Preschool Shopping
Let us talk about…
Preschools
When your kid comes to that age when he must be sent to school, it is time for parents to start doing their homework so that he can go to school and get his homework!
We have been on and about the city, the internet too, looking for preschools. In a way, we have been preschool shopping… for that, is what it has really become. Where can we find quality education at not too high a price? It is really shocking, SAR 14000/-yearly for Pre-Kindergarten?! So what do they charge for High School?
What really should a good preschool have? I asked myself that question a good number of times before I could decide that all I wanted was that it be as close to home as was possible and that it teach him stuff without burdening him with facts. Teaching him is not a priority at this age. He is just three. He’ll teach himself everything and discover all there is to if he is just gently pointed in the right direction. The only reason I want him to go to school is so that he can interact with other kids his age and see how they work and play. With a rough idea of what we wanted and what we didn’t, we set out to check what was available to us.
We went to Kindergarten Life and Bright Talk Montessori Preschool. Kindergarten Life is a day care, nursery and preschool. The timings are 8am-12.30pm and they teach English, Arabic, Islamic education and computers among others. The Administrator said that he’d learn ‘excellent arabic and good english with a sound islamic background‘. They are low profile, friendly, have a 6:1 or so ratio of kids to teacher and most of the students are arab. My verdict: Okay.
Bright Talk Montessori is run by Dr. Soliman Faqeeh Hospital and is really good. Friendly, lively, thriving atmosphere; the kids to teacher ratio is 20:2 plus one assistant. They teach, English, arabic, mathematics, science, computers, islamic knowledge, lives of the prophets, cooking, crafts, etc. Something like what I was thinking but… they are a bit too expensive. What’s the value of money when it comes to education, Hubby says. True but… there timings are till 1.30pm and that is what I find a bit wondersome. My kid has his only nap during 1pm and 3pm and any later than that could mean a later bed time. Also I want something smaller for his preschool. I don’t want him to go to school. I want him to go to a preschool. For some reason, even I can’t tell what, I found Bright Talk to be not that ‘simple’.
Here are the other schools we have been considering but then cancelled because they were too far.
Thamer International on Quraysh Street
Cedar International on Sari
Manarat Jeddah at Aziziyah/Rehab
Ambassador Montessori Preschool at Quraysh street off Prince Sultan Road
Al Wadi International School near Aziz mall.
Anyway, we are going shopping again. Let us see what happens. If you are from Jeddah do share your knowledge.
