Friday, September 3, 2010

Need to decide on pre-school again

Before I enrolled Tian into her current pre-school, I have also 'book' a place in another pre-school. This pre-school, G has only classes for 4-6 year olds and it does not provide day-care. So the teachers are only committed to teaching instead of taking care of them after class. I had seen the syllabus and was quite impressed with what they have committed to teach the students. I enrolled Tian to her current pre-school because they had 3 year old syllabus and I wanted to expose her earlier so that she would be more prepared to go to Pre-School G.

Early this week, the principal from G called me to confirm if I would let Tian to start schooling there next year. Since they have a lot of students on waiting list, I will need to book a place for Tian with RM1000. The monthly school fees will be RM100 more expensive than her current pre-school and it is situated a few kilometres further away from my home. My only concern is that Tian has just got used to her current pre-school and I am worried she will need time to settle down again in a different pre-school.

Her current pre-school standard is also fine but I think they do not expose the students to different languages evenly. In Tian's case is Bahasa Melayu and she is not able to read the words in her book yet. She has shown improvement in tracing lines, colouring and reading (by heart and not actually recognizing words) though. I do not know if I am expecting too much by judging a pre-school from a 3 year old kid's performance and she has only been there for 2 months.

However, the principal at G told me that we need to ensure our children master their languages so that they will not suffer in Primary School especially if we intend to send her to Chinese Primary School. They will have 7 subjects to cope and a lot of homework. If they are slower, they might be put in separate classes with weaker students. I will need to confirm on this with my friend who has sons in Chinese Primary School. The principal told me that if parents and pre-school work together, the students will be able to cope well in early primary school years without resorting to tuition.

I went to see the principal at Pre-school G just now to understand more on the syllabus. As I walked out, I saw a mother bringing her son and told the principal she wanted to enrol her son for 4 year old classes next year. The principal directly told her their classes was full already. So I believe what she says about they have many students on waiting list and needs us to confirm a place with them eventhough there are still several months until end of the year.

I am in dilemma. My initial intention to send Tian to her current pre-school is to give her a better headstart at pre-school G but now I really need to consider properly. Since Tian's pre-school is having Parents Day tomorrow, I will go to meet the teachers and see how it goes....

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