In my opinion, there is never a PERFECT school for your kid, coz every school will surely have some bad or good points. It's just whether the good outweighs the bad. We all have expectations of our children, we want the best for them. I'm no different. Obviously Gabe isn't gonna be a scientist or doctor or lawyer one day.
Terry & I are both very realistic about this. Our main aim is to provide Gabe with the best early intervention he can get. Also, for him to mix around with kids his age, both special and regular kids. We initially didn't think of sending him so early. But, with my Jap lessons starting in July, i don't think i will have time to do my homework & study, and at the same time looking after him full-time. So we thought it best to start him at nursery 2 days a week first.
Initially, i started looking at private nursery schools and daycare. But after writing to a few, they rejected us because the simply did not have the facilities and staff to care for a special child. I was feeling desperate n dejected. Already everything is so hard here in Japan coz of the language barrier.
I surfed the internet further and found this website called Pigeon Hearts Kids world. So happens they have a daycare right near my place just 5mins away. So i brought Gabe there. Nothing fanciful but decent. And the teacher could speak English. Classes are done in both languages. And for the 1 year olds, there are only 2 in the mornings but 8-10 in the afternoons. Pretty low number i guess. Fees are about JPY45,000 per month, for 2 days a week, 7 hours each day. I can choose how many hours i want. I know putting him there 7 hours a day seems kinda long but i wanted to do my own stuff too. So instead of sending him everyday, i wanted it to be just 2 days.
Then, we found an International school, for ages 0mths up to middle school. I thought, perfect. So i contacted them and we made a tour of the school today, Yamato International. It's a really nice school, and both special and regular kids get to mix together. Total number of kids under 5 is around 25. They even have a school bus to pick kids up from certain places. And...they even have physical therapy sessions!! And they have a roof-top garden with artificial grass that Gabe can pluck at...Wow right???
Unfortunately, there are some disadvantages:
1) They have the following 1time non-refundable fees:
Application Fees: JPY10,000
Registration Fees: JPY250,000
Building Fees: JPY200,000
Building development Fees: JPY100,000
Total Fees non refundable: JPY560,000 (abt SGD 9,100)
Annual Tuition Fees: JPY680,000 (about SGD11,000) (school from 8.30am-3pm)
After 3pm, daycare fees: JPY1500 (p/hour)
Physical Therapy sessions 1 time: JPY 1,000 about
2)For Gabe's age group 0mths-2yrs old, there are now 2 kids, both normal kids. Good right, means teacher can focus more on Gabe. But somehow this very low number keeps nagging at me, maybe too low, not so many parents want to send their kids there????? And i think the teacher may not be certified special needs teacher, so maybe they will not know how to deal with Gabe.
3) When we went there, the whole school seemed very very quiet. I saw 1 kids only at first. when we were about to leave we say maybe another 5 kids...but this is a Tuesday ler..school day wor...why so few kids?? And it's up to middle school, eg Grade 8...ok..spooky...worrying...
4)The main language is English here and only English until elementary school where they have Japanese lessons as an option..not too ideal, seeing that Gabe will be here permanently. So he definitely needs to learn it.
5)On paper it looks perfect, all the photo albums, video introduction, wall paintings...but somehow...it isn't reflected in the environment i saw today at the school...like ghost town.
So yeah...very mixed feelings...i think perhaps this is not gonna be THE ONE for Gabe.
Next we headed to this "daycare" called Sophia, not too far from our area....umm..when we arrived there, yes it was a daycare...for the elderly..many of whom were watching TV wen we got there..oops!! No wonder all of them were staring at us, probably wondering which one of us wanted their service, me, terry or Gabe? ahaah...funny..wonder what Gabe was supposed to do there..massage their toes?
Gabe's therapist recommended us to a special kids daycare, Wanpaku, also near our home, 2 stations away. This one is semi-govmt. I can send Gabe there from 1-5 times a week, 4 hours each day. The good thing is that the people here probably would know best how to deal with Gabe since the kids here are all special needs, so i probably wouldn't have to worry too much. Perhaps they can even help with his feeding issue. And, coincidentally a friend of mine also sends her child here and gave good feedback about this center. The teacher to student ratio is low, 8 teachers to about 10 students...really nice. My only worry is that coz it's an area where all children play together and i think it's not really huge, when one child gets sick, Gabe would probably get it too...so we're gonn ask Dr H tomorrow how severe is a common cold or cough for Gabe. I don't wanna put him too much at risk.
I guess all nurseries will pose a certain health risk since there are kids there, but i'm just worried the consequences may be more severe for Gabe due to his heart problems. So, we're just gonna make sure with Dr H. And like i say, there will always be something negative or bad about every school you choose, so we'll just have to see what is the best situation for Gabe.
We have not decided yet on which we will want to choose...toughie...
In the future, if his development is not severe, we can choose to send him to normal mainstream Japanese schools, but that's kinda like years down the road. So right now, we just want Gabe to enjoy socialising....Gabe, oh Gabe...what are we to choose?
