Childcare in Boon Keng

[loveeveryday]

Hi, I’m looking for a cc for my 18 mth old urgently. I don’t have a car so I need somewhere within 5min walking distance from Boon Keng MRT or Farrer Park MRT. Can share with me reviews, fees, or point out some childcare which I missed out?


MFS McNair - Full
Bestcare Montessori - Full
Ameba Schoolhouse - This is new. $1300/mth. Have yet to visit. Located inside the industrial office area.
Academy Kidz - $980/mth. Just opened inside the new Hyflux building. Very few students so they mixed all the age group and have 2 teachers to handle all of them - not a very good arrangement I feel.
Creative Star - Have yet to visit or call up.
Mindchamps at City Sq - $1712/mth. I visited and posted my observations on the MC thread.

It is hard to find an affordable, accessible and good childcare in Boon Keng!!

[keenDaddy]

>It is hard to find an affordable, accessible and good childcare in Boon Keng!!


Actually, it is much easier @Boon Keng, as compared to the new estates like Punggol and Sengkang. Mindchamps is too ex. Closer to Kallang - I think there is also Agape and Carpe Diame at Picco.

[fea]

on the contrary, I think we are spoilt for choices of childcare centre/preschool in our boon keng area. It is only a matter which one suits your needs, in terms of logistics, financial etc aspects.


i have enrolled my son (24 months) into AMEBA Schoolhouse, he will be starting school next Monday!

My husband and I have been to several childcare centre/preschool around the boon keng, kallang and farrer park area. And we are glad we kinda waited and get to know about AMEBA earlier this year.

Visited Ameba and immediately like its environment - open, spacious. Teachers & the centre director are very involved with the children activities. Centre director, being a mother of young children too, totally understand what we parents are looking for. When we were there, kids are usually happy, having fun with peers or with teachers (of course, kids cry and throw tantrums, I don't deny that, but teachers have their way to \"deal\" with them..haha).

I liked carpe diem too because of it spaciousness, haha.. But it is a little too far as we will need to drive. Agape near Kallang mrt, within a carpark, centre is small and narrow, not the best environment for the toddlers to be in. Hyflux Academy Kidz, very very new, very very clean, but no outdoor playground for the moment. They indeed have very few kids and it could be a positive point because your kid should have more attention from the teachers. Mindchamps were one of our top choices too. But when we saw Ameba, it just felt that we should give Ameba a try!

Call the centres and make a visit. U gotta see the place, talk to the people before you make a decision.

Good luck!

[naberrie17]

Hi,

Can I ask how’s your little boy in Ameba? I’m staying around this area and trying to see my options. Also the school fee of $1300 is after working mother subsidy?

[fea]

naberrie17:

Hi,

Can I ask how's your little boy in Ameba? I'm staying around this area and trying to see my options. Also the school fee of $1300 is after working mother subsidy?

Oh my bad!! Sorry, i din see ur question/post! ;( always tot there will be email notification when someone post a message... so sorry abt it!

But u chose Ameba!! Hehe. Guess our kids are classmates In the Playgroup...

[fea]

Ameba Schoolhouse:

Thank you Mummy Fea! Please let me know who you are!


Thank you Mummy Naberrie17 for signing your boy up

Xinhui Liaw-Tan
Centre Director
Ameba Schoolhouse
http://www.amebaschoolhouse.com

Hello! My son is the smallest build in the PG class. Lol.

[crazy mum]

Just like to highlight to any parents who is looking feedback on Academy Kidz Hyflux.


As before I enrolled my son this childcare, I couldn’t find any review on this school. So I guess it should be okay as there is limited childcare around this area.

But after a year with the school. I would said the school can’t made it. Is the management problem. They focus more on infant as the fees are higher and they could earn more.

Parent’s feedback highlighted to supervisor was not being taken care. So it was highlight to the director and same it was not being taken care of. They just push here and there. It is very terrible. I had seen a lot of parents are withdrawal their kids but none leave any feedback online.

During this 1 year they are seriously short of teachers. They told us they are hiring over and over again but not until these 2 wks there are new teachers start to come. All bcos a lot of parents got fed up and things got escalated.

With this kind of school fees but I’m not getting what they promise to deliver. There was not fix of form teachers or teachers thru out this 1yr. Curriculum was not in place.

Is beyond words to explain this school.

But they are making improvement but I’m still withdrawing my kids there.
If teachers is not gd, just get a employ a new and better one. But if management is not gd, then the management have to change. Here the management is not changing.
Now they solve this problem but what problem will arise in the future?

My kids had wasted a year there and they got no more time to waste.
I would said even My 1st Skool curriculum is better…

So think twice…

There are more childcare setting up in this area… Keep a lookup.

[mangosteenjuice]

I also want to warn parents of the experience at Kidz Academy at Hyflux.


It is good to see there are more and more complaints about this place for its poor care and management. It may save another family a big headache.

The staff may appear "nice" in person or on phone, the woman who is the so-called manager is named Hana. I have never seen such totally ineffectual management, constantly making excuses and doing absolutely nothing. They promise to act and to call back and then … nothing. Completely unaccountable.

We are trying to obtain a refund for an unused overpaid number of days. What a mistake it was to overpay them. Have strong doubts will ever see this refunded properly because Hana is comfortable to make empty promises. Have never received a proper receipt from them. All calculations were done on a scrap piece of paper.

My child was there a few months ago and only there for total of 4 weeks because of no other choice, on waitlist for another much better and more normal facility…wow that was a LONG four weeks at Kidz Academy. At that time I enrolled my child short term, I could find no review of the new centre. I thought there was immediate space for my child because the centre was new. NO. It is because parents take their children out of that place quickly. I left on good terms, preferring to keep on good terms and not address any of their obvious issues. Hana advised we would be refunded in a week with receipt. What a joke. We have been trying to chase her for several months now. She is always pleasant, apologetic and does nothing.

I would strongly advise parents to avoid this facility. Superficially it looked like a nice clean big facility but within days it was obvious there was clearly hardly any supervision, inadequate number and inadequately trained staff and as explained above unbelievably incompetent management, Just pleasant and vacuous. The place is not professional and cannot do simple accounting practices. Why would you want your children cared for by this group, when they cannot even manage themselves or the basics.

This place has serious problems and has made a bad reputation and it has only recently established. It is an unaccountable and unprofessional set up.

[crazy mum]

Thank you mangosteenjuice here… as I believed most parents will google and see the review of the sch before enrol their child in… as I mentioned earlier when I try google and I can’t find any review and with limited choice in this area so I chosen this childcare.

So I’m taking some time to pre-warn any parents and hopes it help.

In fact, my kids are the very 1st batch. And now all the 1st batch kids had withdrawn.

I also encounter payment issue and you are not the only one… i know a couple of parents had the same issue as you or even worse. They always sit on the problem. Pretend and act to us they are working which they r not.
Best part is ths answer n reason give… Director (Grace) and in-charge (Hanah) was pushing the blame to one another infront of me… in the end they push to bank…

I need to call up the bank, ecda myself to check and in the end found out it was the school problem… even the ecda person cant stand this sch… she mentioned this sch is so slacked n always ask parents to call her which it shouldn’t be us calling…

I will encourage any parents who had their kid placed here to leave feedback so to help other parents to make choices when selecting the childcare.

[LALA TENG]

Hi


I used to stay at boon keng, there’s a My first skool near to boon keng MRT station. The teachers there are really good and caring. My gal was there for 9 months before I shift to kembangan. Now my gal is with Academy Kidz at Chai chee. There’s really a serious problem with this school. Not to mention that my gal was bitten twice there. My gal was there for about 4 months, no newsletter was given at all. Keep changing the teachers. Would be withdrawing her soon.