MOE Kindergarten

[eu-ern]

Reason as to why I would end up placing ds2 in MOE kindy and kcare against my choice is because his childcare had a change in almost entire team of teachers except one that ds2 has never liked. It is to such extent that ds2, when asked what he has learnt for the day, will answer "Nothing". My hubby and I were very uncomfortable with the new Principal and decided to find an alternative. However, it was terrible looking for a good childcare with good carers and educators. So we ended up giving MOE kindy a try for logistical reasons. Afterall, I still have reasonable faith in govt run centres to take care of my ds2.


My only grouse is kcare don’t reinforce the kindy’s teaching, and screen youtube clips to kids. There’s no perfect centre, so I have to live with it. My family don’t watch tv programs regularly and children are not given free access to touch screen devices.

[eu-ern]

Reason as to why I would end up placing ds2 in MOE kindy and kcare against my choice is because his childcare had a change in almost entire team of teachers except one that ds2 has never liked. It is to such extent that ds2, when asked what he has learnt for the day, will answer "Nothing". My hubby and I were very uncomfortable with the new Principal and decided to find an alternative. However, it was terrible looking for a good childcare with good carers and educators. So we ended up giving MOE kindy a try for logistical reasons. Afterall, I still have reasonable faith in govt run centres to take care of my ds2.


My only grouse is kcare don’t reinforce the kindy’s teaching, and screen youtube clips to kids. There’s no perfect centre, so I have to live with it. My family don’t watch tv programs regularly and children are not given free access to touch screen devices.

[GN01]

eu-ern:

Curriculum all the same across MOE kindy. You can go to http://www.moekindergarten.edu.sg to see.


The teachers are fine. I don't have much comments. Initially I had some reservations about a chinese teacher but after speaking with her, everything is ok. So long as my ds2 is happy to go to school n comes home happy, it is good enough for me to know that he will learn well.

But MOE being MOE, I have to supplement ds2 with enrichment outside. Afterall, what can they retain in 4hrs?

A full day childcare is a preferred option for me. I feel children learn better with reinforcement in the afternoon. Childcare settings just allow that. Kcare don't.

Thanks and please pardon me for being ignorant.

Is there fundamental difference between kindergarten and pre-school?

For some schools, say \"My First Skool \", they never claim themselves to be kindergarten.
Is there any reason?

[eu-ern]

No difference. All childcare n preschool provide kindergarten services. They can offer their own curriculum, so long as all need to know by end k2 are taught.


Many childcare and or preschool differentiate themselves by offering extras, just different extras. Parents choose what they want for their children. Sometimes, it may not be what program the childcare and or preschool offer, rather how the teachers engage, guide and inspire the children.

[sembgal]

GN01:

eu-ern:

Curriculum all the same across MOE kindy. You can go to http://www.moekindergarten.edu.sg to see.


The teachers are fine. I don't have much comments. Initially I had some reservations about a chinese teacher but after speaking with her, everything is ok. So long as my ds2 is happy to go to school n comes home happy, it is good enough for me to know that he will learn well.

But MOE being MOE, I have to supplement ds2 with enrichment outside. Afterall, what can they retain in 4hrs?

A full day childcare is a preferred option for me. I feel children learn better with reinforcement in the afternoon. Childcare settings just allow that. Kcare don't.

Thanks and please pardon me for being ignorant.

Is there fundamental difference between kindergarten and pre-school?

For some schools, say \"My First Skool \", they never claim themselves to be kindergarten.
Is there any reason?

My First Skool is that orange NTUC childcare brand right?

There are banners put up in Woodlands (a particular part) (can't recall if it's Woodlands Circle) that they are expanding into kindergarten sector. Registration on going

[GN01]

sembgal:

GN01:

[quote=\"eu-ern\"]Curriculum all the same across MOE kindy. You can go to http://www.moekindergarten.edu.sg to see.


The teachers are fine. I don't have much comments. Initially I had some reservations about a chinese teacher but after speaking with her, everything is ok. So long as my ds2 is happy to go to school n comes home happy, it is good enough for me to know that he will learn well.

But MOE being MOE, I have to supplement ds2 with enrichment outside. Afterall, what can they retain in 4hrs?

A full day childcare is a preferred option for me. I feel children learn better with reinforcement in the afternoon. Childcare settings just allow that. Kcare don't.

Thanks and please pardon me for being ignorant.

Is there fundamental difference between kindergarten and pre-school?

For some schools, say \"My First Skool \", they never claim themselves to be kindergarten.
Is there any reason?

My First Skool is that orange NTUC childcare brand right?

There are banners put up in Woodlands (a particular part) (can't recall if it's Woodlands Circle) that they are expanding into kindergarten sector. Registration on going[/quote]Yes, it's the 1!
Saw from their website they have more than a hundred branches. Is it good?

[GN01]

eu-ern:

No difference. All childcare n preschool provide kindergarten services. They can offer their own curriculum, so long as all need to know by end k2 are taught.


Many childcare and or preschool differentiate themselves by offering extras, just different extras. Parents choose what they want for their children. Sometimes, it may not be what program the childcare and or preschool offer, rather how the teachers engage, guide and inspire the children.

Thanks for clearing my doubt: )

[eu-ern]

No worries, just sharing what I can. Was equally lost last time.

[lyra]

eu-ern:

My ds2 is in MOE kindy in Sengkang Green from beginning of this year. He was from private childcare/preschool with only 7 children in the class.


Class size is 20 max. My ds2 is also in the K-care run by PCF. MOE kindy gives English & Chinese bite size assignments for parent-child to complete once a fortnight. Thus far, ds2 appears happy to go to school.

Perhaps you have specific aspects that I can try my best to share what I can.

Thanks so much for your reply!

The MOE Kindy near my house has limited vacancies so I'm not sure if we can get in. Do you stay very near the kindy? I heard they give priorities to families within 1km or something.

Does your child take very long to settle in? My child does not have school experiences prior to this kindergarten so I'm rather concerned about him settling in the kindy since the class size is quite big.

Does the school teach reading, phonics, han yu pin yin?

You mentioned that you still need to send your child to enrichment lessons. What kind of enrichment lessons do they need to be ready for pri school?

A relative shared with me that she is very stressed up with her LO (Pri 1) not being able to catch up with his english, math and chinese han yu pin yin, and her LO is being sent to remedial lessons and special classes to help students who are slower in reading during school time. She said she regretted not sending her LO to enrichment lessons before primary school because he was in a very expensive and good preschool, and she thought that school should be sufficient to prepare him. Actually I'm thinking since kindergarten curriculum is so insufficient to prepare for primary 1, why not we just send our kids to enrichment lessons everyday, rather than sending them to kindergartens? Just thinking lah... haha.

[eu-ern]

Lyra


MOE kindy gives priority to Singapore citizens within 1km. They also got some traits like the P1 registration. So it helps if you are staying within if there are limited vacancies. You can also increase your chance by stating on the registration form that you are ok with the alternate session which means you register for either session instead of die die can take am only. Appears that am session is more popular.

Does your child go for any classes at all? If so, he/she should be able to adapt to group learning. My ds2 came from preschool/childcare with class size of 7. I was afraid that he will not fit in but he did. Really depends on child. We can also prep him/her by reading books on going to school and discussing about it. Be patient and encourage him/her. Afterall, it can be a rather stressful event for the child. Most of the time, children can manage well without us so don’t worry too much.

I am the kind of parent who prefer to expose children to different things before they get bogged down with school. They are introduced to different sports, art, music, English and Chinese. I believe that foundation for languages and learning are essential. They must understand why they are learning so that hopefully, they kind of auto pilot earlier.