My sister in law Maricar invited us to join them for a Free 1-day Trial School in the School for Creative Beginners because cousin Ahya EJ will have a summer class there. Since Dindin is only 13 months old, she and Meimei joined the play circle for toddlers.
We were quite excited to go. This is Dindin’s first taste of going to school in a real classroom. She and Meimei were classmates. There were 6 of them in the class–3 boys, 3 girls.
As soon as I took off Dindin’s shoes and placed them in the cubbyhole, she was on her feet and in four very fast steps, she was already beside the teacher. She then sat down beside Teacher Summer and began playing with the toys. She was at home in the classroom. She played for a while and then picked up a book to read. Then she roamed around and around and around, saying Papa, A-ma, EJ all the time. She was making a roll call of family members that were not around.
They sang and danced. Dindin enjoyed the activities, however I could not let her stay in one place. Maricar said she is a kinesthetic learner. She was absorbing things but she just could not sit down. Then it was time for art. The teacher wrote their names on a paper plate and allowed them to color it. Dindin sat down on the chair and placed her arms on the desk while we waited for the teacher. We colored the plate for awhile until she finally decided that she wanted to move around again.
When snack time came, Dindin ate by herself. The teacher gave them plates and glasses on place mats and Dindin enjoyed the new system. She would hold the biscuit and bite them little by little then put them back on her plate. She would hold the glass (though it was empty) and simulated drinking from it. She was fun to look at.
I just could not let her follow the songs and dances but I just try to engage her. By the end of the class, she also put her name plate in the basket and got a star drawing on her hand. The problem came when we had to say goodbye–she did not want to leave!
On her first day, she experienced many things, including being hit and thrown a toy at by a bigger boy. Thankfully, his attacks missed Dindin. We spent the rest of the session avoiding him. She also had a nice experience when another boy shared his Skyflakes with her, which she happily took and ate. She signed “thank you” to the boy.
So it was on her first day.
We think that Dindin is ready for play school like that. However, we have budget and time constraints. It may be best to send her to summer classes like this when is ready to comprehend more things, like when she will be 3 years old. After all, I play with her and teach her while at home. She also gets interaction from her cousins. Additionally, we will be attending the DVBS at Trinity Christian Fellowship next week and the DVBS of Bacolod Trinity Church in May. So that will be her source of classroom interactions this summer. She may also be ready to go with her Koko every Sunday morning to attend Sunday school maybe mid May. At least they don’t cost much. These activities just need some effort.
Dindin attended DVBS for the second time this year at the mother church. So yesterday, instead of going to our home church TCF, we attended worship service in our mother church.
