What Montessori?
The school purports to provide a Montessori education.
By the time she left the school in the middle of N2, she had only mastered the spindle exercise. She had yet to be introduced to the large movable alphabet.
This means, at the age of 4, she had only been taught to count from 0-9. 2 letter words, 3 letter words, sight words — they all remained a mystery to her.
What Chinese?
Chinese was usually taught for 20-30 minutes, never for more than 45 minutes and sometimes not at all even.
The Chinese teacher was the default stand-in teacher. She took the place of any teacher who was absent — for the entire day. Obviously, she didn’t and couldn’t conduct her own Chinese classes under those circumstances.
For Chinese New Year, she returned to China for 2 whole months. There was no substitute teacher.
During MOE’s prescribed school holidays for kindergartens, Chinese was not taught at all. But the school is NOT a kindergarten; it is a childcare centre.
What childcare?
Childcare centres come under the jurisdiction of MCYS (not MOE, surprise surprise).
According to MCYS regulations:
1. Childcare centres should be open throughout the year except for Sundays and gazetted public holidays. Centres can observe half-days on the eves of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. In addition, centres are allowed to close for an additional 5.5 days per year.
2. Childcare centres provide full-day and half-day care programmes.
We paid for her to be in a childcare centre that is supposed to operate throughout the year — but Chinese lessons were not conducted during MOE’s school holidays. Why, as a MCYS-regulated childcare centre, does the Chinese curriculum run according to MOE’s school holidays?
We paid for her to be in the full-day programme — but the school’s curriculum ended between 1pm to 1.30pm, followed by a shower, a nap, a snack and outdoor play. Whatever happened to the other half of the curriculum in the full-day programme?
Read also:
☹ Wrong School
☹ It’s alright to leave the gates unlocked. Even if you’re next to the main road.
☹ Who cares?
☹ It’s up to the teachers’ sole discretion
☹ Sleep is for babies, hygiene is for the weak
☹ Rip them off!
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