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Pre school matters

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I was wondering when is the best age for toddlers to start pre school?

Some of my friends say 5 or 6 because if we start them too early, they will get bored when they start primary 1. However, I have some who start at 2 and at 3, the kids are being trained to do homework! :wacko3:

Care to share? Thanks.

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I rather let my girl to have a few more care-free years before bury herself with homeworks for next 15 years or so! And then many many more years with work and work and work.

It is normal for kid who has gone to pre-school since 2/3 to be seen as "smarter" in the kindy vs yours who just started from kindy. No big deal and trust me your kid will catch up within few months! If you seriously want to compare, do it when both kids reach Uni - I doubt the one started pre-school at the age of 2 will be significantly smarter than the one started school since 5/6. At least I am doing better than some other kindy friends who started since 4 while I only had 1 year of kindy (started at 6).

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you may look at montessori's way of kindie. not much study, more on inculcating living skills, independence, social and fair bit of learning ie. sing songs, nursery rhymes, basic abcs 123s.

my kid went to the one near our neighbourhood since he was 10mo (not by choice) and it's great for him as it SUITS his personality, he likes to mingle around.

the 3Q where i live, they concentrate on teaching and homework. not something i want for my kid not till he passes his 4th birthday, which by then i will pull him out of this current kindie and consider another kindie near my brother's place where they have dedicated teachers for education.

i feel the current educators at my son's kindie is only half bucket of water as their hours are too long having to work from 7am-7pm with a bunch of monkeys (that's including my son), and the quality of spoken languages whether english, bm or mandarin is only so-so.

just yesterday the principal asked me how do i write my kid's chinese name, i told him and gave him examples as im a banana and he asked me how to write it, but i have already explained the word to him and it's the basic auspicious word. if your chinese is strong enough, you WILL know. clearly he didnt and clearly my instinct was right about the educator's quality there.

to answer yr question, i will put my kid into montessori at 2 and move him to a better kindie at 4 because they will need a few months to settle down, some kids a year (yes, i have seen this quiet reserved girl being her introvert self and a year later, she's totally a different person now, so it all depends on your kid's personality, pace to adapt to changes etc).

my view on education is that parents play a part too. if children is giving consistent, progressive and fun way to learn, they will never say school is boring.

come on, we are all working adults now - ask ourselves how many times we said we wished we were in school instead??? i thoroughly enjoyed my schoolgoing days.

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i only appreciate/ miss schooling time when started to work and while schooling; wishing to work and have freedom asap :tongue:

for me i thinking to start when bb is age 4 (becoz he's a november bb, he'll actually be 3y2m only). will opt for montessori also if possible. meanwhile i heard from my fren dat the fees (kindy + day care) might b more or less the same with wat i'm paying my nanny now (rm800)... so if same money pay out i reckon sending my son to kindy is better than nanny's house no?

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Forgotten to mention that I wish to start my girl for formal education at 4/5 for reception year and then 5/6 for primary one. From now till then, I will continue to bring her to Play Club/Edu Drama on weekly basis. I am not keen to send her nursery or montessori even at such a young age as she may fall sick very often since there are many kids there and will spread the virus easily.

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Same concern as Bunny, I'm super paranoid about germs at such a young age, especially Hand Foot Mouth.

Since MIL is looking after him during work hours, thinking of sending him to a kindergarten at around 4 years old.

It's so hard to find a kindergarten in Penang that doesn't emphasis on reading/writing/tests. I was looking around for the Montessori style but it's far away from where I live.

A friend recommended one that doesn't have tests and apparently there's a 2 year wait list :lol:

Going this Friday to have a chat with the owner to see if it's ok then only put him on the wait list.

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i hv to agree with Sharon... i might send my son to playschool for fun and making frens, but i dont want to start the pressure so soon

i see no difference on the 'intelligence' level of kids who have gone for 2 or more years of kindy...

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my girl started attending preschool at age 3, she's 4 now. i look at the areas of activities covered and not so much on homeworks and studies. they cover speech and drama, art classes, gymnastics and even water play. basically wanted her to make frens and enjoy herself. she's fine so far and she enjoys going to school everyday. usually homework only started for 5Y.

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Just viewed a kindergarten yesterday, cannot believe they expect 5-6 year olds to do spelling, ting xie & ejaan. And they've homework and spelling correction :ohmy:

When I asked what kind of spelling do they do, are they words like "dinosaur", the teacher said that's too easy. They do spelling based on whole paragraphs with punctuation. For ting xie, they do it based on Chinese poems.

Basically now everyone's thinking is if they don't start with this kind of "training", kids won't be able to cope in primary school.

Where do I find a kindergarten that doesn't do worksheets or homework in Penang?!

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lol, i know... i got a shock too when i followed a friend in her car, on the way to send her kid to her primary school before we head out for lunch. the girl was reading her exercise book, memorising the spelling for a BM spelling test taking place later in the day. i glanced at the page, one of the malay words, "komputer riba".

that's the std.1 level.

whatever happened to pembaris, pemadam, epal, bola, kasut etc?

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Hey..BIG thanks for all your thoughts..

The only reason im planning to send my girl to playschool is because she's not learnig anythg at the babysitter's place. worse is, babysitter still stashes my girl in the playpen when she needs to attend to other things. my girl is 2.5 yrs old!

I wish to send her to a playschool and there, she should just PLAY. but i find many playschools that are so academically inclined! i JUST WISH THEY DONT START STUDYING SO EARLY. even montesorri here is not fully montesorri. it seems parents want their kids to study as early as possible in order not to lose out at school.. (roll my eyes)..

and yes, germs are bad but being caged in the playpen is even worse.. :(

has anyone considered homeschool or maybe is homeschooling their kids?

i read abt this lady who homeschooled her kids. she teaches them whatever she feels like. no syllabus. but she uses books she buys and the internet..

i do wish i could do that cos i feel my kids will learn more from me than in school whereby they will learn only to memorise. but how to homeshool if we're not financially prepared. i'll have to stop working...depend on hb which is not enough. and later on, kids will have to sit for o-levels..and then, what?

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After calling up a few kindergartens in Penang, I think I've 2 choices:

Send kid to an expensive but learn through play kindergarten (no homework, no exams, no spelling)

Send kid to reasonably priced kindergarten with slightly kiasu attitude and just ignore the emphasis they have on academics

Or just hope that they've more learn through play kindies opened by the time my kid turns 4 :lol:

I've a coll that is planning to quit her job & be a full time home schooling teacher for her kids. That is dedication!

I personally feel that home schooling can work only if you've the budget for it. You've to quit your job & be financially dependent on 1 partner. By the time your kid finishes O level/IB, you need the cash to send your kid to private college or overseas.

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meaning study at home; no need go school? until wat age? :huh:

I've a coll that is planning to quit her job & be a full time home schooling teacher for her kids. That is dedication!

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and yes, germs are bad but being caged in the playpen is even worse.. :(

that was what happened to my kid, cried like he saw ghost whenever he has to go to the nanny's place. both nannies. never once cried when i drop him off at school and whenever i pick him up, i can hear him screaming in excitement enjoying himself with his friends.

join my kid's montessori la. he's got a great bunch of kids under-3 in his group. ping if you need the contact.

cheers.

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sounds kinda sad for the kids... not being able to attend schools :tongue:

Until uni, I guess

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where ur kindy? i wan if in cheras =)

join my kid's montessori la. he's got a great bunch of kids under-3 in his group. ping if you need the contact.

cheers.

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I have started to send my gal to the 3 years old english class since she is 2.5 years old as she born in january and I do plan to enrol her 1 year earlier for standard 1.

reason i send her to english class instead of kindy or nursery coz I take this simply as to "warm" her up before sending her to kindy next year since there is no home work for the english class and it's only 2 hour a day for the lesson. Taking this as an "exposure" for her to meet up with friends, etc. So far, she really love to attend the english class there. Every day she look forward for the class. :P

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where ur kindy? i wan if in cheras =)

join my kid's montessori la. he's got a great bunch of kids under-3 in his group. ping if you need the contact.

cheers.

haha, it's not in cheras, sorry about that.

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Ash..yeah i figured only those rich families can afford it. i told my hb abt it. teaching our kids whatever whenever. it would be good also cos they'll be with me, less sickness, i get to control what they eat..but still, we need $$$ in order to do that. It's just too taxing on hb to be the sole breadwinner.

tinkerbell..i'd like to..but hb wants one nearer to our taman so that mil can walk there to pick her up if we're late. the one in the taman is so academic.. :S

what abt food wise in playschool? arent you all concerned abt the quality of food? would u mind if the playschool serve roti canai once a week? My friend took her child out of the playschool cos she says it's unhealthy to eat that..hmm..

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Ash..yeah i figured only those rich families can afford it. i told my hb abt it. teaching our kids whatever whenever. it would be good also cos they'll be with me, less sickness, i get to control what they eat..but still, we need $$$ in order to do that. It's just too taxing on hb to be the sole breadwinner.

tinkerbell..i'd like to..but hb wants one nearer to our taman so that mil can walk there to pick her up if we're late. the one in the taman is so academic.. :S

what abt food wise in playschool? arent you all concerned abt the quality of food? would u mind if the playschool serve roti canai once a week? My friend took her child out of the playschool cos she says it's unhealthy to eat that..hmm..

better choose those with the syllabus that you're comfortable with. talking about being late to pick up the kid, have a word with the school principals and see what they say. PM me your location, and i'll PM you the contact of the school.

i wake up early every morning and make soup for the kid. put it into a container. then i wash all the veges, fish, fruits and pack accordingly wif his snacks and bottle of water. i still pay for the food allowance in his monthly fees, but i provide all the food including leaving the tin of soymilk in school. so when im late to pick up my kid, they dont ah ji ah jor with me, coz i never once bring up about this extra im paying.

both the school and i have been very understanding and supportive of each other ie. they never question me about the food i had to provide for my kid (he's got eczema) and i dont interfere with they way they teach. quality wise, it's subjective. my intention is only to put my kid there right up till before he turns 4. that's another 2 years to go. i have checked out the other kindergarten which i want to enrol him by 2013.

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mhyap,

u send ur gals to vital years?

Nope. Not Vital Years. I send her to The English House in Subang Jaya. I send her there for the morning class. There's very few student. Less than 5 student so teacher can be attentive to every student there. I heard the evening class got more student. But the fee is very expensive there though!!! Probably cost more than what usually the kindy charged.

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