Abstract

The educational situation of the Philippines, for the current school year, has changed because of COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the Philippines became one of the countries worldwide that has suspended their classes. As couple educators, this scenario forced us to a deep reflection on how to ensure that education of children will not be hampered even when they are forced to stay at home. Since online education is already practiced in many countries, we thought that it might be best to explore on this possible mode of education. We designed an assisted learning instruction where learners are given opportunities to learn using the available new learning platforms. It started with a simple call through an advertisement posted on Facebook where eighteen children participated in this free-online tutorial program. This is a five-week e-learning program utilizing the Google tools such as Google Classroom and Google Meet. Specific tasks and activities are provided where learners are expected to complete by the end of the week with the help and guidance from their parents or guardians. This paper discusses the assessment on the strengths and weaknesses of this program as reported by the parents of our students. Results confirmed that the transition of learning to online education became helpful and beneficial where gained experiences can be used in the future. This paper also presents important and practical inputs to teachers and educational heads for policy and program making in the education of students in the socalled new normal.