Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools?

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Wed, 06 Nov 2019 08:31:54 GMT

Sheena8 — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 08:31:54 GMT

Play matters to me. They need to fulfill their childhood with lots of time in playing because when they reach the Primary years, the "real school" starts.

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 24 Sep 2019 01:15:32 GMT

Gilian039 — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 01:15:32 GMT

As a parent of a preschooler, play is more important for my daughter during this stage. I believe that she must be able to satisfy her need for physical activities because once she gets older, she might regret that she was not able to play during her preschool days. And I think that she is also learning from her physical activities like patience and following instructions.

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Wed, 30 May 2018 06:32:12 GMT

Shaunmoo92 — Wed, 30 May 2018 06:32:12 GMT

I totally agree with the whole learning through play ideology.

We have to find a good balance with both, but at pre-school, perhaps more play?
Or perhaps parents can find a way to create fun through meaningful objectives…

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Wed, 30 May 2018 06:32:08 GMT

Shaunmoo92 — Wed, 30 May 2018 06:32:08 GMT

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 05:55:45 GMT

Nebbermind — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 05:55:45 GMT

slmkhoo:
Nebbermind:
my take is that preschool 'chers need to be dynamic and entertaining...machiam Kong Hee or Prince...wayang wayang...talk talk 2 hrs and people still awake!!

The thing is that not everyone who are into teaching young children can do that...it is like hosting a mat yoyo show everyday....wait...a mat yoyo show is probably no longer than 1 hr...but a preschool 'cher gotta do it for several hours a day...really tough job!
I guess because kids nowadays expect real life to be like their online entertainment? My personal view is that teachers should know better than to pander to such demands, but I suppose if that is the expectation of parents, then they have not much choice. As I've said elsewhere, I believe in the value of giving kids periods of boredom, quietude and time doing stuff alone.

I was just putting forth an extreme scenario, basically to highlight that it takes a very different skill set in classroom delivery vs, say, primary school....so we cannot just expect just by providing more education for preschool teachers will make them better.

re your last statement, I do agree that it should not be ra-ra playtime all the time...overclocking produce good short termed performance but is not good for the long run!

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 05:10:02 GMT

MrsKiasu — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 05:10:02 GMT

I wont like to hop kindy too. I went in with almost no expectation, academically wise. Just a small cosy place where the kids there generally well behaved, with friendly principal and teachers. That is sufficient for me.

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 05:06:44 GMT

ammonite — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 05:06:44 GMT

It is good to stay at the same school if it is a good fit. Changing schools and moving houses are major stress events for children.

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:56:04 GMT

lee_yl — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:56:04 GMT

I recall one mummy jio me and another mum to hop to another kindy because the other kindy already learning more advanced Chinese characters (aka Tingxie).

I see many parents like to kindergarten-hop. But I chose to stick with the same one from N1 to K2. The environment was good and taught good values. For some serious work, I sent them (K2) to TH and TLL where they had to sit down for 2hours to do serious learning.

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:46:41 GMT

ammonite — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:46:41 GMT

You know, kindergartens of the past were not bad either. I was at a PAP kindergarten. We learnt basic numeracy and literacy, had handwriting drills, practices to capitalise our sentences and put full stops at the end. We also had indoor and outdoor play and school outings. We were taught how to play a recorder, and a melodica. We did colouring and craft work to decorate the classrooms for festivals.

All that doesn’t sound too different from now, does it?

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:21:15 GMT

ammonite — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:21:15 GMT

If you look at the learning requirements, it starts to steep up after P2. Some kids can learn fast on the go, others cannot. P5 and P6 teachers are also often taken aback by the existing gaps in the children’s knowledge. Of course we cannot ensure 100 percent mastery, but I think we can get more children to a good level through a curriculum that has some drilling and it will be less painful if they introduce it bit by bit. This is because explicit teaching and drilling protects against inefficient/ineffective teachers, and is effective for large classes.

We have to work with our realities, and these are big class sizes, teachers who may not have mastery of their subjects, an uneven student population, and a result oriented education system.

I am generally quite supportive of MOE’s efforts and have benefitted a lot from being in the system. I see things moving in the right direction, but there is no need to go from one extreme to another UNLESS they are going to follow through with the rest of the system. Different systems are good for different outcomes. We cannot always have our cake and eat it too.

In selecting preschool, I encourage parents to consider which primary school the child is likely to go to, and also how much more extra work or money you want to put in, either alongside or later. They may all take the same PSLE, but the academic journey leading to that day is not the same.

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:13:26 GMT

sharonkhoo — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:13:26 GMT

Nebbermind:
my take is that preschool 'chers need to be dynamic and entertaining...machiam Kong Hee or Prince...wayang wayang...talk talk 2 hrs and people still awake!!

The thing is that not everyone who are into teaching young children can do that...it is like hosting a mat yoyo show everyday....wait...a mat yoyo show is probably no longer than 1 hr...but a preschool 'cher gotta do it for several hours a day...really tough job!

I guess because kids nowadays expect real life to be like their online entertainment? My personal view is that teachers should know better than to pander to such demands, but I suppose if that is the expectation of parents, then they have not much choice. As I've said elsewhere, I believe in the value of giving kids periods of boredom, quietude and time doing stuff alone.

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:06:59 GMT

Nebbermind — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:06:59 GMT

my take is that preschool 'chers need to be dynamic and entertaining…machiam Kong Hee or Prince…wayang wayang…talk talk 2 hrs and people still awake!!

The thing is that not everyone who are into teaching young children can do that…it is like hosting a mat yoyo show everyday…wait…a mat yoyo show is probably no longer than 1 hr…but a preschool 'cher gotta do it for several hours a day…really tough job!

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:59:30 GMT

sharonkhoo — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:59:30 GMT

ammonite:
But regarding no tingxie etc, I can only say they are making a big big mistake. These kids will suffer badly in primary school unless parents are already sending them for enrichment at the side to make up for the lack.

Maybe because so many kids do tingxie in kindy, the P1 teachers have to up the standard? I think kids can easily learn these things in P1, and it won't take long for them to get the hang of it. I know my kids didn't do tingxie in kindy, and they managed without any problems in P1. Of course, their P1 teachers started them on single characters initially, not the long sentences that even kindys seem to give these days (which in my opinion is totally over the top).

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:53:51 GMT

sharonkhoo — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:53:51 GMT

ammonite:
The truth is education has its fads and trends as well. i think give it a few more years, they will realise how the children's mastery of basics and self discipline has deteriorated.

A young child has limited life experience and exposure and filling up their experience bank is learning. The abstract has to be built upon what is concrete to mean something. For preschool, my personal preference is guided purposeful learning with sufficient free play sessions. I like preschools with lots of crafts, stories and supervised social time for their children. A good curriculum will weave learning points into these, making the learning real and relevant to the child. Most preschools do it through a thematic approach. A few schools do it through project work approach. The quality of the lessons depend very much on the adults leading the session and the class ratio.

I agree! I think many people have the idea that \"play=learn nothing\", and \"learn=less/no play\". I am really happy that Singapore has finally realised that having well-educated, well-trained preschool teachers (that they love working with kids is a given) is the way to go. I hope the emphasis on learning through purposeful play will become the preferred option, and that more parents will become less fearful that their kids will \"lag\" in P1 if kindys don't emphasise spelling and deskwork. My 2 kids were educated overseas, but they didn't do much academic deskwork or learn HYPY until they reached P1. They learned to read English at home, with me, but I didn't teach one, and taught the other only in the few months before P1. Neither has \"lagged\". More importantly, neither finds school or learning in general a chore.

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:46:46 GMT

MrsKiasu — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:46:46 GMT

Nebbermind:
ammonite:
Having said that, my children's Chinese vocab in any form is dismal! :slapshead:

This is a very common problem with SG kids...even my PRC (but kids born here) and Chinese 'chers friends have the same complaint!

That's why I thought better build dd2's interest in Chi first by taking tuition..tho Eng is main language, they will have no choice but to learn in school..hope I m correct..But having to know English or proper English is different, that I know ..that's why still thinking Eng tuition immediately ??

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:41:50 GMT

MrsKiasu — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:41:50 GMT

ammonite:
MrsKiasu:

i have never seen any tingxie/spelling at k2 lei..anyway ours is a super normal cc only.
Now?

not that I know of..from what I know, dont have. I think K2 kids now should be preparing K2 graduation concert?

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:41:38 GMT

ammonite — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:41:38 GMT

I know, but it doesn’t stop me from gnashing my teeth over it.

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:38:45 GMT

Nebbermind — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:38:45 GMT

ammonite:
Having said that, my children's Chinese vocab in any form is dismal! :slapshead:

This is a very common problem with SG kids...even my PRC (but kids born here) and Chinese 'chers friends have the same complaint!

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:35:59 GMT

floppy — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:35:59 GMT

ammonite:

Verbal vocabulary is definitely much higher now, but that also depends heavily on family background. Having said that, my children's Chinese vocab in any form is dismal! :slapshead:

The (poor) standard of Chinese vocab would be the norm for most children these days as less families speak / write it on a daily basis.

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:35:13 GMT

ammonite — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:35:13 GMT

MrsKiasu:

i have never seen any tingxie/spelling at k2 lei..anyway ours is a super normal cc only.

Now?

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:32:27 GMT

ammonite — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:32:27 GMT

Nebbermind:
ammonite:
Alamak basics lah. A/an/the, singular/plural etc. Write pages and pages for characters.

(Apologies to threadstarter if we are digressing too much.)
Prob upon entering pri school bah.
K time was prob single words (things/nouns, actions/verbs) and simple sentences...no rules, no chenghu

Having said that, these days, the kids' vocab range by K2 probably exceeds my time (not your time) P3/4 level (or higher). I am talking about verbal, not literacy.

Mine definitely started in K2. They did it in P1 too as many kids did not go to kindergarten and some are learning English from scratch.

Verbal vocabulary is definitely much higher now, but that also depends heavily on family background. Having said that, my children's Chinese vocab in any form is dismal! :slapshead:

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:31:45 GMT

floppy — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:31:45 GMT

Nebbermind:

Having said that, these days, the kids' vocab range by K2 probably exceeds my time (not your time) P3/4 level (or higher) since most didn't even use english before entering pri school. I am talking about verbal, not literacy.

TBH, I think my children verbal and literacy far exceed my time.
They are using / reading words that I never knew existed until late primary or early secondary.

I blame it on youtube :evil:

Reply to Study or Play: Which is more important in Preschools? on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:25:46 GMT

MrsKiasu — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:25:46 GMT

ammonite:
Nebbermind:
[quote=\"ammonite\"]I remember being drilled in basic English grammar and Chinese characters when I was in kindergarten. Primary school teachers now are the one who can see the gaps and it is showing up in tertiary now.

The thing is the early years are the best time to learn the basics well. Once past P2, the pace of learning picks up really fast and kids who are not as fast will be floundering.
:scared:

你没有啊？?[/quote]i have never seen any tingxie/spelling at k2 lei..anyway ours is a super normal cc only.