Summer can do wonders for kids at the Ingenium

MANILA, Philippines - The Ingenium School in Marikina offers preschoolers and gradeschoolers a menu of fun activities to make their summer an eventful vacation to look forward to.

The regular summer program for preschoolers includes Fun with Phonics for Nursery and Kinder 1, Basic and Advanced Preschool-level Reading, Singapore Math, arts and crafts, and even cooking.

And for gradeschoolers, there are drawing and painting, arts and crafts, and cooking, as well as bridging programs for newcomers in English, Science, Singapore Math, Filipino, and Civics.

Likewise, there are summer courses in music involving piano lessons, which can be continued during the regular school year.

“We have been fortunate to gain the support of former members of the Manila Symphony Orchestra in helping Ingenium create a mini-orchestra or string ensemble in the regular school year. Thus, Ingenium and music group Virtuousi Music and Art Center will offer classes in violin and guitar starting this summer.  Flute, drum, and voice lessons may also be offered,” says Ingenium directress and co-founder Dr. Salve B. Borlagdan, Ph.D.

“We are further expanding into dance with the entry of teacher Bianca Sagrit, a preschool and ballet teacher. 

Ballet classes will be offered for preschool and Grades 1-4 students.  For older kids, Virtuousi will offer hip-hop dance,” Dr. Borlagdan adds.

To complete the summer program, there will be a course in sports, particularly a basketball clinic.  “While Ingenium does not label itself to be a ‘multi-intelligence school’ or a ‘Montessori school,’ the proven principles and methods in such educational developments are very much a part of our philosophy and practice,” observes Fr. Edmundo Martinez, co-founder of Ingenium. 

“For the coming schoolyear, if not this summer, we are discussing with parents the start of KFC (Kids for Christ) activities. The KFC program’s mission, vision, and activities have a lot in common with Ingenium’s.  The program can help accelerate the school’s efforts to inculcate the core values of civitas (citizenship), sapientia (wisdom) and caritas (charity) in a joyful, meaningful manner,” Dr. Borlagdan points out.

Obviously carried out in practice, the Ingenium philosophy creates a culture of excellence in the school.

Ingenium has been topping the National Achievement Test in Marikina by wide margins, beating the city’s 17 public and 38 other private schools and their more than 10,000 students in 2010 and 2011. The 2009 topnotchers were the first graduating class of Ingenium’s grade school.

For information, call The Ingenium School at 942-0921, 941-5867, 942-7079, 942-1151. The school is located near the Marikina Hotel and Convention Center.