A few years before I met my husband (and therefore, way before I had J or In), I encountered a small school in Quezon City and knew that it was where I hoped my children would study. (You can read about how I fell head over heels in love with the school over here: https://thespiralsun.com/the-raya-school/)
I am not an education major and if you ask me about traditional and progressive schools, I won’t be able to give an adequate lecture on the pros and cons of each. I am a product of a traditional school (well, Poveda called it Personalized Education) and so are my brothers – and I believe we totally came out fine. In fact, for the sake of familiarity (and being happy with our outcome as normal/not-crazy people), I would still consider Poveda and La Salle Greenhills for my children – but the more I learn about the Raya School, their vision, and their method, I am more sure of what I want for my kids.
We are overly blessed to have the Raya School here in Naga. They are on their second year here, and J is thoroughly enjoying his playclass with Teacher Bel and Teacher Jan.
He started joining the playclass around July last year, about a month before he turned two. Our little trooper is an independent little fellow, and allowed us to leave him with his teachers during his first week. I guess it really does not follow that if you are always with your child (the way J was with us), he’ll grow to be too dependent.
What attracted me to the Raya School was not so much the teaching method (it was only later on that I started appreciating their approach to learning) but the focus on identity and the Filipino roots of the child.
Knowing that there is a school here in Naga making that effort to help J learn more about his heritage here in Bicol (alongside his letters, numbers, shapes and colours) at such an early age, assures me that loving his hometown and country will be as normal as breathing.
