Preschool Curriculum

[buds]

kwcllf:

There will always be very kiasu parents.


However, I believe the majority will be happy that children are well taken care off and given the age-appropriate activities and programmes so that they will be ready for Primary 1.

There are so many programmes out there but ultimately, they must deliver a basic result/objective. For me, this basic result/objective should be children that are confident, enquiring and have an interest to learn new things, ability to read/write simple words or Chinese characters.

Of course, there will always be different expectations but to me, this should at least be the basic standards chlldcare centres are required to achieve.

In a nutshell, i suppose you got it all in.

[buds]

momresource:

Pls don't ask me what he will learn by end of nursery bcos I am clueless!

Good schools have this briefed upfront, to equip parents what will be
covered at every level of their childrens' pre-school education, so they
will be assured that their children will be sufficiently ready for Pri 1.
They would also have regular updates/newsletters to notify parents
of their children are doing in school.

momresource:

Hi Insider,
Thank you for your reply. I really value it and I have since, try to reduce TV time for my kids. I have seen some benefits for TV in my kid but we also shouldn't abuse it... use it wisely and to the minimum.

I do agree with this. Cause i see it in both of mine too.

momresource:

Hi Buds,
I did go to MFC at Newton during my search for preschool 2 years ago but the distance and logistic put me off apart of the long waiting list. I had my concerns then about the teaching styles and whether my child can fit into those primary school setting. (eg. instead of sitting on floor vs table
& chair arrangement/ individual task based vs group teaching) level of
their centre's preschool years..

Contrary to the belief of many parents with regards to the so called
atypical Montessori setting, the structure of Montessori schools now
is different from how it first started from when Dr Maria Montessori
herself. Even why it was first started is different. Dr Maria Montessori
provided her teachings free to underprivileged and special children
then. She for one believed every child should have a go at a good all
rounded education, whether or not they could afford to. After her
success, her followers continued her legacy and up till today where
it has turned out extremely commercial.

Montessori is all about not being totally rigid with its learning structure,
where flexibility in teaching is much encouraged compared to the
usual teacher directed settings. Floor work and table work are now
mostly no longer an issue. Montessori setting today has adapted
the needs of our childrens' preparation for formal Primary education.
Group work, table work and also some time for teacher directed
lessons within the whole group tho may not be 30 children exactly.

Having said that different Montessori schools would have different
preferences as well, similar to the usual kindergarten programme.
The one who started the pre-school or the person in charge of the
centre's programme have a vision for their own centre. Hence the
reason of the variety of pre-school set ups here..

Just to add, the complete Montessori education not only prepares for
Primary education, but for life long learning. The objective is to allow
for learning to come from the heart. To inspire life long learning.
The soft skills included in the Montessori teachings are beyond what
is being taught by normal schools and maybe the home itself. The
Cultural Studies itself covers even Geograpy.

Unless we are IN the system, we will not be able to really know exactly
what goes on in the industry. Let me just share a little..

I've been on both sides of this industry - mainstream and Montessori.
Tho i had my doubts abt the works of the Montessori system then
when i first started (cos i was from mainstream), i had the pleasure
of combining both systems i have learnt, to my students and have had
good reviews that many of our Montessorians had done well in their
primary education (from parents) due to the concrete grounding
of the basic knowledge of early education. There is no one way to
for a perfect early education set up, but a combination of both the
normal teacher directed and Montessori has benefitted some of ours.
Coupled with parental involment, our children become more confident
students. Just my two cents from the teaching point of view.

Just like learning reading..... there is no one fixed way to learn it.
So just like preparation for our children, be it pre-school, primary
or secondary..... there will be many ways for different children to
excel in different ways, routines and emphasis. We cater to how
our children may learn best as no two children are alike.

One centre may have the best Mandarin approach while another centre
provides fun learn thru play with their speech and drama like lessons,
and another thru good drilling children develop good penmanship, etc.
The pursuit for the perfect methodology is really subjective. Just like
how insider has put it in a nutshell - ... in the eyes of the beholder.

Every methodology has its strengths, and its good if we can adopt
the best of each if we can. Methodology aside, a superb teacher is
what we need to inspire our children to life long learning every step
of the way...

[momresource]

buds,


Thanks for your detailed advice.

I am currently sourcing out for another school for him. Ultimately as what many parents have pointed out here, I wish the same for my kid to enjoy and looking forward to school everyday… instead he begs me not to leave him in his current school and his behaviour are getting very bad; sometimes I am unsure if he picks up from classmates or imitates the teacher or simply to spite me for leaving him there. Luckily we are having 1 week school break!

[pea]

Hi! Would like to get advice from those in the know, like buds and insider (thanks for your great posts!).

If a young child is the shy and introverted kind, who is more comfortable with adults than other kids his age, which type of pre-school is more suitable for him? Learn thru play like speech and drama, project-based, or montessori? Heard that montessori wil make this type of child even more introverted, as there is less interaction with other kids his age. Is that true?

[cloubhappy.05320live.05320com]

Hi Insider,


I am looking at Kinderland at Pandan Valley and Cambridge at Tanglin. May I know whether you have any experience to share.

Really apprecaite your sharing and kind advice.

[cloubhappy.05320live.05320com]

Hi Insider!


Thanks for your sharing!

oH… I didnt know that there is this reporting… haha… will do so v soon!

My girl is turning 4 next yr and i am registering her for N2. My concern of cambridge CDC is that i heard that HFMD is v common there. I thought this is very serious and scary

[ChiefKiasu]

insider:

...You didn't go do your 'reporting' in the 'Newbies' thread?...

insider... actually, all you have to do is to click on the Profile button at the bottom of her post. She did fill in all the relevant info in her Public Information section :celebrate:

[cloubhappy.05320live.05320com]

Hi Insider and ChiefKiasu


Thanks!!

This is certainly a very good website for parents!! Keep up the good job!
Hurray!

[buds]

pea:

Hi! Would like to get advice from those in the know, like buds and insider (thanks for your great posts!).

Heyya pea, sorry... forgot to reply to your post. Paiseh.. :oops:
And you are welcome..

pea:

If a young child is the shy and introverted kind, who is more comfortable with adults than other kids his age, which type of pre-school is more suitable for him? Learn thru play like speech and drama, project-based, or montessori? Heard that montessori wil make this type of child even more introverted, as there is less interaction with other kids his age. Is that true?

Hmmm... let me think ya... this again is another subjective question.
Let me elaborate as detailed as i can to try attempt this question.

Children who are comfortable with adults are the good kinds i must say..
It just goes to show, the child should be able to adapt to any teacher upon
being enrolled into a school, isn't it? Even if the child has initial anxiety
issues, the teacher as an adult will provide the solace for him and hence
placating to such children should be quite a breeze as compared to say...
a crying child who refuses the hugs and comfort or refuse the offer to be
carried by an adult/teacher.

Speech and drama based schools will offer a wealth of language
opportunities for any young child. Some children may even be able
to pick up early reading should the centre have a reading programme
in place too. In any scenarios, there will be two sides of the story. In
this scenario too... The child in mention (shy and an intovert) may
respond or react in two ways. First, the child who is already so shy
forced into a highly engaging and interactive environment may be
frightened to bits! Or the child may eventually and gradually learn
to follow his other friends in the class with active participation. The
downside to this (may be...) that the seat work and written work
opportunities may not be similar to those of teacher directed centres
like the usual kindergartens. But definitely, the child will gain from the
cultivation of linguistic skills from such a programme.

Project-based centres MUST be spacious! This type of learning requires
a wealth of materials to equip the project of the moment. Per se.... if we
base it on the theme > OCCUPATION... We're talking dress-up corners,
home corners, community people month (etc). We should see children
engaging in supervised and guided play and having loads of fun! The
teacher in this set-up MUST be well prepared, induce the juice from the
children via prompted questions on the relevant theme... encourage
conversations between children... encourage discussion with the teacher
and after which followed by a simple follow up activity which can be a
craft or can be a written activity as well. I visualize a vibrant classroom
full of children in motion and in their element. A child putting on a fire-
fighter's costume getting ready to put out a fire with his team and riding
on kiddie pedal fire trucks around the class... A stewardess child lugging
a cute trolley bag ready for her flight... In the home corner i see children
in tall hats tending to their kitchen, assisted with kiddie helpers taking
orders from customers with their tiny notebooks and pencil in ear.. A
doctor using his stethoscope trying to detect abnormalities in heart rate
on a fellow kid's chest (him in coat and all) assisted by nurses in white and
caps around a makeshift kiddie bed.. Traffic policemen guiding the bustling
traffic within the classroom and mebbe fining the naughty pedestrians...
Oops, got carried away already...

A child will get to play to the fullest but the learning must be guided with
an experienced teacher to provide the vocabulary... provide the scenarios
for example, after you put out the fire in the kitchen what next? Or if the
customer's order of lunch was wrong what should you do? Or if the patient
needs a jab how will you pacify him should he be afraid..? The possibilities
are endless. The shy child can either love the idea of being missed out on
a teacher's interaction and the fact that he can still play on his own if he
wants, or the child can eventually blend into the environment and partici-
pate actively with the guided play. The projects can be make a menu for
a restaurant for those playing at the home corner (the chefs and bakers).
Then, in a traffic police's case the teacher may request they submit a form
of the common offences along the streets they patrol and what should be
done to prevent such occurrences in future... And the nurses should write
up a chart on how the patient is progressing with his recovery, what were
the 6 hourly temperatures of the patient (etc... etc).


http://www.postimage.org/ http://www.postimage.org/


Montessori centres offer individual time where children get their work mats
and work on any material they like off the shelves. Observed and guided
by the teachers moving around the class with the varying activity, the
teachers journal everything from his pincer grip, to how the child carries
out the activity to what are the activities he has covered during the period.
The shy child will love this moment where he is given a chance to focus
on doing what he likes be it pouring of water from jugs into small kiddie
glasses without spilling... or manipulating the animal puzzles... map of
asia puzzles or going into moulding islands with plasticine defining a
peninsula... a bay... (etc)


http://www.postimage.org/


Other than the individual work activity, some Montessori centres also
have outdoor play ie. sand play, water play, playground (etc) and this
is done in groups. Likewise for story time and music & dance time, that
is also done with all other children in the class. So, there is still that
opportunity to be around other children to engage in games... kids
games... kids play. If the Montessori centre offers thematic periods
as well, then all the more there will be a fair mix of teacher directed
and child directed activities. [This varies between centres.]

The journals will be compiled into the children's portfolio and also the
details of their progress will be up in their appraisal report.

I know i did not really answer your question. Mainly because every child
is different and you will really only know by observation... I find that any
child given the right atmosphere of learning through fun and creative
ways will thrive in development and will grow less shy as the child grows
into that environment. A good teacher can get a shy child to open up to
her, open up to his friends and eventually become a more interactive
child who enjoys participating in all classroom activities.

Cheerios, pea. Hope this helps in a way..

[RRMummy]

hi buds, I just PM-ed you. Please help… Thanks…