Childfirst Preschool

[junemum72]

Fuzz:

$1k is after subsidy right? That's quite ex. If the price before subsidy is $1k and we pay $700 with subsidy, that's reasonable. Sigh, have to think carefully about this. But their programme sounds interesting. I'll prob make an appointment to see the place soon. Been too busy at work!


Nowadays it's so common to find centres charging super high fees. Some of them have big ads and open so many branches. I don't want to be paying for all their marketing and branding campaigns!

To me, the brand name is not important. What's most important is the centre itself, if it has a nice clean environment, good teachers, whether it's well run, and if the kids seem happy there.

No la..1k after govt sub. It is abt 1.3k before sub.

Ya i was telling the admin mgr there that its not cheap and she agreed with me !!

I also agree with you these days the newly setup ones are super ex. And they tend to introduce extra enrichment classes, so it means you will need to pay more...

[Shoe]

You get what you pay for though… My dd was in a basic kindy. She came back with limited learning experiences

[Fuzz]

Shoe:

You get what you pay for though... My dd was in a basic kindy. She came back with limited learning experiences

Hi Shoe, agree with you to some extent. There are some centres that charge v cheap prices and you can tell why just from looking at the place, programme and teachers!

But I've also heard v good things about some kindys/childcare centres that charge reasonable fees. To me, I'm willing to pay more for a good centre with good teachers, a good programme and a nice environment. But not if the high fees are because of a big brand name and aggressive advertising.

My boy is currently attending childcare which costs abt $900 before subsidy. To me, that's a fair amount. If the fees are slightly more, that's ok too, but it must be justified by the teachers, programme and environment.

I'm considering other options that are nearer my home instead, as I may switch to part time work later this year. So I've been actively checking up on childcare and kindy options.

[breadfish]

Hi


Does anyone has any kids in Childfirst Preschool? Any feedback?

They are opening up a branch in Dunearn in 2012.

Website’s facilities look very interesting.

[kylene]

Hi,

I’m also looking for some feedback regarding the school. I live in the west and is considering the new Dunearn road branch, but it only starts in 2012 so I’ll probably take a look at the Mountbatten premise first. Would like some comments from parents with kids in the Mountbatten branch please.

thanks!

[daisybb09]

Any parents with kids in Childfirst?? i can’t find any review on the school. I plan to send my child to its mountbatten branch. I will like to find out about the teachers attitude and dedication levels. Thanks in advance

[KiasuParent2]

Hi,


I visited Childfirst in Mountbatten end of last year. Centre very new, started operation in Jan 2011 and seemed well equipped. I like to hear from parents who have kids there, do they enjoy going to school there? Please do share any comments about the teachers, their competency levels and attitudes? Thanks in advance.

[whitefreesia]

We went for the recent open house at Childfirst Mountbatten too…we sat through the presentation by the founder of the centre. Seemed impressive and from it I got the impression that this preschool is perhaps skewed more towards an "academic" type of education, rather than a "learn through play" sort.


What interested us primarily was the Chinese language immersion…every child undergoes half day in English and the other half day’s activities in Chinese. We were also told that every teacher there has at least a diploma in early childhood education, and the Chinese teachers who are native speakers have the equivalent. The Chinese curriculum presented by the founder during the open house was interesting, full of animations and very tech-intensive.

The speech & drama room was impressive too (google the school’s website and check out the pictures on it), and our girl spent a very happy hour playing in it by herself while we went for the presentation. Apparently the room offers opportunities for role-playing activities in which children are encouraged to use the relevant language and interact with one another. Examples include a hospital set-up and an eatery.

What else? Oh yes, classrooms were large, airy and bright. The centre, being new, was generally quite attractive.

Now for the minus-points.

The school doesn’t have a playground, outdoor or otherwise. We believe that at this age, our daughter should be given the opportunity to run, climb, flex those young growing muscles and generally not be afraid to fall. This school only has a planting area, where little gardeners can try their hand at growing plants.

We also didn’t get to speak with any of the teachers and did not observe any lessons in progress (it being a Saturday). Our girl is used to the loving, full of encouragement type of teacher, and a school where once you enter, every teacher knows your name and calls out to you and asks for hugs. I don’t know if Childfirst’ teachers are as motivational. No matter how good a school’s "hardware" [curriculum, physical location and facilities] is, the teachers make up the "software" and if they’re not motivational, then full potential simply won’t be reached.

As other parents in this thread have pointed out, there is a dearth of reviews on this centre online. But we urgently need to place our girl in a full day sch (her current sch is lovely, but does not offer full day) before her little sister arrives in March.

Think we will pop by one of these days to observe lessons and teacher-children interaction. We are leaning towards this preschool, but want very much to make sure we’re not rushing into things and making a mistake. Will update when we have popped by the school.

Hope the above helps! Sorry if I’m rambling.

[KiasuParent2]

Thanks Whitefreesia, for the info. yes, its very helpful. Do update us once you have an opportunity to observe the lessons too. I am still considering, don’t want to make a rush decision.

[whitefreesia]

In the end we dropped by for another visit, and briefly watched the Chinese and English teachers conduct their classes. The students seemed attentive enough - when we were there both classes were going through story time. The kids sat before the teachers who seemed to be able to hold the children’s attention. Class sizes for N2 still very small currently. Around 11 kids per class, with vacancies for a few more per class still available.


Subsequently we walked around the centre a little more. Some of the kiddies in one N2 class wanted to use the loo and an assistant teacher brought them there in turn. Observing the interaction between teacher and children, I found the relationship to be rather business-like and perfunctory, rather than warm and encouraging. Perhaps a snap judgment is unfair considering I only observed for a few minutes, but still…

Spoke with the school administrator, a very nice lady who was totally non-pushy at all. When we voiced our concerns that the teachers didn’t seem affectionate / close towards the kids, unlike the teachers we’ve seen in our kid’s existing sch, she said frankly that Childfirst is more of a local culture kind of school and that the "hugs and kisses" type of culture is more for the angmoh type of school. We appreciated her candour - but still, more than a little worried about how our little one will cope with the change in culture.

The half day English, half day Chinese program is available to children on full day session with Childfirst only. Ultimately because of the Chinese exposure our little banana will be getting, we decided to take the plunge and enrol her in this school. Hopefully she’ll settle in well, but if not, then like another mommy friend always tells us, just be prepared to take her out and scout for another school that suits her better.