Pat's Schoolhouse

[Busymom]

dfstan:

hi parents


i would like to hear from parents whose kids graduated from PSH and their readiness into P1, e.g. is the kid graduated from PSH (without any additional enrichment) able to cope with P1 school work? I'm keen to hear those recent (last few years) cases rather than those graduated more than 3 years ago.

If additional enrichment class is required, what are those recommended to ensure that your kid is ready to take on P1 readily and confidently.

TIA

Every child is different and has different rate of absorption (then again, who you have as a teacher may also make a difference). I feel the kids would be relatively well prepared. For Math, they are taught addition/subtraction (up to 2 digits if not mistaken), number bonds, reading time, counting money, etc. For English, not really sure what they do, but when we signed up DD for Lorna Whiston for a short while in K2, she complained it was too simple... Still, at the end, every child is different, for I intend to enrol my younger son for some English enrichment next year as he is not reading as well as his sister (way behind... in fact).

Chinese definitely should go for enrichment simply because most of the children are not getting enough exposure from home.

[keiki]

hi anyone from kang ching road? how’s the new building? is it old or new? welcome any feedback as i’m tinking of putting my kids there. any idea about vacancy?

[Kabby]

hi keiki,

its called Pats schoolhouse Lakeside. my ds is there. the building is old cos it used to be another childcare center and before that, it was POSB bank.

the inside is totally new though. they just renovated, changed the flooring, painted, etc last month. just moved during Oct 1-3.

vacancy not sure, you can call? i know they absorbed quite a no. of students from the former childcare... but then they increased the no of classes too.

my son loves the teachers teaching him. that's the feedback i can give.

[BabyRR]

Hi, has anyone passed by the new Aroozoo campus? How’s the progress on the reno…pls do share if you have any updates. Thank you.

[keiki]

thanks kabalevsky!

[KSS Koh]

I’m moving my 2 kids out form Halifax. Since the change of principal, in my view, it’s not as good as before. Some of the Chinese teachers there are domineering if you speak up and I’ve experienced it personally. They teaches their i-maths in mandarin so I’ve to let my DD and DS take up english maths enrichment class due to the fact that my kids’s mandarin foundation is not very good and I’ve also send them to berries. Some of the chinese teachers, no offense, tend to focus on those children who understand mandarin than those who are not. I personally do not like the comparison or belittling between children to spur them on. Some parents like it but I don’t because I’m afraid it may develop a lower self esteem for such young children. Different parents have different expectations and prefer different teaching style but as it is, when they go to P1, the children will be stress with schoolwork, exams, fitting in, rules & regulations so I’m trying to let them enjoy their preschool years as much as possible. I’m sure that’s what most parents want:)

[Busymom]

KSS Koh:

I'm moving my 2 kids out form Halifax. Since the change of principal, in my view, it's not as good as before. Some of the Chinese teachers there are domineering if you speak up and I've experienced it personally. They teaches their i-maths in mandarin so I've to let my DD and DS take up english maths enrichment class due to the fact that my kids's mandarin foundation is not very good and I've also send them to berries. Some of the chinese teachers, no offense, tend to focus on those children who understand mandarin than those who are not. I personally do not like the comparison or belittling between children to spur them on. Some parents like it but I don't because I'm afraid it may develop a lower self esteem for such young children. Different parents have different expectations and prefer different teaching style but as it is, when they go to P1, the children will be stress with schoolwork, exams, fitting in, rules & regulations so I'm trying to let them enjoy their preschool years as much as possible. I'm sure that's what most parents want:)

I don't think any parent will like their children to be belittled or compared to other children, especially by teachers and at this young age. What you have shared is surprising, as we haven't come across such teachers in Pats. They have always been very positive (maybe too positive), even when we have some areas of concern about our DS. For all the meet-the-parents sessions that we have attended for both children, the teachers had always focus on the good points as well.

Anyway, regarding i-Math, if not mistaken, it is originally in Mandarin. Don't think it is the school's decision to change it to Mandarin. Hope I am not wrong, but please excuse me if my info is wrong. Nonetheless, my elder DD did not attend i-math at all when she was in Pats as we didn't sign her up for the bundle program at that time (i-math was in the bundle, unlike now). To me, i-math is more IQ type of math (and pretty simple), doesn't really help in P1 math at all. This is based on what I have seen from DS' i-math workbook now. So in all honesty, the important math concepts will be taught during regular lesson time, which my DD was well prepared for when she left Pats.

I would rather they put cookery back in the basic program and leave i-math in the bundle. Just my opinion.

[KSS Koh]

That’s what I thought initially too until a couple of times when I have to picked up my DD earlier and witnessed what ACTUALLY happened in class. All along, I also thought the way you did till I discovered the truth. I did bring up the topic to the principal and I guess she didn’t handle it well and that couple of chinese teachers are acting up. Other than that, I like the rest of the teachers. As for i-maths, yes it had always been taught in chinese hence my reason for sending my DD to enrichment classes for P1 preparation. Lucky you that your DD did not attend the i-maths, a waste of time and money, I agreed:) Basically, not much emphasis on maths. Yes, i much prefer the cookery program too.

[Busymom]

KSS Koh:

That's what I thought initially too until a couple of times when I have to picked up my DD earlier and witnessed what ACTUALLY happened in class. All along, I also thought the way you did till I discovered the truth. I did bring up the topic to the principal and I guess she didn't handle it well and that couple of chinese teachers are acting up. Other than that, I like the rest of the teachers. As for i-maths, yes it had always been taught in chinese hence my reason for sending my DD to enrichment classes for P1 preparation. Lucky you that your DD did not attend the i-maths, a waste of time and money, I agreed:) Basically, not much emphasis on maths. Yes, i much prefer the cookery program too.

Agree with you about complaining to the principal. Not much use. But you know you can speak to Pat herself, right?

[KSS Koh]

Yep, principal are of not much use. Many issues remained unsolved and always siding their own staff, what about us, the parents who are paying their bills?

I already did. Actually I know her personally. So we met up for coffee. She was shocked. Now she said she’s going to investigate to the bottom of the many unresolved issues. Anyway, we’re considering other options or transferring my DD & DS to another campus. It’s only preschool, it shouldn’t be so hard:( I’ve got more things to focus on like next year DD P1 registration.