Javi's First School and First Movie Experience

I mentioned in my last post that we'll be trying out a toddler program last Saturday and here I am to blog about what happened. We tried the Learning Lab program of Gymboree.  We arrived a few minutes early before the start of class so Javi was able to play at the play area.

He was so happy he thought he was there only to play.

And then the bell clanged to signal that we need to go inside the classroom. There were maybe 15 toddlers during the class so it was a bit too tight in the room. It took maybe a good 15 minutes just on the introductory part of the program where they get to say hi to each of the kids. After that, the teacher brought out some toys for them to play only for a few minutes. And when I say a few minutes, that's just 1-2 minutes and then they need to pack away agad agad.


Playing with the rattle

Then story telling time. The kids were given snacks which Javi consumed even before the teacher got to the 3rd page of the book hahahaha! Sayang wala akong photo but he basically shoved all the breadsticks inside his mouth and then said, "Mommy, water!" ahahaha! After that, there was a writing and painting activity.

Packing away the marker that he used

Painting waves

Javi didn't finish the entire class because after the painting activity, he wanted to get out of the room already. Ay sus! Hahaha! All in all, we decided not to enroll him there. One hour was too short for him to get at ease with all the activities plus there were too many kids during the class. I know we enrolled Miya to the same program when she was younger but this won't work with Javi. I don't know why he wasn't as receptive because at home he can sit longer compared to his Ate to concentrate on a specific task. It's easier for us to talk to him and give him instructions because he will listen as compared to Miya who will ask a million questions first before following. So it actually baffles me that he wasn't receptive to instructions when we tried it out last Saturday. I think he was interested in the activities, it's just that he didn't have enough time to warm up to his surroundings.

*****

Okay, after reading my post about Miya's experience to the class, I might rethink our decision in enrolling Javi. But one other thing is the teacher:student ratio in the class. I don't want to enroll him if there will be the same number of kids in each and every class =(

*****

After Gymboree, we went to watch Despicable Me 3. This is Javi's first time to watch a movie in the cinema. We were all excited for him. Miya was even telling him all the rules inside the movie house. He can watch a full movie at home - we've watched Cars 2 a million times (we don't have a copy of the first movie hahaha!) and he likes watching the movie shorts of the minions so we decided this can be his first movie experience in the cinema.  We don't have a decent photo of him outside the cinema because (a) he doesn't want his photo taken and (b) there were no more Minions standees/movie poster in the movie house  we went to.

He doesn't look happy because he doesn't want his photo taken. 

After the movie gusto na lumabas agad hahahaha!

He was able to sit through the entire movie although he kept on telling me to go outside. Di naman sya nag-insist ng todo-todo kaya we were able to finish the movie. Yey! He was also happy with the movie, panay ang palakpak pag lumalabas ang minions or banana as he calls them.


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My dear little boy,

Over the weekend you had two milestones, first you went to your first classroom experience and then you went to watch your first movie in the cinema. I know you'll enjoy school because you like learning new things. We just need to find you the perfect one for your personality. Don't worry, Mommy and Daddy will research more. We don't want to force you into something you don't like. We want you to enjoy going to school to play with your friends and teachers. As for the movie, we're happy that you were happy while watching. We can't help but smile every time you clap when you see a minion hehehe. Our next movie date will be the new Cars movie. We can't wait to see it with you.

Love you,
Mommy

Javi and School

I feel guilty that we haven't enrolled Javi in school yet. When Miya was at his age, she was already attending school in Rainbow Room. Hubby said it was too early for Javi to go to school plus sending kids to school can really put a dent in your budget so I agreed with him. But because Miya passed UPIS (niminal tuition), our finances suddenly will be able to handle sending two kids to school at this time. So that's when we only started looking for schools for Javi. But two of the schools I called said that he's too young for their nursery class. Of the other two schools that my hubby visited, one was scratched off the list immediately. My husband didn't like the school because of its location and security. While for the second one, there were no more slots for Javi. So I said, okay maybe we really need to postpone sending him to school. But my guilt is eating me alive so I had to research for other toddler programs where we can send him. Will try one on Saturday and see if he's ready. If yes, then he'll start a once a week toddler program. Yey! I just really want to take advantage of this time because he's at the stage where he's like a sponge and absorbs everything that he listens to or watches. Admittedly, we were not as proactive with his education as we were with Miya. With Miya we attended Kindermusik classes, Gymboree classes and other toddler programs even before she was one year old. So I'm feeling really guilty with my second born.

Here's Javi singing (12 May 2017)

My dearest boy,

Please forgive Mommy if we didn't give you all the other classes Ate Miya attended. Although I'm pretty sure you're happy staying at home to play with your toy cars and play with Ate and Nina. I'm not as diligent in tracking your milestones compared to your Ate, but that was because I wanted you to stay as a baby for as long as I can stretch it. I don't want to hurry that part. And I don't want to compare each and every milestone with your Ate because that wouldn't be fair. You are you and we love you for who you are.

I hope you enjoy your trial class on Saturday, and if you do, Daddy and Mommy will enroll you there. We love you, Javiboy!

Love,
Mommy