Pre-school hunting

Benedict just turned 2 a few weeks back...

and even before he did, we were already eyeing a few prospective schools for him. (di sad mi excited sah? hehe) But we only had the time (and the energy ) to go about school-hunting today.

And we were able to make a few rounds of what we think are good options for him.

First stop, MARIA MONTESSORI CDO. We were happy to know that the directress came from our own dear Alma Mater USC. And most of her teacher staffs are also Carolinians...yey! Of course, their credentials boasted of being affiliated with the Montessori Federation of the Phils. (them being one of the two schools in CDO who are actually affiliated with the prestigious group inspite of a thousand others claiming to be Montessori-inspired). They are also trained by American, Australian, Hawaiian & Japanese Montessoris. I personally didn't know there were as many. We are quite happy with the way the directress explained to us how they go about their toddler class, which by the way is only composed of 5 kids, with Benedict being the 6th if we chose to enroll with them. Another plus factor is that they have a teeny-weeny kiddie pool (if you call a 3-ft. body of water that, tee hee), but my Benedict was practically squirming out of my reach to be able to get near the splashing kids enjoying their "fun day" activity. We found out that every Friday is a free play day where kids get to swim for a few minutes. Oh wow! great news for my little fish of a son. My only concern is that being advocate of independence that they are, we might not be able to fully trust 'em to "take care" of our son the way we want. I hate to admit it but I am bordering over being sooo over-protective and Marlon is even worse. Haay! We will have to make adjustments as the directress really informed us that their students are expected to be fully independent from their parents. Waaah, there's never a time that my Benedict is not under my or his Yaya's watchful eyes. Am getting nervous just thinking that he might trip over their rocky pathway. geez!

Anyway, on to our next stop...SCHOOL FOR LIFE which is really not much to our liking. I just am not impressed with their facilities as well as their directress. It's just fortunate that Benedict was sleeping in the car at this time so we quickly got out after a quick tour of their premises.

Our last stop was at SMART START ACADEMY. This is quite to my liking although I dont understand why my hubby doesn't quite share my view. Perhaps he has his mind set on the 1st school we visited, or maybe because the structure resembles a warehouse. He used to live & hold office in one so I must trust him when he say na he thinks the place used to be a bodega...hahaha. But I am impressed with the way their teachers (or at least the toddler teacher we talked to) handled our inquiries as well as the way she gave us a tour of the premises. Most of the area are also rubber-padded...and CLEAN! and all of their materials look sanitized and new. They only opened last May, which quite explains my preference. Am i going to be faulted for thinking of hygienic facilities for my son? And facilities-wise, I couldn't have been more satisfied with their Little Tikes & Chicco playground toys. Another plus factor for me is that they also employ the Montessori method and is affiliated with Montessori Institute of America. By this time Benedict was busy checking out their playground under Yaya's care while his Dad & I were given a tour inside their airconditioned activity areas. We are actually offered a week (4 days to be exact) to let Benedict try their class for free and observe if he will like their set-up. Personally I am leaning to choose this school, but I have to discuss the pros & cons with the Daddy.

After we had lunch at my SIL's place, we left Benedict in her care and resumed our agenda. Next school on our list is ORO CHRISTIAN GRACE SCHOOL. Being of the chinese ancestry, we are expected to have our kids enrolled in a chinese school also. We are just lucky that even here in CDO there are a few good schools to choose from. And this being one of them. When we were given a tour of their classrooms, I was pleasantly surprised that their hallways mostly resemble my old alma mater in Cebu. It was like being transported back in time when all my classmates had 2-4 letter chinese surnames and I never had difficulty pronouncing the Filipino sounding ones. But I also remember the culture shock I have had in college, when I was seated alongside classmates with surnames as diverse as Pepito, Pitogo, Duhaylungsod and the likes. Pardon me but it was really not an easy task esp. since I was elected class secretary pa. Now I'm thinking ahead...will i let Benedict go through that??? Hmmm...do I have to answer now? hehe.. As I have said, my own Dad especially hinted that he wants to see his grandchildren being brought up in the same manner we were brought up...that being made aware of discipline & hard-work even at an early age. Isn't also frugality the best trait of the chinese ancestry? And I am so sure I didn't inherit those genes and my Dad will surely disown me for saying so...hahaha. Kidding aside, I know what he means of being immersed in the chinese culture and all...I didn't particularly like being "tindera" in our provincial gen. mdse. store at that time but I am reaping the benefits now, being inherently business-minded inspite of my swearing (a few times too many!) that I am not gonna go into biz. Talk about eating my own words!

But I am swayed off my pre-school hunting story... to continue, another one of our pleasant surprise was finding out that the teacher handling toddler class is a former colleague of mine at my UCPB workplace. So I will be at rest knowing that I know the lady personally handling my son's class. And she holds my utmost respect too. The only thing is they accept students who are 2 years & 7 month old pa...and they are quite strict about age requirement. They have spacious and well-maintained facilities, I especially love their playground toys...I am finding out that I am partial to plastic-type toys the likes of Little Tikes & Chiccos. I guess I just have this fear that those which are steel-made might not be well-maintained and I hate to think of my son getting hurt in them. Hay, my being OP mom strikes again!

Oh well our last stop had been at KONG HUA, another Chinese school in the vicinity. We haven't really talked to their school directress as she is out of the country at the moment but I do like the strict security they are imposing. The security guards are really inqusitive yet polite. I can see myself leaving my child there knowing that they can be trusted to take care of him. Oh well, I'll hold off my personal opinions as I haven't really seen the place. They also accept 3.5 y/o kids pa so we have ample time to decide should we want to enroll Benedict in this institution.

Right now, we are down to 2 choices...MARIA MONTESSORI or SMART START ACADEMY. While I am partial to the latter, hubby seems fixated on the former. This will require more discussions pa. Thankfully, we learned how to "dialogue" effectively at DW (Discovery Week-end) . Now the discussions can end with a lets-agree-to-disagree mode.

But I am ready to start school with Benedict next week. Am really excited, even more so than my little one..hehe