Bambi goes to school
MANAGEMENT Are they accommodating?:Yes, in fact when I first came there it was lunch
time and the teacher that accommodated me was not snobbish at all for the fact that I exceeded time beyond lunch (I think it took us more than an hour and a half to finish the orientation and the teacher did not mind at all to be delayed in her meal) Do they have consultants?: Yes but they won't share it outright. They don't have it on their web site nor in their brochures either. It seems like they are trying to be very private about their institution. QUALIFICATION OF FACULTY AND STAFF: They won't share it outright either (see above) but I questioned the masteral and degree of the teachers involved in my baby's class and there's a very intriguing info about their teachers. The teacher handling toddler's class is a graduate of education and will take up masters soon but the other one, handling Junior nursery is neither a graduate of psych nor child education. She's a graduate from FEU and took up mathematics major in IT. In their defensive orientation, they say what most matters in their institution is the fact that the teachers/applicants are very passionate about their work and children and I must say, even though she's not a master of education, she seems very knowledgeable about kids, considering her years of experience there in Casa de Bambini. Experience years (from when was this school established): It started since 1980 (28 YEARS) but they were first located inside White Plains village. They changed locations so they could cater a wider market and have a bigger place. SCHOOL FACILITIES How big is the school: Its on the whole second floor of the building, above Dexter's bakeshop. It has 5 rooms, one office, three class rooms (two of which are big but one of it is divided into two) and a play area. Rating of the facility and pictures: I give it 6 out of 10. First and foremost, it is not advisable to have a preschool on a second floor, with very steep steps on the stairway. They do have a stair door with a lock but taking note of kids like my daughter, who is very wise about locks and can open it herself, it's a risky decision to put a preschool on a second floor. Second, the area is not well maintained as a presentable preschool but I think it would compromise well with its low rate tuition fee. Third, its a bit dim, the first time I stepped in, it was bright but because if was noon and the sun was really up and we were in the room full of windows. But in my second visit, that was the time I really got to pay attention to the area. There were bright rooms but most of it is generally gloomy. List of areas (play. Dining, nap, classroom etc): They have a play area, classrooms, and a mini library. (A mini library, which I have discovered in the second visit, that became their junk room. It was dark, filled with a broken computer, lacking books and dusty! Materials of kids in
school (daily basis): Included in the tuition fee. Materials of kids in presentations (paid or additional payment or parent provides own materials): They don't include it in the tuition fee but they say that they don't require students to spend so much on materials, in fact they encourage them to be resourceful for costumes and materials. Day care available?: Nope but they do allow the kid to stay there until the fetcher is around, just inform them that you will be late. Facilities that cater the sped needs and impaired needs?: They only cater sped if its only ADHD and they use the same material similar to the regular kid's materials. SCHOOL SURROUNDINGS School's social environment: Very recommendable low profile kids, Location:Katipunan Extention Near St. Ignatius Village/White planes. (Above Dexter's bakeshop, the entrance is just beside it and you would have to go up stairs. There's a waiting area for kids/nannies downstairs tho) Travel time from Katipunan: At around 8:54 am, we left katipunan and headed off to the school, we traveled with smooth traffic and arrived at 9:01 am. Parking: Very small parking space that can only accommodate 3 or 4 cars, the rest will have to park at Dexter's and plead to allow them to park at the bakeshop, otherwise you'd have to have a driver and double park your car. In their defense, they have a small number of students, most of them I assume are involved in school bus and most of the time the kids are just dropped by in 5 to 10 minutes. No need for long parking hours, except of course if you're a super concerned parent like me who stays long hours in the preschool. Security, how many and how?: They only have aids who can help you out and help the teachers out. They "share" security guards with Dexter's bakeshop. FACULTY How many nannies available for help to the teacher: They have 2 aids downstairs, and 4 teachers (I met and saw only 4 of them) ratio of kid and teacher : They currently have around 3 kids in toddler's class to one teacher, 6 kids in junior nursery to one teacher (and the two classes are teamed up as one class as of today), 5 kids to one teacher in senior nursery and 7 kids in kinder garden to one teacher How many students per classroom and all in all (maximum): One of the teachers have told me that they like keeping the teacher-kid ratio to a minimum so they keep up to 10 kids only in kinder to one teacher TEACHING METHOD Type of teaching method (progressive or traditional or others): They are a traditional school but they use progressive approaches. I honestly did not see the progressive approach, more of playing approach. Although we could give them the benefit of the doubt since my kid has only started on her first day there, but what about the other regular kid? This may actually be a good enough school if you enroll your kid at around the level of senior nursery, where kids already have a good sense of following directions. Right now, I don't see that they can sway to the toddler's attention span, in relation to their program. (Take note: This is of course a mommy's point of view only, who has minimal and experienced based knowledge of preschool, through observations of schools, students and studying some books and articles) Do they have a tracker for the kid's development: Yes, they do have a check list for the development of the child, a step by step level of progression which they claim to have accomplished by every child before they are left to enroll on the next level. PTC (how often and how is it conducted) AND reports: They have 5 PTC's. The first one is an orientation to the parent. The second to fifth PTC's involve showing of report cards, which is symbolized in "VG,GOOD, SATISFACTORY Etc." and is explained further on why they got the reported grade. Do they personally interact with the parents to gain trust/to report/accommodate the needs of the family?: Yes, in the first PTC: which is the orientation. They do this to be able to orient their teachers the goals the parents want their children to attain. Do they involve the parent in the evaluation of kids?: Probably yes because of what was said above but voluntary involvements through teacher-parental concerns are most likely approached when the parents complain. Socialization (community day evaluation): No but they have special days like camping days, or "graduation." For the toddler's class, they are joined up to other classes like the junior nursery's class since the population is very little. They also have "fun fun fun days" which is held in some of the Fridays (since the classes are only Monday to Thursday for continuity purposes) and these Fridays are filled with spontaneous activities that the teachers plan within the week. SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND ACTIVITIES Schedule time(TIME AVAILABILITY OF CLASSES): They have morning class only for the toddlers since kids tend to be sleepy already and lethargic in the afternoon Schedule of activities (daily activities inside the class): (see photos) Children's presentations: Since UN day was approaching, I was fortunate enough to have witnessed the presentation practices. During the regular schedule, I was oriented that the children continue on with the lessons, afterwards, the children have extended classes to practice their presentation. So if the regular classes are only up to 11am, they extend up to 12 nn to prepare for presentation day. Though I question the statement "regular classes are still continued" because when I was peeping in one of the kinder garden classes, I saw the whole class eating up the whole day trying to practice their dance. Extracurricular activities available: No extra classes available but they have "fun fun fun Fridays" (see socialization) and they do offer tutorial classes available for all levels, even college. Up to what level do they offer (preschool, grade-school, hs etc): Has 4 levels, toddler class, junior nursery, senior nursery and kinder garden Difference of each level: Toddlers intro to school with a bit of ABC's, Junior Nursery would relate to the Toddler's class and a continuation through association of ABC's, Senior Nursery would start reading and Kinder is preparation to the big schools with worksheets and advanced reading. It seems that the teacher who oriented me emphasized reading as their focus in the program but she also says that they try to touch all aspects of the child's development needs and also has math classes (maybe in kinder) PARENT'S FEEDBACK Testimonials of parents: Luckily, I have encountered a parent of two adorable kids, who enrolled two of her kids there. One of her kids is already a Kindergarten, whom she will transfer in Xavier soon and the other one in Toddler's class. Quoted from her statement: "I am very happy with the results so far. My first kid has learned to read and write here and we did not do so much follow ups in teaching him at home, except of course when he has homework from here. My husband and I approve of their traditional teachings and the fact that the social environment is much grounded." When I was inquiring form her experiences there, she seemed very happy of the results but of course, the teaching method is very subjective and I'd propose you master your kid very well, know her needs and what he/she lacks of. Not all kids are appropriate for a traditional school for starters and not all parents believe in rigid work as early as their age. I for one believe that kids should enjoy as much as they can and in time, they will be ready for traditional styles as they age and grow. My kid tried their class and I wasn't so happy with the observations. Although, it is true that results are not as fast as liposuction and kids have to adjust to the environment/teaching methods but experiencing preschools, Casa de Bambini seemed to have difficulty catching the attention of Kloe, my daughter. Talking to the teacher, they say that Kloe seemed to have a very short attention span and has a tad bit higher hyper activity level, compared to the other "normal" kids. I guess kids there are much too rigid to compare with my daughter and the term "normal" can be really be subjective, depending on the experiences of the teachers from the type of kids they are exposed to. Kloe was pretty "normal" in the other preschools I encountered. Biased treatment: no biases or what so ever Religion wise treatmentno biases: They don't have biases for religions but since they promote praying before class, it seemed they have leaned towards a certain religion already. Though they don't "sign of the cross" to play safe. Cultural biased opinions: nope Security/crimeincidents: None so far, which is pretty much amazing because they have been running for 28 years now. (I better ask the parents..) SCHOOL RULES AND REGULATIONS Available snacks and food (free?): unfortunately, no. But they promote good sanitation through cleaning of hands every now and then Sick kid policy: Claimed that kids don't get that tired and sickly much with their daily schedule, absentees are allowed and they also encourage bed rest for kids that go under the weather. School bus or carpool available?: Yes and if you live in Katipunan your fee would only be Php200 a month, if you live in Cubao, it would cost you around PHP1,200 a month. Student uniform: Yes, and it seems very appropriate, very comfortable and very simple. Affordable too. Teacher uniform: Yes, appropriate as well. OTHERS Affiliations to other companies: No, stated by the teacher, Bambini is an individual school. They are different from Casa De Bambini Montessori school. Perks/other special programs included (mock interviews, camping etc. what's so special?): They have a declaration of speeches, from which kinder classes compose their own poems or speeches and at the end of the year, they would recite the said masterpiece in front of a live audience of parents. Cute. They also introduce homework and activities to the children starting at Junior Nursery, for them to be able to get used to the traditional learning system of the big schools. Discounts (alumni associations etc): No Sped needs catered?: Only up to ADHD (see sped facilities) Can you leave your kid to school?: Yes as long as you inform the teachers if you will be late in fetching your daughter/son. Impaired needs catered?: No, they area itself even says a lot. It's not conducive to children who are blind/deaf. PASSING RATE to big schools: Claimed to have 100% passing rate but I had a little doubt since it was explained to me that they have known this through the parents who come back and report that their kid has passed certain schools they want, but do they ask one by one and call up each parent initially? And it's not really said that they passed the first preferred school. TUTION FEE:PHP 47,000 for toddlers and PHP 59,000 for Junior Nursery, Senior Nursery and Kindergarten. They do offer semestral or quarterly payments too, with interest of course. WEBSITE: www.casadebambini.multiply.com
Bambi goes to school
By: momygetscranky
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