clonob:

Hi The-third-son, may I know what kind of enrichment/non academic activities do they have for N1 classes?

Currently there are 3 types of enrichment. If I remember correctly, one is a KinderArt enrichment, the second is a Science enrichment and the third one, which my son is in, is the Junior Engineers enrichment, which is more of a hands-on introduction to some basic aspects technology and construction processes. I believe the school is still trying to tie up with more partners for enrichment. Only limitation now due to the temporary premises is the space.

Bebe: I put both my kids in ZBK. One has gone on to P1 this year, while the other 1 is currently in N1 at ZBK this year. I’m also staying at Bishan North currently and the bus fee I pay is about $90 to $100. If you need the bus driver’s contact, let me know and I’ll PM you.


On the overall, I find ZBK to be a pretty decent Kindy for kids. They have a bunch of passionate, caring and dedicated teachers, some of whom have been around for a long time. The Christian background of the kindergarten also ensures that good values are taught to the child. One of the other value-adds is that they have some in-school 3rd party enrichment classes; albeit the range has somewhat reduced now that they have moved to the temporary premises.

Previously they had classes like English and Chinese Speech and Drama, Science, Art enrichment etc. The good thing about these on-site tie-up enrichment classes is that you can utilise your CDA to pay for them. The school also holds meetings every half year to give a report on the progress of the child and will always contact parents at any time if there are any concerns.

It’s a good thing that the petition to use the temporary space last year by both parents, staff and the church elders was positive, or else the kindy would have had to close.

Hi Wenthena,


Glad to share on our experiences so far. My Son's from 1 SEL.
We will be moving soon and my helper's contract is due to end next year. So in view of this, I am considering sending him to Morning Star.

Was wondering if you could fill me in on more details on how Morning Star works, the costs involved and also some feedback on how beneficial it'd be for the child?

Will share some of the other stories shortly!

wenthena:

:goodpost: hi! I thoroughly enjoyed your post. It's good to know that there's another parent like yourself, hands-on and still finding like me, that this may not be smooth sailing all the time.

Which class is he in? My son was hoping to join soccer but he was svouted for badminton instead. So he does mon and fri training. Fortunately for me, he's been in morning star since day 1. So that sorted out the logistical nightmare for me. You can consider it, since he will also be able to do his homework there before going home:)

So what are your other interesting stories??

Hi Everyone,


Notice most of you here are actually mummies. I've been lurking around the forum for a long while now though I hardly post. But I thought I'd just intro myself and perhaps make some post contributions with fellow parents who I reckon would consider ourselves as being in 'the same boat'.

I'm a daddy of a P1 Gabrielite. So far, P1 has been both a learning adventure for both him and us as parents. P1 has obviously opened his eyes to many new things and people. It is my hope that apart from the academics, he also learns to be more independent and street smart.

Some of my encounters and observations:

- P1 kids seem to get quite a fair bit of homework. No matter how tired or busy we are, we have to monitor the homework diary on a daily basis as well as guide him through the work and put him through the regimen of spelling and tingxie practice; and also try to read with him.

- I personally emphatise with the kid. Especially when it takes more than an hour and sometimes even 2 (with short breaks in between) to clear through homework and other revisions. I wish sometimes I did not have to put him through all this, but I guess discipline and responsibility to complete work given cannot be avoided.

- The School Bus has been a focal point of negative and positive encounters: From the start, being a P1 boy has opened him up to being bullied by the bigger boys on the bus. This made me recount my own experience back when I was in P1 30+ years ago and I told him that he cannot just sit back and get bullied and would have to stand up for himself especially since the driver cannot control and doesn't care.

- He has reported back many times that the older boys have been pushing and spouting vulgarities. But I am glad that he has shared and clarified all his encounters so we can guide him appropriately and teach him where to draw the lines. I was actually quite happy that he also has taken a firm stand and fought back the bullies on his own, although he still does share with us that there are still some troublemakers from time to time, like just yesterday, someone took a marker and drew on his PE tee.

- From the earlier PTM, the teacher reported that he is generally OK with his schoolwork, though he is noted to be talkative and sometimes inattentive especially in the company of his table-mates in class. I suggested to the teacher to give him some responsibilities and so far the teacher gave feedback that he performs his duty of maintaining the class' book corner very diligently.

- CCA-wise, he is enrolled in Soccer. Soccer is twice a week and ends at the later time of 530pm, which means I have to rush down or make some alternative pick-up arrangements if I cannot make it down from work. I didn't enroll him to Morning Star, although I am considering it for the future; But what I did was to accompany him on his first day of CCA and guided him through what I expected him to do between dismissal at 130pm to the start of CCA at 330pm. So essentially I went through with him to get lunch and after lunch to head to the library and finish up his homework and revision exercises, and read books on his own up till 310pm before changing to his gear and going for CCA. So far he has been doing this on his own for the last 3 weeks. There was an occasion where he deviated from instructions and proceeded to play with some friends and not do his work. But since he was reprimanded by us for that, he has been sticking to the instructions.

There have been other 'interesting' encounters and incidents, but I guess I'll leave that for another time. Hope to get to know you guys better and perhaps we can help each other out.

Thanks for listening!