iñigo 'd schoolboy

yes, you read it right... iñigo is now going to school! but let me clarify first that we're not yet ditching our plan of homeschooling him, for his preschool years at least. it's just that iñigo was bugging us to send him to a regular preschool that we can no longer say no. add to that is his need for another environment where he can mingle and interact with other kids.

so we scouted for a school near our current house, a job which was not easy for us as either the tuition of these schools is too high and/or the schedule of their classes won't fit in with our lifestyle nowadays. we're not morning persons. :D then a colleague of jude referred to us to family partners learning center which is located at the other end of our street. we inquired and iñigo attended its trial class. the tuition is quite steep but since we observed that iñigo liked the school as well as the teacher, and everything that happened that day, i.e. school routine, we decided to give it a shot and enrolled iñigo. his classes start at 8:30 am and ends at 11:30 am. but since we're not morning persons, he joins his class at 9 am. hahaha!

trial class, warming-up stage; he refused first to join with his classmates in the circle time nor take a seat

 

he now pulled a chair and observed intently but still won't get near them... shy pa 'sya :)

 

he now approved to sit with his classmates but was still quite shy. :)

 

ayan na... he's now playing with the other kids. shy no more. hehe.

 

theo attended the trial class, too. our whole family was there to cheer for kuya iñigo. :D

the school uses the progressive method of teaching which is another reason why i enrolled him there. the kids accomplishments and abilites are not measured in grades. as told to me, the teacher will just give the parents during one-on-one consultations a report on what their kids can already accomplish by that time as well as their strengths and weaknesses. more importantly, i like the school because i think it won't interfere way with our learning principles since it doesn't dwell that much on academics. they allot a lot of time for free play. he belongs to the vertical class which is for kids three to five years of age (there's another class for toddlers). but there are also moments that they are sub-grouped during activities; younger kids do one activity while the older kids do another. but what's good about this is iñigo can mingle with his peers and with a little bit older kids as well.

so how's iñigo doing in school?

as his teacher celes said, he's adjusting quite smoothly. his teacher and i we're both surprised that it only took him a day to adjust and that was his first school day (after the trial class). there was even no crying moment which i feared before especially if we had to leave him inside the classroom. it's actually the mommy who is still suffering from separation anxiety as i still lurk outside their room for the entire duration of their class. hehe.

and quite surprisingly, iñigo is well-behaved in school! :D. he follows instructions and rules and doesn't show any signs of resistance. uhm...can we just stay in school all the time? hahaha. am also quite proud that iñigo is usually the first one to finish their worksheets. he's really that interested in schooling.

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i never thought that jude is a stage-daddy in the making. he's really concerned on what his eldest son would wear on his first day in school. and when i told him that i'll go with iñigo he refused and dressed up as he also wanted to witness the little boy's first school day experience. never mind if we had to bring theo with us. the same thing happened during the united nations day. he and theo (who he carried using a sling) followed us in school to see kuya iñigo participating in the program. :D

more pictures of iñigo in school here, including those taken during their united nations day program.