scouting for schools
July 24, 2015 • 18 comments • 8,044 viewsDuring the Raya break, we focused on the kids. Well more on Daniel because we have to start scouting for a preschool as he just turned two.
So I called one of the famous preschools and suddenly some fake posh accent came out from my mouth.
“Hello there, bla bla bla… interested to put my son to school… his name is Daniel,” and I emphasized the Dan with some really weird British accent. I sounded hilarious guys, like a really confused mom. I even said Hello there, like please ok, Hi would’ve been enough.
Oh gosh, I’ve become one of those competitive parents!
The day of the appointment with the principal, Dean wore a polo tee and jeans. After my IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE WEARING DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS SCHOOL HAS A WAITING LIST WE NEED TO IMPRESS face, he didn’t even change. Hello, am I the only one who cares about our children’s education?
We visited the school and thank God my fake-weird-confused-sometimes-British-sometimes-American-sometimes-German accent didn’t come out. I was normal, phew. The teacher was really nice and I think she was impressed by my questions. Totally google-d what a parent would ask schools. One popular one to sound smart, “What if my child is too advanced, can he skip a year?” Fuuhhh immediately bumped one up in waiting list, guys. Another one would be “Is there a waiting room for his nannies?” Emphasise on the plural even when the reality is you just have your Kak Siti. The whole time, I was trying not to laugh because I was imagining Daniel’s bored Kakak waiting for him looking totally unimpressed that she has to be there. BAHAHHAHAH. Then say, “Oh you don’t have a nanny waiting room?” and add a “Hmmm…” like you’re not impressed.
Got this in the bag, guys.
No nanny room? Come on guys…
Daniel was running around the play area and earlier I had warned him to behave and act cool. Like just be cool, Daniel! Act like you don’t really want to go to this school. He did well with my instructions but he took it a bit too far because he decided to poop during the visit. -___-“
Anyway, all was good we said our goodbyes. And then we opened the folder they gave with the fees.
IS THIS A SECRET UNIVERSITY FOR BABIES?!!!
I have to pay that much for Daniel to play with bowls and crayons?!! I think they accidentally added one extra zero and there was a mistake. Sigh this limited edition designer school is looking even more delicious. Maybe Daniel can watch from outside their glass building and he’ll learn along the way? He’ll bring his own bowls, promise.
Dean looked at me and laughed, “I think YouTube is good enough for Daniel to learn, don’t you think?”
Oh yes totally agree. Youtube ftw.
hahaha must be the hi-5 school. ;p
I know right?!
Been tempting to enroll my kid to one of these schools, but the fees…???
i didn’t even pay that much when I went to Uni coz I went to IPTA. The fees its like triple my Uni fees.
To homeschool, I need to be creative tho coz ABC 123 flash card is boring for my kid. Cant even stand em for a sec.
MAti2 still have to send her to school la i guess.
yes..! youtube will do sis..i was a teacher at one of the most famous private school at this country. Sadly to say that this kind of school doesnt really care of your children achievements.They care for your money.! No joke here sis.They care because that kid is ‘someone’s child. If you get my point. This is just a profit making school,not more than that. Please dont buy their trick on ‘ focus on childrens own abilty’ or ‘ we teach children to think out of thier box’ . Totally hypocrite.
vivy..i just hantar my son to gymboree..only on weekend..ada play session, art and music..try la..
wow what kind of school was that, parents need to impress the teachers first to get in? must be a special one ^^ but always remember not to be too hard on children’s academic education, especially at this very young age. a competition is good, but let the kids hv fun aight! 😀
Oooo tell me about it! My daughter is turning 3 next year and we’re thinking whether she should go to kindergarten by 3 or wait until she’s 4. Kindergarten syllabus starts at 4. Hubby and i kinda want to be cool parents and let her main2 first and only send her at 4. I mean she already recognizes letters, numbers, colors, alif ba ta from youtube. But most kids her age are already at school so there’s pressure right there. She currently goes to the daycare ( macam playschool la jugak). Aaargghh choices choices..
hi vivy 🙂 first of all, let me say that i do think education is important, especially early education. but there is such a thing as priorities. at such a tender age, i think it is more important to teach a 2-year-old social skills (sharing, playing together, potty training) rather than academic skills (ABC, 123). i don’t know about you but i’d rather a 3-year-old be fully potty trained, share his toys, have a few close friends and know how to count to 5 and A through F than a 3-year-old who knows to count 1-15 and all the ABCs but doesn’t want to share or play with the other kids and still poops in a diaper. I don’t know if you can have it both ways but if I had to choose, I’d rather have a socially adjusted toddler and let the academic skills come in later. After all, you can teach him ABCs and 123 on your own rather than depend on a fancy school but social skills will need a lot of support from you as a parent and others as well. My son is a couple of months younger than daniel and goes to nursery school twice a week, mostly to socialize and alhamdulillah, I see he is less anxious of other kids these days and is potty training beautifully. All the best, vivy!:)
hi vivy, maybe u can try peterana in bangsar.not so many kids per classroom 🙂 teehee
But..but..is it more expensive than your chanel n hermes…..?
daniel belajar dengan kak siti aje lah…or they can take turn, daniel ajar kak siti…
REAL KIDS!!! is the best!
Why not send him to a playgroup instead? A few hours and he’ll be able to socialize with other kids. I think he’ll pick up some form of studying along the way
Hi Vivy,
My son is the same age as Daniel and we’re starting to look at schools as well. Some under my toplist are Gymboree and Vital Years. They have 1 or 2 classes a week and the prices are quite reasonable.
Was considering Julia Gabriel, but tak berani nak ask for the price. Haha~
Vivy, my mom once said, there’s an old saying that if you poop at the place, means you’ll come back again to that place. Hahahaha.
If the saying is true, well, “Hello Daniel.” said the teacher with a big grin.
Betul ba? Two years only, already looking for a preschool? Wow o.o
I think sending a 2 yr old baby to school is too early.
Can’t understand why parents send their kids to school so early these days.. I mean chill la. We went to kindergarten at 6 years old before and still turned out OK what! hehe..
It’s definitely worth it. Here in NY everything is competitive, especially school. I started my daughter at the age of 14 months and her brother will be going in September. I definitely pay more in nusery school than my mortgage, but my daughter is so smart. Knows all her colors in Spanish and English, as well as counting to 20 in both languages as well. Yes it hurts to pay $3000 monthly for her to color and play but the learning environment is amazing! And every morning she picks up her bag and tells me ‘buy mami’ because she is so pumped to go to school. Hopefully my son loves it as much as she does. With that said.l, I can’t wait for them to be 4/5 in order to go to our local public school which is why I pay a ridiculous amount in taxes (we have one of the best school districts in Long Island). Yay for free school