UP Child Development Center

Chea has been harping on for several months regarding this program for toddlers by the UP Child Development Center.

They have this program that takes on kids as young as 1 year old for pre-school. It's supposed to be progressive, and they teach kids more on building character than academic subjects. I think that's important for pre-schoolers so you can teach them about being more sociable, and confidence as they're growing up.

The center can only handle a few kids at a time, while there are hundreds of applicants. So they draw lots for new applicants wanting to join the program.

This year, the application started on April 21, 2014, so Chea took a leave off from work. I accompanied her, along with Thirdy and Tita Fe.

Chea was told that we needed to bring a birth certificate along with a 1x1 id picture, so we had to rush to SM Novaliches to have Thirdy's ID picture taken.

Unfortunately, Photoline's turn around time for the pictures were 30 minutes, and it was already 10am, so we're a bit late for the application at UP-CDC since they start early.

There was another photography lab, Picture Picture, which only needed 10 minutes. They're also cheaper at 59 pesos as compared to Photoline's 80 pesos. Both offered to give you soft copies for 20 to 30 pesos. Picture Picture also saved a copy of the pictures, so you can drop by anytime and have it reprinted without needing to take another shot.

Since it was past 11am already, we decided to go back home and eat lunch and wait for Tita Fe to take a bath and get dressed, since we'll be taking Thirdy and Tita Fe to my in-laws so they can stay there during these unbearably hot days. It's cooler in Antipolo compared to Q.C., as the aircon unit in Thirdy's room isn't working properly. We can let Thirdy stay in our room, but there's no space for Tita Fe there, so we decided to have them stay at Antipolo in the meantime.

So after lunch, we headed to UP. And since we're strangers to the place, we had to use Google Maps to locate UP College of Home Economics. Still, we got lost, with all the new roads in UP, so we had to stop a couple of times and ask around.

We just arrived in time as the center opened up after their lunch break. Chea went in got a form, and filled it up. We then had to drive to the UP Cashier to pay 100 pesos for the registration. It was near the UP Shopping Center (says on foursquare). We left Thirdy and Tita Fe at the UP-CDC since there was a waiting shed there and it was cooler there.

While Chea lined up, I went in the shopping center to look for something to drink.

Inside, it's full of shops offering photocopying services. There were a couple of internet shops, and a few food establishments, the most prominent of which was Rodic's.

After buying a drink, I went back out, and found Chea coming towards me. She needed to have the official receipt photocopied.

We went back, and Chea finished the application in about 5 minutes. She later said that Thirdy was 3rd on the non-UP waiting list. The draw lots is on Wednesday, April 23. But since there was only about 1 slot available, I'm not holding my breath.

Honestly, Thirdy is a very sociable kid. He waves to everyone, calls out 'kuya' and 'ate' to everyone near him. He even knows how to salute on his own whenever he sees a security guard. He gets rowdy most of the time, so what's important is that he learns discipline and restraint.

My concern of course, is if he'll be good academically, which based on what I've read, isn't UP-CDC's program's main strength. Anyway, here's hoping he gets to go to a pre-school best suited for him.

Update: Thirdy didn't get picked. Oh well, let's try again next year.