It’s official. After finishing ten months in Barangay Day Care, Neo is officially a preschooler. He
entered Barangay Day Care in the first session, and we were advised that he can
enroll in the second session, but we decided to enroll him in a different
school.
The whole month of April,
we have not been prioritizing the search for Neo’s school. While some of our neighbor’s kids (around
Neo’s age) are already enrolled in different schools and some are attending
summer school, our little boy is busy sleeping in the morning and playing in
the afternoon. We only decided to look
for a school when it was already May.
Before deciding which
school to enroll Neo, we came up with certain standards and some considerations
that we want for a school that our child will call his second home. We inquired in different schools and here are
some of the criteria that we took note of.
FEES. Needless to say, this is the first
consideration of parents before deciding which school to enroll their
kids. Some opt to enroll their children
in public schools because they don’t need to worry about fees. Some also wanted to give their children the
best education by sending their kids to well-known schools with rocket high
tuition fees. Take in mind though, that
fee is not limited to tuition alone. You
have to pay for miscellaneous, school uniform, education tours, books, and a
lot more.
PROXIMITY. Neo will be staying at the school for 2 hours
(3 hours the most) and we don’t want him travelling more than 15mins to his
school. We don’t want his energy to wear
down because of the travel. This is why
we enrolled Neo in a school close to our home.
FACILITIES. Whatever things we put our
money into; we make sure that we get what we paid for. Because as parents, we want nothing but the
best for our child, we want to know and see that the facilities he will enjoy
are the best. From the classroom, to the
surroundings, are they offering a good facilities? Even the littlest things we need to see and
check. Do the tables have safety
brackets? Do they offer air-conditioned
rooms? Is the classroom big enough for
your kid to learn comfortably? This all
depends on you and your standards.
SECURITY. Since Neo is still young he goes to school
with Ate Espie the whole time. But our
little boy is so playful that he can outrun Ate Espie, and thus, we wanted a
school secured enough for Neo. We wanted
the school to have its own security guard and a gated area. This is to avoid street-related accidents for
the little one.
TEACHER-STUDENT
RATIO. When Neo was
studying at the Barangay Day Care, the first session where he belongs to, has20+ students initially (no more than 15 finished the school year) and this
posed attention-related problem to the teacher.
So whenever we inquire to different schools, we always ask for the
student-teacher ratio. This is so that
the teacher can give each and every student quality time they deserve during
classes.
TEACHER’S
CAPABILITIES.
When I was in grade school, I went to a lot of school. I transfer a lot because we transfer
residence a lot too. And I have met a
lot of teachers with different capabilities.
One value I really want to see in Neo’s teacher is patience. Little kids are so playful that I really want
their teachers (and teacher’s aide) to be patient so they won’t shout, spank,
or harm my little boy.
SCHEDULE. Different schools have different schedules
and reasons behind the scheduling. While
inquiring we learned that Toddler School (or the first step) normally is
scheduled during lunch time to give way for kids to sleep more in the morning,
while Kinder students’ schedule is normally during morning to prepare them in
waking up early for the Grade School. We
opted to enroll Neo in a school where his schedule is in the morning. We don’t want him to go to school during
lunch time because the heat can be too much for the little boy. We also don’t want him to go to school in the
afternoon because he still needs his afternoon nap as a growing boy.
Additional: RELIGION-BASED
SCHOOL. Some parents opt to enroll
their kids on schools that are of the same religion as theirs. We didn’t.
We are Born Again Christians but we enrolled Neo in a Catholic
School. This school has a very good
reputation. I honestly don’t think there
is any harm in that, because when I was still a preschooler until I was in
Grade 2, I was enrolled in a Catholic school as well. It didn’t change any of the Christian-led
values my parents were teaching me at home but it did help me respect the
Catholic (and other religions) more. But
remember, that this is your call, and to each his own.
These are some of the things
that we took into consideration when we enrolled Neo in his school for June. I hope this list helps you in looking for the perfect school for your little ones.
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