Newton Kindergarten
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Hi greenbean2011!
Welcome to KSP!
Thanks for the brilliant sharing on Newton kindy and MMK! Told you you should post here to share with us your great insight and detailed research as a real KSP through & through. Already you are mistaken to be in the school admin. or in the school committee!
:rotflmao:
Looking forward to hear more from you and share more on the various topics of interest ok?
:celebrate: -
hello smuf,
a)\tif yr final decision is to come over Newton kindergarten from mmk, you can help smoothen the process of transfer over.
i)\tfortunately, children at this young age adapt easily, so not to fret.
ii)\tBut you need to explain to yr child why you’re transferring him to the new kindergarten. Let yr child be mentally prepared. Once you explain the situation to him - yr child will understand, even if child is as young as 2.5 yrs old. Young kids do understand many things. And once child understands why the need for the transition, he won’t kick up a fuss nor throw tantrum, cry, nor refuse to wear new school uniform.
if you’re a Christian parent, you can pray together with yr child or anoint olive oil on his forehead and pray with him first, before he begins his first day in a new school. Prayers always work wonders! Because God always hear our cries for help, from the bottom of our heart.
sharing
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Initially, I was concerned - when I transfered my daughter from another pre-school to Newton. Last yr 2010, she spent the entire year in nursery N1 in another pre-school, just after she turned 2. I worried she can’t get over her previous pre-school. So I explained to her the reasons behind why she is joining a new kindergarten, Newton.
On day one, 4 Jan 2011, I thought she’s going to kick up a fuss - like refuse to wear her new pink school uniform, scared or cry when she sees an unfamiliar new sch environment – unfamiliar school teachers, unfamiliar new classmates’ faces.
But Thank God she did not. In fact, she co- operated very well. On day 1, she did not cry, but obediently followed her new form teacher (FT) into the new class - ate her lunch quickly, and asked her FT for some more fried rice, 2nd helping, extra portion.
On day 2, she told me – Mommy, no need to follow me into class anymore. I know what to do, what to ask. So she settled down quickly last week, faster than I’d expected.
Time flies! In the blink of an eye, parents’ orientation first 3 days, first week 2011 over !
b)\tschool bus
different school bus pick up students, from different parts of SG:-
-\tone picks up students staying at Toa Payoh, Bishan, AMK.
-\t2nd one picks up those staying at Serangoon Garden, Hougang, Kovan, Geylang, Aljunied, Kallang, Whampoa, Balestier, Novena, Newton.
-\t3rd one picks up those staying at Bukit Timah, Upper Bukit Timah.
-\tothers.
for logistics, sch bus should not be an issue.
Sch bus operator also walk the extra mile !
Besides regular sch days, sch bus fleet organizer Auntie Ong is kind enough to - help you arrange transport even for those days when yr child goes for enrichment. At an additional costs, but it’s a small amount.
sharing
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Your child may fall asleep inside the sch bus, after a tiring day in school.
To prevent yr child from keep nodding his head as he falls asleep, you can put a small pillow inside his school bag everyday. Alert sch bus auntie. That whenever yr child wants to sleep, help him take out the small pillow from his school bag, gently put it underneath his head, lie his body flat on the sch bus, and let him sleep soundly till reach home – but very impt, remind auntie gently pls ensure that the safety seat belt must be strapped to yr child’s body / waist, at ALL times, even when child sleeps.
Last yr when my child turned 2, I let her take sch bus, train her independence from young. I put the small pillow inside her sch bag everyday. All got seat belts. Both driver and sch bus auntie are experienced.
c)\tCHARACTER Education, at Newton
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while focus on academics, also remember yr child’s
i)\tCharacter building, and
ii)\tfear of God.
In Proverbs 22 verse 6, the bible teach us:-
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Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old – he will not depart from it.
父母应该教孩子如何生活,
当他老, 他也 不偏离
In Proverbs 1 verse 7, the bible also teach us:-
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
敬畏神是智慧的开端
from year 2015 onwards, the focus in Education is Character Education. This will come in a big way in schools, starting from pre-schools, primary schools upwards, all the way to Secondary schools.
Why the sudden focus in Character Education, after so many years ?
================================================
Today, our society realizes that they need to act on this fast, as many youths today have / adopt the I, me, myself, self-centredness attitude.
Newton kindergarten is Presbyterian denomination, church based.
Teaching is strict.
At Newton, kids are taught good, moral Character values from young.
Everyday, they go to the Assembly Hall and listen to bible stories, bible heroes, sing songs. Sometimes, they also watch cute, funny, cartoon animations DVDs like Fluffy learns Obedience.
From Mon – Fri, 3 times a week, the assembly is conducted in Mandarin,
at the children’s chapel. The remaining 2 times a week, the assembly is conducted in English.
The objective behind is to let kids learn good, moral values out of them like –
-\tObedience
-\tHonor your parents
-\tRespect for others/ Parents / elders / siblings at home, respect for Principal, respect for Teachers, respect for classmates.
be respectful by Not bullying, by using good manners, by helping those less fortunate, by expressing gratitude.
-\tResponsibility
be responsible by choosing the right action, by accepting consequences, by dealing with disappointment, by being a good listener.
-\tIntegrity
have integrity by being true to yourself, by being loyal to others.
-\tHonesty
-\tJustice
-\tFairness
be fair by Sharing, by taking turns, by co-operating.
example
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The toys in the classroom do not belong to yr child alone. They belong to the whole school. So, any children can also play with the toys. Eliminate the mentality - that toy is mine ! don’t touch.
Kids are taught to learn to share toys when play together, not grab all the toys to himself, and refuse to let other children touch.
-\tPatience
example
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kids are taught - do not snatch yr classmates’ toys.
Be patient. If you want to play the same toy, wait patiently for yr turn.
-\tPerseverance, Resilience, Determination.
Persevere by trying, by learning from yr past mistakes, past experiences, persevere by learning hard.
-\tSelf disciplined.
Be self disciplined by obeying parents, by doing yr daily chores, (example: keep yr toys properly after playing), by watching what you say.
-\tCompassion, Kindness, Mercy.
Show compassion, kindness by being forgiving, by being kind, by being helpful, by being considerate.
-\tThe 10 commandments – thou shall not steal, thou shall not tell lies, etc. -
Hello! :rahrah:
You sure don't sound like a mum with a kiddo that just started new kindy.. -
Hi Greenbean,
Thanks for the insight!
It was very useful!
My elder who was with MMK for very long has graduated, and I know that he enjoyed his days in MMK. The English standard is quite high but I couldn't said the same for Chinese. But the Chinese teachers are very nice and caring. My boy couldn't recognize Chinese words, but I guess it's partly my fault also, as I dun revise work with him. I left it to the school. I didn't even read Chinese story books to him. :oops:
Why I said the English standard is very high is because, he could read long chapter book ( but no understanding of the story lah) and he can recognize many english words, even words he never seen it before. I credit this to the phonics that he learned in school. Same as for Chinese, I didn't not revise English with him.but probably as what u said, Chinese is more difficult. (which I find it strange, because I find that English is more difficult!)
For computer lesson, I dun mind that newton dun have computer lab, in fact, I wanted to stop computer lessons for fear that he would be hooked up the computer games, but continue because I did not want him to be left out and play in class alone. I dun think MMK has Chinese immersion. They have Chinese immersion enrichment, and that is twice a week after school hrs.
MMK is nearer to us, quite near in fact, and we are Catholics. But we are on the lookout for other good preschools. And one thing that caught my attention is newton is 4 hrs, and MMK is 3 hrs, I would prefer longer hrs, can learn more thing.
Just want to check, do you how many classes they have for each level (from pre nursery to k2) for 1st session? And also, do parents have to pay for enrichment such as speech and drama, fastrack kids, etc...
Thanks!:) -
Hi green bean,
Your post has enlightened me! Especially the school bus part...take out the pillow, etc... :lol:
Very very useful tip!
One thing newton lose out the MMK is that MMK has very big and airy compound, no aircon is needed!
Saw your last post, you mentioned that the kids watch cartoon? Hmm, that's not what I want leh...prefer no TV around... -
hello smurf,
in the past, Newton kindergarten operated 3 hrs.
however, many parents are concerned. Parents feedback to Principal that 3 hrs daily is short. Parents worry their kids not learning enough, to meet challenging Primary 1 demands. They feel their kids go there, socialize a while for 3 hrs, play play, after that come back home.
At the same time, Teachers also feedback to Principal that they have so much to cover / to teach, but find it hard to complete within 3 hrs time frame daily. Teachers stressed up.
out of 3 hrs daily, almost 1 hr is gone. Gone into where ?
Gone into - getting kids to queue / line up to wash hands, eat lunch. Some kids need teachers to feed them. They can’t eat by themselves independently. There’re also other kids that can’t sit still, walk around the classroom absent mindedly, carrying the bowl in their hands, play with the bowl, walk around. Teacher got to run after the child, catch him, bring him back to the table, make him sit down, coax him into eating.
Then, teacher also squeeze in time to eat herself, besides just feeding kids. Teacher eat together with the kids. They call it lunch in classroom with teacher. Different days, eat with different teacher. On certain days, they eat with Chinese teacher, their form teacher. On other days, they eat with English teacher.
After makan, then teacher got to bring entire classroom of kids into toilet to pee, to change their soiled diapers, to wash hands again after visiting toilet.
Sometimes, time also spent / gone into bringing kids to the gym to exercise, to have fun, to ride bicycles, to play with bean bag, etc. Children need outdoor programme, to exercise, to breathe in fresh air. Then it’s healthy. Hence, effective, actual real learning time is < 2 hrs.
for kids in playgroup, 3 hrs ok. They’re still very young. After all, play is the main vocab for them.
But for kids in K1, K2 gearing up for the final last lap, the last 2 crucial yrs before entering Primary 1, 3 hrs not enough.
With this issue, Newton kindergarten proposed to MOE, to increase to 4 hrs. MOE approved. Hence, wef 2011, Newton become 4 hrs. Only at PG (playgroup) can still choose 3 hrs.
With an extra one hr everyday, Mon – Fri, 365 days per year, the situation different.
Teachers are happy ! Teachers now in full control of time. They can teach more English - by an extra half hr, or extend Maths by another extra half hour. Teacher has flexible time management. Today, she can teach this topic. Tomorrow, she can teach something else. Or if she can’t complete teaching this today, tomorrow still can continue.
Parents also happy ! Their child can stay longer in school, their child get to learn more stuff!
It becomes a win, win situation, for Teachers and Parents.
Besides Newton, Marris Stella is another kindergarten that has extended to 3.5 hrs, also wef 2011:-
http://www.marisstella.edu.sg/info.htm
How many classes at Newton ?
for both AM and PM sessions,
total 4 PG (playgroup) – ie. 2 per session
total 6 nursery – ie. 3 per session
total 4 K1 classes – ie. 2 per session
total 4 K2 classes – ie. 2 per session
all classes are named after Fruits of the Holy Spirit, like :-
Love, Grace, Joy, Peace, Patience, Mercy, Gentleness, Kindness, Generosity, Truth, Hope, Humility, etc.
Morning AM classes – very hot, popular, usually full house.
But you can still call up, put yr child on wait list.
Afternoon PM classes still got vacancy.
PM classes smaller, hence got good Teachers-kids ratio.
Enrichment class (optional)
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for school fees, refer Newton kindergarten website:-
http://www.newtonkindergarten.com/centres/?dxuid=SG010296&&pageid=269
All enrichment lessons incur additional costs, over & above the usual kindergarten school fees, paid on per Term basis.
Per term is 10 weeks.
a)\tFast track kids – is the same, identical programme taught at Pat school. $180 (before gst) per term. < $200 (after gst)
b)\tSpeech and drama (English) - $180 per term.
c)\tSpeech and drama (Chinese) - $150 per term.
all other enrichment lessons, pls call up school to inquire. -
Thanks Greenbean2011!
I think it's a bit smaller than MMK, 1 class less each level, but still a lot of children!
Ur child just started this year at nursery or pre nursery last year? :? -
hi,
my child born in 07.
last yr 2010, she started Pre-nursery, in another kindergarten.
this yr 2011, I transferred her to Newton kindergarten, Nursery.
reasons for Transfer
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1)\twant her to benefit more from 4 hrs daily.
2)\texpose her to learn more Chinese, hope that she’ll acquire a strong foundation, interest and love for Chinese, from young.
I do not know how to teach my daughter Chinese. (my Chinese poor lah!) But I have peace of mind placing her here, under the care of good teachers.
with the extra 10% increased dosage from the in-house, built in daily Newton Chinese curriculum, the school will ease / facilitate her to cope with the demands of Higher Chinese - a subject her Primary school offers, in 2014.
3)\ta wider, broader spectrum and larger availability of enrichment lessons to choose from.
Her previous pre-school do not have enrichment programmes like
Fast Track Kids, Creative Art drawing, Experimental Hands on Science enrichment, Hanyu pin yin.
4)\tthe attraction, the entice and convenience to Parents - for having everything well planned and housed under one same roof. It is like one whole complete, holistic package. It becomes a ONE stop station at Newton kindergarten that houses together :-
-\tCharacter moral education development,
-\tacademics,
-\tbeneficial enrichment programmes
Parents benefit, by reaping economies of scale. Due to large pool of students available taking up enrichment, saves on $ - cheaper, compared to outside run profit orientated commercial centres. With more students, external enrichment providers can give discount.
5)\tthe convenience of having flexible school bus transport service arrangement, for both regular days’ + enrichment days’ transport (rare service).
Regardless of rain or shine - the sch bus is always there, to bring her to school on time.
6)\tI welcome the fact that at Newton, her enrichment lessons are conducted AM, while her regular class is in PM.
I do not like those where enrichment lessons are conducted PM, immedidately after her regular class finish PM. Because by then, she’ll be too tired physically, mentally.
My daughter is in PM class. I am pleased with teachers- kids ratio. Her PM class got 2 teachers, < 10 kids. Smaller class - more personal attention, less likely to fall sick.
sharing
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On first 3 days, I met some new parents. We got nothing to do, just hang around, pass time, wait for school dismissal, so we chit chat casually. I was curious, so I pop the qn – why choose Newton ?
-\tone replied, because of Chinese. She said her grandson going Nanyang Primary, so need to make sure he’s strong in Chinese.
-\tsecond replied, because they just shift to Newton, to be < 1 km from a good Primary school in Bukit Timah, in case ballot. So chose Newton.
-\tthird replied, because Shichida kindergarten closed down. So she brought her son here. -
Very good ratio leh… …2 teachers attending to less than 10 kids…
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Hi greenbean 2011,
I’m currently in the midst of searching for a playgroup for my girl and in fact Newton Kindergarten was one of my choices. Just wana chk with u, r u a Christian? Cos I myself is a buddhism and I understand that the kids will be taught to say some graces before mealtime which are mostly practised by Christians. Although I know that it’s just a method of teaching by the school but was concerned that my girl will be heeding more to Christianity which is not what I want. Hope u can give me some advises. Thanks!
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