The First Week of Preschool

Neo officially entered pre-school last June 9.  After finishing a year at Barangay Day Care, we were able to enroll him for pre-school. 

Since the launch of K-12, DepEd has imposed a rule of thumb when it comes to the age of the kids entering pre-school.  Kids born until September 30, 2011 were allowed to enroll in Kinder 1 (or Nursery in Neo’s school).  Neo, who is born December 2011, was technically acceptable for Toddler Stage but he was given consideration by the school’s teacher-in-charge since he already finished Barangay Day Care.

Let me document Neo’s first week of school.

Day 1 – Tuesday.  The whole family sent Neo to school.  When the flag ceremony started, Neo also started running.  Neo’s new school spends almost 30mins in flag ceremony since they have all sorts of rituals: Prayer, Flag Ceremony, Panatang Makabayan, Greeting Teachers and Classmates, and the Holy Rosary Time.  Neo spent the whole 30mins running around the school.  I could hear a lot of mommies hushing “hindi pa siguro ready” (he is not yet ready).  When the flag ceremony ended, he went inside the classroom (where No Parent or Guardian is allowed).  He tried to outrun his teacher and was caught by a worker.  He went back and was inside the whole time.

House Notes:  We talked non-stop to Neo about behaving and keeping still during class hours.  He answered OPO in all our discussions.

Day 2 – Wednesday. Mama and Ate Espie accompanied Neo to school.  The second day is so much better than the first.  Neo still ran during the Flag Ceremony but ran only half of the school grounds.  When he went inside the classroom for his lessons, he didn’t go out until the end of classes.  He went out with his bag open and all his snacks consumed.

Day 3 – Thursday. Mama and Ate Espie accompanied Neo to school.  The third day is so much much better than the first and second.  During the Flag Ceremony, Neo didn’t run.  He just went on roaming around all his classmates’ area.  He was inside the classroom for the duration of the classes.  He went out with all his snacks consumed and his face towel was left behind at school.

Neo can’t seem to contain his activeness at school, so we decided to look for a sport where he can put all his energy.  We bought him a ball and hoop and hopefully, he can focus on it.

I went to his school for Day 4, and found this activity they did last Thursday.  Neo is really not accustomed to being called Nathaniel, his first name, and thus he wrote NEO in the upper left corner.

It’s a long academic year ahead.  Praying that this will be a fruitful one for Neo.