Things to Consider When Choosing a Kindergarten in Kenya

There is nothing as exciting and scary at the same time as starting school.

Enrolling your child in Kindergarten for the first time is one of the biggest milestones in parenting. Parents want to ensure that they pick the best school for their little ones. Somewhere safe and with the best foundation for their children.  Below are tips to consider when choosing your child’s first school.

1. The preferred Education system for your child

This should always come first. You need to first look at the Education system that you want your child to go through. With Education systems ranging from the British International system to the CBC system. This will guide you to the right pool of schools to pick from for your preferred curriculum for your child.

2. Prepare a list of schools and plan a Pre-visit to each of them

Write down all kindergartens from your preferred system of Education that offer all your needs. The internet is a great place to search for kindergartens near you. You can also get recommendations from other parents. Plan a pre-visit to each one of them and take your child with you during the visit to see how he interacts with the environment. Observe the atmosphere. Are the teachers and the other staff friendly? Is the school environment clean, safe, and conducive? Are the toilets clean and child friendly?

 

3. Teacher-to-student ratio

This is a significant factor in your child’s education. The lower the teacher-to-student ratio the easier it is for the teacher to attend to the needs of each child. At these tender ages, children need a lot of individualized attention for their different milestones.  This is because children tend to have different strengths and abilities and you don’t want your child to be left behind.

 

 

4. Teacher Children interaction

Observe the class in session. How is the interaction between the teacher and the children? Do the children seem happy? Are they enjoying the lesson? Is it hands-on? Are the teachers creative, fun and patient?

 

 

5. Understand the school’s Policy and culture

How is the daily school program? The school’s values should be in line with your own. Is the school’s culture what you would like your child to practice? The school’s policy should not be uptight, all work and no playtime, as this will limit the child’s creativity.

 

6. Extra-curricular activities

Lots of extracurricular activities are good for the development of a child as it allows them to explore different activities discover their talents and nurture them. It also teaches the child social skills and boosts their self-confidence. Activities such as swimming, athletics and tae-kwondo are great for children.

 

 

7. Budget

This is a critical factor when choosing a school for your child. Be sure to pick a school where you can be able to pay the fees to avoid circumstances whereby your child misses out on school due to fee arrears.  This should help you narrow down the list of schools to those that fit within your budget.

 

 

8. Location

The school’s location should be somewhere conducive for learning to take place. Avoid schools that are next to a market center and look into schools in a quiet and serene environment. Give preference for schools that are near your home to reduce commute time. However, if none of the neighboring schools fit your child’s needs, ask for school transport to ease the burden of drop and pick up.

 

 

 

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RENOWNED COAST ACADEMY ALUMNI

    1. Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir

 

The governor-elect for Mombasa County, Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir sat for his KCPE exams in 1988 at the Coast Academy. He was a student who would not quit on a task until he made sure he had successfully completed it. We wish him all the best as the second governor of Mombasa.

 

    2. Maisam Fazel

Dr. Maisam is a University of Cambridge–qualified consultant and specialist registered surgeon, in both cosmetic and breast cancer surgery with more than 21 years of experience. Dr. Maisam, the founder of Refresh Cosmetic Surgery, in the UK is also a pioneer in male breast surgery (gynecomastia surgery) and is highly recommended in his mummy makeovers.

 

    3. Fareen Samji

Fareen, who is also known as “Far”, is the 5 time Canadian Women’s long drive champion and former golf touring professional. She moved to Canada to further her education at McMaster University and graduated with degrees in Psychology and Kinesiology. In 2017, Fareen published her book, Smashing the Grass Ceiling which aims to empower, motivate and inspire professional women.

 

    4. Aanand Acharya

Dr. Aanand Acharya is a Master’s degree graduate in Medicine from the University Of Cambridge (UK), a Consultant ENT Surgeon in Perth, and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia. He is accredited in Otolaryngology with both the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.  Aanand also provides Outreach ENT services to rural and remote parts of West Australia and is the lead clinician and coordinator of the Telethon Speech & Hearing Pilbara Ear Bus Program.

 

   5. Thomas N O Achia

 

Professor Thomas Achia is a professor of Mathematics at the University of Nairobi. And also a biostatistician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Professor Achia graduated from the University of the Western Cape. He has previously worked at the University of the Witwatersrand as a senior lecturer in Epidemiology and Biostatics, specializing in Spatial and spatiotemporal modeling of diseases and public health issues He has written a number of research publications such as Identification of determinants of infant mortality in Rwanda using a shared frailty model, which was published by the European Journal of Scientific Research.

 

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 5 Interesting things about Coast Academy’s playgroup

Choosing a good playgroup for your child is very important because it shapes your child’s entire educational journey.

The Coast Academy playgroup is by no doubt the best place for your toddler. We offer the best to help nurture the little minds as they start their educational journey. The warm, loving and safe environment helps your little one grow up to be a self-dependent, confident and outgoing child ready to learn and grow. Below are 5 reasons why you should entrust us with your child.

1. Low teacher-to-student ratio

At Coast Academy, we believe in the power of giving every child their own personalized attention. This allows the teacher to attend to every child’s unique needs and identify their strong points. The result of this is that no child is left behind. This is evident from all the learner’s work displayed in the class.

 

2. A well Rounded Curriculum

Our teachers work hard to ensure that the learners grasp their motor skills through colouring, artwork and building blocks. Listening to stories from the teacher promotes good listening skills while the audio songs and stories grow their auditory perception. P.E class helps with the development of their gross-motor skills through jumping, balancing and running among others.

 

3. Availability of Extra-Curricular activities

At Coast Academy playgroup, children engage in a lot of extracurricular activities which include, swimming and athletics. These activities build their creativity, boost their confidence and strengthen their growing muscles. It also creates an opportunity to identify and grow a child’s talent.

 

4. Conducive learning environment

Our school is located in the serene environment of Kizingo. Our classes are spacious and airy with different sections such as a reading corner, play area, napping zone, and an assigned diaper change corner complete a nanny. We have excellent facilities ranging from the beautiful classroom to the well-maintained playground, we boast of a clean swimming pool and an excellent music room.

 

 

5. A multi-ethnic community

Our playgroup consists of children from different cultures, races and religions. This teaches the art of cultural relativism which is very essential in our multi-cultural society.

“We not only teach the children to recognize sounds and numbers but also in cooperating problem-solving, sharing, learning polite language and many more. They also get to learn more skills through play such as eye-hand coordination and independence.” Miss Firdaus, Coast Academy’s playgroup teacher.

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Benefits Of Extra-Curricular Activities In School

Importance of Extra-Curricular Activities to Learners

Extra-curricular activities are the  non-academic activities offered at Coast Academy school which are meant to balance the curriculum and foster the student’s wellbeing, as well as to promote their involvement in school activities and those of the community.

 

In this era of technology dominated pastime activities such as gaming that are loved by the learners, it is important for both parents and teachers to encourage the children to engage in at least 1 extracurricular activity. Parents need to embrace that not every child is born to be a doctor or engineer. Extra-curricular activities are also a door to success. In every classroom, there is a musician, an artist, a footballer, a chef, a Ninja, a swimmer just to mention but a few.

Extra-Curricular activities are also a great way to unwind from the classroom environment. At Coast Academy, we offer a variety of extra-curricular activities to suit a wide range of interest which include but are not limited to; chess, swimming, taekwondo, art and craft, cricket, athletics, football, table tennis, skating , volleyball, music  and athletics. By engaging in these, children end up meeting like-minded individuals which helps in building a solid friendship whereby they can help each other through exchanging of ideas and working as a team.

Engaging in Extracurricular activities is not only a great way to make friends, but also increases student interaction, raises self-esteem and increase productivity.  These activities also help students to identify their skills and acquire new ones. Partaking in them translates to building of long-lasting friendships, gaining of skills such as communication, teamwork, problem solving and time management.

 

Extra-Curricular activities can also open doors for you. Students that Excel in extracurricular activities are highly valued by institutions of higher learning as well as future employers because they make a great addition to the team. Most of these students make their way into renowned universities through issuance of scholarships.

Extra-curricular activities are just as important as classroom education is to your child. Without each other, thehttps://www.crimsoneducation.org/us/blog/extracurriculars/benefits-of-extracurricular-activities/ product individual becomes incomplete.

While Classroom educations enriches one with knowledge to pursue a career, extra-curricular activities helps to shape an individual to fit in the society and build social skills. Best part is, children that engage in extra-curricular activities perform better than those that are only focused on academics only. (more…)

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