Turning 50 and homeschooling aren’t really in the same category, but there has been a lot of things that went on with our family lately that I’m going to have to cram my life’s updates together, among other back stories, so I can move forward with my blog, haha!
Goodbye Fully Housewifed
Last March, I bid Fully Housewifed goodbye. This means that on October this year, I will cease renewing my old domain and let go of the URL that I’ve been using for 13 years.
What does this really mean? To be honest, I originally intended to quit blogging about our homeschool journey. It started to feel like our setup is too unconventional for some people, and putting it out there made us vulnerable to judgment and criticism. I just didn’t have the energy — or the desire — to explain or defend our choices. I just wanted to continue doing what we’re doing quietly.
Perhaps, it was also because towards the end of 2024, we were shaken by our circumstances. The boys, especially our eldest, were very discouraged about their dance careers. We found ourselves at a dead end. Or so, we thought.
But things have looked up since and I feel, once again, compelled to share glimpses of our life as a non-traditional homeschooling family, because I know that there are families like ours who need to know that there are other options and workarounds out there in home educating our children, as well as provide objective POV’s on these options.
Say Hello to May Palacpac, Storyteller
May Palacpac, Storyteller will not be like Fully Housewifed, even though at the moment, it may seem like it is.
It took me some time mulling over how I would like to move forward with this part of my life. I needed a bit of courage and information to be able to decide.
I did transfer my old blogs to this one because I know that there are families who are still helped by them.
The Homeschool Podcast episodes for the past two seasons will continue to be up on YouTube and Spotify for as long as they are relevant to the times. I’m still deciding on whether to continue with a third season because I am a one-woman team in all of it, from conceptualization to execution and marketing, and it’s a lot of work!
I’m really more of a writer, so the decision I need to make is whether I will produce another season or just stick to writing where it’s simpler and requires less work from me. We’ll see.
I plan to re-organize this blog one day soon, possibly streamline the categories and delete blogs that shouldn’t be here. The guest and sponsored blogs will have to stay, though, because that’s my commitment to my clients.
Besides, these paid posts are what keeps the site going. Maintaining a professional blog isn’t free.
So yes, May Palacpac, Storyteller is the rebrand, but I cannot tell you exactly my full plans just yet. All I can tell you right now is that I have started working on this and it’s pretty exciting for me because it is something I’ve always wanted to do.
I have to admit that part of getting myself a new domain and deciding to continue working with brands and clients was because I am BIR-registered. Here in the Philippines, it is much more complicated to completely shut down than to just continue generating income from my writing, so here I am with a new blog – just on a slightly different direction.
There have been some requests from friends for me to help promote their small businesses, but at the moment, I cannot because I’ve not set up my new brand just yet. I’m also still in the process of putting together ideas for simple marketing strategy for those who’d like to continue working with me.
GED and ALS
This school year, upon a heart-to-heart talk with our two younger kids, we have decided to re-register for the DepEd’s Alternative Learning System under MyHill ALS.
It all started with Judah, our youngest, who is now 14. Unlike his brothers, Judah’s goals are gearing more towards a more academic post secondary education. He hasn’t yet decided whether he would like to become a Digital Marketer, a Food Entrepreneur, or a Music Producer, but these careers are inevitably college or trade school-bound.
Jay and I are also considering sending him to a mainstream school for senior high school and we have a couple of options in mind. However, we still need to convince him as at the moment, he is insistent on taking the GED route for his senior high years.
Lukas is certain to take the GED for his Senior year credentials, but at 16 years old, I thought that the ALS curriculum and what it offers would really be beneficial for him and his brother, and the tiny bit of structure can help me monitor their progress.
It took some time to fully sink in, but I now have a clearer perspective on the ALS and the possibilities it opens up for my kids. For example, I find MyHill’s portfolio and internship requirements to be well-aligned with the direction they’re headed.
Completing the program and passing the final exams is ideal, but what I’m really after is the training and curriculum that the ALS offers.
That, and because I’d like to have access again to the program’s Filipino modules which is the tool I’m using to get them to learn our language.
The ALS program has three levels: Grade school, Junior High and Senior High School. Both boys are in Junior High.
At the moment, ALS for Senior High School is “in person” and only offered in a few locations, mostly in the provinces. That is because the ALS program was originally created for learners who have limited access to mainstream education and OSYs (Out-of-School Youth). My kids are technically under the second category. It’s not a completely accurate label for us but if we are to look for what category we can slide in, it’s what fits.
Anyway, I will blog more details about our decision to go back to MyHill-ALS and the other details one of these days.
ALS is not Unschooling
Pablo, on the other hand, has completed studying English for GED (General Education Development Program) and is just waiting for an opportunity to renew his passport, so he can have a valid ID to present to register for the GED exams.
He has a National ID, but to be honest, it has failed us many times, including verifying him for a GCash account, so he’ll need his passport, which, unfortunately, expired last year.
For the meantime, he is reviewing for the exams ahead and will start studying the other three subjects while he waits.
Because the two older boys go to training everyday, they naturally have less time to work on their academics than their youngest brother. And in our setup, that is okay. They are already working on the first choice for a career while studying their academics, so we are okay with it.
So this isn’t unschooling anymore. We are doing a more structured, albeit, still non-mainstream approach. We are following alternative curricula – GED review and DepEd’s ALS that best serve our children’s academic needs.
STEPS Dance Studio
I mentioned in a previous blog about the boys auditioning for scholarships at STEPS Dance Studio and having started their training promptly towards the end of February.
This summer, they performed in their very first STEPS Summer Intensive concert at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater. This week, they begin rehearsals for the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), where they’re honored to have been invited by the school to join the contemporary ensemble.
It could be Pablo’s last chance to join the YAGP because he’ll be 20 on August this year. Next September, he will be 21 and may no longer qualify to join the competition if the age limit of 20 applies. This is really a big deal for him, not having competed in the past. He is thrilled at the prospect of going head to head with other talented schools.
The school has also started practicing some of the dances for their Christmas show on December, which is something we look forward to.
Turning 50!
I quietly turned 50 in May, and the question that has been echoing in my mind since is: How do I want to spend my remaining years on Earth?
Reaching 50 comes with a certain clarity — the realization that more than half of your life has likely passed, and if you’re fortunate, you may have another 20 to 30 years ahead.
I don’t want to waste my remaining years living a life that I never wanted to live and doing things that I never wanted to do.
I ran across a video of an actress quoting another actress, saying that we make time for those we deem important to us. And I want to do that. I want to make time for the things that I am called to do.
I’ve actually asked my husband and kids if they’d like to join me in one of these things, because I’d really love for our family to serve our society in this way.
I’ll share with you more once I get my thoughts all sorted out. I’m just waiting for our quarterly event to finish this week so I can relax and talk to God about this. But let me leave you with this verse from the Bible:
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” Psalm 90:12.
Rescued Kittens
We now care for 4 cats. They are all rescued cats, but two of them, we adopted from animal welfare groups, and two of them, we found abandoned, alone and hungry in our yard.
We have an 8-month old grey and white tabby named Señorita who is currently recovering from a mean bout of respiratory illness, one 7-month old male orange cat we named Chili, and he is fast becoming the heaviest cat in our household, a 4-month old orange cat whom Judah named Bean because she was so small when we first found her behind our trash bins, and our 2-month old tuxedo kitten whom we named Sylvester.
They bring us all joy. The boys love coming home to cats running down the stairs to greet us as soon as they see us entering our property from the window.
They can also be the sweetest thing and they often take our minds off our problems because they give us enough to stress about already, hahaha!
This much sums up my life’s update at this time. I hope that things are well with everyone.
Will blog again soon!
Lumos Tablet: Affordable Tablet for Homeschooling
May Palacpac, Storyteller 
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