This is just an account to remember that Zoe has been in her current playschool for one year. It has been a year+ by the time I post this…
Zoe started playschool at the tender age of 20 months old and if you have been following this blog, you probably have read that it was not an easy journey at the beginning. There are tears, sweats and the oh so difficult parting daily.
A year on, there has been lots and lots of things that happens…good and not so good/ideal.
Many people I know wonder how I could send her to playschool (full day) at such a young age. What I wanted to say now is, if you have seen it as negative/difficult/sad/desperate at that time, I felt it 1000x more as Zoe’s Mom.
Looking at Zoe now, I have no regrets and I thank God for our prayers answered. Zoe has grown so much, very socialable, creative, talkative and etc…The last I checked with some standard development milestones, she is about 6 mths ahead of what her peers can do (standard measure). Surely, I am proud of her and I have the playschool to thank for certain aspects of her development.
I must say not every playschool is perfect, not even the one Zoe attends which is considered one of the most expensive at the township we are staying. We just give and take. A few aspects that I have take into consideration are:
Teachers
Throughout the 1 year, Zoe has had 3-4 teachers change. Although I dislike this idea, but I also know teachers are human too. We change jobs and companies too and I felt that a playschool teacher can easily be one of the toughest job in the market, double that if you faced with very demanding and rich parents.
At her young age, I notice she knows her teacher changed but because she is young, she adapts easily too. She will just say, "Teacher Who-and-Who no more coming to school". Upon asking, she will quickly tell us who her new teacher is. I always make it a point to ask her who is the teacher who play and sing with her, teach her and bath her or help her during afternoon nap.
I must admit that I am very thankful there is 1 teacher that Zoe and myself like a lot (thou she is not teaching Zoe directly), and she is still there. God bless her, Teacher N!
Teacher/student ratio at her school is also bearable, around 12 - 15 per class with 2 teachers and 2 teaching assistant. Day care we actually notice many care takers around, all very motherly and even the admin staff took the chance to play with the children.
Hygiene
Well, now you know I can be quite anal, LOL! This is one of the most important criteria simply because I believe that kids who are brought up in a clean environment, will be a clean adult. Proper places like kid’s height washing basin in classroom, canteen and tiny tot’s WC to help with the toilet training. Teachers who teaches the kids to wash hands/face, bath, brush teeth and clean up after they made a mess 
Environment
That applies even if you do not have a million dollar house k!? A humble home can be clean and comfortable. I am thankful also that Zoe’s school is a purpose built building (not a terrace house) with a few blocks of classrooms, an indoor swimming pool, a safe playground surrounded by kindy buildings, a really large aquarium with life fish and fruits trees or plants planted surrounding the kindy. I remembered one colleague remarked when she saw the pic of Zoe’s school, "Wow, like Disneyland!". Looking at the booming property prices at this township, this piece of kindy building is probably worth millions now…LOL!
System and Management
Zoe’s kindy is montessori based from the start. Things like scooping beans from one bowl to another and tying shoe laces were the daily routine at the beginning. Half way through, the kindy got bought over by an international private school that have presence worldwide. We are thankful that there are no change/increase of fees so far. But, I must say I quite like the personal approach the head of school made when we enquire about Zoe’s next move to 4 years old class as she is a New Year baby (start Std 1 at 6 yrs old). The head of school actually called Daddy on the next business day after our enquiry and share with us her views and experience for Zoe. That is good customer service as she could just easily get a teacher to call us.
I can say now the system works for Zoe. She can speak after attending playschool for a month and now, I actually lost count of the number of nursery rhymes she could recite. I am not an academician at all and I do not think they teachers push the kids to remember the rhymes or things they teaches. It is simply because they made is so fun, probably like a game, Zoe remembers all she learn so well.
Friends
This is another very important aspect but we have very little control on. The friends or community that the children mix with. I am thankful also that Zoe have a bunch of close friends in school, to my surprise they are mostly boys (Geez!). They play, fight, eat and nap daily together for 5 days a week. Now, she could come home and tell me which boys cry like a baby today or who fell down or who was the naughty one. HaHa!
Zoe’s improvement are partly due to the peers/friends in school too.
Security
If you ask any private school, this is a very very important aspect that parents stresses and parents pay for added security. Zoe’s kindy actually have it’s own guard house and guards. It has been the same guard since the day I visited the school. He is very friendly to the kids, greets them one by one but I can also see that he do his duty to protect them. Personally, I felt save in the kindy myself and I have not an ounce of doubt in the security aspect of the school at all.
Fees
When I enrolled Zoe, I knew that the fees was on the high side from the many forums I visited. We checked our expenses and the amount we paid to Nanny, it is roughly a 30-40% increase. We felt an ‘ouch!’ at that time. It is approx RM850 per mth, but now I think that is a small price to pay to see Zoe growing so well, occupied, happy and proudly exclaiming whenever we pass by, "That’s my school!!!"…and she goes on and on describing all the nice things about school…LOL!
Tomorrow, Zoe will be performing at her school concert for the first time. I am thrill to see her and will definitely try my best to snap photos and take videos if possible. I guess the concert is just on time, some kind of a celebration milestone just right after a year Zoe first step foot at this playschool.
