IF I were still a little kid, UK would probably be heaven for me. Assignments are only given every Friday and submission is every Wednesday. And I can complain to authorities if my parents would make me study every single day. UK and a kiddie me would indeed have been a match made in heaven.
Heaven for little school kids, but if you are a Pinay mom like Lorinda Caina, you will have mixed feelings about the kind of education your child is getting in the UK. Both of Lorinda’s daughters, who are being educated in the UK, learned to read as early as four years old. But still, she thinks the teaching methods and practices there are not preparing them to face stress. There are no daily assignments, quizzes and extracurricular activities that she was used to when she was still studying in Cagayan de Oro City. The school only recommends sitting with your children for 10 minutes daily to study. “Sa atoa pa… 10 minutes kulang ra!” said the UK based Pinay mom.
Unlike their Philippine based counterparts that deal with tons of assignments and projects during weekends, Pinoy kids in the UK spend their Saturdays and Sundays doing planned activities like beach outings, museum trips or going on fun rides.
According to Jubeth Aguirre Mosqueda, another Kagayanon Pinay mom in the UK, “Kinahanglan malingaw gyud sila… no assignments from school.”
On the other side of the world, Jackie Sacay Borja, a Pinay mom in the US, thinks that her first grader’s assignments are more difficult compared to when she was Grade 1 here. The same sentiment is echoed by Charisma Diputado Salimbangon, another Pinay mom in the US. She said that her son started reading chapter books since Grade 1. And they are even given reading logs to fill in during semester breaks.
Vrazl Bueno Sanchez, a Kagayanon Pinay mom also in the US said that as early as 2nd Grade, kids already have research papers to do. And the research includes doing the actual research, typing and putting images from the internet on their paper. She said that focus is given on Reading, Literature, Science, Math and Technology and they don’t have “extra” subjects like Home Economics and Homeroom.
But the great thing about the US educational system is that if you have a gifted child, time and attention will be given to develop his potentials. Erica Patricio’s son is in the gifted and talented class. Although still in Grade 2, his reading level is already that of a 4th Grader.
And even if you are not in a gifted class, when your child learns more quickly, the teacher gives you more advanced lessons. Charisma Diputado Salimbangon’s son excels in Math, so his teacher introduced him to fractions earlier than his classmates.
Just like here in the Philippines, Pinay moms in the US choose between public and private schools. According to them, if you are luckily assigned to an excellent public school, education would be free. But some of them like, Jackie Sacay Borja and Vrazyl Bueno Sanchez, have to shell out a lot of money for the private schools that their kid attends. Jackie pays about $500 a month on tuition.
Public schools in the UK are also free. And they don’t even have to buy pens, notebooks and project materials because these are freely given. And as if that isn’t enough, the government gives financial child support every month which parents can use to pay for their kids’ clubs.
But given the choice, would they still choose to let their kids study abroad or back here in Cagayan de Oro City? Find out their answers and their reasons in my blog dearies. I will also be writing a series of articles about raising kids abroad, both here in my column and in my blog.
That’s it dearies. Cheers to being Pinay moms – anywhere in the world!
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