All About Montessori

[buds]

Heyya MLJ! YES! I am indeed a very fun and bubbly person even in real life!

And YES too! I am a SAHM and i'm lovin' it! :celebrate:

As for personal coaching these recent couple of years, the recommendations
come to me from tutor friends teaching primary school with reading & writing
difficulties, from pre-school buddies who have parent-friends sourcing for 1-1
Phonics & Maths coaching and yes a few special cases as well.

I have limited time to offer lessons since my girls are in different sessions,
so i try to take on assignments that give me a boost... a challenge... parents
who hv exhausted means of external help... children whom other teachers
have given up on... it just gives me motivation to get outta bed and DO IT! I
also have foreign students who are only here for a coupla months
requesting for ultra intensive personal coaching. So, the students i take do
vary... mostly their lessons are tailor-made to their level until they are ready
to take off and adjust to the level of children the same age.

To answer your question...
With 1-1 coaching, the chances of stretching and expanding a child's
potential further are better due to the special attention given to each.
More so if the children are under-achievers, the motivation for them is
that they CAN do it. As for already high-achievers (some who can be
distinguished even during pre-school age)... they get to scale their potential
to greater heights, as Montessori teaching is individualized to cater to the
children's pace and ability.

I've not seen the materials for ICR hence i am afraid i am unable to make a
fair comparison. As for Montessori Phonics, i love it that it is a hands-on
approach and the appratus designed for children to work with encourages
reading without the stress. In fact, in traditional Montessori ways... they do
not do any worksheets at all.

[isabella.026990zola]

buds:

As for how to tell if it is a good Montessori centre... hmmm... :idea:

Teachers are lively.. children are happy at work.. children are
allowed freedom within limits as much as possible.. a good
curriculum to follow up all the hands-on activities.. and of
course... preferably somewhere not too pricey. :lol:

My Muslim friends like Hanis Montessori. They cover the standard
Montessori teachings on top of Islamic teachings. Fees are also
quite reasonable last i heard. Like $200 per mth for 3hrs daily
lessons. I say that is really a steal for quality Montessori
education.

Oh Hanis? Never heard of it..where is it?

[buds]

Heyya isabella.zola, i have PM-ed you the link.

[soomum]

buds:

Letter names or the alphabets must come first.

Then comes letter sounds to make connection
or to be of relation to the letter names.

ie. This letter b makes the sound /b/... (b-uh).

If you learn the sounds first, especially for young
children... they will get confused and WILL slow
down the progress of writing efficiently.

Cannot possibly say, /b/ makes this letter b, right?
ie. b-uh makes this letter b-(ee), tio-bo?

In Phonics enrichment classes especially, they don't
do both. They only focus on the sounds. Not letters.
So ensure that your kids are equipped with knowledge
and recognition of the alphabets prior to attending a
Phonics enrichment class. This will ensure that your
child does not require to go back to basics when he
or she has difficulty making connection/relation with
the alphabets during the course of the programme.
Imagine a child who already can read well with the
Phonics decoding but yet doesn't know the abc's...
I have personally encountered this problem. And
i tell you, the child was very demoralized.



The parents? Confused and lost. They didn't realize
it cud be THAT detrimental to his progress.


This is due to the fact that the process was not done
systematically/in order and also not age appropriate...
Children should be allowed to grow and learn at their
specific age range. For example, we cannot possibly
make a three month old crawl when they're just
learning to turn their bodies, right...?

....

So, i truly honestly encourage parents to please introduce the
alphabets first, just like how we did when we were little... Dun
need to advance teach reading when cognitively there are many
other things that the child has to learn in his time.... at his age.

Unless of course, child is gifted. Okie?

Hi Buds!
I've been following your thread and can say a fan pf yours . Was reading the thread and got a shock :!: when i read this post. I have been having the understanding that i should only introduce letter sounds first to the child and not letter names. As such you are right that my child is starting to get confused when she is being introduced to letter names. Its really tricky to be teaching letter names after she had learned the letter sounds. How can i help her to learn the letter names now??? I am now at a lost as to how to proceed or maybe should i even proceed on with her. i.e. has taught her letter sounds - introducing letter names *now made her confused * - next step is building words is it? this to teach in conjunction with learning to write the letters or need to already be able to write?

You are absolutely right! :? I am super confused and also very very worried that I have done it wrongly. Please HELP us :?:

[phankao]

buds:

Letter names or the alphabets must come first. Then comes letter sounds to make connection or to be of relation to the letter names. ie. This letter b makes the sound /b/... (b-uh).


If you learn the sounds first, especially for young children... they will get confused and WILL slow down the progress of writing efficiently.

<snip>

So, i truly honestly encourage parents to please introduce the alphabets first, just like how we did when we were little... Dun need to advance teach reading when cognitively there are many other things that the child has to learn in his time.... at his age.

Hmmm... my youngest ds3 was taught reading by sight only. He wasn't taught alphabets, but he certainly knows them (how? I don't know). And he figured out phonetic sounds himself too. I realised he could recognise words by 10mths old and that he could read phonetically by the time he was around 15months' old, I think.

So how can it be detrimental not to start with alphabets?

[dimsum]

phankao, your boy is waaaay advanced for his age (i think he's gifted!). Thus, the normal way of teaching normal kids of course doesn't apply to him because somehow, he can figure out all by himself!

[phankao]

dimsum:

phankao, your boy is waaaay advanced for his age (i think he's gifted!). Thus, the normal way of teaching normal kids of course doesn't apply to him because somehow, he can figure out all by himself!

actually from my own observation, I don't find him gifted. Just that he's been exposed to way more. So in a way, it's a form of nurture as opposed to nature.

[MLJ]

buds:

Heyya MLJ! YES! I am indeed a very fun and bubbly person even in real life!

And YES too! I am a SAHM and i'm lovin' it. :celebrate:

Although I dont know you, you feel like a friend, can imagine your 'bubbliness' in real life!

Its a privilege to be able to stay at home, ya?

I think you should start something with all your knowledge about preschool phonics and education. Sayang to only have 1 or 2 benefit.
I myself am a bit loss when it comes to this. We just came back from france and there, the parents are not too 'on'. So we happily cruised along and then came back here and found that dd has difficulty coping. Older one, ds, is ok but his chinese is quite a nightmare! :!:

Was thinking of ICR for dd but now may check out Montessori.

Btw, do you know anything about Eton school vs Pats schoolhouse?

Would appreciate any feedback. I heard that Eton is not as academic as Pats but they give the kids more exposure to things outside the normal curriculum?

[Tika]

Wow. 6 months pregnant yet still very mobile and without domestic help (I presume)! I was like a hippo on my couch majority of the time when I was 6 mths preggie.


Thank you so much for replying with some book titles! I will definitely check them out.

Anyone got feedback on Twinkle Star Montessori at marine parade?

My girl was in Dynamic World montessori for 2 months. I posted something about them many months back and sang praises. It was really a good school, curriculum wise. However, we had to pull her out because we weren't allowed to approach any of the teachers if we had any enquiries about our girl. We were only allowed to talk to the Principal and the Admin person. We approached our dd's teacher once and we were given the cold shoulder lah. How rude. We first thought nothing about it, till we realise it was tough to get through to the Principal too! It was really disappointing.

I'm really very glad that I found this forum (and bud's blog)! Its been a really informative experience by far. I am however, sadly, still looking for the suitable Montessori preschool for my 2.5 year old girl. I think hubby and I may be too fussy and it may be affecting our girl cos we keep going for trial classes and everytime she sees a school setting she starts to whimper.

I've sat in classes at Great Beginnings and San Lorenzo, am not impressed at all. Seems like the children in their playgroup class (the one my girl will be in if she joins) were given freedom of choice WITHOUT limits. But the children were all VERY independent. A 2 year old girl, with a body of an 18mth old, really small, was eating all on her own, washing her own hands, carrying her own big (or huge, in comparison to her body size) mat, doing her own work, pattering about talking to everyone. It was really adorable. That was Great Beginnings.

San Lorenzo has a nicer environment, cheerful friendly teachers, but we did not like the fact that only the principal (only does admin) and 1 teacher was Montessori qualified. Plus, it seems that independence is not one of their main areas of focus.

We went to Paper Scissors Stone Monte to have a look and was really impressed with their curriculum but was shocked by the way the teacher cheryl 'assessed' our 2.5 year old. When we entered the house (those semi d kind), we were told to leave our child to her as she wants to see how well our child would adapt to her. We were told to go into the room and leave our girl outside as teacher cheryl tried to coax her to remove her shoes on her own. Usually our girl WILL do things on her own but upon seeing her parents leave her at the door to go into the office without warning, she started crying. Then the teacher tried to touch her to assure her but it turned into a full screamfest. I had a bad headache after that. Teacher cheryl then told me we had to work on my child's stubbornness if she were to enrol into their school.

Stubbornness?! But I thought if you were to put any child in my dotter's situation, wouldn't they scream their head off? I really don't get their idea of 'assessing' toddlers on the first meeting.

We've been to these preschools (monte or not)
-dynamic world montessori
-great beginnings montessori
-rosemount kindy
-schhousebythebay
-pats
-paper scissors stone monte
-san lorenzo monte
-treasurebox
-starlearners
-mothergoose (doesn't serve halal meat)
-columbus
-whitelodge
-east coast children's house
-MMI
-leapsch house
-learning vision changi
-my first schhouse
-brighton monte (ex man)
-odyssey (super ex man)
-montessori for children (so rigid man)

Truth be told, my hubby and I are getting really frustrated with our preschool hunt.

We're looking for something that is full montessori (till they start worksheets in k1/k2 that is) with friendly approachable teachers who advocate independence in children, runs a 3 hour programme, have annual concerts and once in 3 mth field trips.

Is that too high an expectation? Or maybe no Montessori preschool has such a programme.

Parents plsssssssssssssssssssssss tell me how you chose your child's preschool. Did you just settle somewhere because its at a convenient location or did you choose a preschool based on what you really want for your child??

I apologise for this truly long whine of a post and i thank those of you who bothered to read it!

[buds]

Heyya Tika, you've definitely come to the right place to whine and share

the battles of pre-school shopping here... especially when it comes to finding a
Montessori one at that too! Can be frustrating i understand.

I cannot afford to be just a hippo and a couch potato at the same time. Yes, you
are very right. I am without domestic helper... but am harbouring some thoughts
for the coming year pending discussion with my folks (as i will only consider if
they are willing to be my EYES... ie. provide supervision on helper.. )

Here's the truth. Parents are fussy for a reason, sweetie. :hugs:
All we want is the best for our children. In my opinion, as long as the
requests or the expectations of what we want are within understandable
limitations, plus also bearing in mind that we do have to also respect the
nature and try to understand how each centre is run based on their own
system and beliefs which i try to positively think, it IS for the benefit and
sole good of the children under their care. Centres also cannot take to
having to accommodate parents' whims on demand... it will be a tough
job to remember everyone's preferences. Whatever we act on or think
upon, it should be justifiable & fair to both parties. ie. operator & customer..

Dynamic reminds me of an employer i knew who told me specifically that
i am not to be in conversation with ANY parent, regardless of the nature
of their doubts or queries. That all feedback MUST be re-directed to her. :?
My immediate stoic reply was... but... i AM teaching the child, so i know the
child best. At that retort, she reiterated that i AM to report to her everything
i know of the child to her and that SHE will be the ONLY one to convey any
matters to parents. Very puzzling and a weird system it is.. which eventually
rubbed off on the parents. They had to accommodate because they didn't
want to gimme a hard time. But as and when the boss isn't around, i try to
catch up with the parents as much as i can and we managed to maintain a
cordial relationship. It WAS difficult to work when i felt like i wasn't given
the freedom to speak... so ... that was that. :roll:

From your description of Great Beginnings, it does sound as its name suggests..
grrreaat! I can visualize a whole new meaning of independent learning.
As for the part on without limits... :idea: ... i would deem an environment
so only if there isn't sufficient supervision/observation catered to the children
by the facilitators/directresses and that it MAY pose/cause danger in any way
to any child within their care under their watch. Apart from that, directresses
should also be around to exercise their individualised lessons for each child
within the given time... plus opportunities for children to also work in groups.

As for the teacher mentioned in the last portion, it kinda leaves a sour taste
in your tongue kinda feeling... noe what i mean. I mean like :whut: cud
she be thinking... 1st timers are and should always be welcome to be assessed
if need be... in the presence of the parents (esp the young ones)... unless
of course if the child him or herself chose to follow the teacher at first instant.
Then, that would be an entirely different story.

Since you mentioned halal meat, i'm assuming that you would be looking into
a preferably no pork/no lard or best still an all halal provided snack/food
provision within the centre. My Muslim friends recommended Hanis Montessori.
They have a few branches. Here's the link. > http://ehanis.com.sg/
They provide quality Montessori education plus Islamic teachings within a
3-hour timetable, lovely year-end concerts and festive gatherings and all
that at only $200.00 last i heard. More kindy based set-up, not childcare.

Pre-school is a time where children should have fun learning and growing.
I hope dearest Tika... that you find what you are looking for that your child(ren)
will be happy and safe in. U take care.

Best Regards, buds.