Sending Yanna to a Playgroup School

DECISION TO SEND TO PLAYGROUP

I never imagined sending Yanna, my 2 year old daughter, to a pre-nursery thing because I did not think it was necessary- in the same way that nursery was a luxury 20 years ago.  Nursery was supposed to be a pre-school thing and now you have a pre-nursery thing- so what’s next? But I guess things have changed and so were the circumstances.  Yanna is growing up fast and I did not want her to grow up getting used to just being with her nanny all day.  There’s gotta be a way to play with some kids in the playground on a regular basis.  I wanted her to develop social skills at an early age. Hence, we toyed on the idea of finding an informal playgroup- something that moms organize in Singapore- some by locals, some by expat wives. That did not prosper as it seemed difficult to find one and organize one.  further, being an informal group- it’s unpredictable- people may come and go and you may not like eveerything that comes out of it.  Hence, better get into an organized playgroup.

FINDING THE PLAYGROUP

Looking for that organized playgroup is not easy if you don’t have the right leads.  First, playgroup is not a clearly defined classification.  By playgroup, my wife and I wanted to jus send Yanna to some place where she could play and socialize with other kids, learn some new things and managed by a professional.  We did not want a day care center.  and so we searched the Net to see what’s out there.  I checked websites Pinoysg and Singapore Expat to see what people would recommend in the communities.  what i got was the likes of franchise schools- Apple Tree and Mind Champs.  The latter does not have playgroups while the former did not have a place close by our area.  We surfed the Net and found a number such as NTUC First Campus brands (My First Skool, among others) but mostly offer day care services. Finally, we decided to walk around the neighborhood because I realized that I’ve seen quite a number and maybe we were missing something.  True enough, there were about three around the area- and we found Star Tots Playgroup most perfect for our needs: it was only a 2-hour programme where kids could play and learn at the same time.

We were two weeks late from the official school calendar but since this is just a playgroup, it was flexible.  Initially, the slots were all filled out, but one backed out so we got a slot after a week.

FIRST FEW DAYS IN SCHOOL

My wife and I were excited about it.  On her first day, we were curious to see how Yanna would take it being left in the care of the school.  Surprisingly, with her mum bringing her to the school, she just plainly said goodbye, hugged and gave her usual flying kiss.  As if she just said goodbye when mummy’s  leaving for work.  On her second day, she might have noticed what she was at.  With her nanny bringing her to school this time, she cried so hard as if her nanny was leaving her in the night before she goes to sleep!  True enough, whether it was mummy or nanny bringing her to school, she would cry the following days .  The teacher managed to stop her, but oh, I could feel what’s inside her when my wife was telling me how she would try to stop from crying – first stop from screaming but her eyes still with tears and trying to control her sob.  This scene stopped after 5 or 6 days.

LESSONS IN LIFE

Yanna started learning new things with other kids.  I guess this kind of environment makes her appreciate things in a better way where she could relate.  Things like opening your pack of snacks and eating on her own, washing her hands, throwing rubbish at the waste can- when she starts seeing it in her little world with little people, she is more keen and excited to learn.

FIRST WORK OF ART

One day, the class did some artwork where they printed some fruit into a piece of paper. Yanna was so excited about it that she did not keep it in her bag.  She met her mum with her artpiece on her hands and walked home still holding it with her! How beautiful it is to see how my little girl got so excited and engrossed with this little work of art!

Yanna walking home holding her piece of art