This Is It. ON to the Next Chapter.

We've finally come to a decision. Well actually it was partly Maia who decided where she's finally going. This morning while I was dressing up for work, she approached me and said "Mommy, sandali lang to ha. Wait mo lang ako. Tapusin ko lang si Handy Manny tapos alis na tayo." 

"San tayo pupunta 'nak?" (me already preparing to leave for work. bubble thought: i don't have time to deal with tantrums. please don't throw one now, little girl)

"Sa Seton." 

I got her to sit on my lap and gently told her it's a Monday and Mommy's off to work already. She pouted and sobbed a bit but was quick to collect herself ("Okay Mommy next time na lang ang Seton ha?") and proceeded to kiss and hug me bye-bye. It was a good thing her dad was taking the day off from work yesterday so I didn't have to feel so guilty leaving her like that.

Tibs picked up the admission results early yesterday and immediately relayed it to me, I thought hmmm she probably knew that she aced the assessment exam (remembering our conversation that morning). hahaha. pinangunahan na kami.

We have decided we will take this a year at a time. And for now, this is what we think is the best choice for our little girl so we're going to give this a try. It's a good thing we've already made our own decision before we were handed the admission results because the school is not giving us a lot of time to think things over as we only have until Mar 9 to decide if we're giving it a go or not. Of course the answer is yes. I just didn't realize enrollment deadlines come this early. Oh well, we know better next year. At least we'll be more prepared. I just have to say this though -- HINDI TALAGA BIRO ANG MAGPAARAL!!!!

I'd frame this if I could! (FOR REFERENCE this is what those 3 pertain to: )

• Cognitive - generally refers to mental skills
• Affective - pertains to attitude, social skills
• Psychomotor - physical and manual skills.

Dearest Maia,

I'd like you to know that you made Dad and me very proud today. Bear in mind though that regardless of the result/s of the endeavors you chose to take in the future, Dad and me will always be here to hold your hand and support you. And now, we're starting a new journey in our life soon -- you finally going to big school -- we share your enthusiasm because we see how ecstatic you are about it. Every morning you'd wake up and announce, I'm going to school! I'm going to school! You make Dad and me laugh every time you do that. I hope this school is the right place for you. But let's help each other okay? We'll take this a step at a time.

We decided to enroll you in big school because we saw how ready you were. But if in the middle of all this, you'd suddenly feel you haven't had enough of play time at home yet just know that Dad and me will never pressure or force you to keep going. We will take your lead. 

This year seems to have a lot in store for us. Oh just the thought of it makes my heart leap already. We're so happy for you little girl. We love you very much!

Daddy and Mommy

ESS South Campus Preschool Tour

Last Saturday, our family of three woke up earlier than usual to prepare and attend the open house at the South campus of Elizabeth Seton School. We hitched a ride with Erl's family. Erl and I have been school hunting together since her cutiepie Kelsea and Maia are almost of the same age (born just about a month apart).

It was a first time to visit this school so we didn't really have any expectations set. It only took us about 15 mins to get to the school from Avida Settings in Bacoor. We took the Daang Hari road heading towards Aguinaldo Hi-way (I'm not very good at directions but it was pretty easy) and I don't think the travel will tire Maia. 

We arrived 15 mins early than the 9am schedule so we had the chance to check out the GS/HS area and the kids were somehow able to warm up. 

view of the school from the auditorium

When we got inside the auditorium, it was already half full. The registration table was  also busy since some parents were already submitting their applications. Erl and I decided to submit ours after the tour.  

Admissions Area

The program started a few minutes after 9am. Kids were settled comfortable and were surprisingly quite through out. They paid attention to the presentation and Maia seemed really interested when the preschool presentation was showing. Tutok na tutok. In between the breaks, Erl handed out post-its to the kids and they got busy writing and scribbling. 

"Know where child is spending the best years of his life."

The open-classroom set up really intrigued us *sorry we don't have photos to show* but after seeing the poster above, it made sense. 

A little past 10, the organizers broke us into groups (based on the levels that we are wishing to apply for - Preschool/GS/HS). They assigned two tour guides for every level). The kids were really excited to see the school.

GS/HS Cafeteria - we were told the the preschoolers have their own dining/pantry area so they rarely come here to eat

Playground and the Preschool Bldg Facade

Pretty ceiling, Preschool bldg lobby

Clinic + Playroom/Preschool Library

And here are the classrooms - I couldn't remember now which belong to the kinder kids and which belong to the nursery kids. But I think the difference was only the way the seats are arranged. All the preschool classrooms are equipped with the same facilities. Each room by the way has their own bathroom so it would be easy for the kids to run to the bathroom if they need to go potty.

All the preschool sections are named after famous children's books characters

Maia: ano ginagawa ni Mickey Mouse dyan Mommy?
Upper left side is the party area (where kids usually hold their bday parties)

Kids are safe here. There's a guard posted at the main entrance of the preschool bldg and guardians are usually asked to wait outside during school days.

I couldn't say yet if this is going to be the preschool of our choice but I liked the environment there. I'd like to personally meet the teachers too to see how Maia would react with them since Maia has somebody in mind when I say teacher and to her a teacher should be just like her Peacher Josie (from St Mikael). I know that she liked the classrooms though and was really enticed by the playground. Tibs and I are still torn. But we're sticking to our criteria and will decide as soon as we're done with all the assessment exams. 

Open House At Elizabeth Seton School (South Campus)

The next school in our list is the Elizabeth Seton School in Anabu, Dasmarinas, Cavite. My co-workers kids have been going here before they migrated to the US and she highly recommended this school to me. From her stories, I can very well see how disciplined her kids are with school work and how they enjoyed school time. That is important to me so I made the visit to this school one of my top priorities during school hunting.

I called last November to check on the assessment exam schedules and get a list of the requirements and I was lucky to have spoken to the Open House organizer herself, Ms Cheris. She advised that I come to the open house first before we make a decision so I enlisted myself and the hubby. Come January, Ms Cheris texted me to confirm the date of the Open House. And this morning, we trooped over to the South Campus with the Gools to know more about the school.

It was a helpful and informative Open House. Apart from the overcrowding during the campus tour (overeager parents that includes me plus a defective microphone for the tour guide rendered that part rather disorganized), it was something that we think is necessary for every first time parent. Here's how the Open House program went:

Parts I-VI didn't really take long. If I remember correctly, I think it was less than an hour. And to think the program didn't start exactly at 9am and we were out of the auditorium by 1030am for the tour. Snacks were already made available before the program started. Most parents brought along the kids with them and contrary to what I expected, it didn't turn out to be a  hassle at all because at the end of it all while we were waiting for the our exam permits (which took the longest time by the way) the kids all had fun playing with each other. They were dancing, singing, laughing which was really fun to watch.

I will be posting the pictures of the Preschool Area Tour separately. But in case you're considering the idea of attending an open house with this school I'm posting here a photo of the flyer that we got from last Saturday's open house. 

Here's a list of the open house schedules:

Feb 11 - South Campus Only

Feb 18 - Main Campus Only

Mar 17, Apr 14 and 28, May 19 - Both campuses

The open house starts at 9am and is expected to finish by 12nn. They gave us 50% discount off the testing fee since we decided to submit application requirements right after the open house. For preschool application, we brought with us the following:

- a photocopy (and original for verification purposes) of Maia's NSO Certified Birth Certificate

- a photocopy (and original for verification purposes) of Maia's Baptismal Certificate

- 3 pcs 1x1 ID Picture

We are scheduled to take Maia's assessment for Kinder 1 on Mar 3. We are waiting for the results of that assessment exam before we finally decide which preschool to choose.

Here are the contact information for both ESS Campuses:

Main Campus

BF Resort Village, Las Pinas City

Tel Nos 02 875 45 53 to  59 loc 113

South Campus

Anabu II-D Imus Cavite
Tel Nos 046 471 0080 loc 112

website: www.ess.edu.ph

Up Next: a photoblog of the preschool area tour

One Down, A Few More To Go

Last Friday, Maia and I went back to get the results of her first assessment exam in Statefields School in Bacoor. And yes! she passed it. She was so proud of herself. She repeatedly told me she's so ready for school. Well, you will have to wait a little bit more little girl. But it will come soon!

One down, __ more to go! Lolz

Here's a few photos I took of Maia on our last visit. I had more time in my hands so I was able to take photos.

Waiting patiently at the lobby while I pay for our reservation fee

If you are planning to enroll your child in Statefields, here are a few tips for you:

- Inquire early. My mommy friend Erlaine and I inquired as early as November because Statesfields preschool has very limited slots (for nursery they only accept up to 45 students per school year. That's 15 students per section and they only have 3)

- Complete and submit your requirements as soon as you can. I completed and submitted our requirements all in one day so I had the freedom to choose the dates for Maia's assessment exam.

- Choose a time and day where your child would be in her most comfortable state. Maia is up early and is uber-energetic in the mornings so I took the first morning schedule they had. We set it a week after the holidays so that she's slowly gotten back to her normal, daily routine.

- Reserve as soon as you get the results. The slots are filled up early so it's best to reserve even if you aren't fully decided yet to enroll. Reservation fee is only for P500 and is deductible on the tuition fee on enrollment day. It's non-refundable though. We aren't fully decided yet. We would want to check at least 2 to 3 more schools before we make the decision but we would feel really awful if we lose our spot so we decided to reserve as soon as we got the positive results.

Feeling estudyante na!

I gotta see what's new first mom. Wait lang.

Pagod na ako eh. Upo muna tayo.

We're off to check a few more schools in the coming months. It's a good thing the other schools that we are eyeing are not as tight as Statefields so we're more relaxed now. Oh by the way, another tip probably is for you to stock up on lots of 1x1 ID pictures and birth and baptismal certificate copies (you will need at least a copy of the original and several photocopies). I need to work on mine since I didn't make a lot of copies the first time.