Finally!  We’re checking out schools for the not-so-little boy.  He starts in August and we’re still in the process of doing school visits.  I feel so old.  Can’t believe I have a pre-schooler!

We only have a handful of schools in mind as recommended by hubby’s company.  SSIS is the nearest school to our place — just 5 minutes away by cab.

I’ve actually visited SSIS  many times in the past with my other mommy friends who have kids here.  Our small Filipino community gather during Saturday mornings at the gym too to play badminton and basketball.  Yes, basketball!  You can’t imagine how much the Pinoys here miss the basketball court amidst the football fever here in Saigon.  If every street corner in the Philippines has a hoop, here, every open field is a football field — no matter how rocky it is!

The security personnel warmly greeted my son when we arrived — I like the fact that most people working here know the kids.  Everywhere we went, the head of admissions, Ms. Katie, greets each kid she meets in the hall by name.

I just had to take a photo of the soccer field.  It’s huge but not as huge as the ones we played in the Ateneo in Manila when I was way younger.  Yup!  Before I learned about the Philippine sport called basketball, I was a soccer (that’s what we call it back then) player.  I loved the sport but back in the early 90s, it wasn’t popular and even moreso for girls.  Had I known football is going to be big, I would have continued playing.  Mom stopped taking me to the field when I started getting huge leg muscles and the fact that my color has become SHADES darker.

Ms. Katie gave us a tour of the school, particularly the pre-school area.  Classes were ongoing and for the first 3 classrooms we visited, Sam saw his friends.  He got pretty excited and actually didn’t want to leave.

There’s a dedicated play area for the pre-schoolers and Sam was enthralled.  He took his train from my bag and started running around with it.

We found Sam’s friend, Sophia here in the art room.  Sophia said, “Sam you want to go to school?  You can’t, you don’t have a shirt (referring to their uniform)!”

I LOVE the kids’ library!  You have gotta check it out!  Sam was at the T section because he wanted to look for a book on trains! 🙂

Look they have story time till Grade 5!  And they invite a children’s author every year to meet the kids and sign books! 🙂

I am a big fan of Eric Carle.  I wonder if he visited?

Each kid can bring home a book a week and best of all, the parents can too!  *happy dance*

We also checked out the gym, cafeteria, and the swimming pool — yup the kids have to learn how to swim.  It’s mandatory.

Now it’s time to fill out the forms!