MMI @ katong shopping centre


hi mummies,
about the mindchamps school at eastgate, my neighbour told me the school only had 8 students, almost cannot survived. So now the price reduced to only half, after working mom discount, full day is $650. Very surprised that they can reduce so much. Think they cannot survive the space rental of 20k per month.
 
smallbell
wow tats a great cut! u can consider, its much nearer for u rite? heard its a good school but fees are rocket high.

this morning, we dropped by shaws at braddell. hubby almost changed his mind when we reached there coz its quite deep in fr main road. distance is definitely abit far compare to those schools ard our area but since we aready there so just went in & look see. Really no regrets!! we like the place! very different fr the mountbatten branch. hubby is glad that he chose to go in haha
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saw how they teach thru play, seems good & interesting! but if really put chloe there, may hv to explore letting her take school bus back.
 
hi jamie,
don't think will change as mmi only cost $600. And this mindchamps might close down if the enrolment still does not increase. They already have a bigger branch along east coast road, heard there are alot of students for the east coast road one. Patrick loves his friends and teachers at mmi, he will cry buckets if switch now.

as in braddell shaws is bigger? but will be really far for you. But school bus will be an option too. How much it cost?
 
smallbell
yeah i agree, if this mindchamps close down or if they hv alot of students in future, may increase their fees hor.

actually shaws braddell are smaller compare to mountbatten. its only a single storey house with outdoor playground too. but the teachers there are younger whereas the ones at mountbatten are abit old like aunties
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environment are more "ang moh". hubby was really impressed. school fees are slightly cheaper at $600, mountbatten is $650. but we still need to factor in the bus fees which they will get back to me after they check with the bus co. its quite near to my hubby's office so no problem to send chloe to school but its still a distance away, so still considering.
 
hi jamie,
if is only one way back school bus should not be ex. Can consider since the environment is good. Any trial period that can start off?
 
smallbell
hope so lor. they dont hv trial but they suggest letting chloe try for 1 mth & shd we decide not to continue, we can withdraw & deposits will be refunded.
 
hi ladies,
sorry mia so almost a week cos i can get into this website.... how come both of u dont have problem coming into 2006 thread???

smallbell,
wow.... cut hair ah... but to sue e sch is really very serious... dont really need to go to tat extend rite... K1 n K2 students should know cannot do this rite, must be done by a mischevious child.
 
hi jamie,
oh, then can try for a month. Will chloe cry if she takes the school bus alone? maybe you can go together with hubby to office and return back with school bus for the first few days.

hi elaine,
could it be your company ban the forum? last time i had some problems when access from office pc, cannot enter some sites. If there are links posted here, i also cannot enter.

but i understand why the mom wants to sue, as the scissors might injure other parts of her child. And scissor is considered a danger object, if teacher's excuse is too many children cannot overlook everyone, then is a bad excuse. Even if the mischevious child brought scissor from home, the teacher should still be more careful. Not sure how the case goes, hope the school will be alright. You mention zhaohui birthday in aug right? will you be celebrating for him in school?
 
elaine
yeah tot u mia haha... i added this thread to my fav. so can come in lor. i know for the past few days some of the topics went missing.

smallbell
i'm not sure if chloe will cry, but she seems to like to take the school bus. there's once she cried in MMI, teacher Rin told me she wants to join those students who take school bus back.
shaws actually want the parent to stay with the child for the 1st week & will access the situation, if the child seems to adapt well then will gradually cut short the stay & eventually disappear! haha...
 
ya...
smallbell Zhaohui birthday in aug same as chloe n patrick rite??
will be buying a cake for him to bring to school.
how abt u??
 
hi jamie,
oh, then school bus is not a problem for her. Can give a try at braddell. I think there is a thread about shaw at braddell, do take a look.

hi elaine,
this will be patrick's 3rd year celebration in school. normally cutting cake in the afternoon, after the nap time. But my mom ask teacher yesterday and she said only 12 students. Not sure if the teacher meant his class only. Recall last time used to pack like 50 goody bags for the kids. They will eat cake then play some games after it. I will ask teacher again about the number of goody bags to prepare.
 
smallbell
will give it a try if the bus fees are not too ex.

u mean hv to prepare goody bags for other students besides patrick's own class?
 
hi smallbell,
when is patrick birthday huh?? which date??
I might be buying helium balloons for e children
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afternoon only left 12 children.... so little. Cannot celebrate in e morning ah?? hehehee then will be 80 children.... faint :p
 
hi jamie,
normally will give to the rest of the students as well. When they celebrate, will also give goody bags. But not a must to give other students.

hi elaine,
he is birthday on national day but that will be holiday, so normally celebrate early. And school will also have their own national day cake, so sometimes is celebrate a few days earlier than actual day.

So far have not receive helium balloon for birthday yet.
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normally i make balloon sculpture dogs or flowers. Last time make sword, the teacher say cannot as encourage the kids to fight. hahahaha.

normally prefer you to celebrate in afternoon as morning will be lesson time and don't want the kids to waste time eating cake and not concentrate. Most of the half day cc kids have short time in school, so need to complete the lesson. Afternoon not much program, so can waste time with celebration.
 
smallbell
oh they will celebrate together so actually better to give goody bags rite? that will come up to be alot hor? hee... it will be chloe's 1st time celebrating in school.
 
hi jamie,
during the first year, i thought goody bag must be special so included lots of sweets, chocolates, small toys, cards, etc inside. Then realized no need to go to such extent. I recall one parent even engaged magician and balloon man to perform for the kids. That must have cost a bomb.
 
haahaa actually i thought of renting a mickey mouse costume n wear it during ZH's birthday to surprise him but so far still cant find a place to rent...
:p
hubby says he is not going to wear it :{
 
hi elaine,
there are some costume rental company around but not sure about mickey mouse for adults. I found at this forum a company that does costume rental for kids. Check this out:

http://www.babyterroronline.com/costume_rental
http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/messages/581296/2524321.html?1244477759

can let zhaohui wear the mickey costume, so cute. I saw before such costume selling at US website and mummies here did bulk purchase to ship it over, still very costly. So one day's rental will be good and cheap. You can also purchase the helium balloon from them.
 
hi ladies,,
so busy at work recently.
Just back for e meet e parent session at MMI.
finally saw teacher Maz. And also got not bad comment about ZHaohui in class. Glad to know he behaves during lesson time.
 
hi elaine,
i skip the meet parent session this round. Did you speak to the chinese teacher as well? that's good, zhaohui is doing well in class. Do revise his worksheet that is being passed back, can help to refresh again.
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hi smallbell,
heehee.... once reach home yesterday he started taking out all his worksheet n art work to show his meimei.... n meimei happily tearing out those things that he paste on.... heheeee :p
i did speak to e chinese teacher... actually for e chinese teacher part i didnt ask much cos whenever i go pick him if i'm waiting for hubby to pick us up i will stay inside e playground area to talk to e teacher... so most of e things already know...
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hi elaine,
hehehehe...zhaohui so cute. Think he wants to pretend to be the teacher and show off his work to meimei. But those worksheet no need to keep all, maybe the memorable ones will do. If not will have a whole lot every term, very bulky to keep. His teacher is Yi lao shi right? the other day went to the party one. She is very nice and patient.
 
hi ladies
MIA since last week due to diarrhea & stomach flu
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elaine
great to hear ZH is doing well in class
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cant wait to put chloe back to school too. the kids usually like to show off what they hv done in class, i still remember last time the elephant face taught by tr ferlin, chloe was proudly showing off to me when i picked her up fr school
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smallbell
since u missed this round meet teacher session, will they put their comments in the communication book?
 
hi jamie,
are you better now? do take care.

they will return the worksheets and also write some comments on the work itself.

hi elaine,
next week the kids going pasir ris park. Will zhaohui be going?
 
smallbell
getting better but stomach still pain though its almost 1 week liao, went for blood test & its normal leh haiz ...

so means u hv to go thru patrick's worksheet. anyway u at home so plenty of time to do that lah
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hi jamie,
just briefly flip through the worksheets and go through with him. But he only recall some of the work done.

Your mom takes care of chloe and your boy when you were ill?
 
hi smallbell,
ya will be letting Zhaohui go to e park cos he says he wants to go... now he loves school
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we even disturb him saying tat we dont have $10 to pay for e trip then he faster go dig his father's pocket n bring e wallet to e father and says inside got money... but guess wat he took a keypouch n inside only have $1 coin n he show us says got money..... :} then we told him not enough must use his own money n he faster go dig his coin pouch n take out all e coins which is still not enough.... this shows tat he really wants to go to e outing cos he is very stingy one... never used much of his coin pouch money for things tat is not very neccessay....
Our kids really grow up so fast....
 
smallbell
i still take care of both when my mum not around. she still help as normal, but didnt offer to cook for the kids when i'm down
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, simply bo chap. infact just had a big fight with her yesterday, now really considering if shd get a maid coz cant depend on her much.

elaine
wow thats a great improvement fr ZH! its really nice when our kids look forward to school
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hi jamie,
maybe is good to get a maid since u got 2 kids n both r staying at home with u now. cos our parents already work so hard since young so sometimes they just want to feel relax n carefree but when they feel tat we r starting to be dependent on them to look after our family or kids they will feel pressurised cos they cant reject us but they will feel moody n this is when problem start coming up.
 
elaine
yes thats exactly what's happening now. maybe if get a maid, then everyone is happy. but its not easy to get a good maid, all depends on luck. u hv any good recommendation which agency is good? honestly i would feel weird having a stranger staying with me, no longer hv any privacy. also will worry if the maid will be good to the kids if i'm not around?? gosh, i'm getting paranoid liao
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hi elaine,
zhaohui so cute, really wants to go for the trip. This will be his 2nd trip after the zoo.
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i forgot to ask the teacher if we need to bring any food for the picnic trip, nothing stated inside the form.

hi jamie,
how about getting just part time maid to help out a few hours with the housework. A full time maid will be costly and difficult to trust the maid.
 
smallbell
i already hv a bi-weekly part time cleaner. yeah i agree its costly & difficult to find a good trustworthy maid.
 
hi jamie,
how about getting the part time cleaner to come in more often, will still be cheaper than the full time maid.
 
smallbell
i would still need to clean the house everyday leh, cant possibly get the cleaner to come everyday mah. i saw some ppl post those transfer maid, wonder are they good? will need to discuss further with hubby & do up the sums, if really getting one.
 
hi jamie,
i'm lucky to get a good maid... but they r not perfect lor... mine is good towards e kids n listen to me but housework part she isnt very good but i'm still okie with her.... cos kids is e most impt part. she is with me for 3yrs n will stay another 1 more yr.
is really luck no matter which agency u go... i get my maid from Lee Garden in bukit timah shopping centre n is serve by a lady call Lily... very nice lady which taught me lots of things but now she shift to other branch liao.
Anyway if i'm not wrong a new maid salary now is $320 experience ones $350 for indo, if u get philppines ones more exp. then e agency fees varies from different agency.
e maid levy every month is $170 so total i'm spending ard $500 for my current maid.

if u really get a good one then she can really help u do lots of things... just remember 1 thing... NEVER leave her at home alone with e kids... unless is really once a while. OR NEVER let her go out without U.... just like mine she dont need to cook so never need to go marketing... if not then they will get this chance to gossip with other maid downstairs. Whenever we need to buy e kids stuffs i will go together.
 
hi jamie,
transfer maid is also a good idea. She can help you send chloe to school and you concentrate on your boy.

hi elaine,
your maid is alone with the kids while you are at work? or you use cctv to monitor her?
 
hi ladies
when my dad heard that i intend to get a maid, really kicks up such a big fuss!! told me to endure my mum's nonsense for another 6mths or so. my boy will be 2yrs next year & it shd be easier to handle, with chloe.

elaine
your mil is around with your maid when u at work? otherwise hv to use cctv to monitor her. i also dont trust maid alone with our kids.
 
hi ladies,
my mil is at home with e maid....no matter how good she is...i also cant trust her to be alone with e kids...

btw have any1 of u heard of Seimpi school of music?? opposite parkway parade?? any comment on tat sch?? cos this morning me n hubby brought e 2 kids there to find music school, initally want to go crestar but cos e classroom are at level 4 n we have to climb staircase all e way up... put me n hubby off totally...
so we went out n saw a girl carry seimpi bag... so we went up to e sch to take a look... not bad leh... they also have classes for as young as 1yrs old which i'm also looking into cause last time Zhaohui is kindermusic for few months when he is 1 yrs old so i have been feeling very bad tat i didnt send SiZhen to any one now.... so since this school has classes for both e 2 kids so i'm thinking of signing up for their new classes...

btw mygym is having a program call "welcome nite", is for non-member to know more abt their program next sunday 26th july, 1hr program, is free. Just need to call 64409916 to register. 5pm is e earilest class. I have sign up for my kids to go try try.... join me ifboth of u want...
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elaine
i did come across before the discussion between kindermusik & seimpi. seimpi is more formal music training whereas kindermusik is music appreciation. each hv their own plus points i guess. maybe u can go for seimpi trial class before deciding which one to go?

mygym: would love to join u but i'm not sure if my sis will be helping out next week. hubby shd be working so if my sis not ard, i dont tik can manage the 2 kids alone outside leh.
any age group for this "welcome nite"? it would be nice to just let the kids hv some fun together though.
 
hi jamie,
there is no age group.... can range to 5yrs old... not sure e youngest is how old buth ur boy definitely can cos SiZhen also can. e "welcome nite is more on introducing e my gym program to parents so it will be having a variety activities including, music, gym, puppet show... u see how la... if ur sis can help u to bring them along then u faster sign up lor... anyway u can sign up first thenif cannot make it then give them a call to cancel la... :p
 
jamie,
kindermusik is at tanglin so i'm abit put off on driving all e way there then attend 1hr class then drive all e way back... so most likely will put SiZhen with seimpi.
 
elaine
hv called up but the 5pm slot already full so on waitlist.
yeah i also feel tanglin abit far so till now still hv not bring my boy. anyway i also want to wait till chloe settle down in school 1st before i enrol anything for my boy. coz we missed quite alot of gym classes last time when chloe was sick.
 
Ever considered getting a Myanmese helper? My helper is from Myanmar, she's been with us for 3 years. Salary wise, when we first hired her -their salary is $320, more than Indone and less than Filipina.
Myanmese are more conservative and more ting(1) hua(4). They usually can understand English, though depending on your helper. Standard may varies.
Of course there's good and bad in each nationality so it really depends on your luck whether you get a good one or not.
But minus point is everytime before they go back home to Myanmar, they need to go down to their Embassy in St Martin to pay their income tax. Hassle especially if you need to arrange for someone to help you take care of baby while they're on that errand.

Seimpi : I have feedback that it's very good, very flashcard based. Yamaha emphasises alot on hearing.
 
hi jamie,
if just 6 months, that should be okay. Can save up on maid cost too.

hi elaine,
why don't you let zhaohui try out the mmi extra enrichment for music and gym. They got music instructors from a shop at roxy square, using an australian program. I saw the music notes, quite interesting and children get to try out the different musical instruments, even have test for each term. Music enrichment is $80 and $60 for gym. Definitely cheaper than sempi.

Patrick enjoys the class and best part is not ex and can do it together with his school friends. And you will not need to use up weekend time for extra class. They allow to stop anytime. Initially i put Patrick into a few extra class but decide to only let him continue with maths and language. Maybe let him resume music class when i return to work.

hi lily,
your myanmese maid sounds good. how about the dishes that she can cook?
 


lilyann
myanmese maid sounds good & is another option too but my dad strongly against getting a helper. he feels maids cant be trusted altho they are good ones around & it really depends on luck to get a good one.

smallbell
yeah really hv to save up on maid costs, with chloe taking school bus, tats additional costs liao
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