From Dawn Till Dusk

Finally, Jun and I pursued our plan to introduce Nico in early education last Friday, 19 January 2007. As parents, Jun and I thought this is the best way for Nico to further enhance his learning since he has been hooked to ABCs and 123s so early, and for several months now. Getting him in school this early is also a way of transition for Nico who used to have a constant companion in a Yaya, now to socializing with kids of his age.

Settling Concerns and Issues on PreSchool
Jun was somehow adamant to the idea when I first told him about it last week. He’s worried that Nico’s daily routine will definitely get disturbed and an hour of travel plus the daily braves through the Pasig-Makati traffic and the constantly changing weather will be a heavy burden for a 2-year 9-month old. But as always, with the Mommy-Heart in me explaining and perhaps my convincing powers too, we managed to compromise and agreed that this new concept will surely benefit Nico. Jun himself even made an inspection of the place and talked to one of the administrators of the school to orient himself and justify my claims and see if it’s really worth having Nico there. And besides, Jun realized that there’s no harm in trying. We agreed that if this new routine would turn out difficult for Nico, we’d be all and ready to get back to his old routine.

As mentioned in my previous entry on this, the school offers many services. Parents may opt to avail of the Daycare Service where they can drop their kids and have them fetched later. In the Daycare service, kids can explore in the play and viewing areas with two or three School Nannies around to look after and play with the kids. The entrance fee depends on the number of hours that the kid stays in the Daycare Center. Then they also have the Playgroup scheme where kids are allowed to join a Class and participate in the activities. These two schemes works best for parents who are working and don’t have a Nanny to look after their kid/s. Yes, if computed on a monthly basis, the expenses are much higher than hiring a Nanny. But productivity wise, this scheme will benefit kids much more as they learn to socialize thru fun play. As for Nico, it’s much better that way rather than having him stay at home the whole day, that bores him with only the TV to watch and toys to play. Most importantly, the school also offers pre-school education for five levels namely: Toddler (for kids ages 1.6 to 2.5 year old); Junior Nursery (for kids ages 2.6 to 3.5 years old); Senior Nursery (for kids ages 3.6 to 4.5 years old); Kindergarten (for kids ages 4.6 to 5.5 years old); and Preparatory (for kids ages 5.6 to 6.5 years old). They also do individual tutorials for kids who needed to extra help to cope with difficult subjects and they also have summer programs and special programs like Galileo that teach kids on subjects like Mathematics and English.

Playgroup, the Best Option for Nico
For a start, we decided to avail of the Playgroup scheme for Nico where he can join the Junior Nursery Class at any day that he wants, at no regular attendance required. This scheme suits Nico best since he is just being acquainted and getting the feel of going to school. For now, Nico will be going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays only. His Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays will temporarily be spent at home until he is fully adjusted to the new routine. Come June 2007, when the new academic year starts, we will enroll Nico in regular schooling, in the Junior Nursery Level.

The Junior Nursery Level class, which currently has six students (two boys and four girls), meets from Mondays thru Fridays from 8:30AM to 11AM. The class is being taught by a Teacher who facilitate sets of activities designed to make learning fun. There is also an Assistant provided in the class to assist the kids if they intend to excuse themselves to nurse, to pee or to poop.

The Much-Awaited Day at PreSchool
So after all the concerns and issues were settled, we agreed to try it on Friday. The night before that, I already prepared our food for breakfast as well as Nico’s things including his morning snack, knowing that the next day will be a hectic day. The morning of Friday came and pretty good, we managed to wake up Nico at 6:30, then bathed and dressed him up by 7. We left the house at 7:30 and as expected, the traffic in Ortigas was already quite heavy. Nico was somehow irritated with the traffic but nevertheless, we arrived in the school at 8:30. Jun and Nico went ahead to the school to register while I left them for a moment to punch in my time card at the Office (hehehe, buti na lang may meeting si Boss sa Malacanang the whole day). Jun said that as soon as they arrive in the school, Nico was very happy to see many kids around that he joyfully joined the kids and play with them in the play area. After filing up the registration and settling the necessary fees, Jun left us and proceeded to his work.

Since it’s Nico’s first time in a different environment, the Teacher requested me to stay first to observe and help Nico around. It’s but understandable and expected for a kid as young as Nico to be accompanied by me since the school is a new environment for him. And of course, being a stage Mommy that I am, I was more than willing to stay and see my son in a group of kids.

And so after some 10 minutes of wait for other kids to come in, the Class started. The Teacher opened the Class by letting the kids tell what date it is and what the weather is. When it’s about time to sing the weather song, Nico was somewhat intimidated seeing the kids as they sign and do the actions. He turned to me as if he wanted to go out of the Class. Poor my Little Baby, perhaps he’s feeling OP (out of place) in the Class since everybody else knows how to sing the song except him. It’s an expected behavior for a first timer like Nico and all of us adults there in the Class understand. So we went out of the Classroom and just play outside for a while. I sensed that Nico wanted milk so we went to the designated room where kids nurse. After finishing a bottle, Nico was back on his feet to join the Junior Nursery Class. That time that we came in, the Teacher was telling a story, and I was so amazed to see how Nico, along with the other kids, keenly listen as the Teacher tells the story in a lively manner. Since the story that the Teacher told is about planting vegetables (Ang Kamatis ni Peles: Isang Linggong Pagtatanim), the Teacher let the kids do their own planting activities and Nico joined them too.

At 10AM, the kids were allowed to take their snack and play in the play area. At this point, I noticed Nico was already adjusting well by happily mingling with the kids. After 30 minutes, the Teacher prepared an Art activity for the kids where they have to paste in a bond paper several pictures of flowers, trees and plants. Well, being just a kid, Nico messed up pasting the pictures but I was never shocked as other kids like him did messed up too. And so at exactly 11AM, the Class was dismissed and Nico was so happy that he doesn’t want to go yet. He kissed some of his playmates and Teachers and Assistants then bid a sweet goodbye. Then head we went to my Office for lunch and some napping. Hehehe, poor Nico, on our way to the Office, he peeped along the way. It’s all my fault because I forgot to bring him in the restroom before we head off to my Office. He’s already potty trained though but I am thinking if I still need to put diaper on him just for convenience purposes. Hmmm, what do you think Blog?After a yummy lunch, I positioned Nico in our sofa for a good afternoon nap. But much as Nico would want to sleep, he’s so distracted with the noise outside our building. Apparently, workers are drilling pipes outside, near the Emergency Exit for some telephone cable wirings. So, I had no choice. Nico didn’t sleep the whole afternoon. He was running around the Office, doing sorts of kakulitan stuffs (buti na lang talaga at wala si Boss, well, even if he’s in the Office, I’m sure he will understand). At 5PM, Jun fetched us up and we were home by 6PM. Poor Nico, he was very exhausted the entire day that even before we reached home, he was already soundly sleeping on our way. When we’re home, good thing he cooperated when I did a minute of wash up on him before he’s off to dreamland.

Well, tomorrow’s Tuesday, that means another Productive Day at Preschool for Nico!

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[FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE SCHOOL WHERE NICO IS CURRENTLY ENROLLED, PLEASE VISIT HERE.]