Depends on your child adaptability. Let her try out some trial classes to gain exposure.

chrisbear:

May I ask at what age did you start your children at GUG?

My girl is 13 months and I am wondering if I should start now of when she is 18 months.

Any advise?

rr1975:

pixy ,


we went to julia gabriel in tanglin mall to get to know more about the programmes offered . The front office staff were horrible in their approach. i have not tried other similiar centres .

However a point to note , is how authentic will the training programme be for all this big name organizations when they come over here ?

rr1975,

Julia Gabriel starts in Singapore. Its not from any where else. I believed Julia herself is not active in her enrichment centre. She is more occupied in writing books and phonics programme. I purchased her reading and phonic books. It is very interesting.

However if you want a good enrichment centre with no prep sales talk or over promise and under deliver, then you should try Genius Space at Tanglin Road. Google them. My 2 year daughter is in their Young Genius programme and she loves going there every day.

Hi shenielle,


There are many centres that provide enrichment programs. You need to know what you really need for your child. There are Shichida Method - focus on right brain learning, Julia Gabriel - focus on drama play, Genius Space - focus on progressive methods right and left brain, and there’s also my Growing Up Gifted and etc.

Maybe you wanna narrow down to your needs so that we are able to recommend you as accordingly. The parents here are all very helpful and will assist you along the way…

riash:

hi


i hv just started my son at childcare half day - he is 20 mths. so sad cos he cried so much the 2nd and third day. nightmares on day 2. i saw him sniffling all alone whilst the teacher was in toiler w another kid...shouldn't teacher hold him and pacify him?

Sometimes when the teacher is pre occupied, she might not able to pacify your child immediately. Maybe you can address the situation to the school's principal or the teacher herself. Be tactful when addressing your concerns because the teacher can be very stressed at that moment of time. I understand childcare teachers can be very stressed because they need to pacify crying kids and unable to juggle few things simultaneously. I strongly believed that child care centres should sent their teachers for training on managing stress. Because not all child care centres have teachers whom are stress tolerant...

Probably you wanna try Little Neuro Tree or Genius Space. Genius Space is located at Tanglin. http://www.genius-space.com

They have good reviews there.

cartoon0512:

sha2811:

Hi,

My son is in the Shichida method.... since 3yrs old.... i enrolled him in the once a week prog....

Itz ex & u need to do put in alot of effort at home for u 2 c the results....

if u r lookin for a daily prog, then my advice is not to place in the shichida daily prog.... not worth i feel

oo okie okie thank you soo much .. heee me belong to those lazy mummy de .. heee ...
ya, me looking for 2-3 hours daily prog for my gal ...

Jacbe,


If in the east area - there's MindChamps. But they are using Jolly phonics as opposed to GUG using Zoophonics. If you want a better programme for your kid then I suggest you go Genius Space at Tanglin Rd. Can google the company. My personal opinion, your efforts will be paid off if you send your kid to a premium school. All parents want their kids to bloom and excel, thus some sacrifices are warranted in ensuring they get the best in their academic and personal development.
Cheers!

Jacbe:

jerejoy:

My boy also attended their twice a week class. He enjoyed his class very much and after 3-4 lessons, he was able to do the zoophonics actions and their sounds. Would love to continue the lesson but the journey is too far away.

Have tried out a few trials at Pat's schoolhouse for the D storyclub and tumbletots but they were not as good as GUG. Are there any good ones around East area?

Been 2 lessons with him and find that the lessons are interesting and fun. In long term run the distance really seems too far away from me too.. but at this moment he only taking the weekend lesson. Still ok for me..Meatime also looking for good ones around East Area....Hope to find a good ones as well for long term run...Anyone have good recommendation for us? :idea:

Yupe very true. We have to look at other aspects rather than the branding.

tankee:

My DW and I visited almost all the childcare centres in our neighourhood. And we dropped in without prior appointments to see the \"true\" situation.

we wrote off a number of the established chains when we saw things that really shocked us ...

- using the TV to babysit the children that were waiting for the school-bus and the children were all crowded right infront of the TV, some within 1m from the screen.

- a young child walking about along the corridor unaccompanied

- classroom littered with toys and kids running around... no teacher in the room.

in the end, we chose the one that everything seems well organised. Every child we met was neat and tidy, every room we go to we were greeted automatically with good morning uncle & aunty and smiling faces.

thus, it is better not to choose a childcare purely based on their \"name\". Best if you can take a day off work and check them out yourself.

That was quite cheap really. The last time I went with my wife and 2 kids to HK disneyland was around $3000 total inclusive of flight and accomodation. Peak period and we took SIA.

Its very crowded in Natas fair and I will only be left with the not so good deals as the better ones were already snapped up by those queue overnight javascript:emoticon(':D')

schweppes:

We did not stay at any of the Disney hotels. If I recall correctly, it was an airline promo (i think it was ANA) and we really enjoyed a good deal. I think we paid $1080 for adults and $998 for 11 yo and below. For that price, it included :

- airfare excluding aiport taxes, security charges, etc.
- 4D/3N at Shinagawa Prince Hotel (inc bfast)
- complimentary shuttle service (2-way) to Disney Sea and Disneyland
- 2-day entrance tickets to Disney Sea and Disneyland

We just paid extra for the airport surcharge and extra night stays at Tokyo. In all, I think we spent less than $1,400 per person.

Perhaps u can watch out for NATAS fair. They usually hv good promotions during that period! :lol:

Jacbe:

tamtam:

My youngest attended GUG's bilingual kids playclub and really enjoyed it! In 1.5 hrs there's a lot of learning incl zoophonics but also very fun for the kids. So after 2 terms, we decided to switch him to the Gifted Kids prog 3 x per week. I think teachers in both centres are the same (they move around between the centres).

Hi Tamtam...thks for your reply. ...sounds fun and interesting..will check with them when can pop by to take a look...Do you know the rates? Btw how old is your youngest?

The teachers are fixed to the centres and there are no rotation. Most of the good ones are at United Square. My daughter now is in K2, and I can tell you the course fees are much more expensive than her getting a tertiary diploma. :lol:
But I noticed that there were alot of turnover of teachers. You may want to highlight that issue to the school admin. But I suggest you go to United Square.
Cheers!

happypoppy:

Hi,


Would appreciate some valuable advice from experienced Mummies/ preschool teachers. This is the 1st week of playgroup for my lil toddler (1+ year old). The 1st day was expectedly not that great with him crying intermittently for Mummy. Day 2 was slightly better with less crying but could tell he wasn’t happy (no happy smile which is unusual for my usually happy baby). Day 3 was worst off than Day 2. He started fussing the minute we turned into the school’s driveway and burst into tears when I handed him over to his teacher. Thereafter, I lingered around at the premises observing him (w/o his realization of course) for quite a while before leaving and I noticed that while he wasn’t crying like the rest of the kids, he looked lost and poignantly unhappy. Hence, Im wondering if there’s any way that I could make this transition from home to school less painful (for him) and heartbreaking (for me) .


-\tWill it help if I put him on half-day till he gets accustom to the preschool routine? Had it been a mistake to put him on full day at the onset?

-\tMy little one had nightmares after the 2nd day at school. Understand from the teacher that this is quite normal as some of the other parents had also commented encountering similar experiences with their kiddos. Hmmmm……… is this true or has the whole school experience been a tad overly traumatic for my little one. Feeling quite guilty for making him so unhappy.

-\tI tried introducing to him beforehand what school will be like through both books as well as real life experience (brought him to pick his cousin up from school). How fun school can be with new things to explore, new friends to befriend etc. is there more that I could have done?

-\tHow would an experience preschool teacher handle kids exhibiting separation anxiety as compared to an inexperience teacher? In my kiddo’s playgroup, essentially what the teachers do is to carry the bawling kid to sooth him and blowing bubbles to distract them. However with the no of bawling babies surpassing the no of teachers, Im wondering if there could have been a more effective way of soothing the babies. Is the school doing enough to ease the kids into school?

-\tThis question is probably subjective but how long will it take a child to settle happily into the preschool environment?

Would appreciate if mummies could share your views on the above as I really hope my lil one can be happy and enjoy the whole schooling experience.

Hi happypoppy,

I can fully understand your anxiety and sadness. I felt the same way too when my sister cannot look after my kids and bo pian have to send them to childcare. Both of my daughters (5 and 2 yrs old) were sent there every day. My 2nd daughter reacts similarly to your child. Therefore, I hope that you must see and detect warning signs of your child get withdrawn. This is essential because it happens to my child. Luckily the childcare teacher able to detect and told me of my child condition. She was a very happy and playful child but had became withdrawn and quiet ever since she was sent to child care. My wife and I took long leave to look after her personally and fortunately now she is recovering well. We sent her to another school where she is more lively and happy.
Have constant reviews with your child's school teacher and work out a best solution. Closely monitor your child's behaviour patterns and progress. I hope your child will do fine.
Take care.