…well, not exactly. After visiting a couple of childcare centers, we’d decided to arrange for a trial session for Hannah at a nearby center, about 3 minutes’ drive away.
Since I had an appointment at the hospital for an ultrasound scheduled, we decided to conveniently schedule the trial session on that same morning. This childcare center had a before/after school program for kids in elementary school too, so Ethan got to have a trial there as well. Worked out so well for us because we didn’t think kids running around in the ultrasound room would be at all welcome.
So anyway, the childcare center director decided that Hannah would be most suitable in the pre-K class, although age-wise, she should be in a younger class, i.e. preschool. This was because Hannah would turn 4 very soon, and most of the kids in pre-K had just turned 4 or about to turn 4 soon too. In addition, the pre-K class was a much smaller group compared to preschool, and it would work out in Hannah’s favor too, because she can be quite shy in large groups initially.
As for Ethan, since all the elementary students were in school at that time, they were still not at this childcare center. So Ethan spent his time in the Kindergarten class, which is something like K2 in Malaysia. He got on pretty well, and before I left, I peeked into his class and saw him raising his hand, volunteering to answer a question! How’s that for confidence, eh?
Anyway, the kids were there for about 3.5 hours, and when we came back to pick them up, we were surprised to find Hannah taking a nap on a little mattress, as were most of the other kids in her class. Ethan was ready to go, and even had a little time to feed the pet guinea pig in the school.
I could tell the kids had fun. The center director told us they both did very well, and were participative and there were no problems at all.
Hannah brought back her artwork, and couldn’t stop talking about them.
Ethan told me he learnt some Spanish that day, painted a rainbow sky picture (which was still drying) and wrote a sentence.
We’ve more or less confirmed that Hannah will be going to this pre-K class, and as for Ethan, he will be going to a nearby elementary school in 1st Grade. We’re getting the registration submission all sorted out and hopefully they can begin schooling soon.