Preschool Insights and Experiences

[lexi_girl]

Pasali naman! I'm also checking out toddler schools now. we went to creative beginners in greenmeadows this morning. mukhang ok naman the school kase the maximum students per class for beginners and toddlers are 6 lang so nakatutok talaga yung teacher sa mga kids. kaso lang hindi centralized ang aircon! yung ibang rooms like yung playroom nila walang aircon kaya sobrang init, tatagaktak talaga pawis mo.

wana check out tumbletots too kaso lang parang gymboree lang din yata ang set up? more of playschool?

gonna check out din childstart in white plains. any feed back from that school?

i guess halos parepareho lang tuition fees nila noh? are there shorter programs kaya like 5 mos muna?

my pedia kase advised us to enroll my son, he's 22 mos na, in a toddler school para matuto magsalita. kundi pa daw magsalita ipapa-therapy na niya... 

tia!

[luv]

We plan to enroll Zoe this coming school year.  She will be 29 months by June.  We're torn between Toddler's Unlimited and Cambridge.  Would appreciate feedbacks.  Which one's better kaya?

[Cheesecak3]

Eldest ko din na 3 years old magschool na sya pero sa toddler class lang. 2 hours a day ang class nya at ngayon pa lang excited na kami para sa kanya.

[chinababies]

Any feedbacks po regarding Britesparks? I saw in another thread that there were negative feedbacks about it...But I can't find any thread about the feedback

[littleteapot]

Has anyone got an idea how much ang prep sa Don Bosco makati?

[nutty_caramel]

my son starts school on monday.
incoming junior casa siya sa ob montessori - greenhills.
separation anxiety for me! yikes. buti nalang 2 1/2 hours lang ang pasok & malapit lang sa'min...

[YaZiLove]

Has anyone got an idea how much ang prep sa Don Bosco makati?

around 56k daw sis (w/o uniform).

[chellesunshine]

mga moms,,ask ko lang ha,,hope ok lang ang tanung ko since first time mom ako
yun eldest ko is studying na kinder 1 na,,she's 3 and half y.o.
may kinder 2 pa,,mag 2 and half kasi siya pinasok ko na ng nursery,,baka kasi magsawa na mag-aral later on,,pwede ba diretso na sa prep next year??
mag-iinquire ako sa Holy Spirit pag end of the year na,,
she knows a lot naman na eh,,

[marose17]

There's a reason why some schools are strict about age for prep/grade 1 admission.  It is not really because of a child's academic ability or what he knows or can do.  It is really about the emotional and social maturity of the child. 

For example, I have a friend who requested that her child be admitted to grade 1, instead of prep, at a certain boys' school, since her child's academic ability is at par with grade 1 students na raw.  3 years din nag-preschool ang child niya. The school authorities agreed.  A year later, nagsisisi my friend.  Her child was not really happy.  I think the teacher said that although the boy could cope with the academic work, socially and emotionally, hindi pa siya ready since he is a year younger than his classmates and that could be a major factor why he was not happy.

[chellesunshine]

^ sis ganun ba yun???
di ko alam na ganun pala mangyayari sa kid kapag maaga siya sa proper school

[marose17]

^ Hindi ko naman sinasabi na mangyayari ang ganoon sa lahat ng kids.  Yung pag-skip ng level could be a factor why hindi nag-thrive yung anak ng friend ko pero hindi ko naman sinasabi na it could also happen to your child.  As a mother, you know your child best.  You are the best judge of your child's readiness for prep or grade 1, as the case may be.

If it's any consolation, maaga ko rin pinasok ang kids ko - a few weeks shy of 3 years old ko sila ngayon pinasok sa preschool, and I intend to follow Ateneo's age requirement for prep, which is 6 years old.

[princessmia08]

Actually, if ever there might be a chance for Miakka to skip a level, I would not take it.

First of all, she might be mentally prepared but not emotionally. So kahit she knows how to read, write, do simple math, answer workbooks for kinder students at the age of 3, emotionally, she's just 3. She can't cope with the older kids pa.

Second, takot akong mabully siya ng older kids.

Third, I feel like I'm stealing away one year of her life. Parang minamadali ko siyang tumanda.

That's why I'm very happy with my decision to enroll her in Miriam CSC. More on personality development and basic skills ang tinuturo nila sa kids. The first difference I noticed was that Miakka knows how to share now (whole heartedly pa yan)

Kaya yes, it's important to follow the age requirement. There's a reason behind that.

[super_mom]

I am surprised by a review of a mom who had previously sent her son to Appleseed Montessori.  I am sorry that her experience with the school was not a positive one but I feel that as a parent of a child who is on her 5th school year at Appleseed, I should share some of my many positive experiences with the school.
I am a stay-at-home mom and my child has been going to Appleseed since she was 2.  She has learned so many things and has developed so many good relationships with her classmates as well as her teachers.
Sure the kids are being asked to trace longer words, or even their names at a young age but during Parent-Teacher conferences, teachers explain that this is primarily practice for writing and that there really is no expectation yet of doing it perfectly.  I felt that having my child exposed to this has greatly helped in the development of her fine motor skills and has made her write better at a young age.
I have had many questions regarding my child's activities and the teachers have been very open in answering and addressing any concerns I may have had.  I feel that as a parent, it is more of addressing issues early that can prevent any misunderstanding between the school and a parent.
I even had an experience where I felt that the activities given to my daughter were a bit easy and when I told the teachers during the parent-teacher conference, they had already given me a concrete answer to my concern before I left and it was implemented right away.
By the way there are three conferences every year and I think that for a concerned parent, it would be best to attend all three.  I bring my child to school everyday and simple concerns that are brought on even a daily basis in my experience, have all been addressed.
With regard to the report card, yes there is a checklist which is quite hard to understand especially for a parent with no montessori background but then again clarifications are given by the teachers especially regarding the montessori materials and how they are used.  There is also a short narrative giving a general statement of how my child is doing in school.
I am very satisfied with my child's growth in Applesseed, now she is turning six, she is able to read and do mathematical operations.  I am planning to put her in Assumption for her First Grade.
I know that not all experiences are the same.  I understand the fact that the post I read was because of a negative experience but I feel that there are always to sides to a story and mine is a positive one.  Let us be objective and responsible for the things we post and not let a negative experience ruin an establishment who, in my opinion has a good vision for educating children.
As parents, if we spend enough time with our children, we will know right away if something is wrong in any aspect of their lives and we can always do something about it.
If you are not satisfied with the school you chose for your child, pull your child out right away or coordinate with the management of your child's school to do something about your concern.  DO NOT wait for one whole year to be over and then rant about how bad your child's last school was.  It simply is not right, it is a disservice to the former school but most of all a disservice to your child.

[stormy]

"I know that not all experiences are the same.  I understand the fact that the post I read was because of a negative experience but I feel that there are always to sides to a story and mine is a positive one.  Let us be objective and responsible for the things we post and not let a negative experience ruin an establishment who, in my opinion has a good vision for educating children."

--yes sis, tama ka depende sa naexperience yung na i-share and yung positive experience mo ok lang din i-post. Therefore, parehas may halo ng subjectivity yung posts dahil based sa pananaw nyo at experiences nyo nung 1 mommy ang shinare nyo. Mahirap maglatag ng parameters para masabing objective.


Siguro isip mo bakit ako nagrereact, kasi yung next line mo d kagandahan yung dating sa akin.


Kung talagang naiintidihan mo - sabi mo kasi "I understand..." - d kasi iresponsable na mag-share ng experience. At kahit naghintay pa sya na 1 taon bago i-pull out e marami siguro na factors na kinunsidera kaya naging ganun ang decision nya. Maging masaya tayo na positibo ang experience ninyo ng anak mo sa school. D naman siguro intensyon manira nung mommy. Iba2x lang talaga ang bata at ang pangangailangan nila at syempre iba2x rin tayong mommies.

"As parents, if we spend enough time with our children, we will know right away if something is wrong in any aspect of their lives and we can always do something about it.
If you are not satisfied with the school you chose for your child, pull your child out right away or coordinate with the management of your child's school to do something about your concern.  DO NOT wait for one whole year to be over and then rant about how bad your child's last school was.  It simply is not right, it is a disservice to the former school but most of all a disservice to your child."

---kanya2x tayo ng diskarte sa pagpapalaki ng anak, siguro sapat na yung magbigay ng suhestiyon d na kailangan mag utos ano dapat gawin ng 1 magulang sa kanyang anak.


Btw, I didn't let my daughter attend the 2nd sem of AY 2009-`10 from her previous school because the teachers are forcing sight reading, encouraging me to use computer games to aid DAW my daughter's focus in completing tasks & other stuffs pa that didn't sit well with me. BUT until now I wonder if that was the right decision because it made my daughter unhappy.

I had to be firm, patient and creative in answering my daughter's constant queries why she was not attending that school anymore. I felt like a monster depriving my kid her friends, school activities etc. Why am I sharing this? Because not all can just pull out their kid from school, it's not an easy decision to make.

This school is very popular in the QC preschool thread, I didn't share my experience in that thread precisely bec I knew there will be a mom (or a teacher) from that school who would challenge the veracity of my story/experience. Or would imply something distasteful just to negate my experience.

So please, let's just respect each other here. 

[marose17]

^^ Hi super mom!  I think the following statement is a bit condescending kasi:

"As parents, if we spend enough time with our children, we will know right away if something is wrong in any aspect of their lives and we can always do something about it."

The fact is, the particular person who posted a negative feedback on Appleseed Montessori, is someone, based on all her other posts in other threads here in GT, quite involved with her son's life.  So please, let us not imply that she does not spend sufficient time with her child, because I know, based on how she writes in the other threads, that it is simply not the case.

As parents, we want to be able to do something about the "wrong" aspects in the lives of our children, but that is not always possible.

[shirleysmith98]

there is a preschool in up village which i heard will be closing down very soon. d cubby hole learning center. mukhang hindi na nga daw magtatagal yung school dahil hindi okay ang admin nila. I inquired for my son at yung principal nila nakausap ko eh mukhang lost. I am not impressed with the way she discussed the curriculum. andaming questions ko na hindi niya masagot directly. Anyway, yung ambassadors at NEST school around UP village and siaktuna seem okay.

[darna88]

any feedback on philadelphia high school toodler class?

[WandaWits]

hi mommies! does anyone have an idea as to how they do entrance exams for Prep in Ateneo? Do they conduct interview as well? TIA!

[marose17]

^ There's a short written exam and an interview where parents are not allowed inside the room. In fact, the parents are not allowed to go beyond a certain area.  There's a waiting room or area for the parents daw.   The kids will be fetched from the waiting area and taken to the area where they will answer the exam and be escorted to the interview room.  It's quite nerve-wracking for the parents.

The whole thing takes less than an hour (around 30-40 minutes).  My friend (an Ateneo dad) said that from the time the kids line up to where they will take the exam, they are already under observation.  I guess the boys' demeanor and behavior are also taken in consideration.

[YuNa024]

hi sis! where exactly is NEST located in sikatuna? can't google it's site eh.. thanks!

there is a preschool in up village which i heard will be closing down very soon. d cubby hole learning center. mukhang hindi na nga daw magtatagal yung school dahil hindi okay ang admin nila. I inquired for my son at yung principal nila nakausap ko eh mukhang lost. I am not impressed with the way she discussed the curriculum. andaming questions ko na hindi niya masagot directly. Anyway, yung ambassadors at NEST school around UP village and siaktuna seem okay.