Preschool Curriculum

[octbride]

Insider and All are welcome


Would like to check with you which schools are better. Very lost nw
1. Lorna Whiston
2. Pat
3. Maris Stella
4. St James

[Starling]

Hi Buds,


Thanks. In the end, i decided to give that school a miss and personally i think a half-hearted principal with no passion in her job will not be able to motivate the teachers as well…

Hi Funz,
I am still letting him continue with his current childcare because I don’t wish to switch if I can’t find a kindergarten that i am comfortable with. The reason for enrolling my son in a kindergarten is because I wish to let him have the routine of a school environment.

However, as time goes by, I realise that vacancies are slowly being filled up. I think I have to go back to this project & do some research after stopping at the peak of H1N1 outbreak then.

[Starling]

Octbride


Can understand the dilemma because there had been reviews on some of them.

I personally think that its best to go down & see for yourself the environment first, speak to the principal, etc…by the end of it, you will be able to trust your instinct and narrow down your choices…

But of course, if you had already done that, then I think you need a second opinion…bring your kids along and see how the teachers interact with them, if possible.

[sean wife]

Hi insider,


Do you have any knowledge on the cirriculum at Little Skool House? My 2-yrs old tots have just started to attend the school last week. Understand that they use the approach of reading a book and expanding into other activities based on that book. Letter sounds is only introduced at N2. If my kids already have reasonably good knowledge of letters and their sounds, do you think they are better off in a kindergarten which starts with phonics in N1? Overall, what is your impression of LSH?

Thanks for your advice.

[Starling]

Dear Mummies,

Just an update on K1 curriculum from 2 schools that I have recently researched on. Please bear with the long post.

Background:
My son will be entering K1 next year and I am interested to know what these 2 schools can offer. 1 is an existing childcare & the other is a church kindergarten with good reviews on their chinese language programs.

These are the 2 observations:

Childcare

Learning seems to be very structured and worksheet based. Principal is able to show the full year curriculum such as
English:
Term 1: Grammar, Term 2: Vocab, Term 3: adjectives, Term 4: Proverbs
Math:
Term 1: addition using pictorial approach, Term 2: addition using numbers, etc.
Numbers learn is from 1- 20
Chinese: Not much information shown but from the current standard displayed for N2, I believe their chinese programme is quite comprehensive & the teachers are from China.

Pros: Other than the above, there is phonics after lession 2x per week and external Science teacher that will be incorporated into current curriculum.

Cons: Teachers are seen speaking loudly to students especially those older kids.
There is a after-school care next to the school compound and although the children do not mixed, this is one area of concern.


Kindergarten
Soft -spoken principal who bring me round the school letting me have an idea of how lessons are conducted from N2 to K2. Most teachers (as observed) seem to be local chinese.

From the timetable, lessons are conducted in half hourly slot with daily reading programs and phonics once per week.
There is also music & movement, outdoor and free play once a week.

English (Using Letterland)
Based on thematic syallabus per term. No worksheets was shown, but the topic for each week per term is shown. Does not mention any grammar or vocab. Upon prompting, the principal says grammar will be taught & spelling is only introduced in K2. I did not acquire about writing skills although I understand creative writing is in their syallabus.

Chinese
Curriculum shown is also based on weekly topics. Simple words like parts of body in term 1, etc.
Personally I feel that the words introduced seem to be quite simple but of course that could be the syallabus for the 1st term.

Maths: (Using an Australian syllabus)
Simple addition and subtraction.

Pros: Big space and compound. More emphasis on reading & play. Clean and neat kitchen and toilets.
Cons: Distance and the thought of having to plan activities for after-school programs.

After going through the above, I am still in a dilemma. Although curriculum should not be worksheet based & play is very important in learning, i will be also be taking a chance if I were to switch him to another school. I thought foundation is very important at this stage.

Anyone had any views to offer?

[izu]

Thank you so much for everyones sharing. Altho my bb is only 13 mth old, have found this thread extremely useful in understanding how pre-sch and kindergarden work in spore.


Currently, i place my bb in Baby Inc at Turf City. They mentioned that they are now offering 100% Montessorie teaching at the higher level.

Could anyone advise if it is good to continue there when my child becomes 18/24 mth? Or should i switch her to other centres?

Have also put child on Nanyang Kindergarden waiting list but heard that the centre is plagued by poor standards due to outdated curriculum. Anyone have any experience with this kindergarden?

Finally, what are some of these longer hours kindergarden? Could you please share the names.

Thank you so much.

[foreverj]

hi starling


just saw your post. not sure y i've missed it earlier. anyway, here are my thoughts.

the worksheets in the cc puts me off. at this age, frankly, i stil prefer play but with learning injected in a creative way. worksheets - i feel - can be done by parents with child at home for reinforcement, and should not take too long, maybe ten to twenty min a day. in school, i prefer them to be doing activities based on a theme eg. animals. maybe write a sentence about their fav animal and what's its fav food etc. draw a picture to accompany the sentence. something like that. there's a big difference from doing worksheets alone cos that's kinda dry and boring while discussing about fav animal and why it's a fav animal and then creating something concrete to remember the discussion is so much more fun and interesting and kids recall what they learn and what their frens say etc.

i m no expert in early childhood education but how to teach grammar, vocab, adjectives and proverbs separately huh? this sounds more like primary school syllabus. i tot preschool english is more to generate interest in the language, learning to read and write and learning to speak well and communicate well in the language and the various aspects of english is learnt as a whole, not in parts like that?? (i may be wrong - if the experts could correct me pls)

teachers speaking loudly - depends on context. think parents must understand that kids who are 4-6 may start to have disciplinary issues. hence some of them are absolutely capable of making the gentle teachers cry! so unless i know what's truly going on, i won't put unnecessary blame on teachers talking loudly to the older students.


i like what u described about the church kindy. for most preschools, they should have started on some kind of writing by k1. if it's like my dd's school, they would have exposed them to tracing and writing alohabets and numbers in n2. then k1 is to refine the process by writing words. by k2, then wil start spelling and ting xie and maybe a little homework. k2 wil also teach creative writing.

your description sounds like a kindy i know, if u dun mind - can pm me the school name? and let me know which school u've chosen?

all the best in your school search! :celebrate:

Starling:

Dear Mummies,
Just an update on K1 curriculum from 2 schools that I have recently researched on. Please bear with the long post.

Background:
My son will be entering K1 next year and I am interested to know what these 2 schools can offer. 1 is an existing childcare & the other is a church kindergarten with good reviews on their chinese language programs.

These are the 2 observations:

Childcare

Learning seems to be very structured and worksheet based. Principal is able to show the full year curriculum such as
English:
Term 1: Grammar, Term 2: Vocab, Term 3: adjectives, Term 4: Proverbs
Math:
Term 1: addition using pictorial approach, Term 2: addition using numbers, etc.
Numbers learn is from 1- 20
Chinese: Not much information shown but from the current standard displayed for N2, I believe their chinese programme is quite comprehensive & the teachers are from China.

Pros: Other than the above, there is phonics after lession 2x per week and external Science teacher that will be incorporated into current curriculum.

Cons: Teachers are seen speaking loudly to students especially those older kids.
There is a after-school care next to the school compound and although the children do not mixed, this is one area of concern.


Kindergarten
Soft -spoken principal who bring me round the school letting me have an idea of how lessons are conducted from N2 to K2. Most teachers (as observed) seem to be local chinese.

From the timetable, lessons are conducted in half hourly slot with daily reading programs and phonics once per week.
There is also music & movement, outdoor and free play once a week.

English (Using Letterland)
Based on thematic syallabus per term. No worksheets was shown, but the topic for each week per term is shown. Does not mention any grammar or vocab. Upon prompting, the principal says grammar will be taught & spelling is only introduced in K2. I did not acquire about writing skills although I understand creative writing is in their syallabus.

Chinese
Curriculum shown is also based on weekly topics. Simple words like parts of body in term 1, etc.
Personally I feel that the words introduced seem to be quite simple but of course that could be the syallabus for the 1st term.

Maths: (Using an Australian syllabus)
Simple addition and subtraction.

Pros: Big space and compound. More emphasis on reading & play. Clean and neat kitchen and toilets.
Cons: Distance and the thought of having to plan activities for after-school programs.

After going through the above, I am still in a dilemma. Although curriculum should not be worksheet based & play is very important in learning, i will be also be taking a chance if I were to switch him to another school. I thought foundation is very important at this stage.

Anyone had any views to offer?

[foreverj]

izu:

Thank you so much for everyones sharing. Altho my bb is only 13 mth old, have found this thread extremely useful in understanding how pre-sch and kindergarden work in spore.


Currently, i place my bb in Baby Inc at Turf City. They mentioned that they are now offering 100% Montessorie teaching at the higher level.

Could anyone advise if it is good to continue there when my child becomes 18/24 mth? Or should i switch her to other centres?

Have also put child on Nanyang Kindergarden waiting list but heard that the centre is plagued by poor standards due to outdated curriculum. Anyone have any experience with this kindergarden?

Finally, what are some of these longer hours kindergarden? Could you please share the names.

Thank you so much.

hi izu

where do u stay? likely near bukit timah since u chose turf city? anyway, i know someone from nanyang kindy. the parent say the chinese is excellent. her dd really forced to open mouth and speak mandarin, haha. basically she is full of praises although she continue to let the dd attend the montessori school she used to be from - for enrichment.

heard raffles preschool is not bad too. u may want to check it out. they even have jap classes for the kids. if u r unsure, should recce a few places b4 deciding on whether u want to continue to put your bb in the current place. sorry i have not heard any comments on your current school so unable to provide any feedback on that.

[izu]

Hi Forever J,

Thx so much for info. Sign up for Nanyang because of the 100% Chinese Curriculum for kids from 3-4 yrs old. Was hoping to give my child the envt to speak good Mandarin.
Shall check out Raffles House Preschool’s envt. thx for tip.

Cheerio


hi izu

where do u stay? likely near bukit timah since u chose turf city? anyway, i know someone from nanyang kindy. the parent say the chinese is excellent. her dd really forced to open mouth and speak mandarin, haha. basically she is full of praises although she continue to let the dd attend the montessori school she used to be from - for enrichment.

heard raffles preschool is not bad too. u may want to check it out. they even have jap classes for the kids. if u r unsure, should recce a few places b4 deciding on whether u want to continue to put your bb in the current place. sorry i have not heard any comments on your current school so unable to provide any feedback on that.[/quote]

[janet88]

Hi Mummies,

My kids are in Arise Kindergarten…son has graduated in 2006, daughter in K2 this year.

The school is clean, principal has maintained the standard and all teachers have a diploma in pre-school teaching. My daughter’s Chinese teacher is also particular about the way characters are written correctly, which is very impt at this level. I can afford to be a little laid-back with her although my hubby & I do coach her a little more in her subjects. We do not send her to any enrichment classes.