from Montessori pre-school to Primary school, any1"

[pinkapple]

wah. si mi si TNS??

[tankee]

pinkapple:

wah. si mi si TNS??

Tao Nan School

[rosemummy]

My daughter, now 17, spent 4 years in a Montessori school. She is now in her second year in a US liberal arts college. While she managed to do reasonably well in primary and secondary school, her performance is below expectation. She has a tendency to do only what she enjoy and is not too bothered about exams or homework. In a Montessori school, she gets to choose what she want to learn. But she is now thriving in a liberal arts environment where she has a lot of freedom in the choice of subjects. She has done courses ranging from languages to psychology and philosophy as well as economics, accounting and law, and enjoying it. As a 2 year old, she was well exposed to a wide range of knowledge in a Montessori environment, from astronomy to botany and was able to read independently before she turned 3.


There are pros and cons in every system. I like the Montessori system for the way a child is taught to explore and learn on their own. Unfortunately, there’s a disconnect with our mainstream schools. The weakness, as I see it, is that the child tends to be self-centred. Quite inevitable in a child-centred style of education.

When my daughter started P1, you can probably count the number of Montessori kids in the entire cohort in a Bukit Timah school with your fingers. You probably won’t find any of them in a neighbourhood school.But I think things have changed now and there are many Montessori kids these days. The schools have to, and are, changing to cater to them. 1 example is the reduction in class size. It used to be 40 even at P1.

[LOLMum]

dont think there should be any problem unless your child is one of those timid, shy types.


if she is, better do something to boost up her confidence and overcome her shyness now. dont do nothing and just throw her to the wolf pack in pri school.

eg. let her order her own meals in MacD, restaurants. in supermarket, get her to ask cashier, sales assistants for help. prompt her to say "hello", "thank you", "excuse me" to neighbours, security guards etc.

i have seen ds’s classmates who are shy, timid and not enjoying pri 1 now.

[Huggable]

My son has been in MFC for almost 3 years, and the school recently ran a Pri 1 simulation to prepare the graduation students for transition to P1.


He had a hard time adapting to a classroom setting.

[Mommybaby]

My DD has been in Montessori for 3 years and she went thru the P1 simulation … she seems to have adapted very well to that, and was very excited when she came home from the simulation! In fact, we were quite surprised with her enthusiasm towards going to P1 after these "classes". They had spelling tests and all …

[Huggable]

All the best! Time really flies; yeah, my kid adapted rather fast to P1 life, and a year has since passed.


To me, \"liking\" the tests is half the battle won. :imcool:

[Mommybaby]

Hahaha … But then, it was only P1 simulation - it could be that she’s finally doing "big girl work" in a little kids environment that got her excited. Once she really starts school and she’s surrounded by "bigger girls" and it’s homework, tests and exams on a regular basis, she might not be so enthusiastic about it … Will have to see what happens.


Anyway, Huggable, it’s true that time flies. Really great that your son adapted fast - how did he manage with the first few tests and first exam?

[Huggable]

There are no exams for P1 & P2, a MOE regulation. But the school uses "holistic assessment", so there are tests, show & tell’s, spelling & dictation etc throughout the year, to gauge the boys’ learning progress.


My son struggled initially with the spelling and Chinese. But he had caught up somehow.

[Mommybaby]

Huggable:

There are no exams for P1 & P2, a MOE regulation. But the school uses \"holistic assessment\", so there are tests, show & tell's, spelling & dictation etc throughout the year, to gauge the boys' learning progress.


My son struggled initially with the spelling and Chinese. But he had caught up somehow.

I am quite worried about Chinese, as my girl knows what she's taught but she doesn't like to speak it coz she's not sure if it'll come out right. We've encouraged her and sometimes just out of no where, she'll suddenly start speaking (like in a restaurant she'll speak to the waiters herself in Chinese when she realize they don't understand English, and she can speak well). But when we incorporate Chinese into our daily activities, she sometimes refuses to answer in Chinese ...