Haayyy...Look at my dear li'l pumpkin...so grown up and so independent..She's now 3 years and 5 months and is about to go to pre-school this year. The other day I scouted a school for my precocious niece. I looked for a place just a few blocks away from our abode so it wouldn't be much of a hassle for her. Our neighbor suggested that we try this small Christian school outside our village. It wasn't exactly the PERFECT school that I envisioned for Zoe to study in but anyways, I brought her along so that she could more or less decide for herself if she wants it there. (Now Zoe can be veerrryyy meticulous at her age, mind you!) I happened to talk to the Head Teacher who turned out to be Zoe's future teacher should we make up our minds and settle her there. I found out that she's a trained Montessori educator like myself and, modesty aside, teachers under these category can really be BIGATIN! I've so much respect for these people because I have undergone this super-intensive training that got me eyebags and sleepless nights of studying Piagetian and Montessori theories and approaches. Para kaming nag-thesis uli. The teacher assured that she'll be using the said approach in her classes and have ordered some Montessori materials already. Perfect. So definitely, I checked QUALITY TEACHER on my list of CONSIDER THESE THINGS FOR PRE-SCHOOL.
So here's my list and how I went about evaluating them:
2. TUITION AND OTHER FEES PLUS THE PAYMENT SCHEMES. Hmmm..minimal...okay I guess it justifies everything listed on the paper.
3. THE CLASSROOM. Size? Checked. Ventilation? Checked. Safety? Checked.
4. FIRE EXIT. Yup. They have one.
5. SAFETY OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM. Okay, There's an inner gate for the preschool room and an outer gate for the entire school. Good.
6. SCHEDULE. 9 am 12 nn is fine with me. Ate Charina can stay with her the whole period and make chika with the other yayas. Hehehe.
7. BOOKS. Ameeyyzhheennngg. The pre-school kids will definitely have the time of their lives with the SEVEN books that they'll be using for the entire school year. Jeeezzz....And I thought it'll all be just FUN AND PLAY.
8. THE ENVIRONMENT. The school is surrounded with lush greeneries. Rice fields infront and trees all over the place. Cool. Now you get the picture of how PROVINCIAL our place is. Hehehe.
Owkei...I guess that's just about it. Next time Des the Mom will join me and see the place herself for final approval. I won't be paying for the tuition after all. Whew.
