St James Church Kindergarten
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My 2 children are currently attending St James (girl in K2, boy in N2). I have been a fan of SJCK for the longest time cos I see how happy my children are at SCJK. However, lately, I’ve been thinking of pulling my son out… and would do the same for my daughter except it might be too late and disruptive to do so now…
SJCK is a good school in terms of the following:
- Building Christian values and character (chapel, memory verse, prayers, christian songs)
- It is a very warm, happy, loving and non intimitating environment to raise happy children in
- Children look forward to school because it is mostly fun and play with hardly any academic stress
- Teachers are mostly warm and patient towards the children, although there are exceptions (like the chinese teacher my son is having now)
- Project work for one term and presentation at the end of the term (not sure if any other preschool does this)
Reason why I am thinking of pulling out my son
- At the end of K1, my daughter still couldn’t read. SJCK was still teaching only simply phonic sounds, and havent even started blending. I was not a kiasu parent and didn’t send her for any enrichment classes. We spoke english at home and I read to my children every night; and I thought that was enough; cos I figured SJCK surely will prepare my kid for P1.
- Fyi, in K2 first term, the spelling words assigned are very easy ones like a, is, as, of, for, him, her, they, was, are etc…
- Based on feedback from other parents, their kids could read and write only because either they attended additional enrichment classes outside the school. Those who didn’t are also panicking like me now. This applies for both English and Chinese.
- I decided of course to send my DD for enrichment classes this year. The trouble of having to send her for english, chinese and math enrichment classes every week is simply a pain, not to mention the the stress and agony of helping her catch up with her languages after work.
I thought this was the norm and consulted friends. Most of them told me that their kids’ school helped prepare their kids for P1, and they never had to send them for any additional enrichment classes (except maybe non academic enrichment such as piano / art…)
My advice to parents thinking of sending their kid to SJCK is, unless you are prepared to teach your kids yourself, or send them to enrichment classes, or accept lower academic achievements, in return for a carefree childhood in a good christian kindergarten environment, then dont send your children there. -
Joseng:
Hi Joseng..My 2 children are currently attending St James (girl in K2, boy in N2). I have been a fan of SJCK for the longest time cos I see how happy my children are at SCJK. However, lately, I've been thinking of pulling my son out... and would do the same for my daughter except it might be too late and disruptive to do so now...
SJCK is a good school in terms of the following:
- Building Christian values and character (chapel, memory verse, prayers, christian songs)
- It is a very warm, happy, loving and non intimitating environment to raise happy children in
- Children look forward to school because it is mostly fun and play with hardly any academic stress
- Teachers are mostly warm and patient towards the children, although there are exceptions (like the chinese teacher my son is having now)
- Project work for one term and presentation at the end of the term (not sure if any other preschool does this)
Reason why I am thinking of pulling out my son
- At the end of K1, my daughter still couldn't read. SJCK was still teaching only simply phonic sounds, and havent even started blending. I was not a kiasu parent and didn't send her for any enrichment classes. We spoke english at home and I read to my children every night; and I thought that was enough; cos I figured SJCK surely will prepare my kid for P1.
- Fyi, in K2 first term, the spelling words assigned are very easy ones like a, is, as, of, for, him, her, they, was, are etc...
- Based on feedback from other parents, their kids could read and write only because either they attended additional enrichment classes outside the school. Those who didn't are also panicking like me now. This applies for both English and Chinese.
- I decided of course to send my DD for enrichment classes this year. The trouble of having to send her for english, chinese and math enrichment classes every week is simply a pain, not to mention the the stress and agony of helping her catch up with her languages after work.
I thought this was the norm and consulted friends. Most of them told me that their kids' school helped prepare their kids for P1, and they never had to send them for any additional enrichment classes (except maybe non academic enrichment such as piano / art...)
My advice to parents thinking of sending their kid to SJCK is, unless you are prepared to teach your kids yourself, or send them to enrichment classes, or accept lower academic achievements, in return for a carefree childhood in a good christian kindergarten environment, then dont send your children there.
Hope I don't sound too defensive of SJCK.. :roll:
I understand how you feel.. And i'm sympathetic of your concerns.. I have 4 kids, 2 already graduated from SJCK and are in P4 & P2 and last child in Nursery... Just to share with you my personal experience and hope you don't feel so stressed...
When my 2nd child went into SJCK, we were similarly concerned.. But she has been in the top few classes since P1..
When my 3rd child was in SJCK, we didn't send her for any enrichment classes too, neither did we pay much attention to her, except just gave her a book now and then... She was Top student and Model student last year in P1..
Now my youngest in Nursery.. We have no qualms...
Just in case you are wondering, both girls are in NYPS..
So, don't worry.. Let your kid enjoy her school.. She'll have fond memories of her school long after she's graduated...
:celebrate: -
Hi Chien6
Thank you for your advice and sharing your experience.
Based on your experience with your 4 children then, do you think enrichment classes are necessary at all?
Regards,
Jo -
Jo
If your daughter is not reading at K2, quickly send her to I Can Read! It’s better not to wait. It doesn’t matter if someone else’s kid can cope with P1 without enrichment. The fact is yours has not picked up reading from school and your home reading. If it makes you feel better, even kids attending premium preschools may need reading help. At least you didn’t have to spend a large amount on the kindy. -
Hi Jo, I would suggest you speak to your child’s teacher about your concern first of all.
I understand that at SJCK, every child is individually assessed for reading skills by the end of K1 and if the teacher feels a child may not be progressing well enough, a special reading program will be recommended. This was the case with a couple of my friends’ children at SJCK. Such children then have the whole of K2 to work on their reading.
Having said that, I am not sure what "being able to read" at K1 or K2 means, as while some very advanced children may be able to read longish words and sentences by end of K1, but this may not mean that those who can only sound out very simple and short words are in trouble. I didn’t think my DD was able to read by end of term 2 at K2, and asked her teacher about it. The teacher said that while my DD was not one of those advanced ones, she did not think I needed to be overly concerned, as my DD was progressing well enough. I left it at that thereafter and did not send her for any academic enrichment classes. By the beginning of P1, I saw that my DD didn’t have difficulty reading The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl. Not that that’s a difficult book to read, however, I felt assured that her reading was okay, probably on par with other P1s.
So I think some kids "read" a little earlier, some a little later, but a good foundation is important. Regarding the difficulty of the spelling words at SJCK, my feel is that SJCK’s approach is to set a good foundation in phonics rather than load the kids with long spelling words. In some kindies, the kids have to learn pretty long spelling words by K2, and if their phonics is not strong, then the kids will have to learn the spelling by pure memorization. It is possible to do that, however, it is more difficult and less fun than if you had a good foundation in phonics. If the kindie focuses on a good foundation in phonics instead of trying to teach the kids long spelling words when they are in K2, and starts off with short and easy words, it is also better for the kids’ self confidence, which is important to build up at this young age.
But that’s all my view, and the SJCK approach seems to have worked very well for my DD as I found she did well in P1. However, you and your child’s teacher know your child best, so I think it’s best to speak to your child’s teacher and get her view. Hopefully there’s nothing to worry about. Wish you all the best with both your kids’ education! -
Hi Jo, I'm not sure what your views on computer usage by the kids are, but a friend recommended this free reading website to me as being helpful. (I did not actually let my DD view it more than once or twice, so she didn't learn to read from it, but it seems an interesting site for kids).
http://www.starfall.com -
Hi Empressplace and Caynelle…
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me. I am torn between the 2 views.
DD can read simple readers now (and relatively more difficult passages from the Lcentral text though less fluently) after attending L central. But she finds it tough and doesn’t exactly enjoy reading nor spelling. Which I feel defeats the purpose of sending her for classes. In the longer term, love for reading and writing is more important than actually reading and spelling. By forcing her to read and write now may be putting the cart before the wheel and counterproductive in the long run.
That’s why I dont know whether i am doing the right thing. If SJCK does adequately prepare them, then maybe I should just let matters take their naturally course and see how she copes in P1, which hopefully won’t be too late.
Strong phonics skills whilst important is not the most important and only skill required in gaining literary. And SJCK spends 3-4 years just teaching phonics. I’m not convinced that is really the best curriculum for our children. I do feel daughter and I wouldn’t be in this predicament if SJCK had a better reading program in school. -
I think you don’t have to worry too much. I recommend you continue with your reading program until your child reaches a level of proficiency you are comfortable with. If a child is not yet fluent enough, it’s not easy to enjoy reading. Once she’s fluent enough, then it’s up to her to choose the reading material that interests her. Most likely, K2 kids have wider interests than simple readers can provide. Just accept SJCK for what it is strong for, I suppose.
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HI Joseng,
My apologies for late reply…
I think empressplace and Caynelle had given very adequate replies thus I won’t repeat what they had already covered…
I can only share my experience… My first, is NOT an academic achiever (just like myself)… He attended 3 other Pre schools (not SJCK) and by 1st quarter in K2, he still couldn’t read… We sent him for some simple reading classes with his then K2 teacher… And he was ok when he went P1.
The other 2 girls had no other reading classes, nor enrichment classes when they were in SJCK. And they are doing well too… Yes, I remembered I was very worried, when the girls’ spelling lists in K2 were "and the an of"… Hahahaha… But, her spelling lists in P1 NYPS weren’t very much more difficult too…
I feel it is very much a subjective measurement of your kid’s reading ability… There are many parents who send their kids to the enrichment classes in SJCK, and I must say they are good… Partly also cos the kids are very bored at home, parents feel that these classes in a way could help to relieve some boredom…
Honestly Joseng, after having 4 and the eldest in P6 now, what matters most to me, is they are healthy, happy, hungry, and have good Christian characters… Once all these are present, the rest will in place… And to me, SJCK fulfills these requirements…
My 4th is still 4yo. I’m glad he is always looking forward to going school, talks about his friends and teachers and all the things they do in class, the plants he planted, and the "Show & Tell" he has been preparing for the week… Hahaha…
Have fun ! -
Hi,
I am not vested in St James nor do I have any children there. Just like to share some thoughts on spelling, from my knowledge as a trainer of preschool teachers.
What is the purpose of spelling? If you think about it, it is for the purpose of ease of communication (in written form), isn’t it? We learn to spell so that we can write down our thoughts, right? Say, to write a message to someone or to write a report to our boss etc. And how often do we use long words, such as "photosynthesis" or "alligator" in our message? Unless we are a botanist or a wildlife expert aka the late Steve Irwin, we do not use such words often. Instead, most of the words we use in daily writing are sight words, such as ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’, ‘and’ etc. Hence, it is more effective for children to learn to spell sight words because these are the words that he will use in his daily communication.
In addition to phonics, there are a few other ways to learn spelling:
1. Word families or onset/rime. Example:
c-at
b-at
f-at
h-at
m-at
or
s-ing
w-ing
k-ing
r-ing
This is effective as the child has to replace the beginning letter only and voila, he can make so many new words!
2. Mnemonics
Example:
To remember how to spelling family:
F - father
A - and
M - mother
I - I
L- love
Y - You
So, there are many strategies to spelling. Having a wide repertoire of strategies can only benefit the child. And of course, we learn to spell in order to use the words to communicate. Learning to spell a word for the sake of spelling it serves no purpose. In time, the child will soon forget the word if he does not use the words in his reading and writing often enough.
So yes, spelling and reading and writing should go hand in hand. The child must have many opportunities to read and use the words he has learnt to spell in his daily life, such as writing a thank you card to someone, writing a note for mum, helping mum to write the grocery list, writing a note to remind Dad to bring his laptop to work etc. The more opportunities he has to use the words he has learnt to spell in his daily life, in diverse contexts, the more he will be able to remember it.
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