A few years ago, I blogged about our son Heinel, getting ready for preschool and what factors we considered in choosing the school for him. And now, 3 years later, Heinel is finally done in pre-school and is about to be in the 1st grade in big school.
Heinel has an introverted personality, and his preschool, Creative Explorers for children, did a great job in building his self-confidence. It was actually sad that just when he got really comfortable in his school, he has to say goodbye and transfer to a big school.
We know that big school will be a big adjustment for Heinel; new and bigger environment, new teachers, new classmates, more strangers to interact with. We wanted his adjustment period to be as fast and easy as possible and at the same time get the best education available. Thus, we laid down our top criteria in choosing a big school:
1.Good quality of education
Personally, we measured this to the quality of its alumnae, as well as thru reviews of other parents. I read a lot of parenting forums because of several opinions from parents who has first hand experience in having their child in that particular school.
2. Location
The school must be accessible. Environment must be clean and safe. Going to and from school must not be a hassle so Heinel will not have to wake up extra earlier just so because it is traffic going to school.
3. Small class size
Heinel is an introvert and gets really nervous with a lot of strangers. A small class size will mean less classmates to get familiar with and also decreases the probability of bullying. I also believe that the teachers can get to know their students more if there a small number of them in a class, for younger children, that is.
4. Method of teaching
Traditional or progressive? Heinel came from a progessive school and it did him good. In grade school, we are quite unsure if the same method will still work. We are very much familiar with traditional school since me and my husband are both products of such but we also want to be open to the possibility of progressive school in grade school. I have read a lot about its method but I want to know how it is applied in the actual set up. Some of my concerns are: the grading system and how it will be comparable to traditional school; (2) since there are more subjects in grade school, how will it then be taught in a progressive school set up; and (3) will there be different teachers in each subject since it is a progressive school? The asnwers to these questions will be the determinant if we will consider progressive school
5. A religious school
Since we are a Catholic family, it will be best if Heinel will get into a Catholic school. But a school which teaches the word of God and about faith will be good enough for me.
With all these in mind, we researched about different schools in Quezon City to see which will match the criteria above. Here is our short list:
- Ateneo de Manial University
- OB Montessori (Fairview)
- The Seed Montessori
- The Raya School
- The Learning Tree
- Paref Northfield
On my next post I will write about my thoughts and observations on these schools and or course, which one we choose.
Aside from my list above, do you have other considerations in choosing a big school for your child? I would love to know!