Advise needed on good preschool in Serangoon

[imblur]

Hi,


My dd has been in the childcare since Oct 2011. Till now, she still falls sick frequently. When I say frequently, it's at least once a month and sometimes up to twice per month. Each sickness would cause her to be home bound for at least a week. There was once when she even caught the hfmd. The number of occurances of hfmd was also rather frequent in this school. It seems like the virus would come and haunt the school once every 2-3 months. There was even once when 16 of her classmates caught the virus. I'm thinking that since my dd falls sick frequently, she would not be able to reap much from the curriculum taught in her current childcare. I thought maybe it would be better enrolling her into those 3 hr preschools so that the chances of her falling sick would be slimmer, the frequency of absentism would be lower and she would be able to learn more. I've shortlisted a few but not too sure which one would be a better one. Hence would like to seek your opinion on those preschools listed below:

1) Bethesda Bukit Arang Church Kindergarten
2) Trinity Methodist Church Kindergarten
3) SFX (St Francis Xavier) Kindergarten
4) Paya Lebar Methodist Convent Kindergarten

I couldn't find much comments on the above 4 and would like to seek fresh opinions on these places. Else would appreciate it if you could recommend others not listed above.

Thank you very much. :thankyou:

[imblur]

Oh by the way, my dd would be turning 4 next year.

[nms1]

We looked at Trinity a few years ago. My comments would be:
[list]

[imblur]

u mean they focus a lot more on academics? i supposed the older ones could be doing a lot of worksheets in order to prep them for pri 1?

[nms1]

imblur:

u mean they focus a lot more on academics? i supposed the older ones could be doing a lot of worksheets in order to prep them for pri 1?

I don't really know; it was just the impression that I had from walking around.

[imblur]

I've called those preschools listed above. SFX and Paya Lebar Methodist do not have anymore vacancies for morning sessions. I'll be visiting TMC tomorrow morning. However, the principal at Bethesda does not allow us to do visitation when the classes are ongoing. She doesn't give me a welcoming feel.


Hmm...what does one look out for in selecting a preschool for your kids?

[nms1]

imblur:

I've called those preschools listed above. SFX and Paya Lebar Methodist do not have anymore vacancies for morning sessions. I'll be visiting TMC tomorrow morning. However, the principal at Bethesda does not allow us to do visitation when the classes are ongoing. She doesn't give me a welcoming feel.


Hmm...what does one look out for in selecting a preschool for your kids?

If Bethesda won't let you in when classes are ongoing then don't bother with them.

When you visit, it's better to take your child so that you can see how the teachers interact with her. We visited one school (no longer around) where the teacher didn't even acknowledge that my daughter was there whereas another one let her sit down and join in.

Ask them about the turnover of teachers and also try to talk to some of them to judge the standard of their English as some of them are not very good. I would also ask about how they prepare them for P1 - not in terms of academic stuff and worksheets but getting them used to following instructions, fending for themselves etc.

Look at the classrooms and the work displayed on the walls. Does it look interesting?