Start fr young. My 2yr+ had learnt to keep her toys since 18mos. Though not neat but she does know where to put the items in the right compartments.

Lots of praises & encouragement for keeping her toys, give incentives like going to playground or some treats after doing it.

Pretend to step on toys/ hide some to create awareness that untidiness can hurt/ cause inconvenience.

Another gd way is to do together with her, challenge who can do it faster.

I also practise "dumping" if she refuses to do it. Say I will throw in rubbish bin or give away to neighbour kids since she is not interested to take care of them.

Most importantly, easy to use bins or organizers are available for their ease in keeping. Use mid-sized boxes like shoe boxes / plastic containers rather than large ones. Help them to sort out & take out easily for play, hence less mess. Often, when chunks of toys are all thrown in a large chest, the kids are spending more time digging for toys or creating mess.

Classify the toys in different boxes & label if possible eg. Lego blocks in 1, vehicles in 1, musical toys in 1 etc…

Sub-classification eg. Lego Figurines may be packed in another smaller box or zip-lock bag within the Lego box.

Works for me. Though some housekeeping is unavoidable

Deleted- post at wrong thread.

Hi Toddles

u are most welcome. Best to see & hear for yourself & judge if meet your requirements.

Hi wyou & rainbows
Had sent u a PM. Hope it helps a little in your decision making.
I respected the sch for not going into publicity, hence no official website.
It is listed in the MOE website. Only 6 private MOE registered kindergartens in Punggol.

As i had mentioned, its location is its plus & minus point for me.

Hi buds
Thank you so much for your time & effort to read & reply my PM.
It is indeed quite a painful process to shop for a preschool.
The long waiting list, school visits, shortlisting, evaluation etc....

:oops: Thanks for your kind words too. Hope my sharing of experiences would help many other lost parents just like when
i 1st started in preschool hunting.
Now that i had settled my 1st kid well, can really rest well to wait for the arrival of my #2.

In a way, hope my effort pays off with a good foundation for my girl.
Would not be bother with Parent Volunteer PV & alike bias system,
really wish such things would be eliminated by the time she is entering Pri Sch.
40 hours! i would have taught her many things at home & spend so much quality time together!
Why just prep for Pri Sch, but ready for life ahead! Just my tots!

jen18j:

Hi, I am not able to order Leapfrog DVD from Amazon anymore. It said against some international regulations. Can anyone confirms this?


Thank you.

Try to get a Vpost or Borderlinx shipping account which would issue u an USA address.
U can consolidate your orders, which in turn ship to SG.

Alternatively, join a Overseas or Bulk Purchase spree & pay to the
organiser directly.

Hi toddles

Josiah toddler classes introduce Music & movement, Art & craft,
simple gym play (like mini obstacle circuits), phonics, montessori mat
time where the children are free to choose work they like to do eg.
practical skills (pouring, scooping, combing etc)/ puzzles/ blocks/ books
or toys.
Learning is certainly through play in a way.

I am not sure abt the nursery/ kindergarten level but it should be as
holistic as well. From my understanding, they provide very good
enrichment classes for the K1, K2.
Worth a visit & talk to the course coordinator or teachers for more info.
I often see interested parents popping by with accompanied staff, of
course, to peep through the glass panels during lesson time.

The setback is that their strength is more on English only,
not Chinese or other Mother tongue Lang.

Also, the environ is fully air-con with no outdoor playgrd, but classrooms
are spacious & organised & some with large viewing glass panels.

Although they provide a water dispenser & tissue papers outside the
classroom for children to wash/ dry their hands after the activities,
would prefer a non air-con kindy to minimise easy spread of illnesses.

Would say their course fees is one of the highest, which would put many off.

As i stay in Punggol, travelling is too long & tiring for my lil bud.
Had enrolled her in Bridges Montessori which is stone's throw from home.



Hi rainbows
I had check out Amazing Star b4 on a sat noon with appt.
They had the unusual practice of Montessori for N1, N2 level & non-montessori for K1, K2.

Took over from Gingerbread Skoolhouse or something like that. If u observed the materials,
they are not quite a montessori sch, more like a childcare centre.

Plus point is that they had Computer lessons inclusive in the curriculum which u need not pay extra.
They are housed in a 3-storey bungalow so classrooms are tiny bedroom sized.
And the winding staircases really makes me worry as definitely would be more accident-prone,
even though with safety gates installed at every landing.
My DD is panting after climbing up & dn during the visit.

Nursery groups would be placed at 1st storey & K-level would be placed at the upper floors.
Another uncomfy thing that caught my attention is the small TV placed at the entrance/ waiting area.
There are a few children ard that day & they are glued to it. Half-day care is provided on sat.

When i queried if TV is a teaching media, the coordinator mentioned it is mainly on while waiting for parents to pick the kids. :?

So if u r interested, do make a visit. What i had seen, may not be justified in a single visit.

As for Shekinah montessori, didnt check out the Sengkang one.
The one within Punggol Plaza is fully air-con with compartmented classrooms with/ without windows, so didnt pursue further.


Hi wyou,

Montessori sch would have circle time for Nursery grp to mix with the Kindergarten grp, which means age 3 to 6 would have interactive time together. Not just with the children of same age.

Believe it or not, of the few the kindy i had visited, it is those children from the Monte sch that are more out-spoken & friendly, to my girl & myself.

Donno why many parents got the idea that monte-trained children cant socialise. Taught to independent & do thing by oneself is diff from trained to be anti-social.

There is this unmentioned buddy system which i observed from my girl's kinky. One of her classmate & senior would guide her where to put her shoes, bag & even hold her hands during the class. She settled very quickly within 2 days and always looking forward to sch to see her friends.

These little gestures really touch my heart as they are not assigned to help/ guide the new-comer (She joins only at Term 2).

How well would she fit in the mainstream pri sch, i am not too concern as she basically can engage with anyone.

Hope this helps!
Cheers
Rachelmum

Hi hold a needle using a pair of pilers or tongs over the stove or fire.


Then poke the hot needle through the hole area. This is a sterilised way to enlarge the hole. Old grandma's tips

http://lunchinabox.net/recipes/


one of my favourite quickie bento ref.

动画片 水墨画 学象形字《三十六个字》


http://v.ku6.com/show/3Q9MfoibAj8u0dEg.html

Han Zi Gong 汉字宫 is more for older children & personally find it is not the most interesting VCD/ DVD for learning Chinese character.


Check out the clips here:
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/eFppD7tfa3U/
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/PMeMCOUeFHs/


Found these other animated programs give better illustrations of evolution of chinese characters.

魔术认字
http://v.ku6.com/moshurenzi

全脑通识字
http://so.ku6.com/v/q%E5%85%A8%E8%84%91%E9%80%9A%E8%AF%86%E5%AD%97

蓝猫幼儿识字
http://so.ku6.com/v/q%E5%B9%BC%E5%84%BF%E8%AF%86%E5%AD%97+%E8%93%9D%E7%8C%AB%E5%B9%BC%E5%84%BF%E8%AF%86%E5%AD%97

Cheers

golfer:

sorry to hijack.

whats the fee for montessori kindergarten?
can the K1 children read 5 letter words?

Here's a gd ref from MOE but do call up the centres for latest fees:
http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/preschool/files/kindergarten-profile.xls
in general up to 4-6x more than a PCF kindy.

More info on kindergartens:
http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/preschool/

Golfer,
Ability to read is not determined by the complexity of the words.
Children also need to learn sight words like 'The' or 'an' etc, to read complete sentences.

My girl's Monte sch will loan a reader on every fri for her to read over the wkend. I don see simply 3 or 5 letter words for Nursery 1 level.

She is reading words like 'hippopotamus' or 'rhinoceros' even before entering kindy.

Don wait for teachers to teach reading, but most kindy (even non-Monte) would had taught children to read phonetically by K1, so that they would
not be confused with Han Yu Pin Yin which is usu introduced at K2.