Prepping for Pre-school

I guess its really time of the year for parents to scout for schools for their children - its my first time, so i really did not know until now, haha. But anyway, because my sister works in a preschool, it was a no-brainer for us to choose to enroll Basti there :) Aside from the fact that my sister would always be there to look over Basti, we really think it was a good fit for Basti - which i think is the most important criteria for choosing a school for your child.

I really did not read up or ask around much about how to choose a school for your child. I just started reading up and really thinking about it more when other parents also asked us about where we enrolled Basti and if it was a good school, why we chose that, etc. Haha.

Anyway, so how did we decide to put Basti to school? We really did not ask him, it was more of him asking if he could also go to school already - seeing his older playmates in the neighborhood went to school everyday, and also he probably got curious because we sometimes picked up my sister from the school she worked in, and sometimes, Basti also goes along with his lolo to pick up Cesca (my niece) from school.

He also got a "taste" of school a couple of times, when he did a trial class last last year for kindermusik at my sisters school. He was only 1 and a half  years old at that time, and he seemed to enjoy it already :) then of course early this year, to really assess if he was ready to go to school, we had him sit in one of the toddler classes to experience being in a class with other kids and that went along just fine as well :)

Basti with Daddy Paul when during KinderMusik trial class (2010)

So right after that trial class, we already put in a reservation for Basti for the coming school year.

To those who want to know, we've enrolled Basti at Mindbuilders Preschool in BF Homes Paranaque. Its a progressive school, where there are only 6-8 children in a class. They dont follow the usual classroom type of teaching, and instead they use different methods to enhance the multiple intelligences of children. We like the atmosphere inside the school - there is a big activity area in the middle of the school where all children come together, the artwork of the children are displayed all around the school and seeing these already made us excited to see what Basti would be working on when he started school. The teachers also all seemed to be nice and warm and they all spoke very good English :) The set up is not so formal, actually more homey, which is good for me because i think that helps make children feel more comfortable. They also have a "transition classroom" where kids hang out before going to the actual classrooms, i guess so they can have time to mentally and emotionally prepare and adjust before the classes. So overall, i'm pretty sure even if we scouted for other schools, we would still be choosing Mindbuilders :)

Anyway, of course after preschool, we'll have to go through the real exercise of looking for a big school for Basti, since Mindbuilders only serves preschool.

In the meantime, for those who want to know how to look for a preschool for your children, here is a link if you're wondering what the difference is from a progressive school and a traditional school - so you can see what will work best with your child.

Traditional & Progressive Schools.

Here's also another good read from Smart Parenting -- 10 Questions to Ask When Scouting for a Preschool

Apart from choosing what teaching method you prefer, i think other more important things to consider would be the readiness of your child and also convenience and practicality - the overall experience your child will have in going to school til he comes home - will really matter. So think about how he will go to school, what the best schedule for him will be, will he like the kids there, will the environment fit his personality, etc. Because for me, its really in preschool that you learn all the important things in life, and its where we get the experiences that will help shape us when we grow up :)


.