Pat's Schoolhouse

[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?

[camleelaa]

Karl12, that is the correct website. The school should provide you with a free logon.

[Karl12]

Hi jetsetter,

I totally agree with you.
Their study time each day is 1hr 40mins, which is shorter than a normal kindergarden learning hours. I notice that they have music and movement everyday. Do they necessarily have to sing everyday? and of coz daily outdoor activities like cycling, playground,sandplay, waterplay etc
It's no wonder why most kids are happy there.
Compared to other kindergarden/childcare with playground session once a week, pats is a play heaven.

But I believe it's not aroozoo's problem? Probably it's pats overall curriculum. In the past, pats produce a lot of children with good results in primary school. They are the few bilingual preschool back then.

Now, things have change. Every school has improved. Most pre schools teaches both languages now. Curriculum also improve a lot. So much so that some schools are more comprehensive than Pats now. Imagine the biggest chain MFS is more academic focus than Pats now. Downside for MFS is their high teacher student ratio. Their enrichment program like abacas, science, speech and drama are outsourced to professional, which IMO is better. Guess KU is not making any progress after they acquire Pats. They cant be using their old curriculum when the world is constantly improving.

I also send my DS to berries. Coincidentally, all my friends with kids in pats also send their kids to berries. We know we cant rely on Pats alone for chinese as their syllabus lagged behind other pre schools that I have made comparison with.
I am looking at sending my DS to reading program too. Probably I Can Read or something similar. Notice that other kids his age can read simple stories themselves already. But mine still rely on me to read picture book to him.

Talking about I math, just receive an invoice for $107 for I math material.
Surprise that the monthly $1550 we paid to pats doesn't include that.

Btw, are we given the fastrack kids password for the fastrack website? Another mummy here got it from her school. But I don't remember receiving any from aroozoo.

Anyway, :thankyou: for the feedback to Pats. At least now, we will be able to know what our children learn in school.

[kboon2009]

Hi any feedback on jubilee psh please? I’m considering moving my child to jubilee but seeing all the negative feedback on other branches worries me. Has the standard at jubilee dropped too under KU? Thank you.

[Han Seo]

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.

There are so many variables at work here: the child's cognitive ability, the family environment, the enrichment classes etc. How do you know for sure that the child's improvement is due solely to the effort of the preschool?

[Shey]

Hi,


Any parents have their little one in Serangoon branch this year? Any feedback or changes since the founder has left?

Thanks,

[Khamullotr]

Hi,

Would like to enquire the withdrawal process? If I withdraw this month, can my child be pull out before June. I lost the handbook given during registration. Cannot remember the notice period.
Thanks.