[Hougang/Punggol/Sengkang] Preschools
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Hi foreverj,
You seem quite well versed in the AMK/Sengkang area. Can you recommend me some Montessori schools around AMK/Upp Thomson Road area. I have noted the few schools you have recommended.
Do you have more to this list? -
If you still need further information on Shekinah, pls pm me directly. My son was there for 5 yrs. He’s now in P1. I still have alot of friends’ younger children there. Would be able to provide rather detailed feedback
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trisha.yeo:
hi trisha, actually most of my recommendations come from what i read in the forums and mums I happen to meet and share their experiences. for montessori schools, u can check with buds (a grandmaster in this forum). she can advise better on montessori schools.Hi foreverj,
You seem quite well versed in the AMK/Sengkang area. Can you recommend me some Montessori schools around AMK/Upp Thomson Road area. I have noted the few schools you have recommended.
Do you have more to this list?
u can check out MMI which has many branches islandwide. but better to check with parents who have enrolled with the school to c if its good. cos mmi is a franchise so quality differs from branch to branch.
where do u live? if u dun live in SK/punggol, dun bother travelling. i remember a fren who used to send her son to greentree montessori. this may be a place possible/convenient if u live in upper thomson. she was very happy with it so do check it out.
if u r open to other locations, montessori for children (two branches - novena and broadrick) is quite reputable. brighton montessori, faith montessori and cs montessori are also ones i've seen good reviews on. but end of day, i think location matters. afterall u need to ferry the kid to and from school everyday for quite a few years. so mark down the possible schools and visit them. nothing beats seeing the place and teaching environment yourself! -
Just curious, why are you keen on Montessori?
So far the feedback I’ve got from the parents with children in MMI now or children already graduated from MMI & are now in Pri school plus the students I see from MMI (my tutees) do not cope very well in Pri school due to the different ‘approach’ used during kindy years. As such, these students find primary school boring & do not enjoy the worksheets as there are no ‘fun’ work or pictures. It gets worse during exam as they cannot sit still to focus on the paper & complete it diligently.
I’m also looking around for a kindy that is strong in academics for my boy as we intend to enrol him in a ‘premium’ primary school that has very high standards. -
mrswongtuition:
this is potentially a problem with montessori education, ie. the children become so used to exercising their freedom they can't adapt to a conventional classroom environment. but there are benefits of a good montessori program such as creativity, strong academics in English and Math (due to Montessori phonics and math etc). i know of a few better montessori schools eg. josiah montessori which wil gradually shift the children to a more conventional classroom style of teaching so that they wil be used to pri school.Just curious, why are you keen on Montessori?
So far the feedback I've got from the parents with children in MMI now or children already graduated from MMI & are now in Pri school plus the students I see from MMI (my tutees) do not cope very well in Pri school due to the different 'approach' used during kindy years. As such, these students find primary school boring & do not enjoy the worksheets as there are no 'fun' work or pictures. It gets worse during exam as they cannot sit still to focus on the paper & complete it diligently.
I'm also looking around for a kindy that is strong in academics for my boy as we intend to enrol him in a 'premium' primary school that has very high standards.
i have also heard abt someone from the MFC (montessori for children) which is a traditional montessori education kindy. becos its authentic montessori, they dun teach academics. the child, when first started p1, struggled for abt one to two months with schoolwork. but very quickly, becos of the strong foundations laid down in the school, manage to catch up very quickly with the rest of the class.
ultimately, its a personal choice for the parents. if a good montessori school is nearby/in a convenient location and the parents can afford it, i think go ahead. in my opinion, the benefits of a quality montessori education far outweighs that of one that focuses on purely academics. but u dun necessarily need to be in a montessori school to get the best preschool education. there are good programs elsewhere. one that focuses on developing in the kids the love of learning, draws out creativity of the child, stretches the imagination etc, not neglecting or forgetting about teaching the kid to be able to read, write and count is best (in my opinion)! :celebrate: -
Actually those cases I see that manage to catch up in Primary school is because the parents put in alot of effort to coach the child or they hire tutors to coach the child. I personally do not see any 'strong foundation' as they can't even read simple words like 'this' 'that' 'those' & they can't even count forwards & backwards properly. & this observation is based on 3 children from SK MMI who are in primary 1 this year & 2 in another MMI branch that are in K2 this year.
I understand that most preschools do try to add in activities to stimulate creativity & expressive display even though they might be more academic focused. I'm looking for a school which takes academics as priority when the kids are in K1 & K2, drama/art/music are more of enrichment. At N1 & N2, I don't mind if it's still more play than work but the kids need to be used to our SG Pri schools from young age (classroom environment, following instructions, reading & writing).
\"i know of a few better montessori schools eg. josiah montessori which wil gradually shift the children to a more conventional classroom style of teaching so that they wil be used to pri school. \"
I personally feel that this should be the way: using Montessori (or whichever system) but allowing the children to adapt to SG Pri school system. -
In a way, most parents will be quite fearful to start the kid struggling in p1. my ex-boss used to send his kids to MFC. got chance wil try and find out how it turned out for them. but then hard to conclude if its effort of the parents. my ex-boss’s wife is a SAHM who is a PhD holderif i m not wrong???
agree on the part that parents have to teach, regardless of which pre-school the kid goes to. but becos the kid spends so much time in school nowadays eg. fullday cc, quite impt that the school should be good to minimise the effort required from the parent… -
foreverj:
I personlly think that parents do play an important role. But as you said, most of us are working & do not have the luxury to spend the whole afternoon with our kids teaching them. Enrolling them in a school that ensures the kids are able to cope with the regime in Pri School will be of high priority.In a way, most parents will be quite fearful to start the kid struggling in p1. my ex-boss used to send his kids to MFC. got chance wil try and find out how it turned out for them. but then hard to conclude if its effort of the parents. my ex-boss's wife is a SAHM who is a PhD holderif i m not wrong???
agree on the part that parents have to teach, regardless of which pre-school the kid goes to. but becos the kid spends so much time in school nowadays eg. fullday cc, quite impt that the school should be good to minimise the effort required from the parent...
Even for me now, I set aside 1 Saturday afternoon & 3 weekday afternoons for my son. But this is because I am teaching part time in school & I given tuition in the evenings when my boy is tired & having fun with his daddy who just came back from work. Imagine parents who work the whole day and by the time they reach home & settle down, it's the kids' bedtimes! -
A technique or a method is but only the theory part of introducing
lessons. It is still subject to the delivery of the teaching person…
the educator, to make any method work. Regardless of whether
a technique was used in a branded school or otherwise. It is not
the method entirely to be judged, cause it’s always never a case
of one method suits all. If we did have only one method, it wud
be easier to put all our children in one place, one school of
thought. What works for one may not work for another all becos
everyone of us is born different and unique to one’s own potential.
For example, Zoophonics may not work for some children or
parents but there are kiddies i know who write flawlessly by
K2 cause their teacher exposes them to grammar and early
composition writing. They can write compositions in K2 with
minimum of 50 words and with paragraphs akin to the P2
standard in schools.
Even for PCFs, there’s been known to have diverse quality of
teaching styles and there are good ones around. tamarind has
put her daughter into a PCF and has a fantastic teacher to guide
her daughter through her kindy years that should be sufficient in
preparing her daughter for primary school with confidence.
A good teacher will at any point help to inspire the learning process
of whatever technique that works best for their children/students &
regardless in which centre they attend. These also include parents
who prefer to homeschool their children.
A child can be in the most expensive learning institution but if the
teacher is not good the method used in the sch will not be
effectively executed, hence having children who are not gaining the
advantage of the said method.
Wherever it is our children are placed, a good and inspiring teacher
is what it takes to motivate their learning journey with whatever
method is in place.
Just my humble opinion. JMHO. -
Hi trisha/huihui,
both my 2 elder kids are now in Cambridge@AMK(Mei hwan). Personally, I like the school very much as I feel that the teachers are very patient with the kids and parents-teacher communication is very effective. I feel that it is very impt for the school to have constant communication with the parents so that you are aware of what your children's strength and weaknesses are.
On top of that, they have gym for N1/N2 kids and swimming for K1/K2 kids. The swimming pool is within their compound so there is no additional travelling involved. My daughter loves the weekly swimming classes that they have.
Other than building the children up academically i.e reading/writing, alot of confidence and character building is inbuilt into their programs. The whole school is involved in the graduation concert that is done yearly and even the toddlers(18 mths) go on stage to perform! They also offer additional programs like phonics, S&D, Chinese S&D. But of course, all these additional programs come at additional cost as well.
Every morning, they have different play programs,i.e. water play, sand play, cycling, playground and indoor gym. However, during periods like H1N1, HFMD or chicken pox, they would suspend such plays and every child would play in their own classroom to prevent contact with too many children. That is also one of my top rave about the school as they are very very conscious about hygiene and so far, I have not experienced any major outbreak in the schools. The school will also constantly update us whenever a case of contagious disease occur.
When I enrolled my first child 3yrs ago, I went and \"reckie\" the whole AMK CC and went down to all the CC to take a look at their facilities and programs. I have never regretted my choice so it's really 2 thumbs up for this CC
Hope the above information helps you. However, it is also quite individual so I would recommend that you shortlist a few of the CC and go down and have a look and talk to the teachers so that you can get a feel of the place. After all, one man's meat may be another's poison
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