I'm the main teacher, we have spent so many times together. We did a lot of activities. We did a lot of fun stuff together.

One of the reasons that I decided to homeschool my children is because I wanted them to see learning as something fun. And so I designed their learning, their curriculum, their program to be something that is play-based and something that is tailored to their interests and to their pace. Just like I've mentioned earlier, when I homeschooled my firstborn child because he was gifted, I had to make it more challenging.

He doesn't like repetition a lot. There has to be variety in the activities. He doesn't want things to be repeated like a drill. So it has to be play-based.

It has to be enjoyable. And that's what we had been doing. And because of that, we had a lot of many memories, homeschooling, learning together, and doing a lot of fun stuff together, traveling before the pandemic. We traveled a lot as part of our field trips in our homeschool.

And it's also our family bonding. So that's one of the main benefits. And because we are Christians, we also consider the passing on of our Christian faith to our children. We are Catholic Christians, so we have established a lot of traditions in our families.

Just like when we started homeschooling, going to Mass daily was part of our schedule as homeschoolers. And then we pray together, we celebrate feast days and solemnities together. So it's really a very meaningful experience for all of us in the family. I love that.

And I commend you for being able to do that and making that. I think as parents, our job is to set a foundation for our kids. And then it's sort of like the saying, we give them wings and let them fly. They can make their own decisions as they get older.

But I love that you're just really setting a solid foundation for your kiddos and practicing that, you know, faithfully in your in your home and as an example to your kids. So I just commend you for that. I think that's absolutely wonderful. And I think sometimes too, we wonder as parents, if you've never homeschooled, I think sometimes parents wonder how do you homeschool? And what does that look like? And how is it different from online or distance learning? Homeschooling is really different from online learning or distance learning because in homeschooling, the student continues to learn without becoming dependent on the internet or on gadgets or the computer or laptop. The student can learn through books, through different kinds of hands-on activities,

through experiential learning, and many other activities. So it's really dependent on the parent's decision on what materials and what methods he or she will use to educate her child. And like in online learning, all the lessons happen online. You have to be connected through the internet to learn and to keep on doing your lessons. In distance learning or online learning also, it's the school or the teacher who decides what will be covered, when will be the lessons, or what's the schedule of the classes and how they will be delivered.

Unlike in homeschooling, it's the parents who decide what will be covered, what will be part of the curriculum, what kind of curriculum will be used, what materials will be used, when will the lessons take place. The parent can also decide if they will have lessons every day or only three or four days in a week. And the parents will decide if they will use books or if they also want to include online lessons every now and then.

So there is a lot of freedom when you are homeschooling. For somebody who doesn't homeschool and doesn't know much about it, it makes you wonder, well, how can they get a diploma? You know, aren't there certain curriculums or certain things that kids have to learn or pass in order to be able to get that high school diploma? How does that work?

There are also ways to get accredited. So in our country, for example, there are exams that you can take to get an accreditation or you can enroll your children in a homeschool provider. It can be a partner school or it can be a homeschool provider and they will help you get the accreditation that you need. So for us in our family, for many years, we were called independent homeschoolers.

we did not have a partner school. So we were very freestyle, very interest-led, child-led. We did our lessons without taking any tests. But at a certain point when my eldest was getting older, he was close to graduating in elementary, I've decided that we need to get some accreditation.

So my firstborn and my second child took a test to get accredited and we enrolled with a homeschool provider. So now we have school records, but we have very limited requirements. So it still gives us a lot of freedom because they don't demand a lot from us. So we get to do homeschooling and learning our way still. Wow, that's so great. And your now 12 year old who's gifted, he is actually just finishing up elementary, right? So for us, that's like sixth grade. And he's actually already enrolled in college classes. Is that correct? He's not enrolled in college classes officially, but I got him a teacher who is giving him college level music lessons because he's a music prodigy.

So we don't need to wait for him to become a teenager or to be in late teens to learn the things that he is ready. So that's what homeschooling has given him. And I'm happy because he is able to continue with his learning at his pace and according to his interests. Because if I will let him study in a regular school, they will not be giving him enough mental stimulation for these things that he is interested in. And they are not also equipped because that's not the kind of teachers that will be teaching music to him. But now he is being mentored by a professional musician, someone who is doing the things that he wanted to learn. So this is one of the advantages that he is enjoying as a homeschooled child. When he is in high school, before he goes to university,

I will ask him if he wants to get accredited for those lessons. So if he wants to get college credits, he wants to seriously pursue music for college or for the university, then it's up to him If that is really his passion. So right now, I don't want to put too much pressure because he might feel it might happen that it will take out the fun in the learning. So I want him to enjoy it as much as he can and just really explore, explore his gift, explore the opportunities that are available to him.

Well, that's awesome. I love that. Some people will say, well, my kid needs to go to school because they need the socialization. They need to be with other kids, their peers.

How do you address that? The truth about homeschooling is that homeschooled kids have a lot of activities outside the home. It's just a misconception that they do everything at home. So my kids, before the pandemic and before the lockdowns, we travel a lot.

So they meet a lot of people. And because I'm an author, I'm a corporate speaker, I also travel a lot locally. and I bring my kids with me. So they meet people from different walks of life.

They see me do book signings, book launches. They see me giving talks in conferences, in different summits. And because we are active in our church, they also have friends. My kids are part of the children's ministry because they are all gifted in music.

So they have friends who are part of the children's choir and they are also pursuing a lot of interests. Like my kids are into theater, they are into voice, they are into martial arts, they are into sports. So they have different sets of friends who have the same interests. So they are socialized and their socialization is not limited to kids that are of the same age as they are.

Their socialization is much wider because they are able to interact with people of different age range and of different backgrounds. You're very busy with the schooling part, managing three different kids in three different age levels or academic age levels, right? And you're managing the household and you're still able to write books and conduct workshops and, you know, do all the things. So how do you do it? Do you have any systems or things to keep yourself organized? Yes, it takes a lot of hard work and discipline, definitely. But because I am clear on what I want to experience and happen in my life, I make time for these things that are important to me. We do our homeschool usually in the morning,

and then we try to wrap things up by lunchtime. And in the afternoon, that's the time when my kids pursue their different interests and they play. While they are playing or pursuing their interests, that's the time that I do my serious work. That's the time that I write my books, I write on my blog, I do my projects because I'm a management and training consultant. I have HR projects. So I do that in the afternoon. And then in the evening, we go to mass together. And my eldest, he is the pianist in our parish, in our church. He has been serving as the church pianist since he was seven years old. And this is one of our bonding activities. So even though I'm busy at work, we always have time for the things that are important to us as a family and individually,

we make time for these things that we are passionate about. I am very disciplined. I am also working hard. And because I'm a Christian, I believe that I have got a lot of help from God as well. Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about that. You are very strong in your faith. How do you share that faith with your children and how do you get them even interested?

I think it helped that since they were born, I was really practicing my faith. So it's not really preachy kind of faith because I lived it out and I did not ask them to memorize prayers, but I asked them to pray with me or to observe me while I was praying. So they grew up seeing me and my husband praying, living out our faith, attending church services and activities. So naturally, because we kept on doing them daily or occasionally based on whatever is the occasion in the church, they grew to learn the prayers.

They grew to learn about our faith. And one of the things that we do as part of our homeschool routine is we read the Bible daily over breakfast. So they are very familiar with our faith. They learned a lot by simply living.

It's part of our routine. So it's not something that's difficult for them because it's like they grew up being part of this kind of household that has this kind of lifestyle. So that's how we passed on the faith to them. Yeah, that's so great.

They're just naturally growing up in it and watching you model in everyday life. What would you advise moms who are considering homeschooling their children? My number one advice is you have to be clear on your reason why you want to homeschool. You have to have a big reason why you want to do this because it's also difficult.

It has a lot of advantages, but it's also difficult. It's not a walk in the park, especially if you have several children. So you have to know why you are doing it and why you will do it in the long term. So for example, like what I've mentioned, we are doing it because we want to ensure that our children learns our faith.

And we want to ensure that they will have a happy childhood where they will not be traumatized about learning. We want them to have a good attitude, a good perspective about education and learning. We want them to associate learning with fun, learning with passion. So for moms who want to homeschool their children, be clear. Why do you want to homeschool? Or what are the benefits that you intend to experience with your children if you will homeschool? And then number two, because I'm also a Christian, I want you to ask God to help you.

I believe that we have been successful in homeschooling our children because of the grace of God, because God has given me wisdom and guidance in how I can teach my children. And that's how it all bore fruit. It's not just me. I believe that it was God who helped me and sustained me through the years to homeschool my children successfully.

One of the things that I really wanted to pass on to my children is having a strong personal relationship with God. Something that is not dependent on any church or on any leader or whatever is happening around us. Because when we have a strong relationship with God, we are not dependent on what other people are teaching, but we are more dependent on the words that we receive from God in our hearts. We spend more time listening to the Holy Spirit who speaks to our hearts and who uses the Word of God and the Holy Bible to direct our steps.

And as a homeschooling parent, that's what has been happening to me. I choose to make time to pray. Even though I'm very busy, at the start of the day, I always make time to have time for prayer. It's my time to connect with God, to ask God for direction, to ask God for inspiration.

And He never failed me. In the many years that we have homeschooled, He has really led me. And I'm so blessed because in the beginning, I was not very confident to homeschool. I was raised traditionally.

I was schooled traditionally. I went to a regular school. But when I felt called to homeschool my eldest child, I knew that I had to depend more on God. So my tip to parents, especially moms who want to homeschool is be open to God's grace and to the inspiration that comes from the Holy Spirit.

Because you really know what's best. And Jesus is the best teacher. If we allow ourselves to learn from the greatest teacher, then we will be the best teacher to our children. That is so wonderful.

It's not always peaceful in our home because I have three boys who are so active. They have a lot of energy. And whenever they are playing rough, I remind myself of one of the sayings of St. John Bosco.

And he is the patron saint of the youth. And he has been modeling and teaching parents and educators that the way to win the hearts and to discipline boys or the youth is to be loving to them, to be understanding to them. And so I remind myself to be slow to anger, which is kind of difficult. It's very challenging to do, but it's something that I strive to do.

And I pray and I hope that I will keep on getting better at it. We practice homeschooling that is not traditional because there are families who homeschool and they bring the school into the home. They bring the school set up. We are not that kind of homeschooling family.

So I mentioned earlier, we are interest-led. So whatever is the interest of my children, I use that as a springboard for our other lessons. So for example, because my kids are very musical, so I usually introduce concepts using songs or music. And then after that, I read books that are related to the topics.

My children and I are bookworms, so we enjoy reading and we do activities related to the books that we read. I also learned that when you are having fun, you need only a very short time to learn. Whereas if you are not having fun, if you are doing things by the drill, you need more time to learn or to cement the learning in your mind. So when I learned that, I did a more playful approach in educating my children.

That's so great. And patience. So you talked about you have, you're very disciplined and, you know, well thought out and faith filled. And you're also very patient, I can imagine.

But there are times that I also lose my patience. Because none of us are perfect, right? Yes, we are. I'm still a long way from getting there.

Well, I've certainly enjoyed our interview and my time getting to know you. And I do want to offer before we end today, you are launching a new book called Homeschool Moms at the Feet of Jesus. I love the title. The free download of my latest book is happening on June 30 up to July 1.

So it's just a few days from now. And I'd like to invite those who are listening to Z's this opportunity to get a free copy of my latest book. This is the ninth book that I have published. And this is special to me because my eldest, whom I homeschooled since birth, will be graduating elementary this year.

And I feel that this is my way of paying it forward or sharing the lessons that I've learned in the past years that we have homeschooled. And I learned that at the feet of Jesus, you learn a lot and you will be strengthened a lot. If you go to him and ask him to equip you, he will really do that. So I wrote this book with all those lessons in mind, and I wanted to equip my fellow moms, those who are considering to homeschool in the coming school year, and those who are already homeschooling but need some encouragement.

This book is for you. This is a 31-day devotional, and I hope that every day as you read this devotional, you will really encounter the Lord Jesus. Thank you for the gift. We're going to make sure to get this episode to air a few days before that free download so that people can go on June 30th and July 1st.

We'll have a link in the show notes for that. So thank you so much, Teresa, for that. Thank you also for the opportunity to promote it. Oh, for sure.

Love being able to provide resources for all of my no problem parents. And I just really thank you for your time today. It's been, it's just been fun. It's been, it's been a gift.

So thank you. Thank you also. I enjoyed our conversation. All right, parents, be sure to check out the show notes so that you can receive your free download of Teresa's newest book.

Remember that free download is only good on June 30th and July 1st. So you're going to want to head over there real quick and grab that link. I've also included links to Teresa's blog, Hands on Parent While Learning, and to her podcast. and if you'd like leave a comment let us know are you a homeschool parent and what is your favorite thing about homeschooling your children be sure to take a screenshot of this episode share with your friends and family i so appreciate it for now hugs and high fives you got this