Childfirst Preschool

[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.

[maryellen]

I’m a foreigner (American) and I have 3 children in Childfirst at the moment. My 2, 4, and 5 year old all attend (N1, N2, and K2) and the elder two have been attending for a year. I really like the school and appreciate that they offer immersion in Chinese.


My 5 and 4 year old can converse with people in Mandarin. My 5 year old reads and writes the characters. It turns out he is much better at reading Mandarin than he is at English! They do not teach Pinyin until K2. We have a Mandarin home teacher for my 7 year old and she is impressed with my children’s chinese speaking abilities.

More pluses:
The center is very clean and tidy. They are are always cleaning it. The environment is very new and bright and pleasant to be in.
The curriculum is great. They do not follow it super closely in N1/N2, but the K1/K2 books are used every day and my son loves his school books. He sleeps with them in his bed.

A few minuses:
Expensive, especially for foreigners. Ouch!

They are a bit disorganized for my tastes, but they mean very well and respond promptly to emails and phone calls.

There was some issue with the bus driving company for a number of months (I got yelled in the middle of the night at for not paying them, even though I had and showed them copies of the cheques, they cursed and gave middle fingers to people in the presence of children, plus my children learned how to say "shut up" because the bus uncle was not nice). Finally the school fired them and terminated their agreement immediately. The new bus company is so nice and so much better.

Please PM me if you have further questions. I don’t mind answering them at all.

[Extremely_GCKS_Mummy]

Thumbs up for this childcare centre @ Mountbatten Sq.!!


I managed to secure a free 2-weeks trial there for my girl last Dec from one of contest I joined & luckily my entry got the prize…

I enrolled my girl of 22mths then, not started classes yet (she started playgroup class this Jan), for a full-day programme (they conduct English in a.m & Mandarin in p.m)… I am with her for the full 2-days and half-day in the a.m on the 3rd day, I must say that I am quite pleased with them in all aspects - facilities, attitude of teachers, assistants & principal (Ms Cynthia)… It happen to be the X’mas month & their X’mas celebration is quite fun for the kids… I am impressed with their Speech & Drama room where my girl had immersed herself in during the morning (waiting for all kids to reach before they proceed to their classroom) and during the evening (when waiting for me to pick her up).

When my girl initially cannot adapt to their naptime, the teacher & assistant will try to coax her to sleep by hugging & patting her… or just make her lie down…

After 2weeks there, my girl actually learnt to put away her bowls/cups after meals & throw away her own diapers after change & then wash her hands… She also knew to sanitise her hands before meals…

If not because of the high fees ($1,046 after gov. susidy) and the travelling distance (from Buangkok to Mountbatten Sq & my office is at town), I would have enrolled her there…

[Mybabyme]

HI all


Anymore have put your child in ChildFirst - Dunearn? Their new centre? Do they have an outdoor playground.

Thanks and Regard
Mybabyme

[Mybabyme]

maryellen:

I'm a foreigner (American) and I have 3 children in Childfirst at the moment. My 2, 4, and 5 year old all attend (N1, N2, and K2) and the elder two have been attending for a year. I really like the school and appreciate that they offer immersion in Chinese.


My 5 and 4 year old can converse with people in Mandarin. My 5 year old reads and writes the characters. It turns out he is much better at reading Mandarin than he is at English! They do not teach Pinyin until K2. We have a Mandarin home teacher for my 7 year old and she is impressed with my children's chinese speaking abilities.

More pluses:
The center is very clean and tidy. They are are always cleaning it. The environment is very new and bright and pleasant to be in.
The curriculum is great. They do not follow it super closely in N1/N2, but the K1/K2 books are used every day and my son loves his school books. He sleeps with them in his bed.

A few minuses:
Expensive, especially for foreigners. Ouch!

They are a bit disorganized for my tastes, but they mean very well and respond promptly to emails and phone calls.

There was some issue with the bus driving company for a number of months (I got yelled in the middle of the night at for not paying them, even though I had and showed them copies of the cheques, they cursed and gave middle fingers to people in the presence of children, plus my children learned how to say \"shut up\" because the bus uncle was not nice). Finally the school fired them and terminated their agreement immediately. The new bus company is so nice and so much better.

Please PM me if you have further questions. I don't mind answering them at all.

Hi Mary, which centre do you send your kiddos to? Any outdoor play for children there?

[Jazzie]

Hi Mummies,


I will be going to their Dunearn Branch open house this May.

Would appreciate any feedback or information pertaining to this branch.
Does your kids learn well in the school?

MTIA!

[Maverick]

Hi Parents,


Anyone has any feedback of Childfirst Preschool at dunearn road? Contemplating between this versus other establishment along the same road. Price wise they are all the same, though Childfirst is newer while the other centers have been around longer.

Childfirst is having a open house this sat (30th June) and understand that they would have a open play area by year end (which is a plus).

Thanks in advance.