Today marks the last day of my daughter, Phoebie’s preschool journey. She has completed her kindergarten education and will be moving on to primary school education next year.
In the past few weeks, Phoebie had often reflected on what her friends and her would be facing and what was ahead. We had one conversation where she said she was sad to leave her friends, and that it saddened her even more, knowing that none of her friends will be going to the same primary school.
“Don’t worry, Phoebie,” I had said, “You will get to make new friends when you attend the new school.”
“But Mama,” Phoebie answered, “Friends are hard to make and easy to lose.”
I remember staring at my six year old daughter when she said that. Was she only six, or was there a 16 year old in her somewhere?
To date, Phoebie has been to three schools. She attended her first preschool when she was 18 months old. We were living in the US then and had decided to put her in a preschool so that she got more social interaction with children her age. She was only there for a few months when we moved back to Singapore and had to find another school for her in Singapore.
The next school she attended was a playgroup that ran for two hours on weekdays. It was an interesting experience for all of us because two of her teachers had different ways of handling children, and it was our first experience with Singapore’s preschool. Both my husband and I knew that we would have to look for a permanent preschool for Phoebie and looked around for one.
By God’s grace, there was one that came highly recommended by many friends and after queuing one night at the school (that is how popular the school is), we got a spot for Phoebie. That was where Phoebie grew and learnt in the past three years.
Whether it was potty training, developing her social skills, encouraging her curiosity or helping her to be more creative, Phoebie’s preschool had a major role to play. Her principal and teachers were loving and attentive to each child.
With Phoebie having her last day at her preschool today, gratitude overflowed from my heart. The teachers that Phoebie encountered at the school truly helped Phoebie to grow.
So with all that love and nurturing, has Phoebie been adequately prepared by her preschool for primary school?
Academically, I don’t know. It remains to be seen because Phoebie has not started her academic journey in primary school yet. But there are many areas that I am sure her preschool has adequately prepared her with.
The preschool has taught Phoebie to have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, to always think outside of the box, to love and care for her friends, to always try her best, and to feel okay with herself even if she is not good at certain things.
Every term, Phoebie comes home with a school report and this was her very last one from her preschool:
With this feedback from her teachers, I am sure that as long as we continue to nurture Phoebie the right way, she will do fine in primary school.
For now, it’s time to say goodbye to all her preschool teachers and thank them for the journey they had accompanied Phoebie on.
Mummy Priscilla 