Ziggy’s Preschool @ the Fort Experience

We’ve been independently homeschooling Ziggy since last year but it was only this year that I really made it more structured. At this point, we still haven’t made a final decision as to whether to continue homeschooling him next year or to enroll him in a preschool already.

So, since we’re still exploring our options, I readily accepted an invitation from my friend, May of Fully Housewifed, for a trial class at Preschool @ the Fort.

Preschool @ the Fort is operated by the same people behind Homeschool @ the Fort. It is located at the third floor of Treston College, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Preschool @ The Fort is a play-based early years learning center that provides early childhood education and care for children 3–5 years of age.

The school is operated by internationally qualified educators and offers learning programs gleaned from the best early childhood education practices of Australia and Singapore. You can learn more about the Preschool @ the Fort team here.

Learning Approach and Curriculum:

The people behind Preschool @ the Fort believe that children learn best through PLAY. I was really happy to learn this because hubby and I believe in this as well.

Preschool @ the Fort designs both structured and free play to cater to the different learnings that children encounter daily. I love that they don’t force children to be a certain way and instead build up on their own unique strengths, letting the children lead on their own learning. All of their programs support and enhance a children’s language, literacy, numeracy, motor skills, arts, music, problem solving and investigation, health and hygiene, communication and social skills.

Another thing I love about their curriculum is that they only have classes three times a week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This is because they want the kids to have a chance to also learn at home. The school partners with the parents to drive learning, which I think is really essential. I’ve always believed that learning should not be confined within the four walls of the classroom.

The school is also not too focused on grades but on the growth and development of the kids. This is such a relief to me. When my girls were still in preschool, I saw them have so many homework already at such a young age. In their school, grades were so important, which I thought puts too much stress on the kids. I want Ziggy to have a different experience and so I’m glad I have found a school that can give him that.

Ziggy’s Experience:

Ziggy was really excited to attend the class because he wanted to play. Haha! True enough, when we entered the class, that’s the first thing he did. Preschool @ the Fort transformed a big classroom into a colorful area with a few tables and chairs and a play area for the kids.

Ziggy immediately fell at ease because the teachers were very friendly. There were other kids who were more cautious and didn’t want to participate at first, but the teachers didn’t force them to join. Instead, they let those kids watch first and just continued trying to engage them gently until they decided to join on their own. I really love that about the teachers. It’s obvious that they know how to deal with kids.

Anyway, to give you an idea about the program they prepared for the kids that day, here’s a run down of the activities.

• Kinder Music
• Circle Time Music Movement
• Activity Time
• Storytelling
• Wrap Up
• Goodbye Song
• Prayer

The other parents and I got to join our kids and the teachers for the first two activities. I saw for myself how fun the experience was for the kids. The activities were really engaging.

I love that they use music because Ziggy loves to sing and dance. We got to do both. We learned about the letters “P” and “F”, the concepts of “Loud” and “Soft” and the importance of moving our bodies.  I think it was really tiring for the moms at the end. Haha! But it was really enjoyable too because we got to do it with our kids and we could see that the kids were really having fun too. That’s what learning is supposed to be like, right?

We still have a few months to decide if we will enroll Ziggy in school or not. But I’m happy to know that we already have one school on our list of possibilities.

For those of you who wish to enroll your preschoolers now, check out Preschool @ the Fort. Their classes already started last week but they are still accepting enrollees. In fact, they are giving 50% discount on the tuition fee for the first batch of enrollees. So, don’t miss this opportunity.

To learn more about Preschool @ the Fort, visit www.preschoolatthefort.com.