I changed CC for no1 becos we moved house. Cant be going back to sengkang now tat we are staying in balestier mah
For Montessori teaching: actually depends on are u looking at pure monte or partial monte schs.
Most schs in sin I would say shd be Partial…
Pure Monte – group mix age kids together. ALL the kids are learning diff things, at their own pace, at their own interest.
Most sch in Singapore are partial… gd in a way as incorporates the goodness of Montessori and still prep kid in pri sch environment.
But some partial schs might not be adequately trained to really uses Montessori way. So it’s like “half bucket” thingy. So for Montessori still gd to ask who are the well trained trs in Montessori vs who is not etc.
Partial monte – still group kids according to age. Thus they still hv core subjects according to theme like all learn maths now and during maths all learn addition etc. The only diff is they uses monte materials/methods to teach the subjects (the methods are kinda of well know and proven esp for eng/maths…) . And usually there would be a 1hr/day Montessori time. During this time, kids are free to take any Montessori materials and learn independently.
Montessori teaching advocates a lot on own pace/own interest. Usually Montessori environment wld advocates independent/ take charge of ur own learning etc. I guess this wld be used esp during the Montessori time. Normal sch hrs – hv to follow the general curriculum… then during the 1hr, kids are free to choose things tat interest them. If the kids choose maths related materials… usual class time maybe only learn 1,2,3… but the tr can further intro 1+1=2, 1+2+3 etc. so the kid wld learn faster in the subject tat he likes etc.
Kids also wld take sometime to really learn to learn independently! For a start – kid sure “kpo” other kids… or wants to play wat other kids are playing (same as toys right.. grass greener on the other side!
) my kid took few months to really settle down during the montessori time
Other parts of montessori like life skills/gross&Fine motor skills training – actually I find most schs are already incorporating into their day to day teaching too.
Ur other qns on how adequate does it prep the kid for p1 and chinese standard – I feel this really depends on the centre/tr/kid. I cant say on a overall.
Cons –
1) like I say, really need to check on the trs quality. Having said that the 1hr montessori time is independently learning, the tr shd be ard and noticing how each kid fares on his own learning. Goes to offer help if the kid is facing difficult, goes to offer more challenge to more advanced kids. I heard of stories where the kids end up playing ard during tat 1hr and the tr just use this 1hr as admin purpose!
2) I also heard of stories of kids not adapting well in pri sch. Mainly they are sooooo independent and so used to “take charge”. Can't sit down n follow the timetable. Then tis maybe not so much a worry esp if u r going to a partial one.
