Hi Fernvale,


There are a number of sch buses. At all times, there are usu 1 - 2 teachers in the class. I think you do not need more than 1 when the children get older. Anyway, in P1, there is only 1 teacher present. B4 my son joined Kinderland, in his previous sch, the assistant teacher did not do much, just sit around. There is no pt paying extra for a person to sit around, even the sch’s marketing sell its "usefulness".

Hi Yerdua,


don't feel bad, some mothers are like that. My mother negotiated a deal with me after I gave birth to DS. Must have maid + $600 per month allowance, everything regarding the baby and maid must be provided by me. So in total, spent almost $1400 per mth to maintain both at her house. Can send baby on weekdays but must take home at night, no overnight stay. No weekend care unless maid comes along. Need to pay maid extra b'cos she needs to help out at my mother's place.

This deal worked well during this maid's 2 years contract. She's hardworking and my mom gave her all the housework. My mother would enjoy her leisure time while DS would watch TV from morning to night.

Things changed when this hardworking maid wanted to go home after the end of contract. We engaged a philipinno maid who had signed in her contract that she would work at my mom's pl for an extra $250, on top of her $500 salary. However, only after 2 weeks, this idiot run away and accused us of overworking her at 2 household. (Wonder how on earth we could do that when she slept earlier than us at 10pm and woke up just before we left for work at 7am.) Our dear govt agency MOM was super super pro-foreigner that we were under investigation!!! I needed to pay for this idiot stay during investigation and I was not allowed to employ another maid. The whole investigation lasted for almost 1/2 year. Nobody can imagine the amt of stress we were under.

Well, during the first week when all these happened, my mother already gave me \"black face\". Said unable to help me, should ask MIL instead since grandson \"followed their surname\"?! Without maid can't handle a 2 years old child at all....blah....blah.....

In the end, no choice, stop working and looked after DS myself. My dear mother told me that I had to give $300/mth for allowance even if she was not looking after DS.

I learnt my lessons and now I send my son to childcare. No nonsense, no complaints, and spend a lot less. I also have a peace of mind while I work. Life is truly better now w/o depending on idiotic maid and demanding mother. :lol:

Hi ninenine,


My son was recommended Kinderland YCK by his PD. His PD has sent all his 3 children to this cc.

The cirrculum is much better than Chiltern. There is a balance of both languages. English in the morning and the Chinese teacher takes over the afternoon. Unlike Chiltern, where there is only an hour of Chinese for the 3 1/2hr session, which is not sufficient. He is able to converse in mandarin now. When he was in Chiltern, he was able to sing the mandarin songs taught in school but could not converse in the language at all. Thus, Kinderland has a more practical method in teaching Chinese.

Kinderland also prepares him better for P1. There are worksheets and spellings. His teacher also talked about current affairs, such as the recent Sumatra quake.The site is previously a primary school, so the settings is the same when he goes P1. He also has good outdoor programs like PE, twice weekly, gym, speech and drama. So the package is a all-rounder.

My son had also enjoyed his N2 in Chiltern too, but not his K1, as his teacher is frequently on MC. Hardly learn anything during his K1.

Hi Ninenine,


Is your child at another branch? My son was at the Halifax branch. During his N2 to mid K1, he was sick every mth. However when I put him in another full time CC in Oct 08, he was well and only fell sick recently due to the haze.

His teachers at Chiltern Hse have always insisted that children tend to get sick when they start preschool. But this is untrue. My son is spending more time in sch now, but he is well and happy.

I used to accept their hygiene level till I checked out other sch. I believed we not only have to observe the general cleanliness, food given to children and also how frequent they clean the toys. My son's pediatrcian has even given me a list of things to look out for. I am very careful with my son's diet and had made sure our hse is spotlessly clean. However my son still fell sick with allergies. Finally his pediatrican recommended us to the CC that his children are attending. Only then my son's health improved.

Well I have to be that careful with the choice of sch, when I have been spending almost $200 every mth for his med! His pediatrian actually said he hardly get to see my son now that he is better.

Hi Winth,


nice story. Do totally agreed with you that we should not compare. Guess you do not understand the context of my frustration. Its simple-minded to think that doing all housechores constitutes to favouritism. In a lot of asian countries, most of the housechores, if not all, are done by women. I have done all that and that won’t make me feel frustrated.

Wrt your nice story, my parents could totally afford my education at NTU. They, however believed that to educate a girl till that level is a waste of money. We had frequent quarrels during my A levels, my family believed I should start working and don’t "waste rice". The final blow was the fight with their eldest son, police were called. Many things happened, I moved out and supported myself. I paid for my degree course and took a big loan.

As for my "less able" brothers, they live in at least 5-rm or EC. They drive and take their families for overseas holidays. Their children have tutions. What make them less able to pay for my mom’s holiday?? Yes, I should be proud that I could afford to drive a Lexus when they are driving Honda and Toyota. However, does that mean I am so much better off that makes my brothers "less able"? It is naive to think that just becase one could afford, one should be happy to foot all the bill.

I have moved on and forgiven my parents. But, humans do not forget, unless they have dementia. I give them mthly allowance, take them for holidays, listen to their complaints. However, showing favouritism is my trigger point. It got me irritated.

I guess I just need a few weeks to cool off, before I call my mom again, and pay for that holiday.

Finally, don’t preach before you seek to understand the context. It is unwise and silly, it does not reflect well on one’s intellectual capacity.

Hi,


my parents are the same type as yours. 4 children - 3 sons and 1 daughter, me. They argue nonstop and still stay together. Only difference, my parents loved their sons, esp the eldest one, to death. Treat him like a god. Me - pure dirt. Whenever my parents, esp my mom, are unhappy, like to vent on me.

Left me out of all gatherings, incl CNY reunion. Only the sons are invited. All b’cos I fought wi the eldest pig once. But still expect me to give monthly allowance of at least a few hundreds, even though I am a SAHM.

Recently my mom wanted me to take her to Japan for holiday. I told her that this time her sons need to chit in since I have paid for her previous holidays, and her sons have never brought her overseas. Quoting you, "all hell went loose"…her sons have family to take care of, I have the highest family income (my husband and myself are graduates), its not much $, we should not trouble her sons…

Really really so fed up. I could easily afford that few thousands and my husband don’t mind my mom coming along for the holiday. We have actually planned to take her to central Japan rather than Hakkaido this Dec, as Hakkaido will be too cold for her. But, what is so difficult for her sons to share the costs this time? All of them are working adults. They have never taken her for holidays and they should have, as her precious sons. I am still :x even though the argument was 2 weeks ago.

Of course the principal said that. Which biz would say that they can’t prepare the children well for P1?? The reality is that most parents who sent their children to CH belonged to the high income group. Some of them are graducates of NUS/NTU. They are usu concerned parents (sometimes overly), who prepared their children (too)well for P1. This may not be credited to the sch. BTW, which parent would say that their children can’t cope with P1, esp if they have paid such a premium amt for pre-sch?? We need to look at the sch with open eyes than to accept what they market at face value. As for keeping in contact with graduates’ moms and dads, ha, my son was with CH for 1 1/2years, never once did the sch call. His class size was only 6. So, I suppose the "keep in contact" is selective?

My son is in Kinderland YCK K2, full day. I am pleased with his progress since he joined in the middle of K1. He has became more independent, and adapt well to a class size of 20. This is impt for his P1. His previous sch at Chiltern House only has a class size of 6, which is too small and too drastic a change when he goes to P1. He is also able to converse well in mandarin, as the chinese teacher is present every afternoon. This is more ideal than his previous sch, where the chinese is taught for only an hour. The food is quite good, according to my son. It is prepared in the canteen, so children will have warm food. The cleaners mop the floor every day. It is really quite clean. My son hardly fall sick now, as compared to being sick every mth in the previous sch. It is also big and airly. Overall, I am pleased and I would recommend it to other parents.

I sent my son to Chiltern House, Halifax. He had good teachers for his N2. But his main teacher for his K1 is really lousy. She frequently reported sick. The assistant teacher was more interested in maintaining her nails. She refused to check the file for homework, saying the children should be independent enough to hand in themselves. Being independent at age 4, has anyone heard of that?? The school was also very dirty and the only cleaner did not mop it daily. My son’s white socks were black when he returned home. Once, I found the rice, which was meant for the children snack at 3pm, was left uncovered near the toilet. That was around 1.30pm when I sent my son for lessons. No wonder my son was sick every month. Moreover, the school has a very bad habit of encouraging children to eat titbits. They have party every month, sometimes, twice a month. Children were told to bring junk food and share. My son would then bring home a bag of junk food after that! Really dont understand what values Chiltern House is teaching.