Sending young children to school has always been an exciting experience for parents. Be it your child is 18mths, 3yrs, 4yrs or any older, parents will always hope for the child to enjoy school, to quickly get used to going to school, to make friends in school and to generally have fun while learning in school. What is an ideal age to send a child to school? When is he/she ready for school? How many hours per day should he/she spend in school?
Being a work from home mum, I had the flexibility to choose from the various options :
1) to place my child in a full day child care
2) to place my child in a 1/2 day child care
3) to send my child to a 3hrs daily kindergarten class
4) to send my child for ad-hoc classes (can be 2 or 3 times weekly)
5) to home school my child till I find him ready for school
Most childcare centers accept kids from 18months onwards and kindergarten from pre-nursery (3yrs old). Registration for popular childcare centers and kindergarten may start couple of years prior to them attending school. It is thus advisable to give some thoughts to your child's education path early on in the year. It is important to have some ideas on WHERE AND WHEN to send your child to school. 2 years back (in 2008) when a good friend asked me to register my then barely 1 yr old kid for pre-nursery in 2010 (yes its now!). I was in total shock and even brand him as a 'KS parent'. Who ever start registering a 1yr old kid for school due in 2yrs time? I was just beginning to enjoy life without having to go to public washrooms to express and throw away breastmilk, being able to sleep through the night. And???? I was told that I had to register my kid for school? I had not even given thoughts to when he should attend school, which are the school options available, what type of school I should send him to (childcare? kindergarten? montessori??). Nonetheless, I started my school search and research back then and narrowed down to a few choices before arriving at the final choice. Looking back, I was glad my KS friend pressed my panic button. I was glad I was able to place my son in a school of my choice (its not my hubby's choice cos he's got no preference! he says my choice is his choice. How helpful!)
What to think about when choosing a pre-school for your child?
1) School Type. Child Care? Kindergarten? Enrichment Programmes?
2) Logistics. Logistics is 1 of the most important factor to consider when zooming down on which school to place your child. While ideally it is great to be able to attend schools renowned for their teaching methods, it is even more important to ensure easy logistics for your child to get to and from school. Eg : Spending more than 45mins on a school bus to get to school daily will tire the child and yourself out in the long run.
3) Budget. There are renowned schools where fees are up to $5000 per term, which basically equates to about $1500 per month, there are schools where fees is $90 per month. Can all these renowned schools really bring out the genius in our children? Can they really steer the children to future success and produce children with good morale values? Does sending my child to a school which charges $90 equates to the child doing and learning nothing in school? I did not send my son to a school which charges exorbitant rates. I do not see the need to do so. I strongly believe that a child's learning at this age is best done on a one-on-one basis via the a method which best suits the character of the child. I too believe that child's main caregiver will have the biggest impact on the child's learning path. Ideally it will be better for parents to spend quality time learning with your child compared to sending your child to a renowned school which charges exorbitant rate. Remember, your duty does not end just by sending him/her to a so-called renowned school. Sending a child to school at this tender age is really just about sending him to play and have fun! Learning through fun and play. Nothing too serious.
How to prepare your child to school?
To minimise separation anxiety, this is what I do with the hope to better integrate my child in pre-nursery
1) I send him to parents accompanied classes for a start. 2 times a week. This expose him to what school is like.
2) I send him to class which requires himself to sit in the class without parents just 6mths prior to sending him to pre-nursery. This gives him an idea what it is like to be attending lessons without parents/caregivers.
3) I tell him that I will wait outside his class for him and come for him when class end. I make it a point never to be late in fetching him from class. This gives security and assurance. He knows for sure that I will fetch him from class once class ends.
4) I tell him that adults cannot attend children's class. Only children attends children's class.
5) I make school sound fun and full of play. I tell him in school "theres alot of friends, many toys, loads of books...WOW its sooo fun! i love it!". Make it sound exciting. Most times my son is excited too
Being a work from home mum, I had the flexibility to choose from the various options :
1) to place my child in a full day child care
2) to place my child in a 1/2 day child care
3) to send my child to a 3hrs daily kindergarten class
4) to send my child for ad-hoc classes (can be 2 or 3 times weekly)
5) to home school my child till I find him ready for school
Most childcare centers accept kids from 18months onwards and kindergarten from pre-nursery (3yrs old). Registration for popular childcare centers and kindergarten may start couple of years prior to them attending school. It is thus advisable to give some thoughts to your child's education path early on in the year. It is important to have some ideas on WHERE AND WHEN to send your child to school. 2 years back (in 2008) when a good friend asked me to register my then barely 1 yr old kid for pre-nursery in 2010 (yes its now!). I was in total shock and even brand him as a 'KS parent'. Who ever start registering a 1yr old kid for school due in 2yrs time? I was just beginning to enjoy life without having to go to public washrooms to express and throw away breastmilk, being able to sleep through the night. And???? I was told that I had to register my kid for school? I had not even given thoughts to when he should attend school, which are the school options available, what type of school I should send him to (childcare? kindergarten? montessori??). Nonetheless, I started my school search and research back then and narrowed down to a few choices before arriving at the final choice. Looking back, I was glad my KS friend pressed my panic button. I was glad I was able to place my son in a school of my choice (its not my hubby's choice cos he's got no preference! he says my choice is his choice. How helpful!)
What to think about when choosing a pre-school for your child?
1) School Type. Child Care? Kindergarten? Enrichment Programmes?
2) Logistics. Logistics is 1 of the most important factor to consider when zooming down on which school to place your child. While ideally it is great to be able to attend schools renowned for their teaching methods, it is even more important to ensure easy logistics for your child to get to and from school. Eg : Spending more than 45mins on a school bus to get to school daily will tire the child and yourself out in the long run.
3) Budget. There are renowned schools where fees are up to $5000 per term, which basically equates to about $1500 per month, there are schools where fees is $90 per month. Can all these renowned schools really bring out the genius in our children? Can they really steer the children to future success and produce children with good morale values? Does sending my child to a school which charges $90 equates to the child doing and learning nothing in school? I did not send my son to a school which charges exorbitant rates. I do not see the need to do so. I strongly believe that a child's learning at this age is best done on a one-on-one basis via the a method which best suits the character of the child. I too believe that child's main caregiver will have the biggest impact on the child's learning path. Ideally it will be better for parents to spend quality time learning with your child compared to sending your child to a renowned school which charges exorbitant rate. Remember, your duty does not end just by sending him/her to a so-called renowned school. Sending a child to school at this tender age is really just about sending him to play and have fun! Learning through fun and play. Nothing too serious.
How to prepare your child to school?
To minimise separation anxiety, this is what I do with the hope to better integrate my child in pre-nursery
1) I send him to parents accompanied classes for a start. 2 times a week. This expose him to what school is like.
2) I send him to class which requires himself to sit in the class without parents just 6mths prior to sending him to pre-nursery. This gives him an idea what it is like to be attending lessons without parents/caregivers.
3) I tell him that I will wait outside his class for him and come for him when class end. I make it a point never to be late in fetching him from class. This gives security and assurance. He knows for sure that I will fetch him from class once class ends.
4) I tell him that adults cannot attend children's class. Only children attends children's class.
5) I make school sound fun and full of play. I tell him in school "theres alot of friends, many toys, loads of books...WOW its sooo fun! i love it!". Make it sound exciting. Most times my son is excited too
(waiting for the lift to go to school)
(Intense concentration as 'aunty' is telling the story of the bear who doesn't care)
No comments:
Post a Comment