I love including fun activities in our homeschool. This school year, we started our homeschool again with another fun activity: a family field trip! We did the same thing last year when we went to Fort Santiago in Intramuros and the Aguinaldo Shrine in Cavite. (You may read about our field trip last year here.) We wanted to go to Dr. Jose Rizal’s Shrine in Calamba last year but we were not able to go because it was under renovation then. Thankfully, we were able to go there this year.
But before I share with you our experience during our first field trip this school year, let me share what we did to prepare for this activity.
We love reading these books that we bought in the previous events that we joined. We bought the book on Jose Rizal and the Katipunan at the MIBF (Manila International Book Fair) in the past; while we bought the book about Segunda at Adarna Publishing’s book table when we watched a musical featuring one of Adarna’s books.
Aside from reviewing our history books and making a Philippine flag, I bought new books for our children. These books had been part of our read-aloud sessions days before our field trip. We also started singing the Philippine National Anthem daily again. We used to do that last year; then we stopped for a while last summer because the boys had summer classes in the morning. This year, even our youngest son loves singing it. He likes to act as conductor while his eldest brother plays it on the piano and his older brother sings. Sometimes, he would just stand and put his hand on his chest like his older brother.
My boys proudly show the Philippine flags that they made. My eldest son placed his flag on our picture frame on top of his piano. It reminds him to play our National Anthem daily as part of our flag ceremony.
I bought these new books via Tahanan Book’s online shop. We enjoyed reading them this month.
More than a month before our planned field trip, I contacted a History professor to ask if he could accompany us during our field trip. I still did not know him last year yet when we first went to Fort Santiago. I met him in a seminar organized by PCGE (Philippine Center for Gifted Education) where he talked about the life of Dr. Jose Rizal and how parents of gifted children can learn from his experience. I also learned that day that he and his partners at Sucesos Walking Tours conduct educational tours. That’s when I first thought of inviting him to spice up our future field trips to historical sites.
When Prof. Alvin Campomanes confirmed that he is free to join us on the weekend that I was eyeing for our field trip, I announced this in the Facebook groups on homeschooling that I was a part of. I thought that it would be nice to invite other homeschooling families and meet some of them. I’m so glad I did this! There were a number of families who signified their interest to join.
Group photo with other homeschooling families who joined our field trip with Prof. Alvin Campomanes. I was wearing a shirt with the front cover design of my first children’s book Mommy Loves You Just the Same.
I was very excited! We had so much fun last year in our family field trip! I imagined that it would be thrice the fun this year because we’d be meeting new friends during our field trip plus there would be a History professor who would help us understand more the facts that we will read and the memorabilia that we will see during our field trip.
We woke up early for our field trip last Saturday, June 18. We headed to Rizal Shrine in Calamba, Laguna for our first stop. That’s where we met with other homeschooling families and Prof. Alvin.
While waiting for the rest of the homeschooling families, our kids had their photo taken with the statue of young Rizal and other kids who got to the Shrine early.
My boys enjoyed exploring the grounds before the start of the tour.
The young Rizals used to play in a nipa hut outside their house. This nipa hut is a model or replica of the old nipa hut where the Rizal children used to play.
I’m so glad I asked Prof. Alvin to join our field trip! We learned so much from him! It was also my first time at Rizal Shrine in Calamba, just like my kids and husband. I felt like a young kid having her field trip that day. 😉 I don’t remember having school field trips when I was in elementary. That’s why I love homeschooling. Parents get to learn with their children.
Group photo in front of the Shrine with the curator of the Rizal Shrine Ms. Zarah Escueta (wearing red).
We officially began our tour of the Shrine.
Prof. Alvin shares about Dr. Jose Rizal’s self-portrait and the story behind it.
This field trip is actually a double celebration. It was not only an advance birthday celebration of Dr. Jose Rizal. It was also our advance Father’s Day bonding. As part of our Father’s Day gift to my husband, we gave him a Daddy shirt whose design was lifted from my first children’s book. It’s just not very clear here in the photo that he is wearing the shirt we gave him. My two older boys were wearing their Big Brother shirts. These were also based on the character from my children’s book Mommy Loves You Just the Same.
I loved Prof. Alvin’s passion for History. He had so many stories to share about Jose Rizal and his family. It was obvious that it was not only the children who enjoyed our field trip but the parents as well! In truth, I think the parents enjoyed the educational tour more! hahaha We had a lot of questions.
Our two older boys at the comedor with a punkah.
I’ve always loved History! It was one of my favorite subjects in school. I like reading up on the history of places and many things. That day, Rizal’s house in Calamba came to life once more through Prof. Alvin’s stories. When I first listened to his talk at the PCGE seminar, I was only imagining Dr. Jose Rizal’s house. I already learned much about our National Hero from that talk. But seeing his house, how big their property was and that their house was just beside the church gave me a lot of insight into the kind of childhood that he had. It affirmed me in my dream to buy a property with a bigger yard and garden for our kids, too.
From the Rizal Shrine, we went to the church beside it, which is St. John the Baptist’s Church. It was in this church that Dr. Jose Rizal was baptized.
On the first photo, Yanthy was standing at the church courtyard with the giant palayok or banga on a stove in the background. This was where the town got its name. On the second photo, my two sons were standing outside the main entrance of the church. On the third photo, the baptistry was their background.
Prof. Alvin points to the historical marker in the church.
Then, we went to the second tallest monument of our National Hero, which is also in the same town.
Last year, we bought Philippine-designed shirts for our field trip. This year, we had our own shirts printed based on my first children’s book Mommy Loves You Just the Same. Here, my two older kids were wearing Mommy Loves Me Just the Same shirts while my youngest son was wearing the Baby Brother onesie.
Our last stop was at General Paciano Rizal’s house in Los Banos, Laguna. Prof. Alvin shared a lot here about Dr. Jose Rizal’s older brother. But what I loved the most is how much Paciano and Jose loved each other and how his older brother made sacrifices for him. I prayed that my sons would also have a strong relationship as brothers just like the Rizal brothers.
My boys with Prof. Alvin in front of the statue of General Paciano Rizal just outside the general’s house.
It was already almost 1 PM when we officially finished our field trip but the parents kept asking Prof. Alvin questions. On the other hand, the kids were busy playing with each other and were not even complaining about hungry tummies. I believe that it’s an indication that we need to plan for another field trip with other homeschooling families!
Prof. Alvin shares stories outside the house of General Paciano Rizal.
The kids played a bit at the nipa hut outside while parents huddle with Prof. Alvin for more stories.
My kids stand at the terrace where Laguna Bay can be seen. According to Prof. Alvin, General Paciano Rizal chose this location for his house so that he could still see his original hometown from here across the bay.
My eldest son declared that we should have lunch together. Some families had to leave early though because they live far. But we got to have late lunch with some of them together with Prof. Alvin at Dalcielo, one of the local restaurants. I recommended this place because I read good reviews about it. Sadly, we got lost and we ended up eating at their branch outside UP LB campus instead of eating in the branch with a nice view outside. Anyway, the food did not disappoint me. I just forgot to take pictures while we were at the restaurants because I was busy feeding my 3 boys and trying to eat my lunch! Also, I was already famished by the time we arrived at the restaurant! We had a great time, though! We continued to exchange stories and laughter over lunch.
On our way home, we kept exchanging stories with Prof. Alvin who rode with us back to Manila. We bought buco pie and yema cheese cake while still in Laguna. My boys, especially my eldest son Yanthy, wanted to bring Prof. Alvin home with us. haha He said he wants to play with him. I just told him that we’ll see him again next time and we will ask him to join our next historical field trip.
I look forward to another field trip with Prof. Alvin. Hopefully, I could organize one again before year end.
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