Globalkids
-
Hi David,
Yes they are. They are very patient with the kids.
I'm sure, like many parents, you would hear stories of how some childcare teachers will leave the crying kids to a corner to cry themselves out during their 1st days.
This does not happen at Global Kids. The teachers will take as long as necessary to soothe & calm & distract the frightened kids during the scary 1st days of school & give them lots of praises & encouragements when they stop crying while walking into school. So, you can imagine that the teachers are almost always run off their feet at the start of the school year. New kids who seem inclined towards a particular teacher are also allowed to follow their preferred teacher during the 1st days of adjustments whether or not that teacher is assigned to the child's particular class and are slowly adjusted back to their class as they become more comfortable & confident.
Even my boy, who was moved from Mountbatten Road branch to Crescent Road branch for N2 this year, was not ridiculed or anything for being scared due to new teachers & new environment. He was simply being handled with love & care & distractions, with much patience to wait for him to get used to everything.
His new teacher even called me on a weekend to try to better understand his character to ensure that his behaviour is not out of his usual norm (i.e. there is no specific issues that they need to be concern about) and know better how to manage him.
Basically, the kids are being treated with much love, care & respect, which the kids will learn from too. It's not uncommon to see seasoned kids hugging & comforting new crying kids along with the teachers too.
davidwatson1:
I have heard they are very caring about the kids.
-
Any reviews on the serangoon branch???
-
I had a very bad experience with Globalkids cresent. Not so much with the teachers, but with the principal theresa.
My child was with the Mounbatten branch for 6 months, before he was transferred to the cresent branch for N2 onwards. I received a call from Theresa to go to the school for a chit chat about my child on the 2nd day of school.
During the meeting she mentioned that her school is a place for normal children, hinting heavily that my child is not normal. She also said that my child’s active nature is causing a lot of stress to her teachers. Eventually she articulated that she would like to expel my child from the school.
This incident made me very worried about singapore’s pre school education system. I no longer know what education is about when a principal wants to expel a 3 year 4 months old child. Theresa can tout herself as having 25 years of experience in pre school education. She should be ashamed of herself. I even called MCYS to enquire about this and MCYS says that the school has their right to accept the type of students whom they want.
There is one that the school organized an outing to their branch at laguna park and the charge for that is $22. When I asked for the breakdown of cost, the amount is supposed to cover pasta, some buns and transport.
I will leave you to decide if global kids cresent (now apricot academy) is worth sending your child to. -
Any review for infant care for Globalkids at Serangoon branch?
-
Hi Tarekum,
I just came from States with my husband and 4 year old son 2 months ago. We needed a childcare and we visited Crescent Apricot Academy. Principal Theresa was there to show us around and explained to us how the center works and what it has to offer.
My husband wanted to have 2 weeks trial and Principal Theresa suggested don’t even try to have the trial to prevent unnecessary trauma to our boy. Principal Theresa is able to share with us about our boy overly active nature and his needs within 10 minutes of observation and interaction.
We are amazed with Principal Theresa professionalism and expertise. She suggested we look out for total play approach school as that would be of great support to our child’s needs.
I have reflected that sometimes what we want as a parent and what our child need may not be the same. I think Principal Theresa has something to share that we may not see it. We are very thankful to Principal Theresa for her kind sharing and she is very approachable. She even open up her communication channel for me to reach out to her should I need someone to discuss with even though we did put our child there due to suitability reason. My husband and I truly appreciate the meeting we had with Principal Theresa. -
hi, i just want to share my experience at globalkids @ serangoon so that parents who r thinking of putting your kids there will know what to expect.
I went to have a look at the centre n was impressed, brightly lit, v cleaned, organised n kids seems disciplined n happy n my fren has a boy in the IFC of this centre (IFC is just next door to the CC, they have their own entrance). spoke to Ms Karen n asked if shes the principal of the school n she said yes. So i was v keen to let my girl enter the cc when she turns 19month in 3 month’s time. i asked if i could have the time table to show my husband n was rejected. but was given a post it pad note on what to expect to be be the initial payment etc. (i thot it was quite un pro but nvm)
2nd trip down was w my hb, n he also liked the place so we were given a stack of forms to fill in. 3rd trip down was to give the forms n pay the deposit. i went w my daughter. i was not allowed in the centre, ms karen would carry my girl in to say hello to the kids. it was a bit strange to me as i was left outside on my own. then i requested for the time table, as well as the parents handbook n uniform. but i was told all this will only be given on the first day of school but i can have the uniform if i insist. then i asked if so how do i know whats to bring on first day of school? she started writing down some items on post it pad note again. i felt strange n asked y cant i have the handbook n timetable. she just smiled n brush it off. anyway, this void of info already made me feel v uncomfortable. anyway, i asked about mattress cover, shampoo, n daily needs n was given the impression that all will be provided by the centre. i requested to take the uniform as i thot that i want my girl to be able to mingle in on first day (it was a stupid move as i withdrew my girl on third day of sch, i could not refund the uniform)
on first day of sch, my girl was v happy to be in her uniform n took her school bag n was walking in happiness towards the centre. but she was frightened by the thermometer check which to me was ok, so i carried her up n to my surprise, ms k just took her over w her screaming n crying n carried her all the way into the centre. i was v angry cos i thot that this episode was totally unnecessary n my girl would be frightened further. i asked her to stop but she didnt n passed my girl to another teacher to wash her feets n hands. i told her my girl will vomit if she cry too long n i demanded her to bring her out NOW. it was then she went in n carried her out but she didnt hand to me but start to show my girl around. it was then my girl slowly calmed down n mingled w the kids. (i was still not allowed into the centre btw, its their rule, parents are not allowed to acc your kid at all, no orientation for first few days! i thot w this rule they must have been able to do a lot to put the parents at ease, however, my experience that morning simply instill zero confidence in me). Then Ms K came out n told me oh my girl is ok, which i saw thru the glass door, n that i was too emo as i m preg. i was pissed but i thot my girl did seem fine, i will let her stay n see. i’ll fetch her after lunch. when i fetched her, she was like tired n dazed… so i cant tell if shes happy or not. but she did say good bye to ms k who brought her out, i guess its a positive sign.
Day 2, at least Ms k asked if she could carry her in n i said no, i will train her to go in herself (i just didnt want her to be snatched over every morning, shes not going to jail btw). similarly crying fr the thermometer check up, i asked if she wanna go in, she nodded her head n stop crying n was willing to let a teacher carried her in, we left happily n picked her at noon again. when i picked her, similarly, she was dazed n tired. anyway, ms k told me shes adapting well n so i told her ill pick her up later the next day.
day 3, she went in w ms k n cried suddenly, we thot it was ok but we lingered around outside at the door peeping in as she did not take her water bottle n i forgot to tell ms k what time i will be fetching her today. we waited a while, n then saw my girl again n she happened to glimpse at us n started crying again. she was then carried inside n then ms k came out. this first thing she mention was she cried again becos she saw us… n we are jeopardising her effort to make her adapt in. She thinks that my girl is adapting v well n its the parents that has v bad separation anxiety. She is literally scolding us! anyway, we told her to be fair, this is the first time we are standing here. n we were v uncomfortable w the first day episode but nonetheless we still bring our girl as we think that since she didnt reject coming to school, its a good sign. n that she cant expect us to trust the sch blindly, esp w the first day episode (we didnt bother to explain about the water bottle, cos we dun think we r in the wrong even if we had tried to peeped in n my girl saw us) well, ms k simply put it that we dun trust the sch n theres no point in continuing n she can seek refund fr her management for us when we pick her up at 12pm that day.
me n my husband simply replied its ok, we’ll take her out NOW, though ms k seems shocked at our reply. To me, if you had mention about refunding me (ie throwing us out) u think i would put my girl w u for the next few hr???
Sorry for the detailed n long story. to be fair, i agreed that my girl is adapting well n seems to like the school pretty much, the kids there seems happy etc. but we simply have to withdraw her w this turn of event.
Other things that u might be interested to know:
1)ms k is not the principal, shes the ops manager of the centre
2)in the handbook, i realised there is a two week trial, which was totally not told to me at all, n also, they do not welcome parents to celebrate birthday for their kids, but u can hand them the cake n camera, they will take photos for u
3) the centre is airconditioned n fully indoor, including their playground.
4) after your first visit to the centre, that’s more or less the last time u ever know what inside looks like.
TO me, i do think the kids there seems happy n v disciplined but it does seems like a jail to me w all the rigid rules n of cos its v v v safe since its heavily guarded n not even parents are allowed inside. Its military style didnt suit what i wanted n i find the void of info n communication w ms k painful. so hope this can help u to decide whether u want to put your kid there. -
Hi littlefren
My son has been with GlobalKids Infant care for 10 months and soon he will be going to the Toddler Class. My experience with Karen and the teachers are overall very pleasant. I like the way Karen operate mainly because she not only educate the children, she educate the parents. For me, I take her feedback in a positive way although the way she puts it across to us may not be pleasing to our ears all the time.
The environment in GlobalKids is definitely very healthy for kids to be in as there are no TVs in the centre. Parents receive feedback from the teachers very often and the teachers there are really passionate and loving.
Karen gave me a stack of paper during my first visit including the checklist. Is there a misunderstanding?
They carry your girl in the school despite her crying is to distract her attention to other things that may interest her. I do not see anything wrong with that at all.
Is your girl settled in a new place now? -
Hi peiying,
The only reason y my post is so long is because I wanna be fair to GK n am recounting my experience as detail as possible that indeed that is what I have been thru n was given, so there is no misunderstanding. I’m v glad your son has adapted well in IFC n as I have mentioned in my post, my fren has a child in IFC as well n was n is happy there. I can only say maybe for a baby to adapt n for a toddler to go in at 19mths is quite different. Actually I understand the part about carry in while crying is ok n trying to distract her if that was her intention n was conveyed to me. But not when your kid was just snatched over without warning n screaming n simply passed to another teacher who further carried her into the toilet all the way behind n to get her hands n feets washed. She only carried out my girl because I said my girl would vomit if she cries too long, which is true. If u were me, how would u feel? Your girl’s first day in school, frightened by the checkup, snatched over by a stranger without warning, passed to another stranger, immediately took to a unknown place to wash your feets n hands. If she had snatched over n then showed her around, it’s a different story. Though I think the right thing to do is to tell the parent: it’s ok she’s crying, let me take over. I would gladly pass over n see how she settled my girl.
Anyway, the fact that I had came back for second n third day shows I was still trying n lookinh beyond what happened on the first day. But my encounter on third day had just made us decided on the spot.
Anyway, I’m glad your son adapted well there n their style suits u. It just didn’t go as I had wished. As I have said, I think my girl adapted well there for the two brief days. But we were just thrown out on the third. N the whole episode cost me $300 over. It’s definitely not a misunderstanding. -
Dear littlefren,
I am so sorry (but at the same time, very surprised) to read about your unpleasant experience with Globalkids@Serangoon. I would like to take this opportunity to share my wonderful experience with Globalkids@Serangoon with everyone reading this forum thread to make a more informed judgment about the Centre. My son joined Globalkids’ Infant Care Unit when he was 13 months. Then, I was a SAHM who took a one-year sabbatical to look after my firstborn. As a first-time mother, I did intensive research by visiting several centres in my neighbourhood but was not impressed. My friend recommended that I checked out Globalkids@Serangoon which was near her place but not within walking distance of where I stayed. Thinking that I have nothing to lose, I arranged for a visit to the centre with my husband.
During the visit, I was impressed with how happy the kids were and how patient Teacher Karen was in addressing all my concerns and questions. One of my worries was regarding my son’s feeding issues. First, he doesn’t drink milk from a bottle. Second, he doesn’t take well to semi-solids. I was very positive about Teacher Karen’s sharing of her experience in dealing with her daughter with similar feeding issues and her assurance that my son will not be go hungry; if he doesn’t drink from a bottle, they will use other ways to get him to drink his milk. Another worry I had was that of my son going to Toddler class in 5 months’ time, I requested for Teacher Karen to share the curriculum, schedule, feeding menus and a tour of the toddler class premises with me (in addition to the tour of the infant unit), which she gladly did. In fact, Teacher Karen was very warm and forthcoming in addressing my questions and concerns. As an educator myself, I am very particular about awareness towards Special Educational Needs which I believe can be better managed with early intervention. Therefore, I posed Teacher Karen some questions on this topic and was heartened to note how teachers at the Centre had previously handled such cases. Another observation I made when I was at the Centre was how happy the kids were. The teachers were very friendly and given the tight enrolment (i.e. they have only 1 class per level from Toddler to K2 class), the teachers and kids from the different levels know one another. I also noted that the rapport between teachers and kids is very good. All in all, I spent a good and fulfilling 2 hours during that visit.
Given the very positive experience that generated good vibes from the first visit, I called up the Centre and confirmed my son’s enrolment. Teacher Karen was very understanding and thoughtful in in that she didn’t felt it was necessary for me to pay another trip down just to collect the forms, so she emailed them to me. My husband then went down to the Centre after a few days to pay the deposit and hand in the completed forms. Thereafter, Teacher Karen emailed me the infant class checklist on what to bring on the first day. A week before the date of enrolment (sometime in early Dec 2012), Teacher Karen called me to inform that there was a case of HMFD in the school and asked me if I can delay my son’s enrolment. She also advised me on how I can better help ease my son into the centre’s regime by allowing him to stay for longer hours each day over a period of a week until he goes there full-time. The teachers were fantastic in that they were patient in training my son to drink his milk from a straw cup and to improve his ability to chew his foods. Another apparent thing I observed was the strong rapport between the teachers and parents. In light of this, I agree with Peiying’s comment about how the teachers not only educate the kids, they educate the parents.
Up to a month before moving onto Toddler class at 18 months, the teachers helped ensured a slow but steady transition for my son. They started with introducing him to the play time at the indoor playground with the other kids, having tea time with his toddler classmates and joining the toddlers for activities. With the guidance and handholding by the caring teachers, my son’s transition to toddler class was nothing but smooth. My son really enjoys his time spent at the centre. I also noted that since he started at Global kids, my son has made vast improvements in his ability to comprehend what I say, and to verbalize his thoughts. Another thing which I am very thankful for is that he is now very adventurous with foods and is eating very well. Just last week when I brought him for a checkup, his PD commented that he is growing well and has in fact moved to a higher percentile chart for weight gain.
I would like to provide my take on some of the things you mentioned in your post:
1. I am ok with the teachers carrying my crying son into the Centre. It may be an uncomfortable sight to watch, but 10 out of 10 of the times, the kid is ok once inside. In fact, I am thankful for the teachers for doing that as I need to make my way to office after dropping him off at the Centre. IMHO, I seriously feel it’s a very bad idea to linger around because when crying kids catches glimpses of their parents, they start bawling. This in turn prolongs the adjustment into the new environment.
2. I am in support of the Centre’s stand in not allowing parents to accompany their kids for the first few days at school. By allowing this will only "open a can of worm" (i.e. create more problems). As kids get older, they find it harder to adapt and adjust to school, which could be the case for your daughter. If parents are allowed in every time a new kid joins, strangers within the premises will make other kids feel insecure and unsafe. This might also jeopardize the efforts put in by other parents and teachers in helping their kids to ease in. Just as you don’t bring your kids to work with you, do you? Similarly, when kids go to school, parents shouldn’t follow.
3. I concur with Globalkids’ stand in not allowing parents to celebrate their kids’ birthdays in school. Since my son joined Globalkids 8.5 months ago, I didn’t need to worry about anxiety caused to my son due to the repeated parents who are free to go in and out of the Centre. I accolade the Centre’s efforts to keep my kid safe and feel secure. If I cannot celebrate my son’s birthday in school, I can always celebrate his birthday at home. Of course, there is no stopping me from preparing birthday goodie bags to give to the kids in his class.
4. I like that each class has its own classrooms. The layout of the premises is not that of centres operated at HDB void decks where so called ‘classrooms’ are makeshift tables and chairs with cupboards as partitions. That, in my opinion as an educator of 10 years, is not conducive for learning.
5. If Globalkids is akin to a ‘jail’, it must be a really happy jail’! Every day when I fetch my son home, he runs to me laughing. On the way home in the car, he would tell me about his day. My son loves going to school. I love their management style, and there’s really nothing wrong with instilling discipline and structure (I am not comfortable with the use of the word ‘rigid’) from a young age. Even medical experts attest to the notion of getting young kids adhere to routines as they usually perform better with them.
6. I have learnt many invaluable lessons from Teacher Karen and all the teachers at Globalkids on parenting. They taught me how I can help my son to maximize his learning, right down to details of foods to avoid when my son has mild diarrhea. I am deeply grateful towards all the teachers, for giving advice even when I didn’t ask for it.
7. The good reputation and image portrayed by Globalkids as being safe, clean, hygenic and warm was not built overnight. It was a concerted effort by the management, the teachers and also the support from the parents. As a result of this, parents can have peace of mind at work knowing their kids are safe and protected. More importantly, we do not need to worry about episodes of illnesses such as HMFD (not everyone is blessed to take leave as and when we have to) which are contagious.
Last but not least, I would like to say that “one’s man meat is another man’s poison”. What works well for me did not work well for you. Hope that all is well with your arrangement for your daughter at another Centre.
Good luck! -
Dear littlefren,
I am so sorry (but at the same time, very surprised) to read about your unpleasant experience with Globalkids@Serangoon. I would like to take this opportunity to share my wonderful experience with Globalkids@Serangoon with everyone reading this forum thread to make a more informed judgment about the Centre. My son joined Globalkids’ Infant Care Unit when he was 13 months. Then, I was a SAHM who took a one-year sabbatical to look after my firstborn. As a first-time mother, I did intensive research by visiting several centres in my neighbourhood but was not impressed. My friend recommended that I checked out Globalkids@Serangoon which was near her place but not within walking distance of where I stayed. Thinking that I have nothing to lose, I arranged for a visit to the centre with my husband.
During the visit, I was impressed with how happy the kids were and how patient Teacher Karen was in addressing all my concerns and questions. One of my worries was regarding my son’s feeding issues. First, he doesn’t drink milk from a bottle. Second, he doesn’t take well to semi-solids. I was very positive about Teacher Karen’s sharing of her experience in dealing with her daughter with similar feeding issues and her assurance that my son will not be go hungry; if he doesn’t drink from a bottle, they will use other ways to get him to drink his milk. Another worry I had was that of my son going to Toddler class in 5 months’ time, I requested for Teacher Karen to share the curriculum, schedule, feeding menus and a tour of the toddler class premises with me (in addition to the tour of the infant unit), which she gladly did. In fact, Teacher Karen was very warm and forthcoming in addressing my questions and concerns. As an educator myself, I am very particular about awareness towards Special Educational Needs which I believe can be better managed with early intervention. Therefore, I posed Teacher Karen some questions on this topic and was heartened to note how teachers at the Centre had previously handled such cases. Another observation I made when I was at the Centre was how happy the kids were. The teachers were very friendly and given the tight enrolment (i.e. they have only 1 class per level from Toddler to K2 class), the teachers and kids from the different levels know one another. I also noted that the rapport between teachers and kids is very good. All in all, I spent a good and fulfilling 2 hours during that visit.
Given the very positive experience that generated good vibes from the first visit, I called up the Centre and confirmed my son’s enrolment. Teacher Karen was very understanding and thoughtful in in that she didn’t felt it was necessary for me to pay another trip down just to collect the forms, so she emailed them to me. My husband then went down to the Centre after a few days to pay the deposit and hand in the completed forms. Thereafter, Teacher Karen emailed me the infant class checklist on what to bring on the first day. A week before the date of enrolment (sometime in early Dec 2012), Teacher Karen called me to inform that there was a case of HMFD in the school and asked me if I can delay my son’s enrolment. She also advised me on how I can better help ease my son into the centre’s regime by allowing him to stay for longer hours each day over a period of a week until he goes there full-time. The teachers were fantastic in that they were patient in training my son to drink his milk from a straw cup and to improve his ability to chew his foods. Another apparent thing I observed was the strong rapport between the teachers and parents. In light of this, I agree with Peiying’s comment about how the teachers not only educate the kids, they educate the parents.
Up to a month before moving onto Toddler class at 18 months, the teachers helped ensured a slow but steady transition for my son. They started with introducing him to the play time at the indoor playground with the other kids, having tea time with his toddler classmates and joining the toddlers for activities. With the guidance and handholding by the caring teachers, my son’s transition to toddler class was nothing but smooth. My son really enjoys his time spent at the centre. I also noted that since he started at Global kids, my son has made vast improvements in his ability to comprehend what I say, and to verbalize his thoughts. Another thing which I am very thankful for is that he is now very adventurous with foods and is eating very well. Just last week when I brought him for a checkup, his PD commented that he is growing well and has in fact moved to a higher percentile chart for weight gain.
I would like to provide my take on some of the things you mentioned in your post:
1. I am ok with the teachers carrying my crying son into the Centre. It may be an uncomfortable sight to watch, but 10 out of 10 of the times, the kid is ok once inside. In fact, I am thankful for the teachers for doing that as I need to make my way to office after dropping him off at the Centre. IMHO, I seriously feel it’s a very bad idea to linger around because when crying kids catches glimpses of their parents, they start bawling. This in turn prolongs the adjustment into the new environment.
2. I am in support of the Centre’s stand in not allowing parents to accompany their kids for the first few days at school. By allowing this will only "open a can of worm" (i.e. create more problems). As kids get older, they find it harder to adapt and adjust to school, which could be the case for your daughter. If parents are allowed in every time a new kid joins, strangers within the premises will make other kids feel insecure and unsafe. This might also jeopardize the efforts put in by other parents and teachers in helping their kids to ease in. Just as you don’t bring your kids to work with you, do you? Similarly, when kids go to school, parents shouldn’t follow.
3. I concur with Globalkids’ stand in not allowing parents to celebrate their kids’ birthdays in school. Since my son joined Globalkids 8.5 months ago, I didn’t need to worry about anxiety caused to my son due to the repeated parents who are free to go in and out of the Centre. I accolade the Centre’s efforts to keep my kid safe and feel secure. If I cannot celebrate my son’s birthday in school, I can always celebrate his birthday at home. Of course, there is no stopping me from preparing birthday goodie bags to give to the kids in his class.
4. I like that each class has its own classrooms. The layout of the premises is not that of centres operated at HDB void decks where so called ‘classrooms’ are makeshift tables and chairs with cupboards as partitions. That, in my opinion as an educator of 10 years, is not conducive for learning.
5. If Globalkids is akin to a ‘jail’, it must be a really happy jail’! Every day when I fetch my son home, he runs to me laughing. On the way home in the car, he would tell me about his day. My son loves going to school. I love their management style, and there’s really nothing wrong with instilling discipline and structure (I am not comfortable with the use of the word ‘rigid’) from a young age. Even medical experts attest to the notion of getting young kids adhere to routines as they usually perform better with them.
6. I have learnt many invaluable lessons from Teacher Karen and all the teachers at Globalkids on parenting. They taught me how I can help my son to maximize his learning, right down to details of foods to avoid when my son has mild diarrhea. I am deeply grateful towards all the teachers, for giving advice even when I didn’t ask for it.
7. The good reputation and image portrayed by Globalkids as being safe, clean, hygenic and warm was not built overnight. It was a concerted effort by the management, the teachers and also the support from the parents. As a result of this, parents can have peace of mind at work knowing their kids are safe and protected. More importantly, we do not need to worry about episodes of illnesses such as HMFD (not everyone is blessed to take leave as and when we have to) which are contagious.
Last but not least, I would like to say that “one’s man meat is another man’s poison”. What works well for me did not work well for you. Hope that all is well with your arrangement for your daughter at another Centre.
Good luck!
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login