If there is anything that is as exciting as it is remarkable, it has to be witnessing the Royal Brain School pre-school students graduating. Having been involved in every step of the way; from embarking the journey of admitting toddlers with little or no speech, to going through the motions of the first audible words and speech, to watching them transform into confident young exemplary graduates of the preprimary school is equally emotional and exciting to say the least. The school readiness signs start to unfold when parents are faced with dramatics such as: children becoming energizer bunnies bouncing up and down all over the house with insurmountable energy and cannot be put down to sleep or even nap, children turning into miniature art maestros and redecorating the walls of the house as well as every space they come to contact with using any pen they found lying around, children wanting to be incessantly entertained thus becoming excessively playful especially when worn out parents retire home after a long day of work, toddlers desiring to follow their other older siblings and neighborsâ children as they make their way to school, or seeing some sibling rivalry crop up when the family welcomes a new baby in the house. These and many more formats lead a parent to the realization the time for school has arrived. Things progress to getting even more realistic when you start consulting with neighborsâ about this and that school and at this juncture, we, Royal Brains School, come in with our Montessori expertise.
A visit to Royal Brains School and you return home with our compact, comprehensive package spelling out the nitty gritty details of childhood development and milestones and how we do accompany both child and parent on this new phase of life. After a few more enquiries, you are convinced that we are your school of choice and from there our journey begins.
Detaching does not come as naturally or as easy as you would imagine! Some children are ever so ready yet apparently the parents, mostly moms, find themselves struggling with this. Once you drop of your child for day one of school, and they bid you goodbye, waving excitedly; you stand there battling shedding tears as teachers comfort you with the reassurance that it will be well. Eventually, you regain your bearing noting that your child feels at home with their classmates turned buddies, you ease up and suddenly, leaving your child isnât as difficult as it initially was and with that, day one begins. The other difficulty can come in when the child doesnât want to detach from their mother, in which case, wailing and screaming become part of day one morning drama. It doesnât shock us because that is why we are here. We persuade, reassure, give toys, sing songs until eventually we win the childâs trust. This time, the parents also gain confidence and they leave with a promise to come back before the day ends and the rest is history.
The school becomes part of the routine. As a school, we put order in childrenâs lives; we teach them songs and dance, play with them and by end of year one, those day one children can now feed themselves, go to the washroom, construct with building blocks, do beading work, engage in colouring (in their books!), recognize a few sounds, talk fluently and confidently and count numbers among other developments. Soon year two comes in the form of preprimary 1, 2 and 3 letter words, double sounds and complex words, learning to hoola hoop, soccer becomes interesting, swimming, racing, singing and a host of other activities that make learning that much more fun. At this age, we expose the child to the widest scope of learning and soon after your child is able to: read the number plate of the car in front of you, they can read all the sign boards, they read the newspaper with you. They become extremely and somewhat annoyingly inquisitive and at that point when you suddenly take notice of all the changes, they are already in the graduating class! Very confident, fluent in reading and comprehension, they soon turn into good teachers to their siblings at home. They probe you with questions and constantly mention their teacher who somehow seems to become the boss at your home. âWe all do what teacher says and the way she said it!â They chant.
The young art maestro is now developing penmanship skills. The handwriting becomes neater, all capital letter recognition is done, copying notes from the board, more reading, competitive sports come into play and if they lose they cry bitterly, competition is now born, they feel very good when taking care of the others since they are now the senior class and being responsible is an attribute they seek to live up to. Their confidence has fully blossomed and they know they are the graduating class! Now as we prepare for this class our hearts are suddenly filled with emotion as tables have turned and detaching now is harder to the teachers while the parents are super excited! We have walked a journey, bonded from year to year cried together, loved and laughed in equal measure and this is to say but the least.
We release a very good class of 2019 to grade one of 2020 knowing that the fruits of our labour will be felt many, many years to come. We have laid the foundation and the cornerstone as is biblically known and we are proud of it. We know that God will bless the graduates across all the seasons.
We are already missing them and wish them all the best. We have witnessed the pains and gains of their growth and confidently share with them the wise words of R. Waldo, âDo not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. â
