When C was slowly approaching his big One, I thought we got down to serious business on having a proper schedule for classes. Granted children these days are attending classes earlier and even earlier, I still maintain that until school officially starts for him at 18 months old, play should still be the bulk of his schedule.

Through word of mouth and several positive experiences from the mummies I know, I was really keen on Julia Gabriel's programme and hooray to their summer camp that allowed us a peek into their programme proper and also act as a trial before we decide to sign him up for good when term commences.

Having experienced GUG, 90 minutes at Julia Gabriel was not so daunting. 

First Day



His first and clearly parent assisted craft work - a hat!

Second Day

Sensory play with bubbles

Third Day



Painting with balloons

Fourth Day

By this time we got used to the drill of free play, story telling, song and dance!

Fifth and Final Day!

Carnival day with game stations, plenty of snacks and song and dance performances throughout the 90 minutes.

 

Photobooths! 



Snack booth's a clear favourite of his.

 

Game stations too!
 







A juke box that performed at regular intervals. 




Fish in the pond!



His favourite teachers :)



And the rest of them!



The prizes that he loved so much. 

The teachers took the effort to know everyone by name by the second day of class. I probably sound like a noob here but this was really impressive.





We loved the fact that the teachers encouraged children to roam around during class. As silly as it sounds, as long as they display interest doing something...they should not be forced to sit down and listen to the class with the exception of story telling. Similarly for painting class, there is not right way of painting, if he does not like painting with the balloon? No problem, use his fingers to explore the textures of the paint and sponge. For early childhood (while neither of us are experts in this), we wish we did not have to implement 101 rules, do's and don'ts and have to stifle their progress.

At this point, the commitment level for classes twice a week is challenging for us as full time working parents. Unless of course his G-parents decide to lend a helping hand, this is high on the list of programmes I'd enrol him in.