My 2 cents on the teaching/learning centres...
Kids can go to the best and the most expensive ones but it probably will not make any difference if parents do nothing at home.
I'll use my #1, now 3.5 years old, as an example. He has never been to any enrichment class. He's only been to one JG trial. He knew his alphabet by 1.5 years, and could read on his own by 2.5 years. Now he reads books for 4-8 year olds easily.
He is in nursery class in the PCF (PAP) centre near my home. There are six children in his class and all of them get very good attention from the teachers. His class is a mini-United Nations as well, with one Indian, one Filipino, and one Indonesian.
The English teacher's language skills are decent. She does not speak Singlish. Anyway, I don't expect native speaking teachers at PAP, not for the (relatively) low cost.
What's great: he's shown interest in Mandarin since starting school, and will sing/speak in the language at home. I'm very happy about this 'cos I can't teach him Mandarin.
Not so great: they have writing homework!
Bottom-line: Check out the school. Go there, speak to the principal and teachers, do your walkabout, see how they interact with the kids, ask a lot of questions, get feedback from other parents.
I've seen some things in brand name schools and childcare centres that make me shudder. I've heard teachers at well-known childcare places speak with broken English.
Then there's PCF Chong Pang, which took on the Reggio Emilia approach to teaching. Just Google to find out more about it if you are interested. Basically, it is child-led, and respectful of the child's desire to learn.
At the end of the day, it also depends on your child. If he/she is happy there, that's where he/she will learn best.
Sorry ah, long post. Got a bit carried away, pai seh.
more ex than degree course..
