[Ang Mo Kio/Bishan/Thomson/Toa Payoh] Preschools
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Midview Cherie hearts not bad.
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Hi
I was googling for the contact no. of My First Skool, Bishan st 13 and came across this thread. I wanted to feedback to the principal what I witnessed at the playground near Blk 155 this evening. It was a chaotic scene involving preschool children, one Chinese national teacher and one Filipino teacher. The children were all rushing to play at the playground. Climbing the playground steps at the same time with minimum space in between, pushing each other to slide etc. The teachers did not bother to control them. One boy was pushing another one off a swing which caused the latter to cry. The teachers did not help. I told the Chinese national teacher about it but she ignored me when seeing that the poor child stopped crying! My little girl was climbing the first step when two others intercepted her and almost stepped on my girl’s hand. The Chinese national teacher was nearby but did not teach the children to take turn and play safe. Also, when my girl was about to slide, two children were behind pushing each other to slide. I told the child behind my girl to wait for my girl to slide first. She slided immediately after my girl slided and hit my girl’s back. I was furious by then and asked the the two teachers to control the children. The Filipino teacher just said sat on the bench and blankly said ‘take your turn ok’. There’s no apologies. I wonder how the teachers are going to teach well when their attitudes are so bad and ‘bochap’.
Sorry for the long post. I just can’t believe these are our ‘preschool educators’! -
Hi just abt to shift to upper Thomson area, was looking for a good kindergarten around this area so can anyone advise me on this? One more issue as my kid is proceeding to k2 next year do u think its adviser to Change the sch at this point in time? Thank you in advance!
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Ya I also believe it is more important the centre is established and have curriculum in place. I seen a few new child care centres. They all look so new and good. But I wonder with today’s high rental, how do they survive with few children? Don’t tell me they cut the food expenses? I always feel safer with centres that are in operation for at least 4 years.
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Open house for CherieHearts this weekend. I saw they are offering 15% discount on fees, but pls check out directly with their school as I cant be sure.
http://www.facebook.com/cherieheartsnurtureloft
Tea session? They are providing free tea, treats, goodie bags and children activities. Hmmm, looks like Patricia Koh their new CEO is injecting some interesting ideas. -
Jorbaby:
dear mummies, am searching for a preschool for my 3years old gal in yck or amk.. can any1 share this info please... thanks
Hi Jorbaby,
There is a new preschool that just opened in Broadway Plaza called Wharton Preschool. The school is pretty big. My child is currently in LSH AMK hub. Im quite hesitant to change as I'm not sure if my child can get use to the new school. -
Jorbaby:
dear mummies, am searching for a preschool for my 3years old gal in yck or amk.. can any1 share this info please... thanks
Can check out Chatsworth Kindergarten @ Picadilly Circus. -
Perhaps you would have taken your child out by now?
This school is very near my home and i got a phonecall sometime ago saying vacancy available, and I said I would liket to visit but that the principal is on course. So the lady on the line fixed an alternative date and time for me to visit, when the principal would be in. On the day itself in the morning, received a call saying that vacancy was filled!
This is ridiculous, but i couldnt care less and think its my good fortune that i didint waste my time with them. I walked past the school before and i can totally imagine the attitude of the teachers and the way they handle the children as mentioned in your post. The same goes for the childcare at my block. I would rather pay more than to put my child in a centre with bo chup teachers who dont bother to guide, correct behaviour .Febbaby:
Hi
I was googling for the contact no. of My First Skool, Bishan st 13 and came across this thread. I wanted to feedback to the principal what I witnessed at the playground near Blk 155 this evening. It was a chaotic scene involving preschool children, one Chinese national teacher and one Filipino teacher. The children were all rushing to play at the playground. Climbing the playground steps at the same time with minimum space in between, pushing each other to slide etc. The teachers did not bother to control them. One boy was pushing another one off a swing which caused the latter to cry. The teachers did not help. I told the Chinese national teacher about it but she ignored me when seeing that the poor child stopped crying! My little girl was climbing the first step when two others intercepted her and almost stepped on my girl's hand. The Chinese national teacher was nearby but did not teach the children to take turn and play safe. Also, when my girl was about to slide, two children were behind pushing each other to slide. I told the child behind my girl to wait for my girl to slide first. She slided immediately after my girl slided and hit my girl's back. I was furious by then and asked the the two teachers to control the children. The Filipino teacher just said sat on the bench and blankly said 'take your turn ok'. There's no apologies. I wonder how the teachers are going to teach well when their attitudes are so bad and 'bochap'.
Sorry for the long post. I just can't believe these are our 'preschool educators'! -
ConcernedDaddy:
Sharing my experience.Open house for CherieHearts this weekend. I saw they are offering 15% discount on fees, but pls check out directly with their school as I cant be sure.
http://www.facebook.com/cherieheartsnurtureloft
Tea session? They are providing free tea, treats, goodie bags and children activities. Hmmm, looks like Patricia Koh their new CEO is injecting some interesting ideas.
My child is enrolled here for sometime.
Most of the teachers are warm, mature and the responsible kind.The operator is knowledgeable with kids as well.Overall Im quite satisfied with what was taught. My child (playgroup level) came back with the usual.. songs, speaking mandarin sometimes, knowing how to use excuse me, thank you, cover mouth when coughing, counting etc. Observation is quite a number of half day kids there, so end up its not as crowded as alot of centres.
This school is open concept.. can be a little distracting. Curriculum i think is just alright, the usual activities for kids, but not totally engaging, interesting or extensive. I think it gets boring if the child attends full day. There is rather big indoor playground but.. no such thing as water play, sandplay or outdoor activity. They are good carers for children, in all the time there, mine only came back twice with very small light scratch and they are able to tell me how it happened and have applied ointment by the time i fetch, . I think some centres wont even know or mention when your child comes home with bruises.. saying its normal pushing, snatching toys?
However, they are not very proactive with things like toilet training or giving feedback. Esp giving feedback on individual child.. Nothing when you pick them up and nothing on comm book either.
You can ask, but its very straighforward answer.. no volunteering on extra information.. so a lack of passion there.. if you know what i mean.
I will not trust them to deliver the curriculum well as i think its very much subjected to the capability of different teachers.
still alright for playgroup, but will be abit worrying if you are having a kindergarten child enrolled with no other enrichment of any sort.
I have heard of caelum junior.. anyone willing to share their experience with this centre? -
Hi,
Glad to see that this thread is active. I have visited quite a few schools in this vicinity. Here is my brief take on them:
1. Agape @ Midview City
Operator is very polite, very helpful. Premises are much bigger than Cherie Hearts, with separate classrooms for different classes, not open-concept. Curriculum is average, they use story-based curriculum and can see clear learning objectives pasted on the walls. Small indoor playground, and an empty room for enrichment like wushu and gymkids. It also has interactive board for lessons from PG onwards. I was very drawn to the school, but alas, it is fully aircon and being in an office building, some rooms don't have any windows for airing the rooms at all.There is also hardly any outdoor, water or sand play. Decided against the school mainly cos of the last two points.
2. Our Junior Schoolhouse @ Westlake
One of the most well-organised preschool I've seen, with bright, airy and spacious classrooms for every class, a big music room, well-resourced learning corners, age-appropriate developmental materials and toys, a grassy play area with several play structures, buggy cars and trikes on concrete floor, two big water tubs and a large sandpit, as well as a varied curriculum that includes pretend play, cookery, art (but doesn't seem like alot of craft), show n tell, and daily varying physical activities, etc. The only thing was, I didn't get to observe the teachers for long, caught some snippets of teaching. The students looked engaged enough. Class sizes were small and students generally seemed well-behaved. The principal has been with the school for several years, rising from teacher to principal, so she's very familiar with the school and gave us tips on how to settle our child into the Playgroup class for the first couple of days and what to expect in the first 2-3 months.
3. Nobleland Arts N Learning Place
Double-storey, outdoor play area with play structures, buggy cars and garden looks okay, but waterplay is in a very small sink. First level holds PG and N1, a music room, dining and art areas. Feels abit dark and smells abit musty one of the days I visited. Toilets are very worn down. Mainly foreign teachers. Was willing to look past the physical and about to sign up with them to try out their arts curriculum and also Kindermusik, but maybe it was Fate, after 3 unsuccessful attempts to meet with the Principal (unwilling to come abit earlier to meet us and assigned an assistant teacher who knows nothing about the curriculum!), obtain the forms (made appointment to go down at 4pm, realized the whole school had only 2 teachers left to organise birthday party, supervisor and principal were both not there AND the forms were LOCKED UP. They promised to email me the forms that evening, even checked my email address to make sure it's correct, in the end never sent and never called me after that even though I had told them I WAS GOING TO SIGN UP), etc., realized the school is super unfriendly and stand-offish. Couldn't take their attitude and can't believe how such attitude can translate to good teaching and caring for students. So we were quite happy that we didn't manage to sign up.
4. Sunny Bunny Montessori
School looked bright and airy. Curriculum sounded very good when director explained and showed me the materials. She kept emphasizing they do full, authentic Montessori. After that I heard from a couple of parents that their Montessori is only one hour (not sufficient as actual Montessori advocates three hours for the child to be able to freely explore). Was quite interested, so deliberately dropped by a few times to observe since they were at HDB and have opened windows. Most of the time I dropped by, I always heard a baby wailing away. The playgroup and infant care teachers usually tend to their own group and only when someone approaches the window to look in then they help to carry the baby. One baby is always playing by himself in a cordoned corner while the playgroup kids play with each other. The poor lone baby looks quite sad sometimes but again, the playgroup teachers seldom engage him, only when I walk closer after a while, then they approach him. There's also a fierce Chinese teacher who will shout and adjust the children's dance moves very roughly (I was watching for awhile, the girl was not even deliberately being naughty!). Conclusion: Felt that the fees for the supposed Montessori are not really justified and teachers are not very caring. Axed!
PS: Oh, and the infant side sometimes don't wash hands before meals (tea break of bread/cake which the baby holds with fingers)! Yikes!
5. Caelum Junior
Pictures look really interesting, seems like the new school is very active in making the curriculum creative and taking pictures of the fun activities they do. Operator is supposedly experienced but seems unsure. The testimonials sounded very good but you realize they all talk about the same teachers as they are time-shared. Also, the principal is also teaching some of the classes and even though the testimonials were good, I saw her speaking sloppily in Singlish to the kids during a colouring practice. Not very professional and not worth the high price tag.
6. Shooting Star Child Development Centre
Director is a Chinese. Very impressive knowledge about childhood development at least at the PG level. Kids seemed very (TOO) well-behaved. PG kids almost all toilet-trained! PG classrooms are very big, but the Nursery and Kindergarten classrooms are very small. Principal is quite new and very fierce and impolite. The second time I popped by to visit, she curtly said, \"Coming to visit the school again? Wait first, I am busy.\" and all she did was walk into the centre and LOOKED at the children who are tended to by 2 grumpy teachers.
7. Happy Family Childcare Centre
Pretty big, again, separate classrooms with dedicated teachers (no time-sharing). Curriculum generally looks good, teachers look alright. They seem to do very comprehensive health checks which is good. Operator is friendly and knowledgeable. They have an open space outside for assembly and concert practice. They also have access to a nice outdoor playground and is in very pleasant surroundings unlike most HDB type of centres. Again, only downside is it's air-conditioned.
8. Helios Preschool
Operator seems very unknowledgeable. Ask one question, give half an answer. Very hesitant, passive, and appeared very inexperienced. They claim they do Montessori, but when I asked, she said, \"Um...no, we don't do full Monty...we do other things...but we cover all 5 areas of Monty...\" School is also air-conditioned and open concept. Kids look bored. While it is well equipped with indoor playground and climbing wall, so what? Just the operator alone doesn't justify the high school fees. I was dying to end the conversation after 5min and leave, but stayed only to be polite, but also regretting every question I asked cos she would just hesitate and give a tentative, \"Um...yes...\"
9. Educa/Cambridge CDC @ Thomson
I liked this school. Operator is very experienced, except she speaks pretty broken English. (\"We train them to be very well-speaker\"). Curriculum sounds interesting, craft work is very impressive. But I think the curriculum may be a bit ambitious, and I didn't think it was really necessary to spend more money every year buying readers for N1, N2 levels etc. Nevertheless, the inquiry-based curriculum and the spirit in which they hold field trips sound interesting, esp for the older classes. Classrooms are generally quite big, but some are over-decorated, so they look abit cluttered. I noticed that the menu has mainly cabbage for veggies cos the operator says the kids like cabbage! Greens are served on the side only for those who want....School fees are not cheap either. Two downsides, fully air-conditioned (pity cos they are in such a nice big bungalow!), and kinda crowded and hence noisy after 5pm.
Anyway, no offense to anyone. Just sharing my impressions. Quite a few schools I visited more than once, as I was really serious about finding a good school (airy physical environment, good teachers, average to above-average curriculum) for my boy. But I guess since demand always exceeds supply, the childcare centres can afford to charge unjustifiable high fees.
I'm still considering between Agape, Our Juniors' Schoolhouse, Educa and Happy Family. Now that I've done my part to share, would any kind parent give me more feedback on the above schools - both positive and negative? TIA!