Pat's Schoolhouse

[Karl12]

Hi Mommee,

Glad to know that your DS is happy with the switch.
Mine also enjoy school. Guess the problem lies with me.
My kiasu-ism doesnt allow me to stand there and watch while he is slacking behind other children his age.
So now its quite tiring for me, after work i still have to go back and tutor him so that he can be on par with the other K1s from other schools.
I reckon if i dont buck him up now, K2 will be worse.

His cousin who is 6 months older than him is already reading chapter books.
Mine cant even read simple 5 letter words.
Anyway will be sending him to \"I Can Read\" soon.

Wondering if this is normal for Pat's children to attend reading enrichment program?
Or its just my DS??

[Augmum]

Just relax:

I am rather surprised at the many comments suggesting a drop in the PSH standards. Both DSs were at Claymore and were well prepared for P1 and many of their peers from parents' feedback were also happy and well prepared for P1. Though I must say this was when Pat Koh still owned PSH. That would be at least 5 years ago for DS2.

Seldom visit this thread. I am very surprised too to read some of the negative comments of Pats.
Has Pats std really dropped ? :? i ponder.....

My gal attended Pats some 10 yrs ago, initially at Katong and later yrs at Halifax.....
I have all prasies for Pats, esp Halifax branch, the Principal and her both El and CL teachers, caring and passionate......
Yrs after gal had left Pats, she still visisted Pat Koh, and her teachers during the sch holidays, and they all still remembered us....

To recall, majority of her Pats classmates did very well academically when they went to their respective primary schs.
Did very well .....in the sense that they were often amongst the Top few in the class.

In fact, Pats did a \"kinda of survey\" on their K2 graduates, seeking for feedback of the Kids' academic performance in primary schs.
My gal was chosen to be invited to go on TV for that particular Pats Program, but i rejected the offer......
as we dont feel comfortable \"to expose her on TV\"......

Even till date, those K2 classmates of my gal are still doing well, currently studying in various IP sec schs.....
whether co-incidently or not.....
i am still grateful that Pats had built and laid a strong foundation (all rounder) for my gal during her preschool days.....
instilling them their confidence and their hunger for knowledge and learning.....
these positive attitude will be with them for life......

[Augmum]

Just relax:

The standard of teaching was average but during my children's time 5 years ago and earlier they had Beijing-born Mandarin teachers who spoke only in Mandarin so children had no choice but to speak and so spoken Mandarin is good. I do not know if PSH has maintained that strict Mandarin standard now.

Same for my gal CL teacher, she was fr China.
her mandarin pronunciation was excellent, very accurate....
that was where she acquired her good foundation of CL and her accent ....
so much so that when she went for her CL oral exam in her primary sch...
she was often being asked the question if she a local ?? (singaporean)
But after a few yrs, being taught by locals in her pri sch, she lost touch of the accent......haha....

[Karl12]

I must agree the Chinese standard is there. DS's teacher is from china. although in terms of academic, the words they learn are slower than the other childcares, my DS speak proper mandarin which I am really please with.


For English, it's not as good since the teachers are either from Philippine who speak like my helper's ascent or are young teachers who speak singlish. One teacher i spoke to keep using \"it's like\", \"you know, it's like...\" :rant:

The standards of the teachers are not like before. I have heard of dedicated and professional teachers in the past, who were teaching in pats for years. The students they taught did well and a good number of them were in gifted program. Guess things have change since these older teachers are no longer around, even Patricia has left for cherrie hearts I think. The new mgt probably has problems retaining the good old staffs, be it frontline or backend.

[camleelaa]

Karl12, I don’t receive bulletin updates at all. I am still not registered on the parents portal. Just receive the Chinese worksheets once a week, and some fastrack sheets as and when. It could be better organised, I agree. I surmised that my son learnt about the stars during the module on planets, which tied in with an excursion to the science centre. Is your son also in at the Serangoon branch?

[Karl12]

Mine is with Aroozoo.

Yours with Serangoon? You are so lucky to get in. The waiting list is v long. Its a very well established center with experience good teachers. I was in their waiting list too. But they only have vacancies in their new center Aroozoo.

I ask my DS about the \"dying star\", he is clueless. Oh they have not been to science centre. Their only outing was to an old folks home for CNY performance.
Its a meaningful event.

Seems that different centers have different curriculum.
My friend's son in Halifax, they have swimming as part of the enrichment.
This is not offered in Aroozoo.

Her son's teacher will sent her pictures via watsapp on a weekly basis. For mine, have not received a single picture from his teacher so far.
Guess it really depend on school/teacher. Probably the older established centers are better since there is still a handful of experienced teachers around (even though a number of them had left). My center is mainly new teachers. But I must give credits to the principal, who is formerly from baby haven. Shes a nice, friendly lady who is very hands on. Always see her around when i send him to school.

I have not received any chinese worksheet so far. Only got my first piece of K1 bulletin. It summarises what was being taught for the last 2 weeks. I also received some fast track music paper. Would be good if we know what they learn in the fast track kids program. At least, the theme for the week.
My DS is super blur, i ask him what he learn in school. Its always a flat answer \"I dunno\". :?

Your school has philipino teachers too?
I am fine with my boy speaking mandarin like his chinese teacher, with a chinese accent. But to speak english with philipino accent .... :slapshead:
He is already exposed to philipino accent at home from my helper.
Oh dear, :imsorry: for being racist.
Guess, i cannot complain too much since foreign talent is an integral part of our economy now.

[camleelaa]

Karl12, I haven’t noticed any filipino teachers in the Serangoon branch. They are either from China, or look like locals, and quite a few look very young. Not sure if they are teaching assistants, or teachers. I like the fact that the principal Ms Wee is truly hands on. I send my son early at 7.30am and she is usually there by then.


For Fastrack, my son will bring home an info sheet which tells me what he’s learnt, and ties in with what is on the Fastrack website where there are supplementary activites following the theme. So far I know from the sheets that they have done the human body and some biology. Have you been given a web login? Check with the school?

I also receive Watsapp pictures but only once a month. The teacher sends this out in the evening at her own time. The good thing is my son’s teachers are truly very communicative. All my requests and questions are answered at length and promptly. So long as I don’t think about the cost (at Pats fees I can send 3 kids to church kindy), I’m happy my son’s there.

[Karl12]

Hi camleela,


Is this the fastrack website you referring to?
http://www.fastrackids-at-home.com/kid_par.php

I need to register as member? Is it chargeable?
So far, only heard him mention about planets and earth.

I only saw papers on fastrack music. So not such what he learn from fastrack kids, except astrology.

Will be interesting when he gets to learn about biology as well. :rahrah:

[jetsetter]

I've been monitoring the progress of my kid in the past few months after seeing how his cousin (K2) is learning how to spell 4-letter words and numbers up to 50 (i.e. \"twenty-two, thirty-four, etc). Same for Chinese tingxie which is offered since he was in nursery at an affordable church kindergarten compared to the very pricey PSH that my DS attends.


So what on earth is PSH @ Aroozoo teaching those K1 kids? FastTrack music scores that are stuffed into my kid's bag weekly which I trash every time I see them. Useless art and crafts that leave me clueless about the objectives of those exercises. Looking at the weekly timetable, you will see half the day (am) taken up by outdoor activities: Sandplay, Waterplay, PE, Tricycle, Playground. Oh, but of course, they have such a huge compound so it'll be a waste not to let the kids run around under the hot sun.

Now after sweating out in the morning, they proceed to shower, then take their lunch, followed by a 2-hr nap. After waking up at 3-ish in the afternoon, only then would the kids start to learn something useful and constructive. What then is useful to the preschoolers? Speech and Drama Eng, Speech and Drama Chinese, ABC Music by the Filipino music teacher, iMath by the PRC teacher, FastTrack by the Eng teacher that teaches them about the solar system, biology, botany, senses, etc. While I agree these are useful to some extent, cos they develop the kids' self-confidence and ability to express themselves more coherently (prep for Show and Tell in pr sch), they do not train them how to spell when dictated to by the teacher or the audio tape. Nor do they yet prepare them well for reading short stories in years to come.

So are they teaching them how to spell and read? I won't know until the teachers send me the \"evidence\" to prove they have delivered their KPIs. Had I not flagged this to them, they won't otherwise have initiated to email me the worksheets or \"evidence\" to show me that work, not just frivolous work, but solid educational work, had been done by my kid who spends a good 8 hours there. Only after flagging, they said they will be sending to all parents this Friday, so Karl12, you'll soon see those worksheets coming your way. Why take so long? Why can't it be a weekly submission affair? A whatsapp image of the worksheets will be comforting and assuring to the parents too right?

So how useful is their Speech and Drama? According to my kid's feedback, they seem to be learning dancing (舞蹈课） all the time. And according to my kid's teacher's feedback, my son's sense of rhythm is superb and his body synchronisation is good too. Oh, so they just dance all year long? I was expecting the Lorna Whiston sort of Speech and Drama where they practise some simple playacting and speak in a melodramatic manner Well, perhaps I'm too demanding. Haha.

How about the famous iMath that PSH offers and is proud of? Apart from last year's 1A/1B and 2A/2B workbooks and 3D educational toys returned to me last Dec, I have not seen this year's iMath textbooks/workbooks. What exactly was my kid learning? Can he actually add or subtract? I won't know as I also send him for external Math enrichment on weekends. Last Dec, at the PTS, I was alarmed when the teachers told me they only need to know how to count up to 20 for their age. Excuse me? 20...hmm...Before I put my kid at PSH, he was already counting to 30-40 at an affordable anchor operator (AOP). Unbelievable, Pats.

Next, what happened to the additional keyboard and swimming lessons that Serangoon branch offered? I was sold instantly when I visited LAP branch 2 years ago, so I enroled my kid at the new Aroozoo, thinking that the same would be offered (cos the VP there didn't bother to tell me sorry it won't be offered at the branch you're signing up for). If I said I didn't feel misled, I'd be lying.

Now let me review their Chinese standard. The consolation that I have is my kid got a PRC teacher who is caring and dedicated. She was always praising my kid's standard of Chinese and questioned if I spoke the language to my kid at home. Oh nope, sorry to disappoint you, we don't. Neither do the old folks at home. So was it to the credit of Berries that my kid attends on weekend? I dunno...maybe, cos Berries' Chinese standard is very high, compared to the simple words they are beginning to teach: 小、大、天、土、日、山. At K1 Berries, last week, they were already teaching the strokes of 梳子、牙刷.

I'm a FTWM. I need to see results and deliverables, just as my boss needs to see mine. 5-6 yr olds just prancing around at the sprawling playground daily isn't going down well with me. \"Americanised teaching methodology\", so said one of the teachers last year when I queried the substance of their curriculum. Well, I guess some parents love such lasseiz faire methodology, but I now question if it'll work in our local context. It doesn't take long for one to figureout what is demanded and required in our local context. Just walk in to Popular Bookstore, grab a P1 textbook and go home to test on your K1 or K2 kid. Do you already know pinyin? Are you starting to understand the concept of addition and subtraction? Do you recognise the words of option for this cloze passage?

Very kiasu sounding. I sound like a Tiger mom that many \"relak\" parents would love to slam. Alas, this is the reality of today's situation. Hard skills are still essential. Once your esteem at P1 is hit just cos you still can't spell/count/read simple Chinese story books like your peers, it'll take a lot of patience and courage to regain that lost confidence.

Preschoolers can absorb knowledge more than you think. If the school doesn't catch them at K1 or K2, on the assumption that it'll stress the young ones out, I'm afraid it's a missed opportunity for them to impart the nec hard skills to these precocious lil kids. The threshold and potential to absorb is beyond your imagination. Why do I said that? Last Dec, after the PTS session with PSH, I decided to take matters into my own hands since I was less busy at work. I wanted to test what my kid had learnt in his short 1 year at PSH Aroozoo.

To my surprise, he hasn't learnt much hard stuffs that I deem he ought to know at 4+, compared to my nieces and nephews attending other MOE kindergartens. I started to coach him at night myself, after my work, by reading short stories with him. I read 3-4 books per night, and progressed to next stage where he would read the sentences on his own. Indeed, it requires a lot of patience to guide him to break down the letters and to decode the phonics and derive the semantics. After 3 months of grilling, my kid can read short stories on his own now.

I wonder if PSH is teaching them how to read already. If they haven't, they really should buck up. The lil reading corner in the classroom must not be for show.

I'm contributing this feedback not just for forumers. I'm contributing this so that the branch in question can come in to read my comments and yes, go ahead spy on my profile too. You know who I am, PSH. Please buck up. Cheers

[empressplace]

jetsetter is your son in K1 or K2 this year?