MANILA, Philippines?When Filipino immigrant Clarisse Crisostomo decided more than five years ago to homeschool her children, she was met with opposition from her own family.

Her family was surprised she was not taking advantage of the free public school system in the United States.

The 32-year-old mother of four moved to Washington State in 1988 to join her mother who earlier immigrated and settled in the Seattle area.

Clarisse, who was born in Baguio City to an Ilocano family from Balaoan, La Union, said her relatives in the Philippines were also surprised by her decision. ?After all, I come from a family of educators and learners,? she said.

It was her husband Greg, whose father?s family immigrated to Guam before he was born, who first broached the idea of homeschooling when their eldest child Ethan was still a baby.

Reluctant

Clarisse was initially uninterested. She remembered that the homeschooled children she met as a kid seemed naive and socially withdrawn.

The young couple decided they would put the young Crisostomos in public schools and review their options when Ethan was in third grade.

Ethan (now 13 years old) did very well in public school and Clarisse?s involvement in the Parent-Teacher Association and as class mother gave her confidence in his education.

Real homeschooling began when their now 12-year-old daughter Evelyn entered kindergarten.

Evelyn, Clarisse said, was one of only two kids in kindergarten with reading and writing skills.

A week before Evelyn?s graduation, her kindergarten teacher met with the Crisostomos.

?Aptitude-wise, her teacher said Evelyn should be in second grade. However, we both shared the same concerns that Evelyn did not have the social skills to fit into second grade,? Clarisse said.

The kindergarten teacher urged Clarisse and Greg to consider homeschooling, even providing them the necessary information.

?This shocked us. A public school teacher suggesting homeschooling? Unheard of!? Clarisse recalled.

The Crisostomos spent the following summer researching and reading up on several approaches to education.

Three-step learning

?We settled on the Classical (Education) approach after reading a book by Susan Wise Bauer called ?The Well Educated Mind,?? Clarisse said.

Bauer?s Classical homeschooling involves three stages of learning: grammar, logic stage and rhetoric.

The grammar stage entails the learning of facts, memorization and knowledge gathering. The logic stage involves the application of reasoning and logic to knowledge. The rhetoric stage equips the student with wisdom and judgment skills.

Homeschooling Ethan, Evelyn, Hayden (who is 8) and Logan (6), gave Greg and Clarisse the opportunity to discover each child?s distinct personality and individual gifts.

?Ethan is very diligent in his studies...,? Clarisse said.

He wakes up at 5:30 a.m. every day and begins with personal Bible study. He finishes mathematics and another subject before the rest of the family rises.

?Ethan?s goal is to go to the Air Force Academy, something he decided on when he was five,? Clarisse said.

She described daughter Evelyn as talented and very bright. By Washington State standards, Evelyn is an 8th grader although her age puts her in 6th grade.

?Aside from excelling in math, Evelyn also loves writing, exhibiting depth and maturity...,? Clarisse said.

She described Hayden as ?her most creative child,? excelling in penmanship, math and music.

?I earlier felt insecure as his teacher because Hayden struggled with reading,? she recalled.

But she discovered that Hayden was an ?auditory learner? who struggled with image memorization. Hayden could memorize anything he heard.

Logan, the youngest, benefits a lot from the studies the older kids are doing.

?His level of comprehension and discussion is above his age level. He reads music as well as Hayden because I taught them at the same time...,? Clarisse said.

At six years old, Logan is an accomplished artist/drawer.

Clarisse has countless special memories with her children because of homeschooling.

?A few of my favorites include the moment each of my children read a book out loud for the first time, and when I see (the older ones) mentor a younger sibling,? she said.

Hayden, Clarisse said, demonstrated his knowledge of what he was studying by teaching it to Logan. Evelyn mentors Hayden in penmanship and Ethan lets Logan read to him daily.

Clarisse said when Ethan was in sixth grade, he did a living history presentation on Jose Rizal. Ethan wore Clarisse?s grandfather?s barong while acting out Rizal?s final days and explaining the hero?s significance to American history.

Clarisse said homeschooling was more than a trend in the US. It was also changing in many ways because of the resources becoming available.

?Washington is a wonderful state for homeschooling. This liberal state allows plenty of freedom in the curriculum choice and testing of students,? Clarisse said.

Unlike in some states, Clarisse is not required to work directly with a certified teacher.

?My only complaint is that, even though my children aren?t in public schools to flush the toilets and turn on the lights, my tax dollars still go to the public school, $8,000 per child per year. I would love that allotment to offset our costs in educating our children,? Clarisse, who has a growing food catering business to supplement Greg?s income as a senior accountant in a nonprofit organization, lamented.

Growing acknowledgment

She discovered in a recent Classical Educators Conference in Idaho that homeschooled students were quickly becoming acknowledged in universities.

The dean of students of the University of Idaho mentioned during the conference that colleges were now tapping into the unrecognized population of students who were homeschooled, finding them more disciplined and focused on higher learning and stronger in math and sciences.

There had also been some challenges. Clarisse, for instance, must work hard to document all hours of schooling.

?I also need to present documentation and test scores to formulate a transcript for high school or college,? she said.

There were many resources available for transcript formulation, Clarisse said. Though costly, they would help avoid any problems with college applications, she added.

Among their own families? concerns was how the Crisostomo children would be recognized and honored for doing well.

Clarisse explained the kids would still receive grade point averages and their work were rated from A to F.

?However, they don?t know their grades most of the time because grades are not the driving point for education in our family. Higher education is the driving point in our pursuit. Knowledge and use of it is the driving point. The love of learning, the joy of discovery is what drives our pursuit,? she stressed.

Clarisse said their parents had since ?really come around? and were now proud of what their grandchildren knew and could do.

Their relatives back home have also come to appreciate homeschooling. When Clarisse conducted sessions with her kids during a three-month visit to the Philippines, her aunts and uncles sat in, instantly loving her approach to education.

Homeschooling allowed her to adjust her expectations of herself and her children, she added.