My Crazy Preschool Search

Hi!

It's been a while since I last posted and today I'd like to document my crazy big search for a good preschool for my dear son, which started 2 years ago and only ended yesterday :P

Let's see, let me start with my criteria for a good preschool:
(a) It has to be a school that is either within walking distance, or has a school bus that serves my area, and the journey should not be too long
(b) The teachers should be warm and engaging, and speak properly
(c) Curriculum should have a balance of academics (teaching them to read and write and speak) and moral values
(d) Good reviews online

Let's see, the first preschool I visited was Bedok Methodist Kindergarten, because that's where my husband went to when he was a kid, and it's also near his parents.  I was nonchalant when I visited, and I remember nothing really impressed me about that school.  The teachers were warm, the kids looked engaged, but the distance was a bit troubling.  It was a bit far from where we were staying, and if we sent our kid there, he would spend half the day at my in-laws', and I can imagine him watching Chinese TV dramas and cooking shows while playing with trains the whole afternoon, until we picked him up.  My in-laws are not very talkative people and they believe in leaving the kids to themselves, while the adults went on with their work/chores.  So I can imagine a very non-stimulating environment for my son, and that was a no-no.

The second school we visited was Pat's Schoolhouse at Siglap.  It was a premium full-day childcare and I had high hopes as I visited it.  However, two things put me off: the premises looked very cramped, the staircase high and winding, and when one set of kids came out of the classroom, clutching some craft they had just made, to go to their next programme, I couldn't help thinking they looked a bit listless, and one boy definitely looked a bit cross-eyed as he looked at me.  And the overwhelming feeling I got (together with their very impressive curriculum) was that, they totally overwhelm the kids with learning and activities, so that they have no time to think or process or just play around and be kids.  The kids looked quite washed out.  So I decided against them.  I later visited another Pat's Schoolhouse branch at Buckley road, but that is for another blog post.

Then was a whole slew of preschools, which we struck out because they were either
(a) Showing cartoons to the kids during school-time (Just Kids)
(b) Telling off a boy for almost 20 minutes in a very naggy, bad-tempered way when the teacher was supposed to be teaching some words to a group of eager student (PCF near my place)
(c) Leaving kids alone to run amock while a lone teacher mopped up urine grumbling the whole time (same PCF)
(d) Did not seem to have an English teacher who pronounced properly (Creative Twinkles), and who also seemed to be generally lacking in energy and slow in movement (she took 10-15 minutes just to set up a projector and computer the whole time I was there), although she was very friendly 
(d) Having a mix of teachers who ranged from very experienced to very inexperienced, and but knowing the inexperienced young teacher would be the one who would be taking the youngest class (Carpe Diem)
(e) Having a very weak academic curriculum (Kiddiwinkie near my workplace, and Hope Community Kindergarten)
(f) Being crazily expensive but having teachers who seemed just like myself - young and no commanding presence or great speaking voice to make them stand out as teachers (Odyssey) - yes maybe I am benchmarking against Julie Andrews a bit in Sound of Music, but for the highest childcare fees in Singapore, surely the teachers should be a cut above the rest?
(g) Having a great curriculum and teachers (except for a stern-looking Chinese PRC teacher who looked totally humourless and unhappy to be with kids all day) but was in a location where my husband would have to pick him up at 7pm sharp every day, which is stressful. 

By this time, I had this weary feeling like this item "Find preschool" would be a task item that could never get crossed off my list, and time was ticking away.

Then one day, as I was in cell group, we were doing a topic on Insecurities, and one of the homework was to do research on the verses in the Bible that addressed our insecurities.  No surprises, one of my greatest insecurities is not bringing up my kids in the best way possible, and somehow limiting their full potential later in life.  When I did a cursory internet search on verses on bringing up children, however, I was shocked to find out - not only does the Bible not talk about the importance of sending your kid to a good school, of excelling in academics, and not being tall enough or focused or well-behaved, it only talks about the importance of three things -- sharing with them about God's Word, teaching them to love God, and disciplining them when we need to, and not exasperating them.  I then added one more thing to my search criteria - the preschool should be in a church, which preferably will impart Christian values to my son too.  This was also bolstered (divine coincidence) by several recent testimonies of friends/colleagues who sent their kids to church kindergartens, Christians and non-Christians alike, and were all very happy with them.

So, I did a google search on church kindergartens in the east, and found a couple of them.  Then I checked the reviews, and struck out a couple, and called the rest.  One of them was already full, so that was out.  Another was very near but not yet built, so we can only decide in November (again, more on that later).  Another apparently had run-down facilities and no other online reviews.  So I put it a bit lower on my list.  Another looked extremely promising (St Hilda's Kindergarten) but I found out to my horror later that it was actually very far from my place, and my son would have to be on the bus more than 2 hours a day, and skip lunch every day.  I did identify one promising church kindergarten, which was in Pasir Ris - Pentecostal Methodist Church Kindergarten (PMCK) with good reviews and the bus uncle promised he could fetch kids living in my area, so my hubby and I went down yesterday to visit it. 

To our surprise, the church was quite bright and well-maintained, even new-looking, and I saw the word "missions" on one of the banners, which gave me a good feeling.  When I peeped into a few classrooms, the kids all were gathered around the teacher in a tight knot and being alert and raising hands (unlike many preschools where the kids were dispersed all around the class doing their own thing, and only a select group was with the teacher), and later when some classes filed out to go to assembly, I was pleasantly surprised that they were all very alert-looking and very pleasant in demeanour and well-behaved.  They didn't look listless nor were they overly boisterous, just very happy, well-behaved kids.  And when I saw a teacher teaching them some PE movement, the kids quickly followed suit.  I think if I send my kid here, he may not become the most independent and original thinker in town, nor score marks for inquisitiveness, but he will learn to follow teacher's instructions and maybe a bit of self-control.  That is important when he goes into our education system later on - I often worry that my son will not be able to sit still in class, or concentrate enough at home to finish his homework.  Their curriculum seemed the same as many other curriculums we saw, thematic and all that, and they followed Jolly Phonics (so at least they do follow a system, unlike in some schools when the teacher could not even articulate that), and the admin lady who was bringing us around stressed that they do teach values through their 15 min assembly every morning and big assembly time on Fris, so the only down side was that we did not get to observe the teachers actually teaching in class and pronouncing, and we also saw a Filipino teacher who was teaching the class my son would be in next year.  We then find out, to our surprise, that the admin lady also attended the same church as me!  There were also vacancies left (not many) for the morning session, so even after he attends enrichment, he will still be back in good time for lunch.

Anyway, after a short discussion with my hubby, and since their fees were not steep, we decided to put down a deposit to guarantee a place for our son next year, all the while stressing that I would hope my son would NOT get the class with the Filipino teacher to the admin lady (and she kept saying no promises, but I think she will take note).

And the even funnier thing is, I find out later that night at cell group that the church - Pentecostal Methodist Church - is actually the church attended by one of my cell members (yes there are 3 who do not attend my church in my cell)!  What a small world!  She was not there though, so I could not squeal over this coincidence with her.  But I will next week :)

I have been praying for a long time to make a wise decision on preschool for my sons and I considered this an answered prayer - for then.

After my boy started attending, we felt the preschool was fine, no complaints about the teachers (the Filipino teacher ended up being the super caring one) and my kid did find another naughty (oops, I meant active) boy and a few others to be his close friends, but we decided to pull my kid out because I was unexpectedly expecting a number 3 (planned by God!) and after running through the different care-taking arrangements and scenarios decided that it would be best if we sent both boys to full day childcare instead of half-day preschool, so my mum and maid can focus on taking care of the baby in the daytime.

So, we started hunting for a Christian full-day childcare near my place. I recalled the ECDA website had mentioned there would be a new childcare very near my place called Bethlehem Educare and checked the website and the tel no for any updates. To cut a long story short, it eventually opened, is within walking distance of my place, and the student-to-teacher ratio is very desirable - my eldest boy's class only has 4 students (with 2 teachers) and my younger boy's class has about 6 - 8 kids. The teachers are dedicated and passionate about the kids, giving me very detailed feedback about both my kids during the parent teacher conference, my eldest boy found another naughty little boy to be good friends with (see the pattern?), and my gentle younger one has become inseparable with a little girl (gasp!). So, this ends my preschool search phase 2. I hope there won't be a phase 3!!!