CM co-op in the Philippines...

The internet is a beautiful thing. I found out about a Charlotte Mason style homeschooling co-op here in the Philippines through a CM Facebook page. :)

We ventured 40 minutes away to a local university campus using Uber and all the nerve I could muster. :) I packed a lunch and plenty of water and supplies to do paper cutting and nature drawing, etc.

There was no class for Ben's age, so I sat with him in a little cafe in the building, and I read him books and chatted a bit with a couple of homeschooling moms.

The co-op was mostly in English, but there were a few short portions in Tagalog. Seth and Evan were a little overwhelmed with the class attempts at narrating a folk tale in native language.

I had wanted to try and stay until the nature study time, but I think we were all overwhelmed and experiencing some culture shock, so it didn't happen. We ate our packed lunch, and Seth played Old Maid with some classmates. After that, I tried to hail an Uber.

Unfortunately we were far off the main road, and the cell signal was weak. Another homeschooling mom saw me walking around with my melting kids trying to find a signal, and she asked her husband to drive me to a local mall where I could get a better signal and pick up an Uber. Of course, the Uber request completed while we were on the way there. Gah!

I was really thankful for our good Samaritan who spoke Tagalog. He called the driver and worked it out, and he didn't leave us until he was sure the driver knew how to get us back to our barangay.

The driver called him my "kuya." Kuya means "brother" in Tagalog, and he wasn't wrong. I thanked my Christian brother before he left us, extremely grateful for the body of Christ all over the world.

We may try this class again when our car arrives, but I don't know that I've got the guts to do it again without one. The nature study time especially could be worth a longish drive, especially when it's not the hottest time of the year like it is now. :)

But how amazing is it that homeschoolers are using CM methods all over the world, y'all? Seth and Evan narrated and sang "Crown Him With Many Crowns" with Filipino kids, and the mom who rescued us made sure to compliment Seth on his narration skills before we hopped into her car. :)

My homeschooling life here is pretty surreal at times. :)