(our) application

靖愷九月要升幼稚園了，我們只有為他遞了一份報名表。為他報名時，到學校參觀和跟校長談過，被校長感動了。參觀的時候剛好是下午班學生回校的時間，校長都逐一跟孩子打招呼，也知道他們每一個的名字。學校沒有嚴謹的遴選程序，收生主要看孩子報名的先後次序，因為相信每個孩子與生俱來就是一樣。幼稚園的三年內都不會有家課，每天三小時的課堂全用來在遊戲中學習，孩子認不認字寫不寫字全看個別孩子的學習進度。

上月收到學校的電郵，說有位置給靖愷了，邀請我們到學校參加一個非正式面試。到了學校，校長就給孩子們讀讀故事書，談談上學的情況，最後帶孩子到露天遊樂場玩。整個過程，孩子甚至不用回答任何問題。校長笑咪咪地跟家長說了數遍，今天不是測驗啊，你們別擔心，還解釋孩子年紀這麼小，怎會用測驗來衝量他們？到遊樂場前，校長請孩子每人拿一個信封給家長，信封內早就預備好歡迎孩子的入學信和各項備忘。

學校請家長細閱一份手冊，裡面從茶點以至惡劣天氣的備忘都有提及。看到以下幾段，我放心了，我知道學校會真的關心孩子。

rafael is going to attend kindergarten this fall. from the few paragraphs below from the parent handbook, i trust that rafael's school days will be filled with love and encouragement.

Taking Work Home

The teachers will accumulate your child's artwork in a school folder. Every Friday the artwork and any written work will be given to your child to take home... When your child brings home his or her creative artwork we encourage you to say to your child "Tell me about your artwork". Don't be surprised if they don't say what it is (such as the sun or a house). He or she may just be exploring with the art materials and what they have drawn or painted may just be a mixture of colors.

Traveling Parents

Please let us know if one of you is going to be out of town for more than a week. It is likely that your absence will affect your child and knowing this helps us to be sensitive to your child's needs.

Dress

It is important to dress your child in play clothes which wash easily. Please dress children in clothes which they may easily take off and put on when they go to the toilet. We are teaching them to be more independent. Long dresses are dangerous, especially on the outdoor equipment, as is jewelry. It is also not practical for children to wear bracelets and belts (especially 3 year olds).

Health Guidelines

The immune system of the child is immature and is stimulated to maturity. It is therefore quite natural that for the first few months after the commencement of school your child may come down with frequent colds and a runny nose, this is due to exposure to a foreign environment and to other children who may have colds. This is not unhealthy and in fact is instrumental, in most cases, in strengthening your child's immune system.

就是這個校長跟我說，現在的孩子都像活在綿花上。我知道，在這學校，靖愷不會被困在綿花叢中長大。

你問，沒家課不認字又不學寫字，那孩子上學學些甚麼？或許是我不切實際，但我總覺得，才幾歲人仔，學懂去愛、學懂尊重他人、學懂對自己負責，就已足夠。我就不相信，如果他喜歡看書，他長大後仍會是個文盲。我就不相信，如果他從小就享受學習，他長大後仍會對這世界一無所知。我還是認為，把根紮在正確的態度上，比紮在課本的知識上，會穩固得多。