Growing Up Gifted - Kindergarten

[mongz]

My younger girl attended GUG enrichment classes when she was 18 months till 2 weeks ago before she turned 4 years old. We decided to stop her enrichment class because she is also going through similar classes in her childcare. She enjoyed the classes because the lessons are interactive and I would say that the teachers are very good. However, she complained a bit after we put her into the Early Reading and Writing class where they don’t sing much and a lot more writing.


For their kindergarten classes, my understanding from my colleague who sent her girl there is that there is a lot of emphasis on English and less on Maths and hence she didn’t enrol her for K1/K2 classes but only attended nursery classes. Her girl is an excellent reader who can read those wordy books at the age of 5 and was reading instruction manuals by 6 to play the board games. But I think she is also very bright to begin with.

[pleasurie]

LittleLambie:

Wow...finally someone replied after almost a month of waiting!


I am still on the fence about this school cos there was no worksheets or any teaching materials available to show me, so I have no sense of their standards at all. Plus when I went down to visit, the vice P was like just going through the motion of explaining the basics, timing & fees etc, then left hurriedly. I get to meet no teachers at all too. So my initial impression of them was kinda cold...& very commercialised?? :roll:

tamtam, where did you saw the report on the GEP students?

Before today, I would strongly recommend this school, but after today..nah... my kid is in N2 this year (she had her N1 & weekend enrichment at GUG last year) and there were more than 14 kids in the class, a big difference in last year's class of 8 kids to 2 teachers for the N2.
a last minute decision from the school. Honestly the teachers were not capable of handling such a big class at all. and with a few crying kids, seriously my kid was simply wasting the time there today. The scenerio is just like any PCF class. with such changes, they can forget about any GEP students or watsoever in future. And where can I source for another school with AM slots at such last min. Totally disappointed.

[tamtam]

Before today, I would strongly recommend this school, but after today..nah... my kid is in N2 this year (she had her N1 & weekend enrichment at GUG last year) and there were more than 14 kids in the class, a big difference in last year's class of 8 kids to 2 teachers for the N2.

a last minute decision from the school. Honestly the teachers were not capable of handling such a big class at all. and with a few crying kids, seriously my kid was simply wasting the time there today. The scenerio is just like any PCF class. with such changes, they can forget about any GEP students or watsoever in future. And where can I source for another school with AM slots at such last min. Totally disappointed.[/quote]

Hi hi, i think don't worry too much as this happens everywhere even the best of schools The 1st week esp 1st day always more unsettling since the students hv just returned from hols plus new students, and teachers need to get the class familiar with new routine etc. All usually settles down in a few days. Btw my kids had the max 15 or 16 in their classes. That's the problem with AM sessions, too popular! :roll:

[pleasurie]

[quote]Hi hi, i think don't worry too much as this happens everywhere even the best of schools The 1st week esp 1st day always more unsettling since the students hv just returned from hols plus new students, and teachers need to get the class familiar with new routine etc. All usually settles down in a few days. Btw my kids had the max 15 or 16 in their classes. That's the problem with AM sessions, too popular! :roll:[/quote]
yeah I guess I got too carried away LOL..well they really met my expectations (last year) & class size has hit 16 now, seriously I had secretly wished that they charge a higher fee to maintain a good ratio. (At least it will justify the distance that I'll have to travel end of this year, where I'll be moving to mt sinai area, damn far!) But like what u mention even the more expensive schools are using 2:16. From Biz point of view I understand, so now i'm still pondering if I should continue or not. :scratchhead: So yr elder kid is in P1 this year, how exciting!

[Mimama]

sooptroop:

My 2 younger kids attend GUG since 13 mths and 10 mths old. Both enjoy the programme tremendously and have benefit a lot. My youngest took a few weeks to adjust but now settled down very nicely and very active to participate

Hi sooptroop, may I know which programmes did your kids attend? Went to their website and check out and there were quite a number of them for toddler.

Which ones would mummies recommend for toddler 1.5 to 2 yrs?

[airex]

My son has been in GUG since N1. He's in N2 now. I would definitely recommend GUG. The environment for learning is conducive as classes are conducted in individual classroom. Most importantly, the teachers are very caring. Teachers of all levels seem to know students of other classes too.


As for the curriculum, I would say it is very different from some kindergarten. It covers many unrelated topics to the syllabus. So far, my son has discussed with me about some interesting animal facts and science theory that he has learnt in class. In GUG, they believe in independence of the child. Since last year, my son would insist on doing things on his own as the teachers will always encourage them to try.

We were actually choosing between GUG and a popular church kindergarten. But we decided to stay. Most importantly, my child is so happy there. He loves his teachers and the curriculum is enriching. In terms of class ratio, the ratio at the church kindergarten was 20+ in a class which I heard from a mum there. The max in GUG is 2:16 which I feel is fine.. The crying always take a while to settle down despite any school. The most important factor is whether our child is happy. When u see the smiles and hugs they have in class, one can guess how much they enjoy school.
My personal opinion..

[Kohsc]

Hi,


Just want to add my two cents worth. My girl is with Gug since 8 months and she is now in K2 this year. The curriculum is good and the worksheets given are good preparation for P1. But the management of the school sucks. Recently they engages male cleaners for upkeeping of the school’s toilets whch are used for the children.

You can imagine how worried I am for the safety of my girl who will be using the toilets. The excuse of the school’s management is that they are not able to find female cleaners when I confronted them. After complaining to them, the management try to get around this problem by asking one teacher in the class to accompany the girls to the toilet. But I found this inefficient and disruptive to the lessons. I am seriously disturbed by the sight of two male cleaners in the near the school toilets.

The management ignored my feedbacks completely. You can imagine how frustrated I am as I am not able to pull my girl out at this time of the year when there is only a few more months left before her graduation.

I hope that parents who want to enrol their girls in Gug to take note of this.

[airex]

Hi,


Which GUG is your gal in? I think at mountbatten’s, I did not see any male staff.

[Kohsc]

Hi Yellow Belt,


My girl is at Novena Sq. The 2 male cleaners are always either at the pantry area or near the entrance of the toilets.

[bebe]

I am at the Novena Sq’s…I do not see any male cleaners…