Preschool Curriculum

[buds]

kaitlynangelica:

Buds,


Got a friend whose daughter attends Maris stella Kindergarten. she also said it is lousy. Kid learns nothing and worse still,she doesn't know what the kid is learning everyday. If you are refereing to acaedemic preparation, it definitely is not good to prepare the child for p1.

Oh dear kaitlynangelica,

Thanks for your sharing.

Mebbe standard drop...? Too complacent with quality teaching now...?
Oh dearie, me.. And your friend is in K1 or K2? If K2 this year, better
get out soonest possible and find better option if the case is year aft
year, no concrete progress and no positive changes made to curriculum
or visits to principal's office bearing your worries and feedbacks not
attended to and not fruitful..

P1 is hard as it is in normal neighbourhood schools.
Let's not make it harder for our children to adapt with only
bare chest of knowledge charging into Primary education.
It will not begin with a nice experience to remember their
childhood by..

Share more details if you can on the curriculum and its effects.
So we can all weigh in the pros and cons... positive and negative
sides. More heads are better than 1. If really terok, then to swap
while its still early in the year wud be a wise move. Less than a year
to prepare them as of now. Tick Tock... Tick Tock...

:!:

[kwcllf]

Hi insider,


Primary schools onwards are under MOE while Preschools are under MCYS.

Perhaps, this is one reason for the "disjointed" policy between Preschools and Primary schools.

Also, what you have touched on is just one aspect of the curriculum, which is Han Yu Pin Yin. But, I believe what was written in the ST Forum refers to the whole gamut of how the curriculum is being carried out. As you have said, there is no "standard" practice and preschools are left on their own to determine how they want to operate.

Hence, this is the gist of the whole matter. That is, the "open" guidelines merely allow preschools to take advantage of such non-binding directives, which is detriment to our children. Worst still, we (parents and children) are being shortchanged

[anxiousmummy]

Hi Insider

Thanks for the insight into the battle of preschools vs primary schools where their curriculum is concerned. I now understand why there are so many children who were pulled out from my child’s K1 class.

My child is in NTUC childcare which apparently follows MOE’s guidance of ‘learn through play’. When her classmates started leaving one by one, I started asking around and was told by some parents that NTUC childcare does not sufficiently prepare a child for P1. However, after sitting through with the principal who addressed all my concerns (and also after not one but two teachers came up to me privately telling me that they regretted putting their kids through those days of worksheets and homework and writing), I begin to appreciate why NTUC childcare is sticking by their curriculum.

Their focus is in line with MOE guidelines (for example stressing and teaching how to write and giving homework and worksheets are an absolute no-no). They are actively involved in getting the child engaged in activities and teaching them concepts and critical thinking. Most importantly, my child does not feel like she’s attending class - she thinks it’s playtime and giggles over every aspect of things that she has learnt.

However, that being said, as a kiasu parent, I still have my reservations about whether my child can indeed cope in P1 when the time comes. Therefore I am sending my child for enrichment classes to supplement her in areas where I think the childcare lacks.

Also, one word of caution that I heard from a parent – do not let your child learn too much too early as they then become very bored and distracted in P1…

[ChiefKiasu]

anxiousmummy:

...They are actively involved in getting the child engaged in activities and teaching them concepts and critical thinking. Most importantly, my child does not feel like she's attending class - she thinks it's playtime and giggles over every aspect of things that she has learnt...

Hi anxiousmummy, it is for the same reason why my girl is still at the Schoolhouse by the bay, despite parents saying that they do not prepare a child well enough for P1. She comes home with her creative juices running and sees things beyond lines and colours. A plate to her is not a plate, but a face that can be decorated with eyes and mouth made of anything handy. I appreciate the concept of learning through play.

[metz]

Hi Insider,


Thanks for the insightful post on preschool curriculums. When I first started looking for a preschool, I too fell for the fallacy of \"high standard (academically)\" curriculum. Fortunately my experience with Chiltern House changed my outlook totally. It is very much a play-based school and the N2 kids are not hurried in any way. I could see my son flourish in a different way. I must add that my son had a wonderful teacher back then. However, the distance was rather far for us and we withdrew from the school after one term. We are lucky to find a church kindy nearby which may not be comparable to CH but good enough for us. Till now, there's no predetermined weekly list of spelling and ting xie in K2. But the teacher introduced spelling via games and it was a lot of fun for my son. And for Chinese, he was sharing with me how to write \"milk\" in chinese verbally using the bi hua just the other day. What touches me is the love and willingness to learn and use the langauge.

But most important of all, I think it's great place for learning values and soft skills. For Valentine's Day, the school came up with a candlelight dinner for parents. While we were having dinner, the teachers took care of our kids and together they put up some acts and songs for us (within hours). Prior to the dinner, the kids were encouraged to pen down how they know their parents love each other. I am really touched by the teachers' efforts in educating the kids and parents about love. :love:

[metz]

insider:

vv_lim:

non-KIASU - mean just good enough to prepare for normal neighbourhood primary school.

Hi vv lim,

Indeed a kiasu curriculum you listed above that is definitely achievable coz seedling can really grow taller faster if tone wants to pull it intensely...

Hmm, just sharing some intensive home curriculums/practices and achievements by people around me -

- A mother shared that her son knew his letters, shapes, colours and numbers by 18 mth old.

- A K1 kid can do 5 digits addition mentally (abacus) within a short time. Completes 400-500 questions in a week. Study time - 10pm to 12 or 1 am every night (cos mother is a working mum)

So, the demand for \"high standard\" preschools is really understandable :roll: .

[ChiefKiasu]

chamonix:

...- A K1 kid can do 5 digits addition mentally (abacus) within a short time. Completes 400-500 questions in a week. Study time - 10pm to 12 or 1 am every night...

:shock: :!: :faint: :siao:

[lambchop1976]

vv_lim:

KIASU - mean wanna teach ahead to cater for those 'elite primary school'

My goal is a KIASU curriculum as below:

Mandarin
-----------
By N1 - some art and craft according to themes.
By N2 - should start recognise simple words.
By K1 - start spelling, recite 'tang shi' and 'san zhi jing'. Know how to read 2-3 sentences per page.
By K2 - know Hang Yu Ping Ying. Know how to read > 3 sentences per page.

Hmm... with all these Kiasu parents trying to drill the \"san zhi jing\" and \"tang shi\" no wonder kids nowadays HATE chinese and thus dun do well. Then kiasu parents being kiasu start sending them for tons and tons of tuition etc. n the story ending....

Well wats the use of learning \"san zhi jing\" and \"tang shi\" at such young age whn the kids or worse still PARENTS struggle thro daily conversational Mandarin, cant even write their own name. It is best for the kids to understand and appreciate Chinese and its culture and not drill \"jing wen\" into them.

\"San zhi jing\" \"tang shi\"...\"mo zhi\" \"kong zhi\" or watevr \"zhi\" will be forgotten but in all these \"zhi\" they have that love for learning and the thrist for knowledge. They aint the most brillant students in their time but they are known for their deep insights in the things they do.

The most important thing in education is to instil the passion for learning. This will last them a lifetime... This is something I am still learning...thats how to teach my 3 boys the importance of lifelong learning and the thrist for knowledge.

To educate is to teach someone to fish and not to fish for them.

[anxiousmummy]

lambchop1976,

I so totally agree with you

[metz]

ChiefKiasu:

chamonix:

...- A K1 kid can do 5 digits addition mentally (abacus) within a short time. Completes 400-500 questions in a week. Study time - 10pm to 12 or 1 am every night...

:shock: :!: :faint: :siao:

Hmm, how about this? - The parents started training him to run 1 km when he was in N2.