All About Montessori

[tub]

hi sunny,


thanks for responding!

i just went to greentree again to confirm my 2nd orientation day, when the main teacher is back from leave. i also took the opportunity to ask the tr how eng is taught there and she said they use sand phonics. the children are used to feel the letters cut out from sand papers, if i’m not wrong. then, they’ll be asked to do bridging and to put different phonetic sounds together. i think i’ll place my 18 month-er there soon tho i agree with you that they price is so expensive! but the good thing for me is it’s very near my house. when i was there, i saw:
- the kids (some as young as 2) doing work with montessori materials. some were handling needles, others stringing beads or putting letters back in proper order.
- the teachers were also very particular in getting the children to return their materials when done.
- they also ensured that the kids finished ONE job before going on to the next one.
- the teachers were also very focused in teaching and when i bent over to ask questions, she was actually quite curt (i was a little angry initially) and asked me to ask later. i respect them for their professionalism and later realised that one of montessori’s teachings is to respect other people’s space and not to break their concentration.
- the older kids were doing some one-to-one consultation with the teachers. some were reading while others are writing, doing sums or doing work with their montessori objects. however, my hubby also realised that the collection of books there seem too few…
- there are pets around, a dog named max, birds, tortoise and rabbits. i like this as i am for children growing up with pets.
- they also have a nice garden and have regular outdoor play time.
- i also like their vegetarian menu.
- however, the teachers look very serious. they didn’t have the "rara" which we saw in other childcare centers like pat’s. but my hubby reminded me that perhaps happiness is intrinsic and not always extrinsic and excitable. the kids in greentree seemed to have a sense of accomplishment when they finished their "work". one boy even came forward to us and showed us his completed "work". i thought that sense of confidence and raised self esteem is really commendable and will bring him far in life.

i am curious as they have closed down ALL their other branches, except for this one. anyone knows why? is it due to poor management, the high fees or is it just because pure montessori does not go well with the paper chasers in singapore?

if truth be told, my worry is also if it will prepare my girl for p1. i know this is a singaporean mentality but she’s in the singapore system… so what to do?

[tub]

about greentree: we are happy with the montessori method of teaching and in paper, it’s ideal as it promotes self directed learning, independence and critical analysis. however, let’s analyse greentree per se. greentree feels weird to us. the teachers are not smiling most of the time, to the point of being sullen. the place feels very sombre, serious and in my dh’s words, it’s almost like a place of worship. no doubt, the teachers are responsible and teach well, but wouldn’t we smile in the presence of kids? there seems to be no laughter in the place. i can’t really put a finger to what’s missing in this childcare but my dh and i are going to give this a miss. i think my ger’s character just doesn’t suit this place although we agree that training of the mind is perhaps important for her. the flaw of this place lies in the people running it. if only they would smile more, have more words of encouragement and not put on a gloomy face most of the time.

[sunny]

tub:

about greentree: we are happy with the montessori method of teaching and in paper, it's ideal as it promotes self directed learning, independence and critical analysis. however, let's analyse greentree per se. greentree feels weird to us. the teachers are not smiling most of the time, to the point of being sullen. the place feels very sombre, serious and in tw's words, it's almost like a place of worship. no doubt, the teachers are responsible and teach well, but wouldn't we smile in the presence of kids? there seems to be no laughter in the place. i can't really put a finger to what's missing in this childcare but my dh and i are going to give this a miss. i think my ger's character just doesn't suit this place although we agree that training of the mind is perhaps important for her. the flaw of this place lies in the people running it. if only they would smile more, have more words of encouragement and not put on a gloomy face most of the time.

hi tub
i do agree with you that the teachers smiled very little to the kids during my stay there and i did not see them praising kids for good work at all. i did check with the assistant there and was told that they did not really praise the kids as they did not want the kids to do the works for the sake of getting praises from the teachers. for the smiling part, i guess the teachers wanted to be serious during the kids' working time?
i saw that the kids were happy and cheerful at the centre, so, i think it should be fine?

[tub]

hi sunny, so which cc is your kid in now? any recommendations?

[sunny]

tub:

hi sunny, so which cc is your kid in now? any recommendations?

hi tub
i haven't decided.
how about you?

[sunny]

hi

can anyone advise how the montessori pre-schools teach english and chinese?

and for phonics, what’s the diff between montessori, letterland, etc?

[yeomaylin]

Anybody has experience with The Learning Curve located at Tampines Mart? It claims to be the franchisee of Montesorri. Pls share your view.

[kkkcck]

can share how much you are paying for babyplanet? is it the one at siglap?


recently visited babyplanet at kew drive. near my place mah.
centre quoted me $1300. quite unexpected (shocked)!

checked from mcys, supposed to be oni $1000.
anyone experienced large hike in fees for montesorri programs recently?

any parents with kids in babyplanet can share their experience?

TIA.

ginakoh:

Hi soomum,

I would say ave fees range between 550 (half day) to 850 (fullday). Both my children attends montessori.

(u can see my comment on babyplanet montessori that i highly recommend if not too far for u....- for your little one)

Cheers n good luck!

[foreverj]

hi anyone tried the josiah montessori enrichment classes at eastpoint mall? is it good? understand they have both montessori english and math.

[buds]

sunny:

hi, can anyone advise how the montessori pre-schools teach english and chinese?

Montessori Phonics advances up till Grammar, sunny.
For Chinese strokes, we have sandpaper characters
just like the sandpaper alphabets for Phonics.

sunny:

... and for phonics, what's the diff between montessori, letterland, etc?

Wah, sunny.. this is like comparing 2 of our own kiddies!
Errmmm... cannot compare the two cause both have their
own strengths. Phonetic sounds will relatively be similar but
only the approach of the methodology has its individual specialty.

Montessori uses multi-sensory approach and Letterland is the character
and story based approach.