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This year is SG50 which is a special year for Singapore and also us. Our son, who will be 18 months old in Nov 2016 will start his playgroup classes then. Of cos, as many SG50 babies this year which will make seats in school competitive too. Being first time parents, we display the Singapore Kiasu spirit when BBZ reaches 3 months old.
We look through the internet, seek advices from friends who have kids in schools and also go through orientation at various schools. After 3 weeks of searching up and down, we finally settle for the school for him next year.
Some of the schools we visited so far
Criteria that we use to narrow down our search
1. Type of teaching - Creative learning with mix of study and play , Montessori style
2. Location - easy for us to pick up
3. Curriculum
4. Environment
MMI @ Kovan
Montessori style of teaching which means the kids get to develop at his/her own pace. curriculum is quite complete which covers swimming (at older age and by external vendor), Yoga, speech and drama, music and of cos the daily academic syllables.
The school building itself is of 3 storeys high and with a mini swimming pool in front of the school compound. Location wise, it is slightly away from our home with probably 2-3 bus stops. The building is quite old to me and pretty dark which puts me off a little. but i did not select the school mainly because
1. Stairs - the study area is located at the first floor which is pretty fine to me. However, the nap rooms and assembly room is located at second floor which the kids will need to climb up the stairs to reach there. Being a very protective mum, i am quite skeptical on how safe my child will be to make him walk up and down flight of stairs everyday at the tender age of 18 months.
2. Environment - Pretty dark building which i don't feel good when i step in the first place
3. Security - no system to track who can bring the kids out of the school.
Totsville @ Bishan
Also a montessori school recommended by hubs' cousin. There is a branch at Hougang area but unfortunately only the one at Bishan offers playgroup classes. The branch is located at Bishan st 11 , a heartland mall. Pretty easy to get lost ( i got lost while trying to find my way there). Again, in order to go to school , this time i also need to walk up a flight of stairs. once i reach the school, it is like a hdb unit with 4 small rooms in it. pretty small in a place. they offer only 2 hrs classes which i find that it is too short for them to learn anything. security wise, i guess is much lacking too.
Brighton @ YCK
Also a montessori school. I love the school there as it is very bright. There is a computerised system and not strangers can access the school. So i feel much safer there. there is a water play activity too. A playgroup where only Brighton students can access. They have their own chef and the food menu is on display so that we know what the kids will have and the menu changes every month. The fees wise is consider pretty steep as it doesn't include gym. The gym session is offered by external vendor and is charge separately from the normal school fees. Putting BBZ there will mean that i will need to ask SM to take MRT to pick him up or arrange for school bus service which is fine actually. what i feel for Brighton is the lack in curriculum activities if i put him in a full day session. They do have gourmet lesson but is once every month. the activities in the afternoon session is mostly napping and if i include extra curriculum myself which means more money.
MindChamps
Different way of teaching which involves creative learning and playing. My col's daughter is there too ( happen to see her in one of the classes). School fees wise i feel is more value for money as their curriculum is complete with gym. The activities is also much interesting which have gourmet lesson once every week. the students are train to be independent at a very young age. The environment is bright and with a indoor playground, wall climbing activities except no water sports which is fine for me as we have pool at home. Their food menu is also prepared by their own chef and changes menu every month. once major plus point is that when the students reaches K2, they have activities to help the students get use to primary school life so that they do not have a culture shock. I am impressed with the students there and we visited 2 branches - Lorong Chuan and Paragon.
We choose Lorong Chuan finally although Paragon is a better location if i decided to pick him up after work. Paragon is slightly smaller than Lorong Chuan as they do not have a playground and if we were to work OT, it will be difficult for SM to pick him up after school. So here u go, here are some of my feedbacks on the schools that we visited.
Not to mention, we also did consider Pats' school house which is the most expensive among those we visited so far. However, i was told that the waiting list is full and there is no chance for us and priority is given to their infant care. so we decided to stop Pats' school house anyway.
hope you find these information useful for your consideration
This year is SG50 which is a special year for Singapore and also us. Our son, who will be 18 months old in Nov 2016 will start his playgroup classes then. Of cos, as many SG50 babies this year which will make seats in school competitive too. Being first time parents, we display the Singapore Kiasu spirit when BBZ reaches 3 months old.
We look through the internet, seek advices from friends who have kids in schools and also go through orientation at various schools. After 3 weeks of searching up and down, we finally settle for the school for him next year.
Some of the schools we visited so far
Criteria that we use to narrow down our search
1. Type of teaching - Creative learning with mix of study and play , Montessori style
2. Location - easy for us to pick up
3. Curriculum
4. Environment
MMI @ Kovan
Montessori style of teaching which means the kids get to develop at his/her own pace. curriculum is quite complete which covers swimming (at older age and by external vendor), Yoga, speech and drama, music and of cos the daily academic syllables.
The school building itself is of 3 storeys high and with a mini swimming pool in front of the school compound. Location wise, it is slightly away from our home with probably 2-3 bus stops. The building is quite old to me and pretty dark which puts me off a little. but i did not select the school mainly because
1. Stairs - the study area is located at the first floor which is pretty fine to me. However, the nap rooms and assembly room is located at second floor which the kids will need to climb up the stairs to reach there. Being a very protective mum, i am quite skeptical on how safe my child will be to make him walk up and down flight of stairs everyday at the tender age of 18 months.
2. Environment - Pretty dark building which i don't feel good when i step in the first place
3. Security - no system to track who can bring the kids out of the school.
Totsville @ Bishan
Also a montessori school recommended by hubs' cousin. There is a branch at Hougang area but unfortunately only the one at Bishan offers playgroup classes. The branch is located at Bishan st 11 , a heartland mall. Pretty easy to get lost ( i got lost while trying to find my way there). Again, in order to go to school , this time i also need to walk up a flight of stairs. once i reach the school, it is like a hdb unit with 4 small rooms in it. pretty small in a place. they offer only 2 hrs classes which i find that it is too short for them to learn anything. security wise, i guess is much lacking too.
Brighton @ YCK
Also a montessori school. I love the school there as it is very bright. There is a computerised system and not strangers can access the school. So i feel much safer there. there is a water play activity too. A playgroup where only Brighton students can access. They have their own chef and the food menu is on display so that we know what the kids will have and the menu changes every month. The fees wise is consider pretty steep as it doesn't include gym. The gym session is offered by external vendor and is charge separately from the normal school fees. Putting BBZ there will mean that i will need to ask SM to take MRT to pick him up or arrange for school bus service which is fine actually. what i feel for Brighton is the lack in curriculum activities if i put him in a full day session. They do have gourmet lesson but is once every month. the activities in the afternoon session is mostly napping and if i include extra curriculum myself which means more money.
MindChamps
Different way of teaching which involves creative learning and playing. My col's daughter is there too ( happen to see her in one of the classes). School fees wise i feel is more value for money as their curriculum is complete with gym. The activities is also much interesting which have gourmet lesson once every week. the students are train to be independent at a very young age. The environment is bright and with a indoor playground, wall climbing activities except no water sports which is fine for me as we have pool at home. Their food menu is also prepared by their own chef and changes menu every month. once major plus point is that when the students reaches K2, they have activities to help the students get use to primary school life so that they do not have a culture shock. I am impressed with the students there and we visited 2 branches - Lorong Chuan and Paragon.
We choose Lorong Chuan finally although Paragon is a better location if i decided to pick him up after work. Paragon is slightly smaller than Lorong Chuan as they do not have a playground and if we were to work OT, it will be difficult for SM to pick him up after school. So here u go, here are some of my feedbacks on the schools that we visited.
Not to mention, we also did consider Pats' school house which is the most expensive among those we visited so far. However, i was told that the waiting list is full and there is no chance for us and priority is given to their infant care. so we decided to stop Pats' school house anyway.
hope you find these information useful for your consideration
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