The Praeceptori

hese parents can help their children refine them. Children have the potential to be almost anything that they can dream of, thanks to their genes—but these alone cannot fulfill their dreams. There are things that children cannot do by themselves, and there are things that children can do on their own. The area between able and unable was called “the Zone of Proximal Development” by educational psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). This is the area where children may STILL be able to do things BUT with guidance from adults. And the Praecepti School shall be the companion of young learners during their preschool years, enabling them to surprisingly do what usually frustrate them as the cannot do’s. Yet while the pupils are engaged in cognitive, affective and psychomotor activities in the classroom, their parents/designated guardians are ushered to the conference room, to engage in a learning activity of their own. They shall be oriented on the pupils’ lessons for the day and given instructions on how to implement them at home and/or integrate them in their interactions anywhere and anytime. Goals

From the very start of its school year, the Praecepti School will be earnest in the following objectives:

· administering an excellent preschool education complying with the standards set by the Philippines’ Department of Education, and moreover supplemented with materials recommended by academic institutes;
· professionalizing its teachers’ pedagogic methods via research and development (i.e., personal assessment, peer evaluation, self-study, attendance of seminars, and the acquisition of better instructional tools);
· enjoiningthe pupils’ parents/guardians to undergo a no-pressure training to help them meet the physical, intellectual and spiritual needs of their children. The Praecepti School’s motto is summed up in its slogan, “Guide and guard.”Praecepti is not just a preschool; it is also a guild for training guardians so they, in turn, could guide their toddlers at home. With home and school in sync, Praecepti will have goaled the following by the end of the school year:

· its mission of availing all human and material resources in facilitating the proximal development of young learners’ natural talents and intelligences (musical, spatial, linguistic, mathematical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential);

· its vision of sending forth to the community minds that learn all things right
and hearts that share all things good. Prospective Students

The PraeceptiSchool’s prospective students are toddlers from the age of 2.75 (two years and nine months old by the start of the school year) to the age of 5.75(five years and nine months old by the time they graduate from us). For the pupils to maximally benefit from the school’s program, their parents/guardians must be open to learning fundamental pedagogy and relearning the basic subjects. By refreshing their scholastic knowledge, guardians grow confident in imparting it and are encouraged to tutor their kids at home. Psychologists are unanimous about the importance of children’s having a connection with adults, especially their parents. Sadly, for reasons social or financial, some parents are unable to make this connection and simply designate other adults (extended relatives, nannies, etc.) to become the guardians of the children, in and out of the house. Yet when at home, these surrogates, in turn, designate the babysitting task to the television, a game console or some other nonhuman preoccupation. Such caregivers—many coming from humble educational backgrounds—are limited to guarding their charges’ physical well-being and cannot be expected to guide their intellectual growth. But the Praecepti School will equip these adults with the skills and knowledge to assist with their kids’ academics; thereby every waking moment with one another shall be an opportunity to teach and learn. Parents/guardians are urged to get involved with their young ones’ wholesome and holistic development, thanks to their scholastic program’s assertiveness. There is no other school in the immediate vicinity of Praecepti that offers this unique educative service, pedagogic and androgogic—which is the main viability of the Praecepti School. No other school within Praecepti's immediate vicinity offer an educative service extending to their preschoolers' parents/guardians. Moreover, Praecepti is the first school in the Philippines to become a Friend of Core Knowledge, an independent and non-partisan educational foundation established in 1986 by American educator E.D. Hirsch and based in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. The foundation conducts research on curricula, and develops books and materials for students and their parents. Demand for the Graduates

Always in demand are graduates who are self-actualized to incrementally build on their intellectual and social skills. The Praecepti School’s adult graduates (the pupils’ guardians) shall become competent mentors, patient with and devoted to their mentees. Praecepti’s child graduates (the pupils themselves) are lifetime learners, open to knowledge and wisdom in any situation. Eventually they themselves may be inspired to mentor a new breed of learners—and so knowledge and wisdom are passed on to empower the next generation. When precepts rule hearts and minds, there should never be a shortage of people with a long-range perception for peace and prosperity.