pre-school

Been spending the last days researching about preschools. Sofia is now 2 years, 9 months and finding a school to keep her active mind working seemed to be the next step. I wanted her to attend the preschool here in our barangay but the ladies there told my mom that this coming June they will only accept enrollees who are at least 3.5 years old. Sofi will only turn 3 this July, that means she didn’t make the cut-off. My next resort is to find resources online. Of course there are lots of frantic moms online who are scouting for preschools, too. Their inputs are a big help to those who will send their kiddos to school for the first time but somehow a lot of infos are left unexposed. I would say I have read 3 major threads on parenting and schools but I couldn’t find what I’m looking for…or maybe there isn’t any.

I wanted to find something that says how much a first-time mommy or daddy should save to send her toddler to school. Some websites tell you upfront how much, others would require that you call and some others would want you to visit the school and let the kid try first before they tell you how much. Really, there is nothing wrong with trial schools. It’s the best way to get to know the “curriculum”. But as a mom, I hate it when I have to break my little girl’s heart. I mean, letting her try an environment and when she enjoys it, you tell her…sorry, sweetie we don’t have money for this school. And then she wails and you couldn’t do anything but drag her back home.

I tried calling the schools I have in mind but their responses were a bit disappointing. The two schools I particularly like, AHeadStart and Mulberry, have tuitions above 50k. I was hoping I could find a school whose tuition is around 35k. Red Apple and Sea and Learn’s seemed promising, with around 41k tuition. I kinda like the homey image of Red Apple but they only accept students who’ll turn 3 this June.  Plus, they have a cute uniform :)

I'm still not sure where to enroll Sofi.  I might pay a visit toAheadstart and Sea and Learn within the week to check them out.  For those interested, here are the schools' contact info.

Aheadstart Child Development Center
Webby: http://aheadstartpreschool.com/index.htm
e-mail addy: info@aheadstartcdc.com
Addy: 72 San Rafael st., Brgy. Kapitolyo, Pasig City
Phone: 631-9548
Tuition Range: roughly 50k (according to the one I talked to)
Teaching Style: Developmental, Progressive, Interactive
Contact Person: Teacher Mica
DepEd Permit: P-168 2007

Comment:  The school is near our vicinity, the school looks homey to me.  When I called them yesterday, the one who answered was very accommodating -- not as if they just woke up.  Similar to Mulberry they also do not divulge too much info over the phone regarding tuition but she was the one who offered to give a range.  I might visit it this week.

The Red Apple Playschool
Webby: http://www.redappleplayschool.com/
e-mail addy: inquiry@redappleplayschool.com
Addy: 100 F. Manalo Street, Malinao, Pasig City
Phone: 748-1155
Tuition Range: visit site for the complete breakdown
Teaching Style: modified-progressive, research-oriented preschool; mixture of trad/non-trad
Contact Person: Clyde Villegas / Joyce Reyes / Jasmin Lao
DepEd Permit:

Comment: website has a lot to say about the school and the pictures look homey to me.  I think Sofi will enjoy the class here and will prepare her to a big school since their style of teaching is a mixture of tradition and progressive.  I'm also interested how they go about their research-oriented curriculum because being a librarian i knew how important these skills are,,,except that these are preschool kids and i'm not sure what approach will they do to achieve this.  It's a pity that it's not near our place and minimum age should be 3 years old.  The uniform looks cute for Sofi. :)

Sea and Learn Development Center
Webby: http://seaandlearn.webs.com/
e-mail addy: seaandlearn@yahoo.com
Addy: 2/F Fun Ranch, Frontera Verde Estates, E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave, Libis,Pasig City
Phone: 583-7765, 0922-8387765
Tuition Range: 50k (or you may read this blog entry from fedhz.com)
Teaching Style: Progressive
Contact Person:
DepEd Permit:
Comment: Their website has lots of information about the school, their programs and their tuition.  I like it that it's witin the vicinity and that they are very transparent.  I hate it that they are inside Fun Ranch.  Sofi has this tendency to drag you to amusement parks and I know for sure that if you enroll her here she will always ask you to bring her to the rides and stuff.  The school is quite small too unlike the others who used up their entire house to build a playschool.  But their tuition is among the lowest so far within my area.

Mulberry Kids Preschool
Webby: http://mulberrykids.multiply.com/
e-mail addy: mulberrykids_ph@yahoo.com
Addy: 25 Gen. Malvar St., Brgy. San Antonio, San Antonio Village, Pasig City
Phone: 6877024, 09173669338.
Tuition Range: 60+ (according to the person I talked to)
Teaching Style: focuses on the physical, intellectual, emotional, aesthetic, personal and social needs of the child
Contact Person: Meg Mariñas
DepEd Permit:
Comment: hard to look for feedbacks on the web, multiply site provides little info – PM them about tuition but they don’t want to share info. They instead offered a Trial class, if you’re interested, it’s on the 19th and 20th of this month, but you need to reserve a slot. They said they'll email me more info but I haven't receive any as of today.  I called them and the one who answered is not too accommodating, although I was able to squeezed out a few info on tuition range, 60+. I wanted to enroll Sofi here since it’s walking distance but I don’t think I can afford it.

PS.  I just got an email from them...same stuff and she called me Ms. Santos :(