|
|
Preschools and KindergartensPuebla offers a variety of daycares for young children. Whether you need to work or just like your mornings free, you will be sure to find a convenient daycare located close to your home.
For children under three years of age, there are many daycare opportunities. Most of the short term daycares as explained in the babysitting section have programs for babies and young toddlers. There are also programs to stimulate early learning and mobility such as Gymboree and swiimming at the Nelson Vargas Aquatica. Those programs would require parent participation. There are also a lot of daycares run out of homes. As daycares run out of homes do not have to be licensed by the government, I would recommend you to exercise good judgement before leaving your child in a home daycare. Many of the kindergartens also have preschool type programs for young children where they can attend classes for a few hours a few days a week.
Children in Puebla begin kindergarten at the age of three. The kindergartens or "kinders" have three year programs. As of 2006 it is required that all children have two years of kindergarten before going to the first grade. There are plans to have the full three years required in the future. A lot of children will begin kindergarten at age four, go for three years, and then start first grade at age seven. If your child is between the ages of three and six, he is eligible to attend a kindergarten. Most kindergartens do not have the option of partial days or going only a few days a week as the government requires that the children attend classes a certain number of hours per school year. Kindergartens can start at around nine in the morning, and let out at about one or two in the afternoon. Certainly a full day for a young child. The Montessori philosophy of education is also the current method of choice in the kindergartens. Most all kindergartens will also introduce the students to English and even offer computer classes. A good kindergarten is not cheap however. For a basic school with clean facilities, qualified teachers, and a nice play area for the children, the cost can be around two thousand dollars for the year. One thing to be aware of is that most all the schools that may appear to be less expensive in the beginning, will require you to buy school supplies for your child for the year. Although that does not sound out of the ordinary... one school's list of school supplies came out to a grand total of seven hundred dollars.... and that did not include the uniform! One other thing to mention when looking for a school. Most schools will include religion in the curriculum and some even have priests on staff to indoctrinate the children. If a school says that they are "lycos" that that means that they do not teach religion to the children. There are of course many Catholic schools as well as a few Christian schools. If you are an American coming to live in Puebla for just a few years, there is also a school called Puebla Christian School that is geared towards missionary kids but open to all Americans. KindergartensThe American School of Puebla Universidad Realistica de Puebla | |||||
|
