Parenting and home schooling

Going PACES with School of Tomorrow Philippines

We resumed our homeschooling on the second week of January this year. For our two younger boys, I think we’ve covered enough academics with them last year, but it was a different story for our 12-year old. We barely touched his academics.

But just so you know, it was because we decided to transition the kids from our DIY + interest-led homeschooling to PACES, and thought to give him a break from the academics for a while and let him focus on his musical rehearsals until the new study materials arrive.

paces-homeschooling

I used to dislike the idea of putting my kids through PACES because I had this misconception that working on a given set of modules would limit our opportunities to discover and explore new concepts and activities together.

The parent orientation and training we had undergone for two days only reinforced that the curriculum is a perfect fit for our lifestyle, and not just an affordable option that would serve a temporary purpose.

The Process

It’s been months since we’ve had training, so I’m trying to recall all I can to share with you how to go about in using PACES.

The thing about PACES is that you can fully max its benefits if you follow the proper implementation.

We tried PACES in Filipino for Pablo when he was in Kinder and first grade, but we went about it as anyone would when using traditional textbooks.

Years later, I learned that following the proper implementation would glean better results in terms of character, comprehension and retention.

How is the implementation different?

The A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education) curriculum is designed to train kids to study and work on the check ups independently.

The supervisor’s role is very minimal, if only to be present when the child has questions or to write your initials at the end of each completed check up; to oversee the child as he scores himself, corrects his mistakes, and to review him before he takes the self-tests and the final tests, ensuring that he knows the material well enough to get the 90% passing score.

Yep, the standard is 90% in the final test.

But don’t worry, if process is implemented correctly, the final tests would usually be no sweat, at least for the first four levels. That’s why the reviews before the self-tests are important because self-tests are included to help the child evaluate how much of the lessons he has retained.

Should the child fail to achieve the 90% score, he will have to repeat the module. You can purchase a new one or erase the old answers and let the child go through it again and finally master the concept.

You’ll understand more how to do this when you attend the parent training where you will be provided the manual. I really appreciated that it gave us a better idea on how to go about with the materials.

Utilizing the process and the tools provided, such as the goal chart and the flags, works very well for all our three children.

Working on their modules. #kids #homeschooling #homeschoolers

A post shared by May De Jesus-Palacpac (@fullyhousewifed) on

Setting Goals for your Homeschooling

As for how many hours or lessons, SoT recommends a maximum of 5 hours each day for grade school levels, and 30 minutes longer for higher years. That, including 15 minute breaks in between each PACE work.

You will be provided the guidelines for these at training where you will learn how to implement the process and master most of it.

You will be provided with goal charts for each child that he will fill out with the number of pages he aims to complete each day. When he finishes, he crosses it out and move to the next.

Does he have to complete all the pages he’s written down? Ideally, yes, because he’s the one who set those goals. But it’s okay if he doesn’t, he can simply continue to work on them the following day.

It teaches him, though, to set realistic and achievable goals in the following weeks, and at the same time, it should encourage him to focus more on his lessons so he can achieve the goals he set for himself daily, weekly and for the school year.

Grade levels

At the parenting orientation, we were told that PACES are originally created to complement the learner’s capability to learn, so grade levels are really not as relevant as it is in traditional schools; but since we need to submit to the Department of Education’s (DepEd) authority on education, the number of PACES are marked to identify grade levels for record purposes.

However, they gently advise that we do not emphasize grade levels to our children because the goal is for them to enjoy the learning process wherever they may be in their lessons, and not be pressured to keep up with other students.

In fact, with SoT, a child can finish his lessons as quickly or as slowly as he can. He may be able to complete two levels in one year and that’s good, or it may take him two years to complete one set of modules, and that is still okay, because the objective is to master the concepts over schedule.

Diagnostic tests and Gaps

Every enrollee is required to take the diagnostic exams to  determine if the child has PACE gaps. These are the concepts that the child may have missed or have failed to master in the last few years. He will need to work on the corresponding gap modules before he can move forward to his lessons for his level.

Diagnostic tests are given based on your child’s last grade level in his school records. If a child is advanced, they will first put him in the ideal grade level based on his age, then he can work his way up. As long as he has completed the modules for a designated grade level, he can move forward to the next set of modules.

My advise for you is to prepare and remind your children to pay attention to and read the instructions carefully before answering the tests. That way, he won’t have to unnecessarily repeat lessons he’s already mastered.

That’s partly the case with my eldest, but we didn’t argue it out because it taught him a valuable lesson. To focus on his school work and to read and follow instructions carefully.

Our youngest son, Judah, was recommended to go through ABC’s with ACE & Christi program first before moving on to the modules because he has to learn read better. A child has to be a reader to be able to work on his modules independently.

The gaps are crucial to the child’s academic foundation as he is introduced to new concepts as his school work progresses.

Diagnostic tests are administered from 8 AM to 2 PM, with a one hour  lunch break in between.

Parent Orientation

The main educator (the parent who will teach or the hired tutor) is required to go through a 2-day Parent Orientation and Training. It begins with an introduction about School of Tomorrow and a video explaining the heart and principles behind the curriculum.

Afterwards, you will be asked to go through a couple of modules, PACES style. This way, you will have first-hand experience of what it’s like to be the student.

The material provided is the manual itself itself. You’ll have mastered the process by the time you complete the training.

Why PACES works for us

PACES works for us because each lesson is introduced and discussed bite-sized, making it easy for the student to chew on the concepts and digest the lessons.

I also like that the lessons are not made over-complicated since the objective is for the child to learn and enjoy the learning process. There are a few typographical errors here and there, but we’re okay with that. We just make sure that our kids are not confused by them.

One of the things we struggled with over the years is the Filipino language, so the kids’ gaps glaringly reflect that.
I did try to go over a little of Philippine History in English with Pablo but admittedly gave up because of how tedious the text books are. And because I have an 8-hour online job and two other children, it was difficult to find time to break these lessons into shorter versions.

Araling Panlipunan in PACES makes it easier for us to translate the sentences and discuss them because they’re broken down into short topics. After each topic is a set of questions designed to reinforce the topic on the child.

Because my kids are not yet good in comprehending in Filipino, I still need to sit by them as they go through their Araling Panlipunan and Filipino modules. It’s still a lot of work, but at least they’re already broken down into shorter lessons. By the time we get to the self-test, they have already understood the lessons we covered.

One of the best things about PACES is that you no longer have to wonder whether you’ve covered everything you need to cover because it covers all of that’s required for the the K-12 curriculum. When you have so much on your plate, like me, this curriculum is gold.

It also gives me more time to explore other things with the kids, too, because I no longer need to sit and prepare their lessons in the following weeks. We can still do field trips and hands on experiments, or we can watch and discuss movies or talk about the books we’re currently reading.

And when I really can’t do anything extra, at least I’m confident that the kids are going over the basic curriculum requirement. When you follow DepEd, which I finally accepted that we have to after all these years of doing interest-led homeschooling, this is very reassuring.

It promotes relaxed homeschooling. At least it does for us. Like many kids, our kids have varied levels of development — advanced in some, excruciatingly slow in some, haha!

Because the A.C.E. curriculum’s emphasis is on the child’s learning readiness, it makes the homeschooling experience pleasant, more enjoyable, and less stressful for both the kids and us.

I  mentioned earlier about how the process teaches the kids self-evaluation and how to set realistic and achievable goals. But more than that, following the correct process also builds their character as they practice honesty, patience, perseverance, persistence and integrity.

It makes for a great tool in parenting!

(To know more about our experience two years later, READ: Why PACES works for us. )

Fees and Registration

The Matriculation fee for School of Tomorrow as of this writing is PHP 4,000 a year per child, this is just a one time fee. There is also a one time Family Fee of PHP 18,000 which will cover all of your kids, even if you bear hundreds of them, haha!

And there is a one time registration fee of Php 3,000 per child, and the academic fee of PHP 3,000 – 4,000 per child, depending on their grade level.

Enrollment is all year-round, so you can enroll your child even on December if you want. Just note that the enrollment fee is good for a duration of one school year only, so if you enrolled on, let’s say, July, you need to pay the enrollment fee again on July next year.

Cost of PACES depends on whether it’s locally printed or imported from the U.S.

Local print is PHP 45.50 and US print is equivalent to PHP 126. Score keys (which covers 3 modules) cost between PHP 93 to PHP 126.

Update:
I’ve updated the fees for School Year 2020, based on a friend’s list of fees she received from SoT.
The cost of PACES have increased since July 2019. No word yet on the new rates, will update you.

However, score keys for the first three levels cost higher because they only cover one module for each one. But you can make do without them for these levels since the supervisor can easily correct them without the score keys.

If you want to still purchase them, your adviser can put through your orders for you. If you have more than one child, it would still be worth it especially if you really want to put into practice what you will be taught at training right away.

In our case, we decided to just be the ones to score our younger kids’ modules. We were disappointed at first because we really wanted to maximize the system, but our homeschool has been going great even without them, so far.

Well, except for Araling Panlipunan, waaah!

Grades and Documentations

You will be given different track sheets for record keeping, You will track your child’s final scores and fill out an attendance sheet.

You will have a Master Record Sheet, Student Progress Report, and an Academic Record card that you will submit to the school.

The Master Record sheet is where you will input your child’s final scores, averages, and attendance. The Student Progress Chart is where you mark the PACE modules completed by the child with sticker stars.

The Academic Record card would be his permanent record based on what you have inputted on the Master Record sheet.

You will submit all of these to the school at the end of your school year.

Is PACES for you?

The A.C.E. curriculum is Bible-based. There are biblical principles integrated within the lessons and memorization of biblical verses are included in every module. Using the modules will help plant biblical principles into your child’s heart.  If this works for you, then perhaps PACES is a good fit for your family.

My advice is that you sign up for the Parenting Orientation first to find out how you feel about the school’s mission and vision, their advocacies, and the process.

It will also be good to ask questions and to bring up your concerns so you can discuss it with your adviser or any of SoT’s homeschool staff.

We’ve already done our research and talked to many families using PACES for more than a year, we were already convinced that it was right for us, so what we did was bring the kids to the SoT facility in Paranaque and put them through the diagnostics right away.

But what you can also do is to call the office and set an appointment. Here are the details of their main office (ask to be connected to their Homeschool Department):

School of Tomorrow Philippines
MJS Avenue, Levitown Executive Village, Barangay Don Bosco
Parañaque
Landline: (02) 822 9663
Website: http://www.sotphil.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sotphil/

Note: Due to circumstances very specific to our homeschool journey, we have decided to jump back to independent homeschooling and prepare the kids to take DepEd qualifying exams to accredit our years of independent homeschooling prior to trying it out with SoT. We LOVED our time in SoT, and still very much recommend it, especially for first-time homeschoolers.

106 Comments

  • Gilian Isles-Cebu

    Thanks for this. We have been considering SOT for our kids since last year. I’ve tried facilitating SOT students before and I’ve also attended a teacher’s conference for them ( many years ago, someone was not available, I was sent.) haha So, my history with SOT has really been there and I never thought I’d encounter them again for my kids. =)) I’m considering it because of the lifestyle we might have once we move to Philippines, but living in a place right now where school is the only social place my kids have is what keeps me from homeschooling at this point.
    Thanks for the idea on the parent orientation. My problem is we can’t go there for orientation because we are abroad. At least now I have an idea on what we will be doing during the orientation. Thanks again. very helpful and timely. =)

  • Michi

    I want to try homeschooling but my husband is against it. We only have one child so he prefers my son to go to traditional school. One thing that I don’t like in traditional school, mabilisan ang turo so kahit di pa gets ng bata, next lesson na. We struggle in Filipino subject “Pagbasa”, hirap din icomprehend. 🙂

    • Cindy

      May mga schools offering same ACE curriculum na papasok din sa school at hindi home school.You may inquire SOT for schools who have their curriculum.Disclaimer I’m not from SOT.

    • Norma Sevilla

      Hi!: I was once a SOT supervisor. And I handled differents. My niece, nephew and my friends children had enjoyed their homeschool life.

  • Shalene R

    I’m considering this, thank you for sharing. I homeschooled my children before they attended traditional schooling. I’m torn between sending them to trad school again to going back to homeschooling. I have a special needs child so challenging ang homeschooling for us if ever.

  • Neri Ann

    Grabee bow for parents who are homeschooling their kids. Reading this makes me think what have I done. It is a lot of work but definitely worth it. But I am still torn as my work is an office based so need to check schools that will be applicable to my children.

  • Angel Caronongan-Enero

    Wow! Homeschooling is indeed challenging. I am homeschooling my 2 year old daughter, we are more on like playing. But I am already planning to send her to toddler class in our near brgy, for her to learn more on social skills. Wala kasing kalaro.

  • Didith

    Hello, Thank you for the information. I’am planning to homeschool my youngest. But we are overseas. Do you have any idea if they accept enrollees outside the Philippines. Thank you..

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Didith! I think that this is okay, but best to call the school on the arrangements on conventions and all that.

  • Jill

    My husband and kids will be in Manila to attend the diagnostic exam and orientation. We are from Cebu. I was exchanging emails with the school admin Mike C. but for some reasons my last emails bounced back saying their mail storage has maxed out. Anyway may I know how much you ended up paying for the PACES per year level? I know it will depend on what level the child is but kahit estimate lang ng cost, please? 🙂

  • Dennis Cuadro

    Hi May,

    You said in your post: Local print is PHP 45.50 and US print is equivalent to PHP 126. Score keys (which covers 3 modules) cost between PHP 93 to PHP 126.

    My daughter finished the diagnostic test with SOT and requires 45 gap paces. As per SOT the price of those paces is 8k. She is incoming Grade 9 and requires 96 paces. The cost for the 96 paces is 12k-15k apparently. I just find those price quite expensive based on what I have already gathered from christian friends and your post confirmed the estimated pace prices. I wonder if there is any other fees included on the 8K. 8K divided by 45 paces = 177.77 per pace. Is there anyway paces can be purchased else where?

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi! Unfortunately, PACES can only be purchased from the school you will enroll your daughter in. I suggest that you try to arrange buying your child’s modules divisively. 🙂

  • Donna

    PACES are the real deal! I studied in an ACE curriculum-based school and never regret a second of the 10 years I had had. I started in Preschool and finished level 18 with high grades! Am so in love with the system and the Christian background. I love how it encourages the students to maximize their time and their potential. It teaches them to be honest and observe Christian values too. The stories you get in every PACE is so relevant – all the way to PACE # 1144! It’s an amazing curriculum.

  • Mina

    Hi,my son is 13 yo and is an independent homeschooler. For his age, he ought to be in grade 8 but he just passed PEPT for grade 6. I am thinking of him getting PEPT for grade 7 this September and if he pass, we can enroll him at SOT for grade 8 this coming October. Or another option is just to enroll him now at SOT as grade 7. Ur take on this po

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Mina! I think that if your son can pass the PEPT, why not? It would be less stress for you. 🙂

  • Filse Infante

    Hi May, the school of my daughter shift from Traditional to SOT. My daughter is attending Speech Therapy to enhance her Confidence in communication she is so shy. She always told me when I ask her how do you find PACE?She said “Mama I miss discussion.” The School did not facilitate Parent Orientation. They just telling us during PTA meeting the basic info about PACE. I’m new to this Curriculum. Thank you for this info. Will get back to you on how our meeting with School output. Thank you again. God Bless.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Filse! PACES are really designed to train independent study, but the child is encouraged to ask questions or seek help from the supervisor when she finds it hard to understand a particular lesson.

      If your child’s learning style includes verbal communication, then perhaps it’s something you may need to discuss with her supervisor.

    • Peach

      Hi there 🙂 The idea of a Parent Orientation is now in play, as a matter of fact, I’m a returning homeschooler Mom, my 2 older boys did 2 years with SOT before going back to regular school, which I’m very proud of their outcomes, they’re both excelling!). So in the past, there was no 2-days manadatory Parent Orientation unlike this year. I have yet to secure my reservation.. So I think your feedback helped a lot. Btw, I’m also an ACE student back in mid-80s when ACE curriculum was introduced in the Philippines, so I had knowledge, background, and experience with ACE curriculum. So yes – I agree, for those who are not familiar with ACE, SOT’s 2-day Parent Orientation is a must 🙂

  • Roni Santos

    Hi. Just want to ask if you know anything about the “exit fee” in SoT. You didn’t mention about it. We enrolled our daughter for 3 years but for some reason we had to put her back to regular schooling. But upon giving notice to SoT we are being asked to pay an exit fee of 4000 pesos which we weren’t told when we enrolled our daughter. We appreciate your reply. Good day ?

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Roni! I don’t remember being informed about the exit fee, and since we were confident that PACES was suitable for our home school and have no plans of putting our kids in regular school until High School, we did not ask about the exit process.

      But according to another parent, Malou, who attended the parent training and orientation last week, the exit fee was discussed.

      According to Donna Donor whose son Kib has been with SoT from the beginning, “Yes po for processing the credentials of the child po.

      We are not charged for that for our annual registration (falls under miscellaneous) that is why they only charge it upon exit ng bata po.

      Other schools/providers already include the credential fees in the tuition fee breakdown which is why they don’t charge so much when a child exits the school.”

      Thank you for the information. 🙂

  • Betina Antonio

    Hi May,

    My daughter is now an incoming 10th grader. Due to health reasons we’ve decided to take a gap year for her to rest and recover. My daughter loves reading and learning but due to health reasons she cant keep up with the physical activities in school.

    If I enroll my daughter at SOT, do you know if we are required to finish the level in a year? What if we want to exit before this year ends, could we do that?

    Thank you and I do appreciate your reply.

    Betina A.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Betina,

      Well, as far as I know, in order to move to the next level, your child will have to have completed the current grade level she’s working on. I’m not sure about transferring in the middle of the school year because SoT uses the ACE Modules and the mastery method. There is a particular system being followed when it comes to the academics. Best to ask the school directly. 🙂

  • Grace

    Hi ms. May,

    Would you know how the assessment is conducted? Does the child have to be a proficient reader? Because Im thinking of switching to homeschooling but my concern is my daughter isnt completely proficient in reading yet. Thank you. ?

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Grace!
      I’m not sure how much proficiency they’re requiring. But my youngest wasn’t able to read very well yet (though he was starting to read), when we had him assessed. So he was required to go through the ACE & Christi Reading program manuals. 🙂 It’s a really good program, if you must know. My son jumped from barely able to read sentences to reading novels and books.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Anna Marie,
      Not necessarily. All that’s needed is a loving parent who is willing to learn herself/himself and do the research when necessary. 🙂

      In the case of SoT, homeschooling parents need to attend orientation and training before starting on the curriculum, and you’ll need to attend the annual convention. This is DepEd-mandated.

  • Allet

    Hi May! I attended a homeschool convention recently. Not much was discussed about A.C.E.curriculum. I would like to ask, how do you make your kids sit down for long hours? ? Do they discuss or talk to each other while working on their PACES? Are the PACES printed in colored? Thank you!

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Allet! There are many factors to how I get my children to sit and learn. First of all, it’s in my eldest personality already to sit down. We’ve been homeschooling for years and his two younger siblings had the opportunity to observe us. So they just assume the same is expected of them when their time came.

      The curriculum that we have right now is the right one for them. They don’t find the work tedious and actually enjoy doing them. So having the right curriculum fit is crucial.

      Then we have 5 minute breaks in between subjects, perhaps a little longer when the subject matter is a bit tedious.

      Character-building early on plays an important part also. We focused on character training before we started our formal homeschooling.

      Disciplining is also necessary. We lay down our rules about homeschooling, focusing on their work and completing them, or they may lose their gadgets time for the week because they’ll have to work on their paces.

      We are not too strict with food and talking, though. we let them talk to each other, cause sometimes they want to talk about what they just read on their lessons, or remember something, or eat snacks while working on their paces once in a while, if only to break the monotony. (though it is not encouraged by the provider).

      We also take breaks sometimes, when we feel that we’ve all been working too hard and we see the kids exhausted. We take them to have fun at the malls, parks, museums, etc. if only to relax. 🙂

      It might interest you to note that we only do 4 hours a day, too. If they’re done with everything and we’ve seen that they understood their lessons well, and they’re done for less than 4 hours, we let them off. 🙂

      I hope those helps? 🙂

    • Alisha

      What do you mean by he may be able to complete two levels in one year? If my child can quickly complete her modules does it mean that she can be a grade 8 and 9 in a year?because to be honest my child is already late in her study so I’m really hopeful that she can do two levels in a year.

      • May De Jesus-Palacpac

        Hi Alisha!
        As far as I know, yes. But your adviser may ask to assess the child if this happens to make sure that she is qualified to move up.

        Also, if I remember correctly, a child can work up to her performance level based on her age, but not sure now if they allow going beyond that because of K-12. They used to allow it before, but I have to update myself on that info. 🙂

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Alpha!
      As far as I know, yes, it’s okay. The curriculum is Bible-based. If you’re okay with that, then you’re good to go.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Alpha,
      The curriculum is Bible-based — old and new testaments. If you’re good with that, I don’t see any problem with enrolling as a Catholic.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Alpha. SoT is a Bible-based Christian Curriculum. If you’re okay with the values that the school promotes, I don’t see any problem enrolling with them.

  • Joyce

    Hi.We’re currently enrolled under a different Homeschool provider but has an open curriculum. I’m just wondering if we can purchase PACE modules for Filipino and Araling Panlipunan subjects only. Hopefully it will be easier for us to translate the sentences too. Please advise. Thank you. God bless

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Joyce. As far as I know, you need to be enrolled in SOT to be able to purchase the materials. 🙂 Maybe you can try calling them to ask if they will allow you.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Dari! You pay for the annual fee on the same month you registered. For example, if you registered your child in July (as in our case), your next payment (3k) will be on July next year. This is regardless of whether your child has completed his/her modules for the school year or not.

      As for the materials, you will receive the quotation for the PACES your child needs for the SY. But you can order them on a per quarter basis or per set. I’m not sure if you can order them on a monthly need basis – but you may encounter some delays in delivery. 🙂

  • Chie Reyes

    Hi Ms. May Thank you for the info about SOT, I would like to ask if you have idea How much is the diagnostic test at SOT and as well with the cost for kinder including the materials. Thank you and God bless!

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Chie! The diagnostic test is 1K. The kinder materials cost us 7K for the complete set -it includes the Reading program (2 big binders), PACES, Flash cards and the Alphabet CD. It’s a really excellent program, I was surprised at the result, though compared to the rest of the grade levels, a bit more work. 🙂

      • Chie Reyes

        Hi Ms. May! Thank you for you’re response, it’s very helpful, I’ll be considering SOT for my son. Thanks for your kindness in sharing infos, you’ll be blessed more in having a good heart!!! God bless you and your family.

  • Tyn

    Thanks for sharing! I’ve been in the search for a provider which works best for me and my husband who are both working full time. May I ask what is the minimum number of hours you allot on teaching your kids? To give an idea, we come home at around 7:30PM daily. Thank you!

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Tyn,
      We try to do their PACES 4-5x a week as much as possible, but on busy seasons, such as when one of the kids have professional projects or daily rehearsals, we do only as much as we can (even as few as one pace a day) if that is what we can do, so as not to burn out our kids.

      We don’t count the hours. We allot at most, 4 hours of everyday for the PACES. If they are able to complete their goals in less time than that, we let them off to do other things. 🙂

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Joyce! To be honest, I did not inquire about MAPEH because we prefer to enroll them in classes within our area in BGC. We just supply the grades in the grade sheet.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      But they do have junior conventions and competitions, and family activities open to their homeschool enrollees.

  • Lualhati M. Debil

    My granddaughter will be 7years old this coming July (Grand 1), a grandson is 5 years old and another grandson is 3 years old. Are they qualified for homeschooling? How much is the tuition fee for the 3 kids? When is the schedule of enrollment next school year?

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      the 5-year old and the 7-year old are qualified under DepEd, yes, if that’s what you’re asking. But in principle, you can start homeschooling your child at any age. It’s just the dynamics that change depending on their readiness. 🙂

      I have provided the details on tuition and rates on this blog under fees and registration..

  • Charisma

    Hi,

    I am from Cebu, I am planning to have my daughters do homeschool this coming june 2019, I would like to know if it is necessary for both parent to join the orientation? And for the diagnostic test for kids is it done in manila? Is there any online diagnostic test for kids?…

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Charisma!

      I’m not sure if they have online diagnostic tests. As for the orientation, only one of the parents, at least the one who will be the kids main educator, is required to come to the orientation.

  • Sullano

    Great article you have here! My question is regarding with what you said that a child may finish two levels in one year, does that mean that if he goes back to regular school, he will be accelerated? Or is it still one grade level per year according to DepEd?

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Sullano! if your child’s performance level does not match his age level, he can work his way up to his right performance level. So yes, he can complete as many levels as he can in one school year to accomplish that.

    • kathleen

      hi maam may i ask what are their requirement for us parent as the main educator? and also fro the training youve mention that we will experience PACEs onhand..what is the passing rate for that po? im not really good in comprehension but as parent i really have the heart to homeschool my kids…

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Faith. I’m not sure about special needs. The best thing I can advice is for you to call them and ask. They’re very accommodating with questions. 🙂

  • jenny

    hi…
    where can we take the nearest diagnostic test for my daughter?
    i personally used paces from my kinder to third year hs from a church school way back 90s..

    unforunately, the school ended up close since 2000.

    any nearby homeschool provider that is using paces also. im from bulacan

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Jenny! School of Tomorrow’s testing center is in Paranaque. But they have an office in Ortigas where you can request to pick up your materials and all.

      There are other PACES-based providers in the north (nearer Bulacan), but I’m not familiar with them. 🙂

  • Trinity B.

    Thank you for this I have thought about SoT for quite a while but thought it will be the best fit for our family based on your personal experience with them. May I ask what other programs did you enroll your 12-year old to? Where can we potentially meet tweeners who can befriend her too? I am just worried for my incoming grade 7 who surely misses her peers from trad school.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Trinity!

      My eldest signed up for hip hop dance classes at Homeschool @ BGC, it’s a MAPEH center specifically designed for homeschoolers. Classes are once a week, all year round. They now have branches in Alabang and Quezon City.

      He does theater, usually with Atlantis Theatrical but this year, he enrolled with Repertory Philippines in BGC near our place. The students though, are not all homeschoolers for these workshops.

    • Kaye

      Hi May! Does SoT’s office in Ortigas also offers the Diagnostic Test? If so, may I know their address and phone number, if you have it? I looked for it everywhere, but I cannot find any info regarding their Ortigas address. Thanks!

      • May De Jesus-Palacpac

        Hi Kaye! As far as I know, the only testing center is in Paranaque. You can only pick up your materials at the Ortigas office. 🙂

  • Rino S

    Hello po. my daughter was diagnosed adhd and her learning style is visual/kinesthetic so she learns primariy thru visuals and movement. is the SoT curriculum appropriate? Thanks!

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Rino!

      It works well for visual learners, for sure. But for kinesthetic, it will depend on the child . Our youngest is highly kinesthetic and it works for him. Not sure about the others. 🙂 Perhaps if you spend less time on the paces and supplement with hands on experiments and activities, it will work.

  • Jane

    Hi! Does SOT has yearly graduation or moving up rights for all their homeschoolers. because some homeschool provider i know has one.

  • Jes

    Hi May,

    I’m curious about SOT’s payment plan – if this is our 1st year enrolling with them and we need to pay the one-time family/learner fee, do we have to pay EVERYTHING in one go? Or do they offer monthly/quarterly payments, too?

    Cheers!

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Yes, all in one go. Because the following year, you only need to pay the tuition fee of 3K.

      You can purchase the modules as needed. For example, order them quarterly.

  • Sun

    Hi. Thanks for writing an informative review like this. I’m a single mom working from home. So I take care of everything for my two baby girls. Pero I’m saving na for their homeschooling journey. So my questions are: Do they have parent’s income requirement?(or as long as kaya magbayad, pwede) College education? Civil Status? Sabi kase ng iba, usually daw for private schools and religion-based schools may mga ganung requirements. Thank you in advance for your answers!

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Sun! Thank you for reading my blog.
      As far as I know, we were not interviewed about our income or source of it. I’m not sure about the educational attainment if it was included in the application forms we filled out. But there are fields on our professions.

      I think it doesn’t matter because the curriculum is geared towards independent learning- parents are more focused on teaching the discipline and character more than the academics, and we have advisers that we can approach when we need help in the academics side.

      We also have the DepEd-required annual Educational convergence which helps.:)

  • Precious

    Hi Ms. May! Your blog is so encouraging. I would just like to ask the cost of modules. And are there other expenses aside from the tuition fee? Thank you so much. Hope to hear from you soon. 🙂

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Precious! As of this reply, each module costs 46.50. There are 12 modules for each subject per level. You can choose to buy them by quarterly, semi annually or annual needs. 🙂 And yes, no other expenses but the tuition fee.

  • nalven caseÑas ACENAS

    Hello there!

    May I clarify what is the standard grading system of SoT Philippines. My daugther is enrolled in one SoT School (not to mention the school for confidentially) She did not finish the expected 3 paces/per subject in that quarter. She only finish two, however still, the teacher supply 80 % in the 3rd pace to get the average even if she did take it yet. Is this correct? For example Science: 90 + 90 + 80 (unfinished pace)/3 = 87% (round off)is this correct? Thank you. God bless.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi! I’m not familiar with the regular school setup for SoT. In our case, we only needed to copy the scores of their two tests at the end of each modules. Each child is required a minimum of 90% percentile score for these tests, otherwise, they have to repeat the module and retake these tests.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Liezl,
      What exactly do you mean? The system would depend on what homeschool provider you enrol with.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Emma! No. The only time we went to the school in Paranaque was when we went through the 2-day orientation and when the kids took their diagnostic exams.
      We mostly correspond with our adviser through email, or if necessary, through phone call.

  • Raine

    Hi, i just want to clarify about SOT’s one time matriculation and registration fees. Do i need to pay these every year? Will appreciate your response on this. Thank you.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      yes, there is a minimum annual fee to pay for, but you only need to buy the materials once you have completed a level. 🙂

  • Vichelle

    Hi!! Thanks for a very informative blog post. Are the rates posted here still the current rates as of June 2020? Do you also know their email address to make inquiries/schedule an orientation? I can’t locate it from their site/ FB. Thanks and more power!

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi Vichelle! Please try this: [email protected] — this is the email of our advisor, she may be able to direct you to the proper person to contact. Or you may call their landline – (+632) 8822-9663

  • Gail Tan

    Hello May! Very informative blog you have here. Thank you. I’m now convinced with SOT. But do you think their curriculum can supplement the child shall a DepEd accreditation assessment be needed? (Or a DepEd assessment won’t at all be needed since SOT is already DepEd accredited)?

    Thank you and will really appreciate your response.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      SoT is DepEd-accredited. 🙂 Supplementation of materials will only be at your own prerogative, if you feel that your child needs more.

  • Jovelle

    Hi,

    I’m glad you’re able to appreciate PACES. It’s so refreshing to see this kind of observation specially nowadays. You see I’ve been a product of that curriculum (I’m already 36 years old and SoT is already established at that time.) For me PACES taught me a lot when it comes to self learning, resourceful and goal setting. Me and my siblings was able to pass science schools and top universities. So I’m all hands down to PACES but of course to my mom who guided us all throughout.

    • May De Jesus-Palacpac

      Hi. it can go as low as 2K to as high as 10K. It really depends. What you can do is just buy the modules from the school, then join SoT communities where the old students either give away or sell their old score keys and books. Score keys and books can be bought elsewhere, it’s just the modules that you have to buy from them.

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