My son graduated from pre-school :).

Just came back from teacher-parents conference from my son's preschool.His teacher said that he's ready for KG. I joked that he graduatedfrom pre-school now.

Looking back, I think there are a few things the school did very well: ( I hope this will benefit parents when they choose a daycare/pre-school for their kids)

1.Helping kids develop theirsocial skills. When kids have conflicts in school, teachers don't simplyseperate kids and give them time-out. Instead, one teacher sits down withthe kids, talking the issue to figure out who is wrong, followed by an applogy.This is the main attractive point we chose this pre-school because my son was veryshy. After 2 years in the school, he is much moreself-confident now. So parents should pay attention to how the school focuseson social skill development, since a lot of chinese kids are shy and lack ofsocial skills.

2.The shool keeps a file fold for each kids. The files include samplesof kids writing, crafts, pictures while they are working on projects.It also includes teachers' comments and observations. Since my sonreached "graduation" level, there is no need to write on, so I took the foldback, and will keep it until my son has his own family. By then, I can pass it to him.:).

3.At the beginning of each year, parents write their concerns about their kids' weakness, anddiscuss with the teachers about ways to improve. At the end of theyear, teachers wrote report to answer all the concerns and put into thefold. One of my concers is still not completely resolved, and I had achat about it with a teacher today. However, Since it relates topersonality and I don't think the school can completely resolve it.

It is a very good experience with the pre-school for the last 2 years.

(5/2/05)