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    Children of average ability

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Working With Your Child
    220 Posts 29 Posters 72.1k Views 1 Watching
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    • B Offline
      buds
      last edited by

      Heyya shylyn,


      This centre is within the swimming pool compounds
      right? Never been there before, tho’ we swim there
      once in a while.

      MMI has standard curriculum for its branches and
      franchises. But up to the creativity and passion of
      individual centres and their teaching team to ensure
      the activities are carried out in fun ways.

      I do find that parents who manage to stick to one
      centre thoughout with MMI, their children are more
      than ready for P1. Except that, MMI centres are so
      known for crappy teachers. Thats a sad disadvantage.
      Well, thats a people problem and not the centre
      per se.

      All women in one big room… Everyday?
      Bound to have bitching.

      Unless if everyone’s a mature adult and
      are just there to work and also teach
      for the sake of the children… with passion
      to sincerely teach.

      Since your child is there, you can ask if the
      teacher wud mind teaching you how to reinforce
      their lessons at home with your child. That one,
      FREE.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • K Offline
        kaitlynangelica
        last edited by

        tamarind:


        I planned to send him to West Grove, a neighbourhood school within 1 km from my place. They require students to write english compositions in P1. I know a boy who could not follow up at P1 in West Grove. He was asked to go back to kindergarten. He and his mommy were traumatized. It is difficult not to be stressed 😞
        Tamarind,

        YOu sure the boy got sent back to p1? How could that be? I am ssure that the MOE won't allow that. Besides, I have friends who also had kids that couldn't read when they entered p1 but they caught up by middle of the year.

        Didn't the mother do anything to prepare the child for p1? I find it hard to believe that he couldn't do anything at all. Even if a little bit, I am sure they can catch up right?

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • B Offline
          buds
          last edited by

          Heyya shylyn,


          Just a thought…

          As for teaching your child at home, try to reinforce
          what is done in your child’s childcare. Especially for
          the decimal system - thousand, hundreds, tens and
          units. The centre wud have a proper introduction in
          place for that topic and may confuse child a bit when
          he does it in the centre. Plus MMI centres are equipped
          with all the teaching materials to carry out their lessons
          whether its hands-on or written activity.

          Lessons we teach should preferably be age appropriate.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • S Offline
            shylyn
            last edited by

            buds:

            MMI on and off offers parents' workshops of
            various kinds.

            You gotta shortlist what it is you wanna study.
            Hi Buds
            Thks for your detailed explaination..I also put my two hands up to agree w Taramind tt u r indeed a very very nice mummy..who really takes the time & effort to reply & write in detail!
            Problem w me is that i dunno what i want to study..basically, i'm always surfing the web or borrowing books to find out more ways to nurture my boy. For e MMI workshops, so far..I hv come across one but the timing clash w my boy's enrichment class..so bobian, unable to attend.
            buds:
            If just for knowledge sake, mebbe i can set up
            one day workshop to cover areas what you wish
            to learn with other small group of parents for a
            small fee.. Only no certification lor.
            Really??? Do let me know if u really intend to set up a workshop..i'll definitely attend..hee..must learn from the higher master.. :lol:

            buds:
            Tho' reading early seems to be a favourite
            pursuit of many parents, even if a child can
            read but cannot write it won't be balanced.
            Yep..tt's why I'm also emphasizing writing skills. Trying to encourage my boy to do more colouring, cutting etc..but he don't hv e interest & patience to colour e pictures nicely. Not too sure whether it is becos of his age (33 mths) or he is not interested in art & craft area.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • S Offline
              shylyn
              last edited by

              buds:

              This centre is within the swimming pool compounds
              right? Never been there before, tho' we swim there
              once in a while..
              Hi Buds
              Continue w my post as yest was busy 😄
              Yep..the centre is within the Sports Complex but the swimming pool is not part of the centre..initially, I tot they will be given swimming lessons for free :oops:
              buds:
              MMI has standard curriculum for its branches and
              franchises. But up to the creativity and passion of
              individual centres and their teaching team to ensure
              the activities are carried out in fun ways..
              Yep! I'm impressed with the curriculum but always wonder whether the center ensure that the teachers teach what they r supposed to. I mean..when u r shorthanded & having to look after so many kids, its diff to ensure the std are met. Anyway..just curious, how do the center supervisor/teachers plan/determine the activities to meet the curriculum? Where do they get their ideas from?
              buds:
              I do find that parents who manage to stick to one
              centre thoughout with MMI, their children are more
              than ready for P1. Except that, MMI centres are so
              known for crappy teachers. Thats a sad disadvantage.
              Well, thats a people problem and not the centre
              per se..
              Care to share why is this so? As in the children whose parents stick to one centre r better prepared for P1? I guess the people prob exists everywhere..be it in a child care setting or in a typical office setting. Actually, just curious..with MMI establishment, they can afford to get better teachers ..at least people with passion for young children..sad to say, I don't find many passionate teachers in my boy's cc.
              buds:
              Since your child is there, you can ask if the
              teacher wud mind teaching you how to reinforce
              their lessons at home with your child. That one,
              FREE.
              The teacher previously ic of my boy's class took e effort to reply to my concerns, which i hv written down in his com book but not this current one. She writes briefly which i understand that it is diff to write in detail as she needs to look after the kids..& she is not as detailed and pro active. On a few occasions, my boys' items were not returned back ..wonder how my boy is being taken care of during the class. sighh..

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • S Offline
                shylyn
                last edited by

                buds:


                As for teaching your child at home, try to reinforce
                what is done in your child's childcare. Especially for
                the decimal system - thousand, hundreds, tens and
                units.

                Lessons we teach should preferably be age appropriate.
                Honestly, I'm also not sure whether hv the centre teach him decimal system..I understand your point..I used to think that kids, no matter how advanced or smart, should b limited to their age to learn but after I hv my boy, I realised this is not the case..basically, the more I exposured him to the various subjects, the more he is able to learn. Actually, upon reading my boy's com book by his previous teacher, I'm really surprised that at N1, they r learning the life cycle of a kiwi! Think I only learn abt life cycle when I was in P3. Gosh! How advanced the learning is nowadays!

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • B Offline
                  buds
                  last edited by

                  Heyya shylyn,


                  For 3.5yrs, decimal system… ermmm, i dun think so.
                  Usually, formal Math introduction is introduced from
                  4yrs onwards.

                  The curriculum for MMI centres are designed by the
                  curriculum developers and why i say the children are
                  ready for P1? Its because their curriculum encompasses
                  all the 5 areas in Montessori, which is Practical Life,
                  Sensorial, Cultural, Language and Maths and all these
                  areas are done within a prepared environment. Meaning,
                  all materials required to teach the children all the 5 areas
                  are available in the centre. Montessori children tend to have
                  a wider knowledge of the outside world apart from academics.
                  The Cultural even covers Geography. Whatever that we find
                  beneficial for children’s knowledge that we can’t bring the
                  children out to show them, we bring the outside into the class-
                  room.

                  A good Montessori teacher will also cover Grace and
                  Courtesy with the children. There are specific ways to open the
                  door, sit on the floor, flip a page of a book, etc.

                  Can’t reali explain the extensive details of the entire Montessori
                  curriculum here. Too many to touch on… Coming from the
                  circular typed of kindergartens here that focus a lot on rote
                  learning, the Montessori Methodology was a very enlightening
                  journey of knowledge for me.

                  Touching on the staffing part, MMI can definitely afford the best
                  teachers, provided they are out there… Again, this is a people
                  problem. It’s not too bad finding good or efficient teachers, but
                  passionate ones (like me!) that all comes from the heart right?
                  Its something employers cannot enforce on the people they
                  recruit. Likewise for office setting…

                  As for teaching your child at home…
                  Please try to find out from your child’s teacher what will be covered.
                  Then, it’ll be better for you to reinforce with your own materials or
                  activities at home to test what your child has learnt. I normally already
                  prepare a draft of what’s being covered in a term and i give out monthly
                  newsletters to my parents.

                  As for the usual communication book replies…
                  we try as much as possible to attend to the queries with all the care that
                  has to be provided to the children ie. shower, snack, sleeping time, etc.
                  Cause i believe working parents cannot reali understand the cycle that
                  goes through the childcare centre so via our thoughts and observations
                  we can assure parents the child is more than well cared for. Thus,
                  resulting in gaining parents’ trust. This in turn will pave a great 2-way
                  communication relationship between parent and teacher. The plus is
                  the parents do not ask the teacher for updates every other day anymore
                  cause they already know everything’s covered nicely…

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • T Offline
                    tamarind
                    last edited by

                    kaitlynangelica:

                    Tamarind,

                    YOu sure the boy got sent back to p1? How could that be? I am ssure that the MOE won't allow that. Besides, I have friends who also had kids that couldn't read when they entered p1 but they caught up by middle of the year.

                    Didn't the mother do anything to prepare the child for p1? I find it hard to believe that he couldn't do anything at all. Even if a little bit, I am sure they can catch up right?
                    Yes the boy went back to kindergarten. His mommy could have sent him to another primary school, but the boy refused to go back to primary school. He was too traumatised by his experience in P1 at West Grove, where he was neglected for a few months because he could not follow up. The boy wanted to go back to kindergarten. He is now in a church kindergarten in Jurong.

                    His mommy thought that she could trust the the boy's first kindergarten, which is PCF (not the same one as my kids), to prepare him well for primary school. She did not check to make sure that he can read and write in sentences before entering P1. She told me that she really regretted and she is paying a lot more attention now to her youngest child.

                    That was about 2 years ago, when my boy still didn't know all the ABCs. I was really worried and so I started to teach him at home. Parents really cannot just leave everything to the teachers at kindergartens/CCs.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • K Offline
                      kiasulang
                      last edited by

                      tamarind:

                      Parents really cannot just leave everything to the teachers at kindergartens/CCs.
                      Choosing a RIGHT school for the preschooler is a daunting task.

                      I did not send my younger son to my older boy's previous preschool because of time constraint and inconvenience after sending the older son to school. Instead I put him in one of the NTUC CC nearby. My intention was to have someones babysit him and other children to play with him since he was in toddler group there.

                      Within a short period, he had picked up broken sentences e.g mummy where? Papa why? Everything why? This one and that one. Ending the speech with lor. Before enrolling, we had taught him to say the magic word \"Please\". Now he stop using and is always raising his voice when he talks. We had toilet trained him but they put him on diaper.

                      I remembered when my elder son was in PCF CC then LV before his transfer to a preschool at about 4, he did not pick up those habits.

                      Ai......ai.... Although we have pull him out for goodness sake. His habits are hard to kick off.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • jedamumJ Offline
                        jedamum
                        last edited by

                        kiasulang:

                        Choosing a RIGHT school for the preschooler is a daunting task.
                        Choosing the RIGHT primary school is also very important. Perhaps it didn't occur to the mum to go for a more lower 'profile' primary school as perhaps West Grove is located near to their place.

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