Children of average ability
-
tamarind:
Tamarind,I guess we can only trust the top pre-schools, that is, those which charge $1600 a month. These pre-schools can afford to employ qualified teachers, either ang mohs or local university graduates who speak very good english.
How can those pre-schools which charge only $250 afford to employ teachers of high qualifications ?
If I send 2 kids to schools like Pat's schoolhouse, that will cost me $3200 a month ! Actually there is a Pat's schoolhouse near my place at Arena country club. However, when I visited the place, I was not impressed by the teachers or the activities. I think may be only the main branch is good, but there is no way I am going to send my kids so far away to school. So the best is still to teach them at home.
Not $1600 a month la! My friend said for half a day, she paid $700++ a month after the subsidy. Even Eton doesn't charge $1600. I think its about $1200/-. -
Hi,
yes , fyi, for full day , it is $1250. After 300 subsidy , it is 950. And pat schoolhouse gives a $50 subsidy if you pick up your kid by 5:30 pm.
After adding gst, about $1000. -
insider:
I agree.
Errr... the above statement is quite far away from the truth... (can afford does not equate will employ. Every cent saved is every cent of profit made...)insider:
Thanks !From those posts I read from you, think you can be a much better teacher as compared to many of those in that school.
Keep it up with your hardwork!
kaitlynangelica,jam.2008,
That is what the principal at Pat's Schoolhouse at Arena told me leh. Anyway $1000 for one child is still a lot of money ! -
tamarind:
maybe thats before subsidy la so after subsidy will be $700 for full-day still a tolerable price. But 1.6k is a no no. Imagine if you send a child from N1, $700 x 48 months is $33,600!! Horrors! What if the child still needs additional enrichment?
I agree.insider:
Errr... the above statement is quite far away from the truth... (can afford does not equate will employ. Every cent saved is every cent of profit made...)insider:
Thanks !From those posts I read from you, think you can be a much better teacher as compared to many of those in that school.
Keep it up with your hardwork!
kaitlynangelica,jam.2008,
That is what the principal at Pat's Schoolhouse at Arena told me leh. Anyway $1000 for one child is still a lot of money ! -
There are people who are willing to spend this money
See this article. Personally I agree with the last statement of this article.
http://www.asiaone.com/print/Just%2BWoman/Motherhood/Stories/Story/A1Story20080210-48897.html
Meet Maximus Ng, age five
Pre-school fees: $9,600 a year
Smart investment or kiasu choice? More HDB heartlanders send their children to pricey private pre-schools.
Teo Cheng Wee Samantha Eng
Sun, Feb 10, 2008
The Straits Times
LIKE all parents, heartlanders Ng Soon Wang and wife Angela want the best for their two young children.
But for them, this does not come cheap.
The Ngs, who live in a five-room HDB flat in Punggol, are paying a total of $1,600 a month just to send Maximus, five, and Aricia, four, to a private pre-school five days a week.
For Mr Ng, a self-employed loan broker, and his administrative manager wife, these fees eat up nearly a quarter of their combined income of about $7,000.
In comparison, a typical PAP Community Foundation (PCF) kindergarten charges about $100 a month for a half-day programme covering five mornings.
The Ngs, whose two children have been attending Pat's Schoolhouse in Serangoon for the past two years, do not mind a more frugal lifestyle to afford the fees.
'I worked out the sums. If we sacrificed in other areas, we could just get by every month,' said Mr Ng, 35. So out went regular restaurant meals and holidays to Thailand, Malaysia and China, and a switch was made to cheaper groceries.
So much for saving for university fees. Amid higher consumer expectations, not to mention the kiasu (fear of losing out) factor, the pressure on parents' pockets for an exclusive education kicks in when Junior is barely out of his diapers, with couples paying four-figure sums a month for the perceived privilege.
At Pat's Schoolhouse, for example, the fees are $800 to $900 a month for its half-day programme and $1,340 for its full-day programme. Meals are included.
At $1,340 a month, this adds up to around $64,000 over four years, well over twice the fees which a Singaporean would have to pay for a four-year arts and social sciences degree course at a local university (see box).
Parents are paying a lot for their tots despite experts like Mr Nah Yong Hwee, a senior psychologist at the National University Hospital's child development unit, saying that a child enrolled in a less pricy centre does not necessarily have a less effective education.
'The gauge is whether the child is nurtured and challenged intellectually, emotionally, physically and socially,' he said.
The Ngs certainly liked what they saw when they first checked out Pat's Schoolhouse: spontaneous children guided by cheery teachers.
But their jaws dropped when they were told the fees. Said Mr Ng: 'We didn't know it was that expensive. I should have guessed from the luxury cars there. Ours was the only Toyota.'
The couple initially decided against enrolling their children there, especially as Mr Ng's mother had just been diagnosed with cancer and they had to help with her medical bills.
But they re-did their sums and decided to go for it. And given that Mr Ng's income as a broker is 'erratic', they have to dip into their savings in lean months.
The pay-off is that Maximus and Aricia are more vocal and creative, and able to engage adults in conversation easily.
Still, 'I fight the temptation to withdraw them from the school every day', Mr Ng said. 'It's stressful for me but I just want to give my children the best.'
Indeed, the high fees that many private pre-schools charge are not deterring some parents, and this area in childhood education is growing.
Three pre-schools The Sunday Times spoke to have long waiting lists: Chiltern House's is 670, Pat's Schoolhouse's is 180 and EtonHouse's is 100.
The three schools take in children ranging from 18 months to six years and they are taught subjects like mathematics, cooking and creative art. They are among a total of about 490 private pre-schools here.
Former teacher Patricia Koh founded Pat's Schoolhouse in 1988 with seven teachers and seven pupils and now has 10 branches and more than 1,200 pupils.
EtonHouse was started in 1995 by former auditor Ng Gim Choo and has eight branches and about 1,200 pupils. It charges up to $1,500 for its full-day programme.
Chiltern House was started in 1994 by former fashion buyer Julia Gabriel and has four branches with 700 pupils. It charges up to $860 for its half-day programme.
For Pat's Schoolhouse and EtonHouse, fees have not always been this high. Both schools said monthly fees have increased by about $400 since they started because of higher teacher salaries and better facilities. Chiltern House has kept its fees constant.
Parents cite smaller class sizes, better-trained teachers and a creative atmosphere as the reasons for choosing these posh pre-schools.
The drawbacks? The Ngs said that because Maximus and Aricia mix with better-off children, they tend to compare and demand more things, such as holidays and expensive toys.
Indeed, the pre-schools The Sunday Times spoke to said that most of their parents are at least middle-income and above. For Pat's Schoolhouse, expatriates make up 50 per cent of the parents there although it has seen a slight increase in heartlander parents over the past 20 years.
Chiltern House's PR manager Shawn Galistan said the majority of its parents are Singaporeans who are quite well-off.
Apart from being in prime locations, the schools have features like fortnightly newsletters charting each child's progress. All said they have roughly one teacher for every eight pupils, far lower than the ratio recommended by the Ministry of Education which varies from 1:15 (at nursery level) to 1:25 (at Kindergarten 2 level).
They also said their teachers have qualifications above the MOE's minimum requirement for education. Chiltern House principal Fiona Walker said all its teachers have early childhood education diplomas and about 30 per cent have university degrees.
However, pre-schools that charge less said they provide good education as well.
Although the typical PCF kindergarten charges around 10 per cent of the most expensive pre-schools' fees, its chief executive Ruth Low said they 'certainly have quality kindergartens and very satisfied parents as well'.
Ms Michelle Sim, principal of PCF's Tampines North kindergarten, said that although her school charges $140 a month, it provides speech and drama courses once a week. And like upmarket pre-schools, it keeps a portfolio of the children. 'We give parents value and the teachers give their best,' she said.
Process control adviser Jacinth Ning, 44, agrees. Her six-year-old son is attending a PCF kindergarten although she can afford to send him to an expensive pre-school.
'I don't think PCF is any less creative or stimulating compared to the more expensive pre-schools,' she said. 'I don't think my children will lose out at all.' -
Heyya tamarind,
Tks for sharing the article.
Very enlightening..
Well, those children very lucky lor.
They sure won't get those screaming
kinda teachers that others in normal
pre-schools have to endure. Many posts
in this forum have issues like the above.
So, the branded pre-schoolers also won't
kena punishment and shouldn't get any
Singlish speaking teachers, i suppose..
Since all graduate staff..
Lucky.. Lucky..
Well, your kiddies and mine are lucky to
get US! Their mommies as teachers!! -
If I pay $1000 or more a month, I will certainly not tolerate Singlish speaking teachers !
My girl's teacher's English is grammatically OK, it is just that she speaks like any other Singaporean. I listen to BBC so I am hoping that my kids speak like those BBC news presenters
Both my kids' teachers are not the the screaming type otherwise I would have moved them elsewhere. -
Last week my boy asked why he cannot make telephone calls to me ? We have been teaching him to use the telephone for a long time. He still cannot remember my 8 digit mobile phone number. He also takes too long to find a number on the keypad.
My boy saw his 6 year old sister calling me as and when she likes. She knows how to do so since 2 years old. My boy is very disappointed that he doesn't know how to do the same thing
I don't know how to comfort him. He is not trying to compete with his sister, he really has a genuine need to call me and talk to me. -
Hi Buds
Been busy at e office..hence didn't hv e time to reply to your post. Thks for taking time to reply in detail to my concerns. Really appreciative of that..I can also see that u also take a lot of time to reply to other threads as well..Admirable!
buds:
Just curious, r e curriculum developers local? I guess its gd in the long run for the kids to hv a wider knowledge of the outside world..however, whether they rem or use it is another thing.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.buds:
Wow..I didn't know that..hee..but on the whole, I feel that kids who went to childcare are better behaved on the whole..of cos i dun deny that there will still be rotton apples here & there.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.buds:
Yep! I agree..it is very difficult to find people who r Passionate abt their job & I can see that u r..it's indeed a waste for the industry to lose a person like u! No intentions to return to the workforce soon?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..buds:
Well..I hv been asking the supervisor for their curriculum since the start of this mth & they promised to email over 2 weeks bach but till now, yet to receive any updates. Actually, the teacher did write in the com book most of the days but comparing to his previous N1 class, the syllabus seem much easier..thus, I'm actually thinking of asking the supervisor whether my boy can join his previous class as I felt that he had learnt a lot while he was there. Also, his current class is rather messy with 22 kids to 2 teachers (though there r 2 assistants in the morn) & I was really concerned when I popped by yest to peek at my boy while he was sleeping. His pants were soaked in urine & he was still sucking to his empty bottle, which disturbed me a lot as I don't know whether this is a norm a not! According to his teacher, he just wet his pants & in fact, frequently gg to the toilet. But my boy will tell us whenever he wants to go to the toilet! He wont just wet his pants even when he is sleeping!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. -
tamarind:
HI TaramindLast week my boy asked why he cannot make telephone calls to me ? We have been teaching him to use the telephone for a long time. He still cannot remember my 8 digit mobile phone number. He also takes too long to find a number on the keypad.
My boy saw his 6 year old sister calling me as and when she likes. She knows how to do so since 2 years old. My boy is very disappointed that he doesn't know how to do the same thing I don't know how to comfort him. He is not trying to compete with his sister, he really has a genuine need to call me and talk to me.
I can imagine how u feel. Both r ur kids but one is far more advanced than the other, of cos he will feel a bit inferior compared to his sis. I guess u can ask him to get his sis to help him make a call to u and do so when he's nearby so he is able to see and learn. Try to assure him that he will eventually learn how to make calls to u..kids learn best during stressfree moments.
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