[Bedok/Katong/Marine Parade/Siglap] Preschools

[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:

[surfermom]

Hi Maisy,


Ahh ya none of these christian sch reject non-christians, at least not in S'pore right? haha. We're multi-religious, multi-racial etc. Like they said, their role is also to 'sow seeds' into non-christians. On my part, I'm happy that he will have some christian friends (if not all) which is perfectly alright, since he goes to Sunday School once a week 2hrs (all fr my church).

Forgot to mention that yes, I prefer Session 1. This is because I need to open my pro shop at 12pm so a.m. session is simply perfect. After I pick him up, we'll go straight to the beach till 6pm. However, I told Mrs Wee that if there's no vacancy for a.m., i am desperate enough to take Session 2. Only that I need to close shop to go and pick him up.

Oh, maroon and blue uniforms, haha. Actually, I really like the idea of uniforms, so cute. Wow, yr boy will be in K1 by the time mine goes in.

Yes i fully agree with you and feel the same...the same reasons why I chose Bethesda too. Not to say their academic is not strong, I think they are, and prepare well for P1. But I really see them having fun-so yes,
I also want my boy to enjoy, have fun, make friends...I'm ok if he is not No. 1 in class...I put more emphasis on well-rounded education and an exciting/adventurous life. :lol:

Actually, I put him elsewhere on waiting list for K1/2 cos that one is even 'hotter' but of cos I won't know if he will get it or if we get it, whether we will transfer out. As for Pri Sch, I'm planning to enrol him in Maris Stella High Sch as my hubby was fr the Pri/Sec. Of cos I'm not sure abt how being an Alumni can ensure a place but I'll be finding that out soon.
Have you thought abt yr son's pri sch? :?

[maisy]

hi surfermom

Cham...seems like this becomes the thread betw the both of us (hahaha but never mind lah - we are discussing legitimate issues not slamming anyone, should be ok to continue i guess...hehe)

If I am allowed to guess the kindy which u waitlisted your child for K1/K2, is it also around this vicinity? Is it St Hilda's? hehe .. cos my son initially has a place in St Hilda's but i didn't take it up cos i prefer Bethesda... don't think u will waitlist at St James right? Thats v far away from east ...

As for Primary school, my boy will be going St Stephen's (hehe Daddy is old boy) Anyway St Stephen's not that hard to get in too lah (hahaha)

Your husband old boy of Maris Stella (confirm your son can get in - no worries)

[mrswongtuition]

My hb just told me his colleague used to send her girl to one at Whampoa, after subsidy is only $150. But they only serve vegetarian food there.

[surfermom]

Hi Maisy,


Haha ya we might as well email...oh but yes, we r giving constructive feedback of the school.

Wah, St Stephen's is just round the corner fr Bethesda, u are staying around here as well? I'm less than 5min fr B. My friend's 2 sons are in St Stephen's and they said \"ok lah\". big issue with school bus as they wait more than an hour in sch as they get picked up at 6am (they stay eunos).

Haha, good guess but no...I would like him to go NAFA Arts Kindy tho' it's really ex...but i think the music/art will be fantastic for him. He'll hv no lack of sports from me so I like NAFA for being able to provide the other aspects.
St Stephen's catholic and Maris Stella too...we're Christians but it doesn't matter that much since the basics are similar. We'll cover the rest. :roll: