Progressive Preschool

For me, blogging started as a hobby more than 2 years ago but I rarely blog about personal stuff. Let me think, is there something worth-writing (or worth-reading) about my life? I don't know about that. :)

My son would be attending school for the first time and I want to have a record of these milestones in his life. I enrolled him yesterday at Pail and Shovel Integrated School, a progressive school in Quezon City. Teacher Myles and Teacher Jackie were very accommodating. It's a small world! Teacher Jackie and I were dorm mates at Kalayaan Residence Hall during our freshie days in UP Diliman. How time flies!

I have put a lot of thought in deciding which school would I send him. Looking at the pros and cons of being in a traditional and progressive school made me decide to enroll him in a latter type. The insights I have gathered about different preschools in Quezon City from forums like GIRLtalk (FemaleNetwork) and Smart Parenting helped me a lot in my decision-making.

Most progressive education programs have these qualities in common*:

* Emphasis on learning by doing – hands-on projects, experiential learning
* Integrated curriculum focused on thematic units
* Strong emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking
* Group work and development of social skills
* Understanding and action as the goals of learning as opposed to rote knowledge
* Collaborative and cooperative learning projects
* Education for social responsibility and democracy
* Integration of community service and service learning projects into the daily curriculum
* Selection of subject content by looking forward to ask what skills will be needed in future society
* De-emphasis on textbooks in favor of varied learning resources
* Emphasis on life-long learning and social skills
* Assessment by evaluation of child’s projects and productions

*wikipedia

My son would be joining the nursery class this coming school year. He'd also attend the Reading Readiness class, a summer enrichment program of the Pail and Shovel Integrated School. I am very excited for him.

Sending a child to a progressive school may be generally more expensive than sending him to traditional school, but it's all worth it. With my son's personality, I think that he'd be more encouraged to learn and be more responsive in a progressive school setting. Good luck baby! Mama is always here to guide you!