Newton Kindergarten

[phtthp]

hi,


recommendation to Newton parents ….

besides relying on our kindy school teachers to teach children Chinese, we can complement teachers at home, help our kids go up learning curve faster ! DIY method (do it yourself).

for those with kids going SAP schools - to equip kids a strong foundation in Chinese, can consider buying / reading ‘Si Wu Kuai Du’ books (published in Hubei). Chinese standard higher than our SG Chinese!

‘Si Wu Kuai Du’ is an excellent series. It comes in a set of 7 books. It teach parents systematically from scratch, train child recognise chinese character words.

out of 7 books, book 1 is most important - gives teaching instructions to parents. Once the child can master fundamentals, child can proceed slowly, read long chinese novels like … san guo yan yi, water margin (sui gu zuang), intellectual wisdom war strategies of Zu Ge Liang, etc.

picture of the 7 books:-
http://www.sgshinekids.com/22235201162455535835.html

feedback:-
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=21547

[phtthp]

hi,


some of you write in to ask me ... am i a staff of Newton kindergarten ... so, can help to register your child into Nursery?

wish to clarify ... I am NOT a staff.
i am only an ordinary parent, whose child happen to study in this kindy.
I am just like any one of you. However, i don't mind sharing info with you, since we're all parents, anyway.

[stsy_26]

Hi! I've been actively reading up on all i can on Newton Kindy as I plan to enrol my gal for N2 next year. Can any of the parents advise on the Pri 1 preparedness for children from Newton Kindy?


My older gal is currently in a church kindy, and I realised that she is far from being ready for P1 standards! Her reading skills are not there (can't even read instructions on preschool activity books I buy for her) and the school gives her only 2 pages of homework a week.

I have to do alot of coaching and extra lessons at home myself as I am panicking that she will not be able to cope with current P1 standards. To make things worse, she will be going to St Nick's nxt yr!

Hence i want to be sure that Newton kindy will be able to get my little one prepared for P1 in the future, and I need not face the stress I'm facing now with the older gal!

[phtthp]

hi jazzychloe, kerbaya, Mimama, DesertWind, autumn82, you got pm!

[phtthp]

since so many parents write in ask me … can pls help to register your child in for Nursery N2 next year 2012 mistaken that i am a Newton admin staff when i am NOT (i am only an ordinary parent), i think i better clarify the situation here.


I asked P yesterday - so how many vacancies left, for those keen to join Nursery N2 next yr, 2012 ?

P replied - many kids with existing current siblings are joining in next year. They are given priority first, because their older siblings are currently studying here. She checked and replied - for N2 AM session 2012, only 5 vacancies left for registration to the public, on 5 July.

next, i asked P - if on that morning, a lot of ksp anxious parents arrive before 6 am, before the security guard opens the entrance gate around 7.30 am (bec AM session starts 8 am), and everyone rush forward frantically to the admin office once school gate open and swarm the admin office, how to control the crowd from rushing in ?

she reply - will assess the situation that morning. Before security guard opens entrance gate, an admin staff will distribute queue number to the excited queue waiting outside first … just like seeing doctor need to get a queue number first, you know.

so if you are very keen to enrol yr child for Nursery N2 AM session, please wake up early that day, be one of the first 5 in the queue. It’s once in a lifetime to enrol your child for the AM seat.

however in the event you end up with PM seat, then quickly fill up yr child’s name into the wait list for transfer to AM session. Your chance will be higher. why ? normally when comes K1, the Principal will re-org classes. Because N2 nursery max allowed 20 kids. If this 21st kid come in, this child got to queue up for an available vacancy, when some kid withdrawal.

but K1 max allowed per class is 26 kids. So when go up K1, P can re-org to try allocate an AM seat for your child easier.

kids going up from K1 into K2 will have the same form teachers. P says last 2 years crucial, stick to same teachers who knows the progress of your child in and out is better. Dont change teacher anymore.

so on that morning 5 July, pls go very early, if you need to register. Although the banner hanging outside the kindy says come and register at 10 am, but if you reach there around 10 am, sure no more AM seats left!

[phtthp]

here is an excellent thread on teaching pre-school children Maths at home:-

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1748

[Mrs_SingRat]

My boy is in Newton N1 (erhh...2008 right?) PM session.


Prior to the enrolment this year, i cant locate much infor about this kinddy, kind of worried actually. Thanks phtthp for sharing the useful information . I finally know bttr as in how does the school function and what i can expect, I am glad that i have put my prince to this kinddy :lol: .

My initial plan was Shichda kinddy for Jan intake this year. On one hand, i am glad that we have not started at all, on the other hand, I really feel sorry for those children and parents who have to deal with the pain on their last min closure. The notice period fm Shichida Kinddy was too short indeed.

Finally, we decided on Newton becos of their focus on Chinese education. Only PM session available then, the benefit is smaller class size. Before term 1 ends, my boy is already more open to speak Mandarin, occassionaly, we got surprise that he can answer us in sentence.

Tats what i have so far. Besides phtthp, glad to meet the rest of the mummy of Newton in this forum too

[phtthp]

hi Mrs_SingRat, so nice and happy whenever new parents like yourself come forward to introduce yourself to us. The feeling is nice! WELCOME on board ! can I shake yr hands warmly ? can I also give you a warm, tight hug, to welcome you ?


Yes! can see that your boy is doing well - interacting well with his fellow school mates, conversing fine in Mandarin, improving in his Chinese, enjoy coming to school to learn new things everday. That’s wonderful! Keep up the good work! I am sure you are a happy, contented mommy !! kekekekekekekekekek

now, let’s see. let’s try to do a listing here … who else are the mommies at Newton kindy so far ? hmmm…. who are our fellow school mates ?

N1 parents are: GuniBabe, Mrs_SingRat

both your kids in N1 PM … maybe they from the same class ? perhaps both of you can pm each other to find out. kekekekeke

N2 parents are: Jazz, Em, MummyThreeStreams, octbride, greenbean

potential new parents coming in are: Jazzychloe, kerbaya, Mimama, stsy_26, autumn82

oops! hope I didn’t miss out anyone else name. Do let me know if I miss out, ok ?

eh but …… so far, still didn’t hear from any K1, K2 parents.
would be nice to hear from K1, K2, yah ! plus ALL parents from all other levels lah, of course! Please come forward to introduce yourself, ok ? Don’t just hide in the background reading & observing silently, ok ?

[phtthp]

info ...


at our Newton kindy, i dun know about other N2 classes.... but, in my child's Nursery class - by N2 Term 2 (March to June) - once reach close to 4 yrs old and can hold a pencil to write numbers 0 to 9 legibly, a great number of her classmates already sign up quickly for external CMA fast mental maths alertness, to prepare for lower Primary 1 high speed + - x divide Maths operation, using both left hand and right hand knuckles. Costs around $280 per term. Others sign up for Kumon Maths ($120 per month), MPM, etc.

click on the demo - watch this child using both her knuckles to obtain answer, at lightning speed! http://www.cma-sg.com/about-cma.html

5 yr old won international competition:
http://www.cma-sg.com/media-gallery-photo.php?id=8

can read parents' testimonial:
http://www.cma-sg.com/testimonial-parents.php

for CMA discussion, perhaps Newton parents may go over another thread to discuss in further detail (so that we don't disturb current thread here) :-
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1352

[GuniBabe]

phtthp,


thank you for answering all our queries! LOL. I think the rest of the mummies are like me, mistook you for the admin person for the kindy! :oops: I think it's due to the fact that you seem to know so much and respond so fast, in fact, I would think your response is faster than that of the school!