PAREF Woodrose School at Ayala Alabang Family Event

At Paref Woodrose, the school year will not be complete without the "Family day" event.

I am glad I was invited to see and experience this most-awaited event of the school. I noticed that parents, siblings and even house helpers of enrolled students in this school are really supportive because as early as 8am last Saturday - Jan 28, there were already a lot of them in the school grounds.

Students were wearing costumes in 4 different colors: Red, Blue, Yellow and Green and I have noticed that their families were also color coordinated based on where their kids belong to.

Just like in Hogwarts, the kids were randomly assigned a color (since there is no magic sorting hat to do the segregation) during the admission period.  

The Yellow team and The Blue team were busy practicing, so we did not bothered to ask them to pose for a picture.

At exactly 9AM, the cheer dance competition started.  Here were some of the photos taken by Pehpot during the event.

I was betting for the Yellow team or the Red team.. The Blue team had a very nice costume though and the Green team had a nice dance move, but the judges needed to deliberate first but unfortunately, we had to go after lunch so we could not wait for the announcement of winners.

After that, we went to the Flea Market.

Here, Parents donated some stuffs that the school could sell.

I bought different toy cars for my son and he was very happy to see it when I arrived home.

To check for Woodrose School Activities click HERE

We then had the opportunity to learn more about the school and why it is different from other schools out there.  During the discussion, a video was presented to us.







I found out that Woodrose is the first school established by PAREF (Parents for Education Foundation),a non-stock, non-profit organization of parents. Woodrose also pioneered home-school collaboration and the mentoring system in Philippine education.

photo via: parefwoodrose.edu.ph

What is mentoring you may ask? Studies have shown that mentoring or having a life coach, have shown to provide extensive benefits in a child’s growth and development since it improved self-concept, it also  increased self-discipline resulting in improved academic skills and have a greater ability to translate values into productive actions.

We had the chance to ask some questions to the members of the faculty, students and even the parents were also there to answer.

I observed that the students with us during the discussions were very smart.

Chiqui Agoncillo a fourth year student said that they also have socio-economic organizations where they learn to interact and help different kinds of people.  So when they go outside Woodrose, they are confident to face the challenges and meet different kind of personalities.

Ms. Delia Udani, Executive Director of PAREF Woodrose said that children greatly benefits on the home collaboration and mentoring system.  In this system, there is one assigned mentor that is intimately concerned and involved to each student. They assist the kid on every aspect of his life, which helps them grow as a matured person.

Parents said that they knew from the start that when they enrolled their daughters here that they need to be cooperative with the school for the kids' sake and not just to drop them off at school and let the school teach moral values to their kids.  This home collaboration system actually helps them to become better parents.

Honestly, if we have the resources and if I will have a daughter in the future, I will enroll her to this school.

If you are near the area and want to give the BEST for your daughter and have the resources then you might consider enrolling her to this school.

These are the requirements  for enrollment by the way:

1. Submission of all required documents:
    Accomplished Parents' Information Sheet
    NSO Certified Parents' Marriage Contract *
    NSO Certified Student's Birth Certificate *
    Original and photocopy of Student's Baptismal Certificate
    Report Card
    2 x 2 pictures (2 copies)
    Recommendation form accomplished by the Guidance and Testing Office of the previous school
    Recommendation form accomplished by the Class Adviser and Registrar of the previous school
 * For foreign documents, Original and Photocopy of the Marriage Contract of the Parents / Original and  
    Photocopy of the Student’s Birth Certificate. Original Documents will be returned to the Parents.

Tution Fee ranges from:

Grade 1-3 = P 90,324

Grade 4-7= P 94, 362

High School = P 98, 261

For more information, please contact the School Registrar, Mrs. Rose Dumlao at 850-6380 to 83 local 111.
To know more about their curriculum click HERE.

List of Preschool in Manila

As early as now, if you decide to enroll your kids ages 3 to 4 years old next school year, then you should hunt for preschools near your area already.   Gone are the days that the only criteria of parents in choosing a school was it should be the NEAREST preschool in the neighborhood.

Now, parents has lots of criterias in choosing preschools for their kids. 

Some of the criterias are the following:

1. Teaching Method

• Traditional-  teacher being the controller of the learning environment.  This is most practiced during my time
• Progressive- is the opposite of traditional method where students is expected to follow and do what the teachers told them.  Here they are given a problem that they should solve based on what they think will be right.  They emphasis learning through doing and hands on projects.
• Montessori - is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological development, as well as technological advancements in society. This method believed that children at liberty to choose and act freely within an environment prepared according to their model.
• Developmentally Approach Practice (DAP) - encourages teachers to make choices about education based on sound knowledge of child development and learning processes while taking into account individual differences and needs, as well as social and cultural constructs. 

2. Student Ratio - Some Traditional schools have 1 teacher to more or less 20-30 students.  Those who prefer other approach have a 1:15 ratio or 1 teacher and 1 teacher aide to 10 to 15 students.  As for me, I prefer a small group since my son may be overwhelmed with a large group and so that the teachers can teach them easily.

3. School Materials and space- for me the area should be safe for any kids.  I prefer if the school has a play area that kids can use for breaktime.

4. Location-  look around your area first.

5. Tuition Fee- most private preschools now has a tuition fee that range from 30-100 thousand a year.  Only few offers tuition fee around 10-20 thousand.  It is just sad that even though you love a certain school, the tution fee discourages you to enroll your child there.


My son is currently enrolled to a Montessori school here in Sta. Ana (Global Gleam Montessori).  I don't have any problems with the school, the teachers and the administration.  I even recommend them if you are near the area and you want a montessori kind of teaching.  But his Occupational therapist advised us to try other methods of teaching next school year (2012-2013) , so I am thinking of transferring him to a preschool that uses a Progressive teaching method.

Yesterday, I hunted for preschools in our place and here are some I have visited.

Aguinaldo International School

• Location: Emilio Aguinaldo College, Gonzales St. Ermita Manila
• Contact #: 0915-2338443/521-2710 local 5414  email:aismanila@gmail.com
• Tuition Fee: Nursery/Kinder/Preparatory = P38,800 
• student ratio: 2:10
• Teaching Method: International (I don't know what that means)

Jesus Reigns Christian Academy

• Location: 811 J. Nakpil Cor. P.H. Lim St Malate Manila
• Contact #: 307-0880
• Tution Fee: P24,000 
• student ratio: 2:20 
• Teaching Method: Traditional

 Philippine Christian University

• Location: 751 Malvar St. Malate Manila
• Contact# 525-1562/523-1540
• Tuition Fee: 25,000
• Teaching Method: Traditional

 Jose Abad Santos Memorial School (JASMS)

• Location: Malvar St. Malate Manila (besides BPI)
• Contact #: 525-6732 / email add: jasms@pwu.edu.ph 
• Tuition Fee: 42,000
• Teaching Method: Traditional

 As you can see, most of the schools near us offers the Traditional method.  I hope I can find a progressive type of school in the next days.  I will update this list when I have visited other schools next time.

Wall-E movie teaches us to protect the environment

It takes almost 10 years for a tree to grow to it's full size, in colder areas, they say that it takes more than 100 years for the tree to reach it's full size.  If you want your kids to experience the beauty of nature and green surroundings, then, you must consider planting plants and trees in your area as early as now.

I am one of the few who doesn't have a green thumb, I always fail to make a plant grow from seeds or small scrubs.  But, failing didn't discouraged me to have plants on our place.  My solution is to buy plants with roots already, although I still lost some after transferring it to a bigger pot, there are still a few who are strong and managed to survive.

Last time, I posted here the movies I recommend for kids to watch, and I forgot to include Wall-E there.

The movie Wall-E from Pixar has lots of moral lessons that kids and adult can get.  Beside eating moderately and exercising so that you will not  get fat, I think the most important message there that should awaken us is to take care of our environment since we don't have anywhere else to go if it will be destroyed.

My last visit to Baguio was year 2003 (the first one was year 2001) and I can say that from a span of 2 years there are already lots of changes that happened in the area.  Since the population is rising here and there, I am not surprised to see a lot of houses and establishments in the area.  Back then, SM Baguio is still newly opened.

Now, I have read that SM Baguio will uproot almost 200 trees to have a space for a  parking lot.  The idea is to Earth-ball the pine trees and transfer it to another area (but where can they put it if there are some many houses there already?), and SM also promised to plant 50 new trees for every 1 old tree that will be cut or uprooted for the project (again, the question is where will they put the new trees?).  As I have said earlier,  it takes 10 years for these new trees to reach their full size..

These promises are good if you don't know what happened to the past trees that were being earth balled. Dr. Michael Bengwayan (executive director of Cordillera Ecological Center-PINE TREE) said that, for the 497 pine trees that were being earth-balled by Camp John Hay Development Corp. last 1994, only less than 20% survived and those not dead were showing signs of deteriorating. So, we should expect that out of the 187 Pine Trees that will be uprooted, more or less only 30 trees will survive.

Summer is fast approaching, and Baguio is the number 1 tourist destination to those who want to cool down, but can Baguio still provide the cool air when there are only a few trees standing.  If the people in this area will not do something to rebuild what Baguio looks and feels like what it was before, then the amount of oxygen will be even not enough for all of them.

I think SM will listen to the Baguio people, since they promote green living.  I know they will not do something that will destroy the environment (to SM Baguio please prove that I am right).

I hope this year I can bring my whole family to Baguio, and I hope that my son will still see the beauty and feel the cold weather of this place when that time comes.