NAFA Arts Kindergarten

[barney8]

Hi parents, anyone to share on Nafa Arts Kindergarten. I know the school is good in terms of the enrichment classes but what about academic part such as phonics and chinese? The price is steep so wan to know if it is worthwhile.

[2sweethearts]

Hi,


We are also offered N2 at NAFRA next year but likely not putting my DD there as i have heard that the academic part is insufficient. My boy was with Montessorri centre for the past 3 years… Then, i was told that Montensorri was good but very strange that he is unable to do simple addition and subtracton and i am not franatically searching for some clash course for him…so in short i feel it is impt to enrol to a school that has sufficient focus on academic part. for arts and music, we can sign up and do privately.
Anyone has feedback on Seeds D’learning? visited the school and reviewed some of the workdone by N2. N2 kids able to do K2 mathematics… very impressive!

[barney8]

2sweethearts:

Hi,


We are also offered N2 at NAFRA next year but likely not putting my DD there as i have heard that the academic part is insufficient. My boy was with Montessorri centre for the past 3 years.. Then, i was told that Montensorri was good but very strange that he is unable to do simple addition and subtracton and i am not franatically searching for some clash course for him..so in short i feel it is impt to enrol to a school that has sufficient focus on academic part. for arts and music, we can sign up and do privately.
Anyone has feedback on Seeds D'learning? visited the school and reviewed some of the workdone by N2. N2 kids able to do K2 mathematics.. very impressive!

hi, so u mean u are not putting your younger one in montessori too? where is seeds D'learning?

[skc]

i have been searching through the forum for NAFA Kindergarten feedback to no avil. can anyone pls provide me on the Sch teaching and teachers feedback? thanks

[tankee]

here the thread.


post merged.

[satyagraha]

skc:

i have been searching through the forum for NAFA Kindergarten feedback to no avil. can anyone pls provide me on the Sch teaching and teachers feedback? thanks

I know this is kinda late, not sure if you still need any reply. Nonetheless, here goes my feedback on... ... (fyi, DS in K2 & DD in N)

School in general
Very positive. Both DH & myself are very pleased with the school. Love the classrooms set up, the vast ground for kids to run about and explore.

Teaching
I can't really give you a good comparison with other preschools, because I don't compare and I have no experience with others. All I can say is, DS can read, can do maths, gained knowledge, can play keyboard, exposed to different art media, made to do stretching at least once a week (thru dance).

Note that although the school follows the MOE curriculum, the teachers have free play in planning their teachings. That is, the school do not standardize class activities. So, different classes will have different activities to help them learn.

Talk to parents of different classes, you may get different responses. My kids have teachers that \"rear\" caterpillars in Nursery to show the kids the process of metamorphosis. Brought in real bird nest for kids to marvel at. My kids told me that the teachers found those things within the school compound! Not sure how true, but I choose to believe so. After all, the school's setting does looks like those things can be found.

No homework (except music) from N to K1 for DS. Now that he is in K2, he has weekly spelling, tingxie, journal writing, chinese zhou ji (journal) writing. Now and then, his teacher will request small little crafty projects.

For details of the curriculum, you can request from the school. Sorry, can't really remember clearly. Don't wish to give wrong info.

Teachers
No two human are the same. So, there are good teachers and not-so-good teachers too. Good, in the sense that some are more willing & have the ability to make the class activities interesting and educational. Not-so-good, in the sense that they'll just do the necessary.

As in all schools (preschools, pri, sec, tertiary), it really depends on your luck to get a good teacher.

Principal
Very \"customer\"-oriented. Love her!
She is very on the ground with the kids, responds to parental concerns promptly, go on every single field trips with the kids.

Parental Involvement
Not sure about other preschools, but this preschool is very good at getting parents involved in major school activities (sports day, fun fair, festive celebrations, etc). Be it, back end preparations or front end tasks. Take it positively (bonding opportunities with kids) and all will be happy.

Sounds good? Well, keep one eye closed, and seriously... it's great!

[papamama]

Hi satyagraha,


What do you mean when you say the principal is very "customer oriented" ? She seems v busy.

Overall, do you find Nafa kindy has a friendly and warm environment ?

[satyagraha]

Hi papamama,


Ya, from what I see, she seems very busy. OK, let me try to explain myself. Will only continue to do so for this 2 years, as my younger one will still be there.

Customer oriented, meaning she attends to her customers. Maybe you are not a "customer" yet, so you don’t feel it. Or maybe I’m just easily satisfied. In any case, below are what gave me the impression that she is.

1) She made sure that the teachers need only to concern themselves with watching over the kids (customers) during outings, by going on the outings together to tend to other matters (like lunch/snack, transportations, etc).

2) When I (a parent, ie customer) do bump into her in school (not very frequent), she’ll definitely greet and at times, stop for a little chat to understand if there’s any concern(s). Of course, I’m not the only parent chatting with her lah. In other words, she is not the type that will avoid eye contact and shun parents.

3) Most impressionable, as it directly concern my older kid. Within the 1st month of my older kid attending NAK, he developed a phobia for dance class. After sitting in for a dance session, I somewhat suspected the acoustic was not right. Due to the extremely loud noise (overly excited kids scream/shout/chatter + music) that lingered on, my kid got very scared of dance class.

I checked with the Principal, she understood & took notice, and by the following term, acoustic panels were put up to absorb the sound. Thus making dance class more enjoyable for my kid.

So… hope the above answers to your 1st qn.

As to your 2nd qn, personally I do find the environment friendly. Most parents are friendly, the teachers are friendly, even the cleaners are friendly (we greet and chat a little now and then)! Then again, you know lah… different people see/feel things differently.

I must say that I am not a particular person, so long as there’s no major problems pertaining to my kids, I’m happy.


cheers

[bsk]

Hi,


I’ve just got an offer for registration for my daughter in NAFA arts kindergaren for K1. How many kids will be there in one class…

Heard they are putting so much emphasis on co-curricular…how about the academics?

regards

[mooncalf]

last update is quite a while ago now… any new feedback from parents here?


would also appreciate specific feedback on character development by the teachers here.

thank you