where will she go to school?

I’m getting a bit worried. Since Caila will be turning 3 in February (and just the right age when school starts in September next year), I’ve been searching the net for schools. Of course, we want to make sure that she'll attend the one that will provide a good foundation and help mold her into the best person she can be, so there are lots of things we have to consider to make sure we choose the right one for her.

We know we can’t just choose a school based on location alone because we don’t know if we’ll be staying at our current apartment for a long time or if we’ll move to the city, but for now proximity and accessibility are factors we’re looking into.

Also, we would prefer a school with either a British or American curriculum so that if when (think positive!) we move or migrate to another country, our daughter would be well-prepared for ivy league schools. Plus, I would love to hear her talking in English with a twang (just like me. hahaha!).

It would be an advantage as well if the school consistently passed the KHDA (Knowledge & Human Development Authority) school inspection rating every year so that we’d be sure that she was getting the best education.

There are two Philippine schools in Dubai (that I know of), and although they have good reputations, we would rather she attended an international school that has more nationalities attending, so that she would feel confident dealing with people from all sorts of cultures (again, like I did, but hopefully better).

Of course, even though we have all these preferences in what we’re looking for in a school, the cost of the fees is the major thing we have to consider. But looking at the current rates of the good schools now, they’re enough to make people contemplate on sending their kids back to their own country instead to study. Out of the schools I've researched on, the best option is to send our daughter to the private school which is just a few minutes walk away from where we live now, but the rate is more than Dhs18,000 for KG1! And that was the fee for 2010-2011; so what more next year?!

So, next month, hubby and I need to seriously start looking around and begin the processes because we heard that waiting lists in the good schools are long, although considering the economic situation, this may change. But still, we only have 1 year to look, select, and save...A LOT!

And then there’s our plans to visit my family in Germany, to try for another baby, and the 3 weddings of our friends in the Philippines which we would like to attend...all next year. Augh!!!

Anyway, we have to have faith. God will provide and He will make a way (right, Lord?).