What is being a KiasuParent?
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My girl's K1 class includes enrichment like dancing, cooking, poetry, creative writing, etc, so I don't have to send her for extra lessons. She is also well disciplined in class. She was telling me that her teachers give one star for keeping toys, and one star for keeping quiet when needed. She is very proud of getting stars
I think her 4 hour of kindergarten class a day is more than enough for her.
The rest of the day, they stay at home with my mother and maid. My boy and girl have free play at home, which I think is very important for their development. We have tons of lego blocks, and they love to create new designs. My girl loves to draw and she has been creating new books by sticking pieces of white paper together, on every page she draws a picture, then write a few sentences to describe the picture. I never told her to do this, she does it herself. Sometimes if she does not know how to spell a word, she will go around looking for books to copy from (we have more than 300 children's books at home), or she will call me or her Daddy on our mobile phone to ask.
My boy learns from his jie jie and has also started to create books on his own
I am happy that they do this on their own will, which I think is better than being taught in enrichment classes. -
tamarind:
My girl's K1 class includes enrichment like dancing, cooking, poetry, creative writing, etc, so I don't have to send her for extra lessons. She is also well disciplined in class. She was telling me that her teachers give one star for keeping toys, and one star for keeping quiet when needed. She is very proud of getting stars
I think her 4 hour of kindergarten class a day is more than enough for her.
The rest of the day, they stay at home with my mother and maid. My boy and girl have free play at home, which I think is very important for their development. We have tons of lego blocks, and they love to create new designs. My girl loves to draw and she has been creating new books by sticking pieces of white paper together, on every page she draws a picture, then write a few sentences to describe the picture. I never told her to do this, she does it herself. Sometimes if she does not know how to spell a word, she will go around looking for books to copy from (we have more than 300 children's books at home), or she will call me or her Daddy on our mobile phone to ask.
My boy learns from his jie jie and has also started to create books on his own
I am happy that they do this on their own will, which I think is better than being taught in enrichment classes.
Tamarind,
its good that your gal's PCF kindergarten is so good. I have heard more complaints than anything else. My hubby has a friend whose gal only went to PCF and nothing more. She reached p1 and can't read a word and is super-stressed now.Another friend of mine, her boy is in a very high standard school; also went to PCF and can't read a word too now. Also failed his listening comprehension.
Do you have to pay additional for her enrichment? Previously my gal attended a church kindergarten and I had to pay additional for the enrichment classes like phonics, chinese and creative art. It was an additional $150 a term for each subject so that brought the term fees to about $1k. Didn't find it very good either. -
Hi
My son was in PCF before. Whatever been taught is just sufficient enough for the kids to sit through for P1 but the kids won’t excel. Need to provide extra coaching or enrichment. Phonic not covered in PCF. I put my son for PCF enrichment class but later pulled him out after two months because what has been taught is too simple.
I’m not very kiasu. I pulled out my son from PCF enrichment, because I think it is a waste of money & time. He ends up coaching other kids rather than learn new things.
I term kiasu parents as looking forward parents. Kiasu parents ensure that they cover all loopholes. They don’t want their children to lose out due to lack of information or inaction on their part. -
EN:
Hi
I term kiasu parents as looking forward parents. Kiasu parents ensure that they cover all loopholes. They don't want their children to lose out due to lack of information or inaction on their part.
I agreed with your definition.
Recently I overheard a father whining to a school principal that he didn't know must ballot to get into that school. He regretted not doing PV for his child & he complained to the principal that info was not made available to him
A little research would have easily revealed this vital piece of info. He wouldn't be caught in surprise & in regrets now -
tamarind:
depends. 5-6yr olds need 11hrs of sleep. if they get to sleep that stretch for the night, they do not need any naps.jedamum,
I thought a child that age should still be taking afternoon naps ? It will be very tiring to attend classes both in the morning and afternoon. My girl's K1 class is 4 hours long, I cannot imagine if she does another 4 hours in the morning.
A child should have time for free play. Staying at home with the maid or grandparents do not mean they are doing nothing. They can learn a lot of things through free play.
some kindergarten only 3 hours, considering morning 9-12pm and afternoon 2-5pm, if the kid goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up 11hrs later, the kid will get his sufficient rest. that's just my guess.
not that i advocate it, but i feel that some parents might just think that that is the best arrangement for their kid, as for some families, the maid/grandparents do not know how to control/discipline/teach/interact with the kid. -
sleepy:
sleepy,
Recently I overheard a father whining to a school principal that he didn't know must ballot to get into that school.
A little research would have easily revealed this vital piece of info. He wouldn't be caught in surprise & in regrets now
yes, that dad should have done prior research...assuming that he is computer literate.
when i brought my boy for registration that day, one of the grandparent turn up with the kid and brought along only the kids' birthcert. they didn't even know that they have to bring along parents' ID or even the health booklet. but perhaps that is the norm for neighbourhood schools, whereby the parents may not even be literate. -
EN:
i pulled my boy out from his pcf english enrichment recently, too. Not that he doesn't learn anything there, its just that the way they 'grade' the worksheets is dependent on how well the kid draw/colour on the items relating to that piece of worksheet rather than the contents (as most likely the teacher went through the contents with them). what has colouring and drawing got to do with learning english?I pulled out my son from PCF enrichment, because I think it is a waste of money & time. He ends up coaching other kids rather than learn new things.
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Hi
For mine the enrichment in PCF covers English & Math. Other parents find it useful, I just find it too little. I have my daughter's syllabus in RGPS that I use as a gauge, so I know it is simply not enough.
Tamarind wrote [quote] thought a child that age should still be taking afternoon naps ? It will be very tiring to attend classes both in the morning and afternoon. My girl's K1 class is 4 hours long, I cannot imagine if she does another 4 hours in the morning.
A child should have time for free play. Staying at home with the maid or grandparents do not mean they are doing nothing. They can learn a lot of things through free play.[/quote]For napping, my son was in childcare when he was 1.5 years old. I came back to pick him up at 3 pm & he was the only one not sleeping. He don't nap & sleep very little.
However, I do agree that a child should have time for free play. They are after all a child. They have all the time to be adults later but they only have 12 years to be a child. Let them enjoy & explore what interest or fancy them. -
kaitlynangelica,
PCF kindergartens have different standards. Fortunately I can find a high standard PCF near my place. They are already teaching the kids to write sentences in K1, so don't have to worry about not prepared for P1.
I pay $70 more for the dancing class. The others like cooking, junior writing, phonics, poetry, etc are all included in the $150 kindergarten school fees. Total $220+. I am using the CDA account, so I am paying $110+ only, government is paying the other half
Actually I don't find the dancing class worth it, my girl is also not interested to learn dancing, but no choice since it is compulsory.
Wa $150 for each subject is very expensive ! I just realized that her K1 class is also teaching phonics like long vowels, split vowels(or silent E), etc, at no extra charge
EN, jedamum,
My kids are also not taking afternoon nap now. But I heard that kids at this age need at least 13 hours of sleep, so I wish that they can sleep more. At 4 - 5 years old, kids should be able to play by themselves, it doesn't matter whether maid/grandparents can teach them well or not. Parents should provide the kids with the necessary resources, like books, educational toys, paper, pencils, arts and crafts tools, etc. We should let the kids explore the world on their own. My kids spend hours at home (when not in school) inventing new games to play with each other, or on their own
I actually thought of putting them in childcare centres before. But I changed my mind after visiting some of these centres. Kids are made to sit around a table for long periods of time, each have only a few blocks to play with. What can be done with only a few blocks ? My kids have a few hundred lego blocks at home, and they often create elaborate designs of abstract structures (supposed to be dinosaurs, aeroplanes etc). I think in the CC if the child tries to take more blocks, he will be accused of not sharing. At home, we have more than enough blocks for 2 kids to share. My kids also can draw and write as much as they want, we let them have free access to paper and pencil. I don't think CCs have this luxury, to them paper is not cheap. When I think of all these restrictions, I would rather just put my kids for half a day at nursery/kindergarten. I save the CC fees, which is a lot more expensive, and use the extra money to buy better educational toys/books etc for my kids -
Kiasu parents will be sending their kids to many of the enrichments classes as they cannot afford to lose to other kids. Or to courses that parents think is good for their kids. For example, golf or those that kids does not enjoy themselves. Electronics games as now serve as a trend, so parents thought their kids MUST know how to use & play even when they are only 3 years old…
Kiasu parents will not admit they are kiasu, they will claimed that aiya, it’s my kids’ requests lor… etc & etc. As I’ve seen & heard of too many parents doing such to their kids, I’m consider as relax mum liao…
Sorry if I offended anyone of you. Above quoted is based on my friends’ kids whom already started to complain that they are overloaded…
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