Newton Kindergarten
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Mimama, you have an important assignment task. Many parents here on the web eagerly awaiting your detailed journalist analysis report. keekeeekeeeek
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dear parent,
on april 23 (Sat) 1.30 pm - 5 pm, there is a seminar for parents on Primary 1 at Marriot hotel. Registration based on first come, first serve.
here is the link:-
http://www.youngparents.com.sg/event/2011/03/p1seminar -
dear N2 Newton parent,
We are now into Term 2. For N2 term 2, the topic is on Plants.
on this Plant topic, you can supplement at home by letting your child watch an excellent, meaningful Science DVD documentary on Plants, entitted the Private Life of Plants, by David Attenborough, by BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
David Attenborough is a world reknown, very rich in experience plant botanist, now in his 60s. He travels round the world lecturing and sharing his passion on plants. My friend’s NIE (National Institute of Education) visiting angmo lecturing professor from England teaching Botany to P3 to P6 Science primary school teachers under traineeship at NIE - recommend this good DVD to her. He advise her to let her children develop and cultivate a strong keen interest towards Science from young, kindergarten days. He encourage my friend to expose young kids to the world of plants, and the earlier and younger, the better. He advise my friend, best to nurture from young!
she took this Professor’s advice seriously. Everyday after attending his AM session pre-school and come home, while eating his lunch in front of a TV, my friend gave instructions to maid to play this DVD at home, let him watch as he eats. While eating, his eyes will be glued to this documentary, absorbing all Science info. Every 2x or 3x per week, while her son was still in diapers aged around 2.5, my friend’s mom will fetch the boy to our Singapore Botanic gardens.
the little boy enjoys running around the huge garden while still in diapers, carrying a small little net along with him, to chase colourful butterflies and bees flying around. Due to constant exposure in the garden, gradually he began to start develop an interest in plants and nature around him.
the flowering gardener who sprays water at plants everyday in the Botanic garden from a large water hose to cool down flowers from the scorching heat of the hot sun often chuckle, and comment to his grandmother – Oh! Your grandson is here today. He is so cute! I never see a boy like him before. He is very curious in plants. I always see him running around from one plant to another, carrying a small notepad in one hand to copy down some notes, and a magnifying glass in the other.
every year on his birthday, my friend’s friends always give him a birthday present – on Plants. My friend’s friends ask him – so, what would you like to receive for your birthday present this year ? He replied - Plant book. Slowly over the years, he accumulate a huge tall cupboard full of storybooks on all kinds of Plants – healing plants, herbal plants, poisononous plants, antidote plants to heal wounds and internal / external injuries, useful plants for mankind. You name it, he has the book.
towards the end of K2, this boy can read very well. In fact, I was amazed when I tested him … though only K2, but his knowledge on plants is comparable and equivalent to… the standard of a university student studying plant botany. He does not lose out … to a university student.
his mother gave him a conducive environment to grow up. She taught me -Theory and Practical always go hand in hand together. Reading up plant books is only to gain first hand Theory knowledge. She taught me, more importantly, must let him have some hands on real life practice! So, she gave him …. a balcony in her condo flat in Holland to explore plants in real life practice. She taught him from young – now son, Mommy giving you this balcony here to learn how to grow plants. Learn to take care of all the plants you grow at this balcony here. You will be held responsible for all the green leaves and all the flowering plants here. Whether the plants you grow can live and grow healthily or die off fast without water, without sufficient sunlight, without proper nutrients, you are responsible. The young N2 kindergarten boy nodded his head, in agreement. So, he learns the word responsibility fast – how to take care of nature, how to take care of young, green life.
come June and December school holidays, he often pester his mom to bring him up cool Cameron highlands or Genting highlands … to buy seeds, to grow orchids. He tests out, applying cross breeding method. If he takes typeA seed to mix breed with typeB seed, what kind of orchid characteristics will it end up in? He enjoys doing this kind of exploratory experimentation at home. When you visit his house, you see all kinds of funny, colorful orchids cross breeding, with weird traits / characteristics.
at Henry Park primary school, his Science knowledge surpass that of his Pri 3 Science teachers. There were times when his Science teacher taught some concepts … not right. He knew, but being humble, he kept quiet…. dare not tell his teacher openly. But he told his classmates quietly. Some of his classmates - kaypoh, went up to Science teacher, told her discreetly she taught wrongly in class. She went back staffroom, checked up the concept, validate whether it’s true. Next day, she returned to class and apologised humbly to students that … she had taught wrongly.
today, he is a Primay 5 GEP student at Henry Park primary. I asked my friend – so what tuition you give him nowadays? She replied, no tuition. He studies on his own. When he needs help, he comes and approach me, then I help him. From young, i had trained him to be a natural, curious learner … while he was still in diapers aged around 2, under the encouraging words and advice from the visiting NIE Science professor, that it’s always best to nurture from young ! At Botanic garden, there are also lots of parents workshop, for both parents and kids to attend. Can go website check.
My friend continued to comment … Thank God for his wonderful, precious advice. Because now I see most of his peers, his classmates in his school same age as him … getting glued to PC, glued to ipod, getting addicted to computer games. All these not healthy. But Thank God he is not. He is not interested in any of these PC computer game. Whenever he is free, he just read up something, or experiment something. He is always occupied with something useful, meaningful.
at this point, I suddenly recall that important bible verse that pop into my mind – Proverbs 22: 6:-
Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
this DVD is available in Mustafa store outlet, plus another DVD shop located at Basement 1 beside Carrefour, at Suntec city. costs around $20 - $30. You can get a copy. In the event that it’s sold out, ask salesman politely - is it possible to help you order one copy, and notify you once ready for collection (leave your contact number behind) ?
alternately, if you visit China during school vacation or have friends staying in China, you may approach them to help you buy … it’s much cheaper in China. -
My daughter is also N2, but i think i didnt pay much attention in details on what was being taught to her.
Thanks Greenbean for such informative sharing. Guess going to library books and borrow about plants.. -
Thanks Em and greenbean for your sharing.
We have been trying to fix a date to visit newton kindy on 2 occasions but didn’t materialise due to bad timing. Hope to do it real soon…very excited.
Hi Jazzchloe, how’s your visit to newton? -
Em:
My son is a Nov baby, so less developed than his classmates when they started school. On the issue of toilet training, the teachers will bring all the kids to the toilet and ask them if they need to go. It is quite hard for the teachers to toilet train all the kids if nothing is being done at home. However, the teachers told me to let them know when we were ready to start toilet training my son, so that they could reinforce the message at home. So we worked together and toilet training was a breeze.
My daughter is a Dec kid. She attended N1 last year, and NO toilet training was given to her. She was fully trained by my MIL (bless her!) during the June hols. For so many months my MIL kept complaining it was the teacher's job to toilet train the kids, to collect their utensils after makan. In the teachers' defense I'd be telling her that it was impossible for two teachers to toilet train 15 or 16 kids and still keep order and conduct lessons etc. Also, wasn't it good for children to learn how to keep their utensils? But after reading greenbean's comment that children get toilet trained at Newton, I wonder if my MIL's assessment that my daughter's teachers were lazy is correct. -
greenbean2011:
green bean, thanks for sharing! My son came home from school talking about plants - how they grow from seeds, develop flowers and fruit etc. etc. I thought it was adorable!dear N2 Newton parent,
We are now into Term 2. For N2 term 2, the topic is on Plants.
on this Plant topic, you can supplement at home by letting your child watch an excellent, meaningful Science DVD documentary on Plants, entitted the Private Life of Plants, by David Attenborough, by BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). -
Good to hear that..
I ask my daughter what did she learn.. She told me \"I dun now. Nothing..\"
:? -
besides go National library borrow books on plants, think maybe we can help our kids gain some hands on real life practice with their hands, grow some simple greenery plants at home ?
perhaps we can go and buy some seeds, ask our kids to water the plants, add nutrients to the soil everyday, chart to monitor the plant growth everyday, measure height of the plant ? hmmm …… perhaps, let them start to explore growing simple money plant, an underground stem plant, a flowering plant ?
hey, besides octbride, Jazz, MummyThreeStreams, who else out here have kids in N2 this year ?
I think kids of Jazz and MummyThreeStreams might be classmates from the same class heheheheh… ie. those who attended Pre-Nursery (N1) last year.
octbride – you transfer your child in from St James kindy this year, is it ? if yes, kekekekeke … maybe our kids are classmates from same class, because my N2 PM class are 100% transfer cases from other external kindergarten, childcare centres, SG Montessori pre-school, all join wef this year, Term 1 & Term 2. -
yes, i miss out one more N2 parent … Em
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