Preschool Curriculum

[momresource]

Hello Mummies,


I have read through every post in this thread and make me rethink my decision whether to transfer my Nursery kid out from his 3hr preschool to Fullday childcare.

Other than attending 3hr preschool, he attends music, art and drama enrichment outside. I am not focusing on the academic subjects like reading, writing and counting, but would like to focus on soft skills. He spent the rest of the time (avg. 3-4 hrs) on TVs… mainly kids educational program like barney, hi-5, jojo, leapfrog… Look after by doting grandparents and maid that never able to get kid to do any work, instead they were driven mostly by my 4yr old.

My initial thought was to enrol in full day childcare so that his days will be better utilized rather than sitting infront of the box as I make a enquiry to few CCCs and they usually have enrichmnet like speech&drama, gym, piano/volin, swimming and etc in the afternoon. In such case, we could have bonding time during weekends rather than rushing through enrichment.

Btw, I am a working parent. How do mummies advice on this? Or any parent with children in 3hr preschool, how do you occupy the rest of their time?

[onemoreparent]

My son is currently going to Maris Stella Kindergarten and I feel that he is not learining much. He is in k1 right now and they are still teaching Alphabets and numbers until 10. Iam somehow a bit worried that their skills are not put to use.


Iam seriously planning to change him to any montessori like butter cups or liitle oaks if I get admission. But I keep worrying if Iam thinking correctly. Cost wise it will make a huge difference to me and will my child really gain so much (is the constant question) that keeps bothering me.

Please kindly advice me on what I need to look into.

thanks for all the comments, feedback.

[jedamum]

onemoreparent:

Please kindly advice me on what I need to look into.

thanks for all the comments, feedback.

Hi onemoreparent,
let me share with you what i had done with my now-P1 boy back then when i found out that his kindergarten was not preparing him enough for P1..
first we sign him up for phonics lesson offered at a very affordable price by the center. while it occupies his time, it does not value-add - he learnt mostly from home assignments with me.
secondly, we sign him up for chinese enrichment. best investment ever. he may not be speaking chinese fluently, but he can at least manage without real headaches (my headaches ie).
thirdly, we sign him up for montessori math at K2. lousiest investment ever. it is more appropriate if you had sign up at K1 or earlier and your kid had no prior proper math concept, else it's a great waste of $ (although they state that they accept 4-7yo, seriously, they should state 3-5yo!). the centre refused to acknowledge that my boy is beyond that level cos they are not prepared to open a P1 preparatory class at that moment. when they eventually did due to sufficient intake, i turned down their 'invitation' to continue the programme.
all these enrichment and regular kindergarten adds up to about $300 per month. if considering your church kindergarten fees that can cost about $200 per month, addition of separate weekly phonics, math and chinese enrichment can cost you between $500-$600, almost comparable to average-range childcare centres full day programme or montessoribased half-day programme.
can you spare that spare cash?
i am a sahm, so it's relatively easy for me to coach him at home, but given the level of commitment some ftwp gave to their kids, i believe you can too, simply by spending 30min at home teaching or reinforcing a new concept (if you are english spoken, english can be taught at home; if you are better versed in chinese, its vice versa). imagine introducing a new concept once a week; then you can cover 52 concepts in a year; multiply by 2 and your kid should be sufficiently prepared for P1.

however, if you really can get an affordable childcare/kindergarten that has good curriculum, then that is an easier way to go - i can't cos my boy spent 3 mths settling in to his preschool...don't want to go through another stress of him not adjusting to school again.

jmho.

[buds]

Heyya onemoreparent,


It IS surprising to hear your observations.
I’ve personally had students from Maris Stella
doing our Phonics and Maths enrichment. They
usually do not come without having an already
good foundation.

Mebbe since its only the start of the year now,
the centre is perfecting all the single letter sounds
to go full straight ahead into the next stage of the
3-letter phonetic sounds.

It’ll be good to clarify with the ctr first with regards
to your doubts. Find out their side of the story…
Then, you make your assessments and follow up
from there as to whether you should consider the
swap. Tho there may be a need for childcare for
your child judging from your circumstance you may
wanna go easy and try flexi or half day first instead
of full day. If you find the childcare stays true to their
programme outline after a few mths then convert…

There will be ctrs that can promise the skies and the
heavens, but not able to fulfill them… A trial if you have
a choice to, so you can assess the childcare that you
have shortlisted. What’s your spouse view on your
observations, btw?

momresource,
A Montessori environment and curriculum will definitely
cover those soft skills that you want your child to cultivate,
and you dun need to worry abt Phonics and Maths to prepare
your child for the much needed academics as it is sufficient,
subject to the ctr quality and the teacher’s passion for teaching
of course. Ctr can have the greatest curriculum but if teacher cannot
deliver time is still wasted lor…

[kwcllf]

Hi All,


There was a Straits Times report last Saturday, 7 Feb 2009, that touches on 8 myths and facts about various educational issues. One of which is about TV watching and its negative impact on children of various ages.

Worth looking for that report and keep it for reference as it is quite informative.

[kwcllf]

Hi All,


The Straits Time report that I am talking about in now online. Please refer to the following link:

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090209-120495.html

[onemoreparent]

Thanks a lot for all your replies.


My son was attending workgroup at MMI enrichment center and later I moved him to Maris Stella since I was very impressed with the school.

I read for him and teach him maths and english. He is able to read at 4 1/2 years and to improve his skills, I enrolled him for a phonics class at MMI again. It is definitely helping him I feel.

But I keep wondering what is the school doing? I feel School is the place where they have to be taught most and not home. I feel that we are teaching him more stuff than at school and they spend most of their valuable time at school.

I know its going to be very expensive if I have to move him to a private school and I have to think about my second one as well who is 2 1/2 years old. But I want to do it if it is really worth it for his furture. I am not keen on childcares, since I have a helper.

Only thing I am confused is, is it really worth so much and would they really teach so much.

Any idea by end of K1 what are they expected to know?

thanks again for your valuable replies.

[buds]

If this helps…


Language & Literacy
>Able to read and write 3-letter phonetic words
>Able to know the basic sight words - Can refer to Dolch List
>Able to express oneself in proper strings of sentences
*eg. During show and tell, child can construct at least 5 to 7
grammatically correct sentences independently.
>Able to read simple books
*If Ladybird’s Peter and Jane at least until Bk 4a, 4b, 4c.
*If Phonetic reading bks, shud include all the 3-letter words
*ie. The fat cat sat on a mat… etc (independently)
>Able to read simple instructions (on worksheets)
*eg. Fill in the blanks with the correct answer… etc

[buds]

Thematic Approach


In a year of 12 mths, ctrs may offer themed ideas for their
lessons to be included. As such, children wud receive knowledge
on these themes which are usually :-

Generally Introduced to Sight Words within themes
and also the general knowledge/discussion on topics

>My Family
>father, mother, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother
>uncle, auntie, cousin, niece, nephew,

>My Home
>kitchen, balcony, living room, bedroom, study roo,
>things in the kitchen : utensils, stove, washing machine, etc
>things in the living room : telephone, sofa, television, etc
>things in the bedroom : study table, bed, mattress, etc
>flats, bungalows, condominiums, teracce houses, etc

>My Neighbourhood

>Parts of my body

>Festivals

>Sea Creatures

>Botany : Flowers, Plants, Fruits,etc

>Animals : Wild Animals, Zoo Animals, Pets

>Occupations : chef, sailor, astronaut, pilot, etc

To name a few…

[buds]

Mathematics Concepts


>Counting 1 to 100
>Writing 1 to 50
>Simple Addition
>Simple Subtraction
>Comparison -weight/height/length
>Patterning
>Shapes and colours
>Simple problem sums
>Understand more and less (1 to 20)

May be more… depending on how much the centre does cover
but for general guideline i suppose this might be okay for you?

Feedback welcome.