The Preschool Hunt

This is what has kept me busy over the past few months – hunting, for preschool, that is. Sofia is now 4 years old and will start nursery this coming school year. I never imagined this whole school hunting thing would be so complicated, but I finally enrolled Sofia in my (and her) chosen school after considering several factors, which I have outlined below to somehow help parents out there who are also on the ‘hunt’:

Teaching Method

Traditional. Montessori. Progressive. Multiple Intelligences. Piagetian, etc. Yup, I went crazy over these teaching methods/programs or theories or whatever. Google each and choose the one that best suits your child’s needs. Each has its unique advantages, but the progressive approach and multiple intelligences theory appealed to me most.

Student-Teacher Ratio

Here’s what I learned: Schools which maintain a low student-teacher ratio (say, 10:1 or even lower) claim that each child’s unique needs are met because students are given individualized attention. On the other hand, schools which have an average of 25 students in a class with only 1 or 2 teacher/s claim that this volume of students is actually manageable and students are taught to be independent at an early age. Hmmn…

In either setting, make sure the teachers are patient, have good communication skills, are smart, and know how to handle kids, especially the ‘difficult’ ones.

Facilities

Here’s what we noticed in some schools we’ve visited during the ‘hunt’. Others have small or few facilities, say classrooms and just one (1) play area, but then maybe this is what your child would prefer for his/her first school - a school that has a ‘homey’ feel. One big school I visited has big playground, play laboratory, computer room (1:1), art room, and music room – you could imagine your child would be ‘moving’ a lot in this school and would have a lot of fun,…or your kid might get overwhelmed. Big school or little school, make sure your child will enjoy and have fun learning for at least 3 hours a day, 5 days a week – you wouldn’t want to make ‘learning’ boring for your child.

Curriculum

Math, Communication Arts, Computer Education, Music, Art, Play, etc. - depending on the teaching method/approach, these are the common subjects taught in preschools. When you enroll your child in a preschool and you intend to transfer him/her to your choice of big school for grade school, make sure the curriculum offered in the preschool is similar to that of your prospective big school. Better yet, some big schools already have their own preschools, so you might want to enroll them there already. One advantage of this is that your child usually does not have to take entrance exam anymore for grade school.

Tuition and other fees

I can’t believe that education now is so pricey, and I am only talking about preschool! For merely three (3) hours of classes a day, the tuition fees in preschools in Quezon City range from PhP40k to PhP80k! And don’t forget the 10% more or less annual increase! Nice! Well, whatever suits your budget, make sure the tuition fees compensate for all the other factors discussed above. By the way, some schools’ fees already include supplies and uniform, others even include food/snacks, which gives you less ‘things’ to worry about during the entire school year. So get that calculator and weigh your options well.

There. Choose the school that will provide your child the best education she/he deserves. Good luck on your hunt! :P