Education, education, education

I did not miss the 6 am alarm during the holidays... First term - and the Christmas break - is now well behind us, and it's a good time to look back on how starting school has gone for us.
I had a real wobble for months leading up to the First Day. As Sofia is a summer born child, thus barely 3 when Kindy was due to start, and with my background of starting school at the age of 7 in Finland, I wasn't convinced that school was the right thing for her. Especially when lot of research on summer-born children starting school too early seem to suggest a poorer performance in later life (there are several factors, and of course every child is individual, but the findings are not encouraging). Furthermore, many researchers have shown how pushing learners too early have a negative impact on enjoyment later on, as well as futility of homework in early years. With all this in mind I ended up having several meetings with the school and by the end of it they knew me as Sofia's mum - am I one of those mums :D Poor girl!

I was maybe a bit lazy researching my local options, though. There is one play group where you can leave your child for the morning, and there are some Montessori schools, too. But I didn't consider either option in the end; finances played a big part in our individual choice as we get a school place paid for through work.

There are two international schools in the capital area, JIS and ISB, both offering Kindy education that follow UK early years' curriculum. I visited both and had an extensive chat with the educators. The choice in the end was an easy one; one of the schools offers a programme where all the 60 kindy pupils are in the same group and I felt that this arrangement wouldn't fit to Sofia's personality. On top of that, the adult-child ration in the other is much better, 1-4, which I considered a great advantage thinking that my baby might need a cuddle occasionally. Whilst ISB has a philosophy that is closer to my own heart, I know Sofia likes routine and she likes to know when is singing time, snack time, play time etc, and after all, it is for her I was choosing! So I went with Jerudong International School (don't be fooled, by the way, it's an accredited international school, like the other one.)

The facilities at the school are fabulous, and whilst there were few tears in the beginning (not on the first day, however!) Sofia is always very exited about school and the toys and activities available. She loves her teacher and the teaching assistants; the staff is dedicated and keep the kids very busy. Most of the activities they do I couldn't (or wouldn't want to....) even organise at home. I am also pleased that they play outside every day, something we rarely do as there aren't any public playgrounds with shade. PE has been amazing for her motor skills and she has become more confident in her movement; she is always hopping and skipping and wants to jump higher and higher. She often does exercise at home and is keen to teach me too.







Toys and learning activities in their classroom are great but that's not all.
They have swimming once a week and enjoy story time at the library with books to take home. They have specialised PE and Music teachers. I am particularly pleased about the library as Sofia enjoys reading and books, and there isn't really anywhere to go to get that library experience. We have been going to a book store before but I felt bad sitting around reading and just putting the books back from someone else to buy. The school has  had organised an international day and a book week with a British author. This grants a little bit of culture in an otherwise void country.

Starting at 7.30 is hard, though, and we have had to adjust our family routines. It is not easy to fit everything in the afternoon, and have Sofia in bed by 6. Friday afternoons are often a write off, she is too tired to do anything constructive. In Kindy they don't yet offer any co-curricular activities but next year there is an extensive list to choose from for the afternoons. We shall see if she can manage that!

So? Currently I am pleased we made the decision for her to start Kindy. She enjoys the activities and playing with friends; we would have killed each other had she stayed at home for another year! She knows her numbers from 1 to 10 (in two languages) and everything that starts with an S means her name. There is a lot to say about learning by playing, and I am all for it, I am just not sure if it needs to be done in uniform and formally so young. My current wobble is about next year - do I keep Sofia in Kindy for another year, or shall I move her on....