PCF/PAP Kindergartens

[mowmow]

After reading this thread, I just realised that there is really a very huge diff among PCF branches. My sister-in-law’s children are from PCF in Jurong East and they were never taught how to write in sentences and neither do they have ting xie, etc.


But just for recommendation purposes, for parents who can afford it, you should seriously consider CHiltern House. The school fees is about 900+ per month, but the education they provide is superb. Both my sons were from Julia Gabriel play club when they were still young toddlers, and they moved on to ChilternHouse(CH) when they were 3. They had completed 4 years in CHiltern House and are both in P1 now. The teachers in CH are very good and caring (help toilet-trained my sons within a few weeks), and the teacher/student ratio in N1 is 2 teachers to 12 children (1 teacher speaks english while the other is a native Chinese-speaking teacher), from N2 onwards it is 1 teacher and 1 asst teacher to 12 children. The Chinese teacher only teaches each class for 1 hour per day. And this holds true for K1 & K2 as well. Apart from the normal academic lessons, they also have speech & drama(taught by teachers from Julia Gabriel), music and cookery classes.

Overall find their curriculum very fun and enriching. And I believe my kids have benefitted alot from there. They are well prepared for P1 and have done well in the recent SA1, even though I have not sent them for any tuition classes, excet for MPM, a self-learning enrichment class for Maths.

[tamarind]

little doggie:

Hi tamarind,


Can enlighten me on your reason for enrolling ur son to Blk 665B instead of Blk 662B for the nursery 2...cos ur daughter is in Blk 662B and as u mentioned the school is quite good.

Reason for me asking is becos i m considering these 2 pcf branch to enrol my son for his nursery 2 next year.

thnks for sharing!:)

Hi little doggie,
My boy gets sick very often, when he is sick, we usually keep him at home for 1 to 2 weeks to recover completely. If I put him in a more expensive kindergarten, I will feel very heartache with the $.

One more reason is that my boy does not pay attention in class. The teacher told me that he is always dreaming, like in his own world. Since he cannot learn anything in school, why spend more money ? I have been teaching him myself, and he is now reading very well. Checkout my blog.
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-they-are-reading-now.html

He is also starting to write many words on his own. I have just started to teach him to do addition mentally. I invented my own method to suit his learning style. He is progressing very well. Children like him learn best when given one to one attention.

I still send him to school to socialize with other children.

Basically I am very particular about getting my money's worth when I send my kids to classes. My girl learns very well in school, she is very attentive, so it is worth sending her to a more expensive class. My boy learns best from me, no point sending him to expensive schools I do send him to Berries Chinese enrichment class, which I think is really worth the money, their methods are very effective. But then again my boy also dreams in Berries class. We have to revise the materials with him everyday at home, and he is doing well.
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/05/jeromes-chinese-test-at-berries.html

The nursery and kindergarten at 662 definitely teach more things than 665. 662 costs more because they include enrichment, for K1 and K2 they have cooking, poetry appreciation, junior creative writing, Chinese enrichment etc.

[sumo22]

There are now 20 PCF that are managed by NTUC as mentioned in the news below. One of them is the PCF at Blk 4 Holland Close. Anyone has any feedback or experience to share for that PCF? Is there any difference in their curriculum or teaching style? Thanks.


http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090513-141008.html

[sumo22]

In case anyone might be interested to know, I visited the PCF at Holland yesterday.


There were 2 K1 classes when I reach around 11.20pm & was very noisy. The children in both classes were playing on their own or talking to each other. The teachers were sitting outside.

When I ask what is their schedule now, I was told it was free-play.

I requested for samples of their worksheets which look pretty alright in terms of curriculum & coverage. No spelling but the children learn to write.

However, the ultimate was in the middle of our conversation, the teacher turned her head & shouted very loudly at the top of her voice "OOOOUI!!SSSSSSHHHH!". So that was it. So Buds was right about the importance of teachers.

[cloubhappy.05320live.05320com]

Oh gosh! Really ultimate!

[tamarind]

There are over 100 PCF kindergarten in Singapore. Everyone of them have a different syllabus and are managed by different teachers. I believe there are certainly some PCF kindergarten which have bad teachers.


Those few PCF kindergarten around my area have quite good teachers. My girl’s K2 class teacher Jenny is the best teacher I know. I saw many parents queuing up to register their kids for next year during registration day.

Many people like to make generalizations about PCF kindergarten, this is unwise. Whether it is PCF or private, parents should find out about the syllabus and get to know the teachers. I have heard about some very nasty teachers in private kindergarten too.

[ling123]

hi hugeclaw,


how your kids going on at the kindergarten now.

i had went down to serangoon north ave 1 to register my kids for next year nursery. the pcf kindergarten got speech and drama class and art class for children.
the teacher told me that tea break time, kids will have fried bee hoon, porridge, breads etc for them so we don’t need to bring any food to school.

In k1, they start to teach them han yu ping yin and they will have spelling also.

[cookiecreature]

tamarind:

I spend a few hours with my kids every day after work and also during the weekends. I have a maid and my mother lives with me, so I don't have to worry about housework.

Dear Tamarind,
I came to know abt you when I was trying to get some help on domestic helper... i read all your house rules and apply to my current helper who is less than 2 month.
I am now so impressed with you as I visited your blog abt teaching kids. I came to know that you are a working mum but yet you can manage well in your house as well as your kids. chloe is great in her writing i saw fm yr web. I am actually quite down, but after reading your blog, I am inspired that I can do it too esp with my K1 girl who can't read fluently and have problem wanting to learn. Thanks so much Tamarind.

[mummy nana]

Hi Everyone. Im New Here. Anyone Knows How Much The Registration Fees For PCF/PAP Nursery 2 Is? Im Gonna Register My Girl....

[little doggie]

Hi


i paid for my son for N2 + E is $187++ (forget the cents liao). is a one mth deposit of school fees and registration fee.

If just N2 should be less than $100.

Hope i have help u