Just Can't Get Enough

Summer school is over for Bea, and she just can’t accept it! Yesterday was her first day without classes. She had breakfast fast, saying that she will be late for school. Then after her bath, her nanny dressed her up with her usual play clothes and she was devastated. She kept saying no! this was not her school clothes! She just can’t accept the fact that her 1-month summer school was over.  

Earlier, before we left for work, I talked to her. I told her that there will temporarily be no school for the next couple of days because her teacher and classmates need to rest, and after a few days (weeks actually) school will start again. She seemed to understand because she made to violent reaction. We’ll see…

Summer School Adventures

This Friday will be Bea’s last day in summer school. I am glad to share that she is loving school so much! Even though she has to wake up early for her class, (8:30-10:00am) she really looks forward to going to school. She is now so familiar with her routine. Since hubby and I leave early for work, she wakes up early too. Then she goes jogging (yes like lolo, she is a health buff hehehe) then it’s time to join Ninang as she leaves for work. Before, she used to accompany Ninang up to the FX terminal. Now she stops after a few steps from our house, bids Ninang goodbye and says that she has to get ready for school or else she’ll be late. (Dito lang Bea, late na ko school). After forcibly drinking her milk and getting ready for school, Lolo accompanies them to the pedicab terminal. Her yaya accompanies her on the pedicab ride to school and stays with her for the whole 1.5 hours.

So how is she doing in school? Surprisingly good! She is motivated by the promise of stars stamped on her hand. When teacher promises that stars will be given at the end of class if they are good and attentive, Bea will immediately sit down and listen quietly. She has learned to socialize and play with her classmates. She knows them all by name. She learned action songs and now appreciates story telling sessions. As far as coloring pictures go, she has definitely improved. She now colors inside the lines of the picture, whereas before, she colored the back side of the paper, then after a while outside of the picture. =)

She is also learning about shapes. She now knows circle and triangle. Sometimes she calls the triangle actum (lactum) for the sign that carmina and Claudine does over their hearts in the Lactum commercial. She still has a hard time with square and rectangle though. Every weekend, her teachers let them take home a folder bearing their name, where all their seat works in school are compiled for parents to see. Her progress is apparent. =)

Every morning Bea raids Lolo’s store for baon, which she eats at school. This is another progress for her. We told her teachers about her feeding problem, so Teacher Ren lets classmates with good appetites sit beside her during recess time to encourage her to eat her baon. She manages to eat a few pieces of biscuits and downs her juice. Woohoo!

Her teacher praised her and announced that she was VERY GOOD when she performed well in her oral recitation about parts of the body and shapes. This motivated her to go to school even more! This is exactly what I hoped for. For her to have a good first impression of school, so that she will enjoy going to school. Like me. My first teacher is lovingly etched in my memory forever. I loved her so much and I always attributed my being a “good” student to her. I felt that school was a warm, fun and loving environment. It was not to be feared. This experience is what I want for my baby. Sure, in the future she will encounter “terror” teachers, but at least the foundation of love for learning is already there.

By the way, she also stopped wearing diaper to school, and asks her yaya to accompany her to go to the CR (ee-ar). =)

By june we she will be attending Nursery class. We are still torn as to where we will enroll her. Her school now is a bit expensive and a bit far from our house, but she is already comfortable there and she loves her teachers and classmates already. We have another option, which is cheaper but has no aircon and has a different religious inclination (although they said they were non-sectarian). Oh well. We’ll see…