MOE Kindergarten
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Sorry I know this thread is about kindergarten but I just wanted to post this here to caution newbie parents about the primary school years. My kid just entered P1 this year. And although officially every school is a good school, there is a HUGE disparity among the schools about what they actually require from the kids, academically. Just ask around thru the grapevine…I have been hearing so many stories from friends whose kids went to different schools all across the island.
There are the so-called top schools (academically) which require the kids to sit for screening tests on orientation day, or even within the first week of P1…following which the pupils are classified into different ability levels. One school has been telling parents to ensure their kids score minimum certain marks, or else be prepared to withdraw from the school.
Moral of the story, if your poor child will be going to such schools (eg alumni phase, or bo pian your nearest school under 2C is an academic pressure cooker), be prepared to pull out all the stops for tuition in kindergarten. Squeeze all the academic learning you can jnto the kid so that they have a head start. You have no choice in that sense.
On the other hand, if you DO have a choice in which primary school your child is going to, you can scout around (ask plenty of people!) for a school with a nice relaxed culture, that emphasizes all-rounded education. Please make a smart choice for the well-being of your child. You can opt-out of all the stress. I did. P1 really honeymoon year with very little homework & kid is happily enjoying school & has adequate play time & sleep, without all the tuition & enrichment filling up his days. -
mum05:
In my humble opinion, not a good option.
Why is it not good in your opinion ? -
My DD2 is in MOE Kindergarten. As she has only attended 1 term, it is premature to comment on her learning. However, I do notice that there is minimum written work. Unlike her previous church nursery which had workbooks, there is none with MOE Kindergarten. There is also no spelling. I am worried if she will be adequately prepared for P1. My sil child who attends pcf shared that pcf also practice learn through play.
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Yngmng:
My DD2 is in MOE Kindergarten. As she has only attended 1 term, it is premature to comment on her learning. However, I do notice that there is minimum written work. Unlike her previous church nursery which had workbooks, there is none with MOE Kindergarten. There is also no spelling. I am worried if she will be adequately prepared for P1. My sil child who attends pcf shared that pcf also practice learn through play.
Yes I feel your concern too. I knew this from the very beginning (read my post in the beginning of the thread), so this is something I have to prepare on my own, together with my child. Other than all those you have mentioned, I am quite happy that my child is learning well in MOE kindy. I can't comment much about PCF as I don't have experiences with them except the KCare run by PCF sparkletots.
As for KCare, I am not too happy that they screen cartoons (though educational ones-I just recently found out when I spoke to my child) to the kids. I am also quite sceptical on how \"integrated\" their curriculum is with MOE Kindy. What I can say is that there is limited communication between MK and KCare last year (the child care was previously run by Raffles Student Care before MOE directive to change all to be run by PCF to provide \"consistency\").
It has improved this year with the shift to the new building (ie. from Punggol View Primary to the new building behind it) with the bi-weekly Friday Feedback on what the kids have learnt in KCare. I think this can be further improved by working together with MK. For example, a class has worked with how filtration works, so perhaps this can be extended to learning information such as examining how water is being collected in Singapore for filtration in the plants etc in KCare. Alternatively, these group of children can exchange their learning with those who have explored how do their small and large intestines function. They can guide each other which is also part of the learning process as when you teach, your learning deepens. If there is no time, it can be done in smaller groups while the rest can do something else that is easier to manage for teachers, and this rotates until everyone experiences the experiment.
Then again, I also understand that:
- it is not easy to facilitate the above, and needs some co-ordination and preparation
- shortage of manpower (or rather, shortage of passionate teachers who are really keen to impart knowledge and truly understand HOW to provide a platform for purposely play)
The thing is I cannot emphasise the 'HOW' enough as I can see that different approaches on the same thing has different results. Kids not only learn through play but also with lots of spontaneity and this is through my own experiences with my kids.
They love my circle time and my \"silly\" activities cos I tried to inject humour in it. I tried to do it daily but sometimes not possible if I am too tired after work.
May I understand why she didn't continue with the church nursery?
Have you considered enrichment courses for your child?
Have you also considered withdrawing her and enrol into another school?
Which MOE kindy is your child in? -
Did you mommies know that moe kindergartens do not provide ‘graduation’ photo shoot? Very disappointing…
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marmalade:
I withdraw her from church nursery because it does not provide childcare. So far, my girl is very happy attending MOE Kindergarten and I have no intention to change. She is attending the one in Sengkang Green Pri. Being a kiasu parent, I have been sending her for enrichment. Being reading the Peter and Jane series with her and glad to note that she is able to read independently. And yes, MOE Kindergarten mentioned that they will not be teaching Han Yu Pin Yin. So, will be sending her for classes on this area. I suppose no kindergarten curriculum is perfect and parent simply have to supplement on their own or outsource to enrichment centre. I believe in giving my child a good head start. For my DD1, I noticed that she is able to study independently from P5 onwards which includes working on her school projects. Hope that DD2 is able to do that to...of course, every child is different....Yngmng:
My DD2 is in MOE Kindergarten. As she has only attended 1 term, it is premature to comment on her learning. However, I do notice that there is minimum written work. Unlike her previous church nursery which had workbooks, there is none with MOE Kindergarten. There is also no spelling. I am worried if she will be adequately prepared for P1. My sil child who attends pcf shared that pcf also practice learn through play.
Yes I feel your concern too. I knew this from the very beginning (read my post in the beginning of the thread), so this is something I have to prepare on my own, together with my child. Other than all those you have mentioned, I am quite happy that my child is learning well in MOE kindy. I can't comment much about PCF as I don't have experiences with them except the KCare run by PCF sparkletots.
As for KCare, I am not too happy that they screen cartoons (though educational ones-I just recently found out when I spoke to my child) to the kids. I am also quite sceptical on how \"integrated\" their curriculum is with MOE Kindy. What I can say is that there is limited communication between MK and KCare last year (the child care was previously run by Raffles Student Care before MOE directive to change all to be run by PCF to provide \"consistency\").
It has improved this year with the shift to the new building (ie. from Punggol View Primary to the new building behind it) with the bi-weekly Friday Feedback on what the kids have learnt in KCare. I think this can be further improved by working together with MK. For example, a class has worked with how filtration works, so perhaps this can be extended to learning information such as examining how water is being collected in Singapore for filtration in the plants etc in KCare. Alternatively, these group of children can exchange their learning with those who have explored how do their small and large intestines function. They can guide each other which is also part of the learning process as when you teach, your learning deepens. If there is no time, it can be done in smaller groups while the rest can do something else that is easier to manage for teachers, and this rotates until everyone experiences the experiment.
Then again, I also understand that:
- it is not easy to facilitate the above, and needs some co-ordination and preparation
- shortage of manpower (or rather, shortage of passionate teachers who are really keen to impart knowledge and truly understand HOW to provide a platform for purposely play)
The thing is I cannot emphasise the 'HOW' enough as I can see that different approaches on the same thing has different results. Kids not only learn through play but also with lots of spontaneity and this is through my own experiences with my kids.
They love my circle time and my \"silly\" activities cos I tried to inject humour in it. I tried to do it daily but sometimes not possible if I am too tired after work.
May I understand why she didn't continue with the church nursery?
Have you considered enrichment courses for your child?
Have you also considered withdrawing her and enrol into another school?
Which MOE kindy is your child in? -
mum05:
Did you mommies know that moe kindergartens do not provide 'graduation' photo shoot? Very disappointing..
Honestly I am not too bothered with this. Did you express your concern to the school, and if so, what was their reply?
I think MOE Kindy is a \"no-frills\" kind of school, if you know what I mean.
For example, parents need not purchase any cake or food for the celebration unlike some schools where they welcome parents to join in with the cakes and some snacks for the children. They have birthday blast every first Friday of the month for all children whose birthday falls on that month.The entire kindy will sing the birthday tune in various languages (cos my girl is able to sing the Malay version, I am surprised!) and candles blowing on a dummy cake. And on this special day, the child can wear their own favourite clothing. Either way, I am fine cos it saves the hassle for parents and we can celebrate with them together with the child on the actual day at home with our immediate family members etc.
Birthday is also a good chance to introduce concepts such as numbers- how many years old (numeracy), how many days does the Earth takes to rotate (science), Why do we celebrate birthdays (culture), singing the song/writing out the words (language and literacy) etc. I think I suggested some of these ideas but not too sure if they incorporate them. Anyhow, I tried to do it with my children.
So to me whether they have 'graduation' photo shoot is secondary, not too sure with other parents. Most importantly, they learn concepts and life-skills that help them carry through in their growing years. It would also be a bonus if the children continue to stay in touch and forge friendships till they finally \"graduated\".
Come to think of it, I have to slog for another 20 years before they earn their own keep, be financially stable....and maybe I can retire (or retire early, haha)
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marmalade:
I actually like their no frills style but not sure if it is because it is DD2. So, I am more pragmatic. Especially like the fact that I do not need to buy cake and participate in the celebration. I won't mind if there is no graduation ceremony. I am more concerned with whether they are adequately prepared for Pri 1.mum05:
Did you mommies know that moe kindergartens do not provide 'graduation' photo shoot? Very disappointing..
Honestly I am not too bothered with this. Did you express your concern to the school, and if so, what was their reply?
I think MOE Kindy is a \"no-frills\" kind of school, if you know what I mean.
For example, parents need not purchase any cake or food for the celebration unlike some schools where they welcome parents to join in with the cakes and some snacks for the children. They have birthday blast every first Friday of the month for all children whose birthday falls on that month.The entire kindy will sing the birthday tune in various languages (cos my girl is able to sing the Malay version, I am surprised!) and candles blowing on a dummy cake. And on this special day, the child can wear their own favourite clothing. Either way, I am fine cos it saves the hassle for parents and we can celebrate with them together with the child on the actual day at home with our immediate family members etc.
Birthday is also a good chance to introduce concepts such as numbers- how many years old (numeracy), how many days does the Earth takes to rotate (science), Why do we celebrate birthdays (culture), singing the song/writing out the words (language and literacy) etc. I think I suggested some of these ideas but not too sure if they incorporate them. Anyhow, I tried to do it with my children.
So to me whether they have 'graduation' photo shoot is secondary, not too sure with other parents. Most importantly, they learn concepts and life-skills that help them carry through in their growing years. It would also be a bonus if the children continue to stay in touch and forge friendships till they finally \"graduated\".
Come to think of it, I have to slog for another 20 years before they earn their own keep, be financially stable....and maybe I can retire (or retire early, haha) -
Yngmng:
Consisting that the folks who design the primary curriculum is also designing the MK curriculum, I think this concern is unfounded.
I am more concerned with whether they are adequately prepared for Pri 1.
When compared to commercial childcare, MK preparation may seem \"inadequate\" but that really isn't the case. MK is following a different pedagogy which may not be the cup of tea for everyone. It is like discussing whether the O level or IB track is better. Both have their pros and cons. -
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