Newton Kindergarten

[laughingcat]

My suggestion…if your kids are already in k1 and k2, don’t pull out the kids from wherever you are. Just brush up the kids’ preparation from other another source. Be it mummy teach, enrichment ctr outside of NK. It is pointless to move the K1/k2 kids out now, coz it is just so stressful for the kids. But pls eh…limit on the number of enrichment to 1 otherwise it is simply too tiring and stressful to the kids. Practically got no time to play.

[laughingcat]

porcupine12trade:

I agree spelling/tingxie no need so chim. Just need to be able to read reasonably.

Enough to be able to form a proper sentence.

My k2 kid's CC has tingxie in the form of sentence. Some of the words are revision ftom k1.

[moom]

Laughingcat, was your then principal mrs woo or mrs Koh?

[laughingcat]

moom:

Laughingcat, was your then principal mrs woo or mrs Koh?

Experienced with both. But since you asked on both, I believe NK got worse during Mrs Koh timeframe. But come to think of it, some of the \"teachers\" are rather old leh......like my mother or aunty era leh. You know......elderly can be quite stubborn leh.

[moom]

I really appreciated mrs Woo's approachable n consultative style; she would listen to feedback carefully and investigate our concerns thoroughly. I would always see her walking around the school, checking up on the classes and kids. As for the teachers, my 2 older ones were very fortunate to have very good and dedicated teachers who had been with Newton for many years. I was quite dismayed when I found out there was a mass exodus of these teachers in the year of the change of principal.


I was even thinking of transferring my kids to mrs Woo's new school but later found out that she is now doing training.. And not running pre school anymore

[laughingcat]

My advice is don’t put too much high hopes and expectation on any kindies to prep the kids for P1. It is just not fair to the kindies as well, as they are not controlled by MOE and hence do not have appropriate training on curriculum. I have seen some pre-school educators foot their own training for self-learning. So it is not fair to push the responsibilities to kindies.


In order to prep kids for P1, either mummies teach or send to established enrichment centres. In that way, you can match your expectation to the respective established enrichment centers.

[MummyThreeStreams]

If I may butt in here, but two years ago, I was rather anxious that, apart from sending DS1 to kindergarten (not Newton), I had done nothing to prepare my son for primary school. His classmates parents were sending their kids for Kumon, phonics etc. etc. coz they said that the kindy could not sufficiently prepare him for P1.


But when P1 came around, it really wasn’t that hard. Really. Maybe it’s just his Primary school, but, the English is not that hard (spelling - ducks, quack); numbers to 10, 20 etc., it wasn’t a breeze, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. My son coped, made friends and enjoyed school. And my son is no genius.

Comparing Newton’s syllabus with that of DS1’s, I don’t find it unacceptably easy. Perhaps it may be easy for the fast learners, but not everyone is at that level. The basics are well covered so even those who are slower can catch up and not feel left behind (DS2 is a year end baby, so he benefits from that).

I don’t know whether the school’s standards have dropped. but if your child is a fast learner, and you want to send him to a competitive school, then, perhaps you will need external enrichment. I think kindergartens have to make sure the kids have the basics (not just academics, but social skills, character, etc. as well.) covered. Hard to do much with 10 or more kids with only 4 hours a day (including assembly, toilet tong, meals, playtime etc). Maybe I’m not being sufficiently demanding of the school, but I’m already complaining when the kids come back with homework!

[laughingcat]

MummyThreeStreams:

But when P1 came around, it really wasn't that hard. Really. Maybe it's just his Primary school, but, the English is not that hard (spelling - ducks, quack); numbers to 10, 20 etc., it wasn't a breeze, but it wasn't as bad as I thought

Yes i agreed with you totally that maybe it depends on the school. Hehehe.....If it is my gal's school, i cannot imagine :yikes: . If the school is like DH's alumni all-boys school, it is another different story. :please:

Oops, i shouldn't be comparing the schools. It should be depend on your luck for the type of teachers you have. Not all teachers are bad okay. So far, most teachers i encountered are so professional. :salute:

[Mimama]

So laughing cat, where did you send your kids to when pulled out from NK?

[laughingcat]

In a childcare with good environment in terms of good and warm teachers. Very interactive teachers and principal. I am happy with the curriculum. Actually to be honest, i did not depend on the school to prep my children for P1 since i teach my children. I consider CC for other more important purposes such as social interaction and ability to take instruction.