One of our biggest blessings this past school year, 2022-23, is discovering our homeschool provider Frames of Mind School (FMS) of Rodriguez, Rizal. FMS is a multiple intelligences school that had been in operation for 2 decades already and they have a license from the Department of Education to offer homeschooling as an alternative way to education.

Let me share the many reasons why I chose them as our homeschool provider or partner school last school year and why we will be enrolling with them again in the next school year.

What I Like/Love About FMS

#1 They offer the most affordable tuition fee among homeschool providers that allow the use of an Open Curriculum. This is our main reason for choosing this provider. Their tuition for Open Curriculum or Independent Learning is only P6,000 per child regardless of grade level. Thus, for all 3 kids, we only need to pay P18,000 if there are no discounts. This was even lower than the tuition of 1 student in any of the previous homeschool providers that we tried in the past. One of our providers used to charge at least P25,000 per student. the other provider around P19,000. We really saved a lot in tuition fees this past school year! What a big blessing from God!

Whatever we saved in tuition fees, we got to channel to our other needs like enrichment classes, field trips, books and other school supplies and materials. Aside from offering really affordable tuition fee rates, they also have semi-annual or quarterly payment options. Isn’t that great?

As if that is not enough, parents only need to pay P2,000 as a down payment to enroll their kids at Frames of Mind School. With that, you can already secure your child’s slot for the school year.

#2 They offer sibling discounts and a referral discount of P500 per student you refer who enrolls with them. Because of this referral system and the sibling discount, we were able to save P11,000!!!

#3 The school supports and encourages the progressive way of educating kids, which is what I had been doing for a decade already. Thus, we got to continue our homeschool approaches which are child-centered, interest-led, faith-based, and project-based. Included in the projects that we had this past school year were my eldest son’s Christmas piano solo album launch, his book project published on Amazon, our youngest son’s children’s book project also, and our many culinary adventures, STEM projects of our boys, serving in the Music Ministry as their output and many others. I get to save a lot of time and energy homeschooling my kids because I don’t need to teach subjects separately all the time or I can have one activity and we can cover several subjects already. We can still do unit studies as a family and I can teach the same topic or theme to all my 3 children even though they are from different grade levels.

#4 They have in-house contests/competitions and they encourage their students to join national and international competitions. The school regularly gets invitations from organizers and they give their students the opportunity to join these competitions.

#5 They have monthly online Parents’ Meeting and Parents’ Fellowship. I think this is very helpful for both new and experienced homeschooling parents. These meetings give us a chance to ask questions or raise concerns when we have any. Or to follow up on our concerns and questions if needed. the monthly fellowships also give inspiration, ideas and encouragement to parents as parents share their homeschool journeys or stories. Parents get support not just from the teachers but also from fellow homeschooling parents.

This incoming school year, they will also have 2x a month online kamustahan or check-ins with monthly themes.

#6 They offer a New Normal Grading option where the kids need not take written final exams. This is what I chose for this school year because I am a big fan of hands-on or experiential learning. I put more weight on outputs like products and projects or performances that combine several subjects or fields and that are most relevant to the child’s interests, strengths and our family’s priorities.

#7 They provide free learning materials like e-books which parents can opt to use or not for their children. I did not use all that they shared because they shared A LOT of free materials. But I used many also for all my 3 children. I was glad that they also use and recommend Evan Moor materials because I had been using these materials since I started homeschooling my eldest child in early elementary. That has been our main curriculum for English Grammar from the beginning for all 3 children.

#8 No additional fees for the students’ school ID, certificates and medals for awards received. They are already part of the tuition fee. You don’t need to pay additional unlike with other providers. I know because all these were paid for when we were with another provider before. We only paid for the shipping fee. Savings again!!

#9 They also have free enrichment classes and discounted rates for enrichment classes. During the course of the year, they have partnered with some providers/teachers for free online enrichment classes on various topics that students can join. They also had a partnership last school year with the Robotics & Programming Guild of the Philippines and offered a discounted rate for their STEM or coding classes which we availed for our eldest child.

#10 They were considerate when it comes to submission of requirements like grading sheets and portfolios and you have a good or valid reason for being late. My kids and I had some health challenges in the past school year. There were times when we got delayed in our lessons because the kids got sick one after the other. There was even a time when all 3 kids got sick simultaneously. Because of exhaustion from taking care of the kids while they were sick, I also got sick, eventually. It helps that the teachers and the school shows concern and consideration and are not rigid when it comes to deadlines.

What FMS Can Improve On

I think they can do better in their customer service or turn-around time in responding to inquiries or questions be it via their Facebook Pages, email, landlines, or mobile numbers. There were times when it would take a while to get a response from them. This could be due to the volume of students enrolled with them and the number of inquiries they are receiving. I suggest that more school staff be hired to handle inquiries and coordinate concerns between parents and teachers or the school staff who handle finance or school requirements.

Also, there had been a number of mistakes or missing videos, photos, or list of awards during the end-of-year Recognition and Moving Up Ceremonies. Two of my kids experienced this. My middle child’s videos were not included in the presentations of the students for his grade level. My eldest child’s list of in-house competition awards was not included in his slides. It was disappointing because we spent time and resources to submit the requirements for the program on time. I was also assured that we have already completed the requirements. Moreover, we thought that the medals and certificates would be shipped before the Online Recognition and Moving Up Ceremonies if we submit everything before the deadline given. However, there had been a delay in shipping them. My husband and I suggest that Project Managers and Event Coordinators be hired by the school to make these important events seamless and to prevent the same problems from happening again in the future.

With all the many advantages that FMS offers, we would still choose to enroll our kids with them this coming school year because the advantages far outweigh the negative experiences. I also believe that they can improve on these things if they will hire additional staff. I wish we have discovered this school sooner. We could have saved a lot of money and our kids could have joined more contests/competitions in the past.

If this review helped you and you are interested to enroll your child with Frames of Mind School, send me a message on my Facebook page Hands-On Parent while Earning. I would be happy to assist you or answer your questions and clarifications. I also give a FREE E-BOOK to parents who enroll their children through my referral or recommendation. (The free e-book is only for new enrollees of FMS. Those who were previously enrolled in the past years cannot claim a new e-book anymore.)

The Parents’ Orientation for the Independent Learning Modality is on July 19, 2023 and the official start of classes is on July 24, 2023.

They offer other learning modalities aside from Independent Learning or Open Curriculum. They offer Digimodule, Online Distance Learning and Blended/Face-to-Face for those who live near the school. The rates, however, vary depending on the learning mode.

You may also reach them through their Facebook pages here and here or contact their teachers (T. Mitch – 0916 4036092; T. Charm – 0966 1772422 and T. Iamond – 0998 9891665). You may call their landline (028 – 2829588), too. They are now open for admission.