[Bedok/Katong/Marine Parade/Siglap] Preschools

[surfermom]

Hi Hui,


My son just turned 22 mths so I’ve been shopping for good pre-schools for him. I stay Kembangan so I’ve visited/talked to Principals/observed class/Trial/read brochures etc for these schools: Charis Montessori at Jalan Masjid (near kembangan mrt), Brighton Montessori (Frankel), Bethesda (Katong) Kindergarten, Etonhouse (Mountbatten), Montessori for Children (Broadrick or near Mountbatten), Chiltern House (Big Splash), Zoophonics (Siglap), Fastrackids (Frankel) & couple more…$500 can get u a pretty good half day session, however, for 18ths, I don’t think the schools allow the tots to attend the sessions by themselves unless you’re looking at a Childcare Centre. At 18mths, it’s normally Parent-Tot class not more than 2hrs each and up to 3x a week only at Pre-schools (or at least for all the above I’ve visited). Among the above, I’m highly impressed by Bethesda. Dedicated Principal and very nice envt, great curriculum too.

My son will go to Charis Montessori twice a week, 2 hrs each as it’s a christian pre-school & I like the character-building lessons + some Montessori. Main thing is, the school is ‘cheap’ & having done a trial class, my boy was very happy there. It’s a bit small but I think a Christian environment and Christian values are more important for him right now. Personally, I don’t think all that highly of Montessori. Some Montessori schs employ mostly Sri Lankan/Indian AMI trained teachers & students look bored & miserable. Etonhouse good but super ex.

[maisy]

Hi Surfermom

Good to know that you are impressed w Bethesda Katong Kindergarten. I've signed my child for next year's N2 after i read rave reviews about the kindy in other forum ... Since my child has not started, I can't comment on the standard of the kindy altho i did have a good feel after speaking with the Principal... and as i understand, this kindy is always \"full-house\" .. Let's hope this is the right choice i've made for my child

Will you be sending your child in when she turns 3 ?

[maisy]

sweetiesmummy:

Hi


Anyone has this year registration term & condition of Bethesda bedok-tampines Kindergarten? I am looking for term & condition of withdrawal / refund.

Anyone can share?

Hi Sweetiesmummy
I do not hv the terms of condition of withdrawal & refund for Bethesda Bedok-Tampines - however i understand that usually for withdrawal , we have to give 1 month's written notice.
Can u share why you wanna withdraw your child? Actually i was previously considering between Bethesda Bedok-Tampines & Bethesda Katong as well as St Hilda's .. but in the end i signed up with Bethesda Katong. Thought Bethesda bedok-Tampines also not bad.

[surfermom]

Hi Maisy,


Hey we’ll be ‘classmates’ too at Bethesda! I’ve signed up my boy for Nursery (3yrs) so he has to wait one year. Oh but yr child is one year older than mine since yrs is started next year huh? Yes, Bethesda is always full-house and Mrs Wee did take out a file of waiting list and put our names there. She really is passionate, knows the students personally, always everywhere & hands on. I also had a great peace & feeling. I love particularly the fact that they’ve a very balanced curriculum and wide variety of activities in 15-20min segments. I’m also hoping, like u, that it’ll be a great sch for my kid, and I trust it will be. Let me know how it goes when yr child starts nursery in Jan ok? I’m really soo excited.

[maisy]

Hi Surfermom

Yes indeed our kids will be \"schoolmates\". So your kid starts next year N1 or starts in 2011 N1 ? If 2011, you are indeed planning ahead for your child which is a good thing (i mean it)... i know of a peer who tried to get her son in for next year N1 but can't get in cos it is full already.

Your child will be in session 1 or session 2? I prefer to call it session 1 & 2 as i feel the \"PM session\" is not \"really PM\" cos it starts at 11.30am and ends 2.30pm hehe

Offhand I can already tell you the likes & \"dislikes\" I have for the kindy even though my son hasn't started..haha

LIKES:
(1) Very committed & hands-on principal -yes she knows the kids by names and not clueless eg \"who is this kid? belongs to which class\" ? sort ... She always walk around the school to check on the classes and the children (think thats why she is so slim..haha) .. I visited 3-4 times before signing up and each time i've to wait for her in her office cos she would be \"patrolling around\" the school (which is a good thing)

(2) She doesn't believe in homework for Nursery classes (which is GREAT!) Homework starts only for K2 to \"prepare\" the kids for Primary 1. And the homework is usually spelling & ting xie ...not tonnes of scary worksheets.

(3) Staff: I asked her about staff turnover. She told me her teachers have been with the kindy for years - inferring low staff turnover rate which is good for the young ones....imagine our young toddlers facing new teachers every other month - can be quite disruptive to their learning as different teachers mean different teaching style and the poor kids will have to adjust every now & then.

(4) Curriculum (will comment on this once my son begins) : for now, i see that they incorporate a healthy dose of outdoor play, water & sand play for the nursery level which is good for their motor skills & sensory deveopment. At the same time, there is music appreciation, along w the academic reinforcement. So what i see here is a holistic education ...but of course, this is yet to be \"tried\" since my son has not started...will let u know more once my son has started but i believe they are doing it right cos honestly i haven't heard any \"bad press\" about this kindy.

DISLIKES:
(1) to me, i feel the class size is huge.
For N1 their max is 15 but for N2 their class size can go up to 21 students per class (with 1 main teacher & 1 assistant teacher for all levels) and K1/K2 class size can be up to 25 (I'm not sure if there will still be assistant teacher for K1/K2 level since this level is more \"stable\" liao but for 25 students, i hope they do have an assistant around). Quite a huge class size i must say altho i know this is \"industry standard\" for most kindy. I guess cos the school is very popular thats why the class size is always full (read: huge). With a full class size, the teachers' attention will naturally be spreaded thinly ...

i spoke to a friend whose son is in another church kindy...N1 is max of 15 too but becos the school enrolment is not as high as Bethesda Katong, her son's N1 class has only 7 children (inclu her son)..sometimes with absentism (u know kids this age tends to fall sick easily) her son's class sometimes have only 4-5 kids each time ... shiok hor...they get to enjoy the \"teachers' undivided attention\" most of the time ...hahaha

[surfermom]

Dear Maisy,


It’s very nice chatting with u as ‘classmates’ haha. My son will be in N1 in 2011. Yes I’m planning way ahead as u said, it’s good school + always full, no choice. The bonus must be that it’s a christian school, since we r christians, it’ll be awesome if we can find a good school with some christian culture/teachings. R u christian too? I personally think it’s important for my kid to hv as much character-building in his early years as possible.

As u said & i agree, homework don’t matter to me as long as they deal with worksheets in class. I must 100% agree with u that i’m impressed with the Principal, i only went once and felt the peace to put my son’s name on waiting list for 2011.

I totally agree with your ‘Likes’ - i was very amused to see one class ‘rest time’, another at outdoor play/sand play, another in Shared Reading etc…everything in 15min segments.

I wasn’t aware of the ‘Dislikes’ and coincidentally, I actually planned to ask Principal this but forgot. Thanks for sharing the info…Yes it does sounds quite a high ratio tho’ not too unusual in industry standards.
I think if our kids adjust and pick up well fr N1, by the time they reach K1, the high ratio should not be a big issue.

My friend also shared that the school is only as good as the teacher. We just need to pray that our kids hv good teachers.

[maisy]

hi surfermom,

the irony is we are not christians ... and i also addressed this issue w Ms Wee..she immediately told me there's no need to be Christians to be part of the kindy ... everyone will be treated equally ...she went on to tell me she has a steady brood of hindi & buddhist students and they are not ostracized ... but they will be taught Christians values which i have no objections

If your child is entering in 2011, that makes your child & mine 2 years apart as my son should be K1 in 2011 I presume yur son will be in session 1 ? My son will be in session 1 so he will be wearing the maroon colour uniform (like girl hor? hahaha) PM session is blue colour uniform

Yes i m also praying hard my son will end up w a good teacher .. by good, i mean a very caring & patient teacher with lots of passion for the children and the job... cos i know there are some teachers who are more \"achievement-driven\" and tend to drill the kids more in academic aspect (no i m not referring to anyone in bethesda in case u r wondering ...hahaha)

honestly for a preschooler, my priority for my son is to enjoy school & have lots of fun .. it really doesn't matter if he has mastered his mathematics well or honed his language skills well enough... there will be so many more years of education behind him so these can come later...
Preschoolers should really really enjoy preschool years

[gumiho]

Hi,


I’m thinking of sending daughter (3yo) to childcare centre. May I know how does the Childcare centre charge? My budget is S$200 and below per month. I’m staying in the east.

[mrswongtuition]

The cheapest I’ve come across & quite decent is $288.50 per month after working mum subsidy. I’ve not come across any that’s less than $200 yet.

[Poohbear]

Hi,


I understand from my sil that Milk and Honey Childcare (Alexandra) is abt $150-$180 after govt subsidy. Only catch is they r open only from Monday to Fri. But i guess it should be ok for parents on 5 days work week.

:celebrate: