Sara goes to school...YES!!!

We made it. We seriously finally made it. I finally found a school that Sara loves and my little baby has been consistently going to school for the past 2 months. Yeay!

After our unsuccessful attempt with Smartreader, I've been searching high and low for another school for Sara. My parents even said that they are willing to go as far as Putrajaya to fetch her from school. That comes as a big relief for me as I will have variety of options :- Realkids, CIC, Smartreader, and many more. But, if there's one thing I learn from our previous failure, it is that Sara doesn't like big crowd. And the sole thing that determines whether she'll enjoy going to school or not is the teacher. She couldn't care less about making friends, the crucial factor is the teacher.

So. I was doing my own research about the schools in Putrajaya, and by research I mean asking all of my friends who are sending their child here in Putrajaya, I've come to conclude that:
1) CIC in Putrajaya is terribly packed. They have like more than 30 students for every age group. Cross that off my list then.
2) Smartreader was better than Dengkil branch. But, Sara still has phobia over the uniform, haha. Well, cross that also, then.
3) Realkids from what I heard is just so-so. The teachers are friendly, but my instinct told me that they won't go the extra mile to entertain a kid's need specifically my kid's need.
4) A few other nurseries, taska - I just didn't get the positive vibe I'm looking for.

And then, I had a nice long chat with Su about the place where she sends her daughter, Auni. She was telling about the enthusiastic teacher and how the teacher loves Auni, and I'm telling you, I just got a feeling that this could really be it. I smsed the teacher, saying that I would very much like to come and see the place for myself and set the date. I came by the place the next day and from outside, the place does not look like a school at all. It was just a semi-detached house with a lil bit of yard area for the children to play around. Hmm, this looks good. Sara won't even know this place is a school.

I had a very heartfelt talk with the teacher and what touches me most is when she said that she understands how I feel and she promised that she'll try her best to "tackle" Sara. She asked me what was Sara's interest, her favourite colour and favourite food. I was sooo touched. Hehe. At the end of our talk, when she was ushering me out, she said "I'll try my best. Don't worry. I hope I will be able to be her friend. I hope she likes me" and that my friend, got me sold. Haha. She was a kind-hearted soul and not pretentious at all. She genuinely loves children and its crystal clear from the way her face lit up when she talks about her students.

Before I rave about the place some more, I have to tell you that people with high standard of cleanliness might not like the place at all. The place is not dirty per se, but it has the feel of an unkempt place, if you know what I mean.

The first two weeks was the hardest. Sara enjoyed the first week immensely, because I stayed with her all day. I sat in the living room pretending to do my work and in the corner of my eyes, I can see that she's able to make friends, she's chirpy like her usual self, and she loves her teacher. She'd talk non-stop to her teacher, telling her stories about our mundane life. And the teacher was really good with her, she'd encourage Sara to join in all the activities, she even let Sara decide "today's activity" and most importantly, she loves her back.

The second week was the ultimate test, for Sara, for me and for her teacher. After a week of accompanying her, I've told her that I will be dropping her and later at 12, Totok will fetch her from school. I told her from the week before, once a day, but when the time comes, OH MY GOD. She cried from the top of her lung and grabbed hold of me until I almost fell down from her sheer weight. Untangling her from me took us quite a while and as soon as I managed to let loose, I ran and close the grill door. She ran after me and shook the door so hard, I can hear the hinges crying. Haha. I brace myself and go straight to the car without turning back.

In the car, I sms the teacher, saying that if she doesn't stop crying, just give me a call and I'll turn back. She didn't reply. What makes me strong and some of you might think cruel to leave my crying child in the hands of the teacher, was that I know Sara loves the place. She's just sad that I'm leaving her, not because she doesn't want to go the the teacher's place. Oh, that was what we called the school. "Teacher's place". Haha, she still has quite the phobia of "school".

I went back to the place later in the evening to get the details from the teacher and she told me that Sara cried for about 5 minutes because the teacher had told her to just let go, let the feelings out, and when she was finished, she wiped her tears and join in the activity. Hehe. That's my girl. And she reiterate the same story to my parents, so I know that was the truth. She cried again the next day and the day after, but over the week, she'd become accustomed to the idea of going to "teacher's place" and from there onwards, it was a smooth sailing journey.

That's the story on how Sara found her "teacher's place". Alhamdulillah... :)

Oh, the actual name for "teacher's place" is Smart Little Bee Childcare Centre and it is located at Presint 11, Putrajaya.