? too young to study ?

As much as i wanna leave 2009 behind and start a new fresh beginning in 2010.. i realised i will be 25yrs next year and my lil tot will be 5yrs old... man do they grow fast!! i cant believe my lil princess will be K1 next year.

but.. as i saw the topics for the 2010 in her childcare school... somethings i was wondering is it necessary for them to start teaching kids so fast?!

Since i grew up in New Zealand, i did all my years of schooling there and don't know much about the education system here in spore.
When i was 5yrs old, we attended primary school (YES PRIMARY SCHOOL STARTS AT AGE 5YRS THERE)
but we only stayed half day and most of the day... we sang songs and play games.. school bag with packed lunch and listen to story time, eat snacks, go outside and play.. and sing more songs.. then 2pm go home.... good times :)

but in spore K1 for 5yrs old are already doing maths..and carry school bags with text books... and kids are suppose to be able to read certain words and remember the days of the week (front & back)... no doubt they do have play time... but i didn't grow up with such strict study methods at such a young age.

As lil tot is learning mandarin as a second language (i know its hard by she can pronounce the Chinese words better than "Malay" words...plus there is no point to learn Malay as Chinese is more used all over the world).. i also pay for extra Chinese classes every Wednesday.
I do see the improvement in her mandarin even thou i don't understand wat the hell she is talking about... but many auntie and uncle always take a 2ND look at tot when she sings a Chinese song while skipping to school.
"Why auntie... she not allowed to speak mandarin is it?"... hehehhe

now i realised that mostly all kids here in spore go to tuition. after school or weekend or home tuition.
i didn't have tuition when i was schooling and was totally new to this concept.

to my sup rise, parents here send their kids to tuition from the young age of 4yrs old! (tot is like 4 now..)
some parents send for 2 - 3 subjects, but believe me.. it ain't cheap!!

as the society here in spore are so competitive on education and want the best for their child... i came to look at myself and wonder.. am i doing for my tot... will she lose out by the time she starts primary school?
will she be slower than the rest of the kids since she didn't attend tuition?

No mother wants their kid to be left behind or laughed at when the child cant read or write properly.

So i have declared my self a Kiasu parent!!!

I also decided to make tot attend tuition class on weekends as i found and heard of a great place near my new house to be... but which subject?

well Phonics is mostly to teach 6-8yrs old kids with either Dyslexia / Reading Difficulties / Slow Learners.
but this phonics method is real good... so they have also started to introduce this to younger kids that are learning to read.. age 4-5yrs.
Read & Spell Programme is a proven programme. Children could read 500 words within 6 lessons.
These same children then gained confidence and self-esteem to motivate themselves to become independent fluent readers.
The programme also corrects reading / spelling difficulty and most important to me is Pronunciation / Speech.
no lah, hor, lor, eh, heh okies!
This Phonics class is my first choice... as i find its important for her to learn how to read and spell first.

I plan for tot to attend the phonics class for 2010 to build up her vocab and give her confidence to start read properly.

10 lesson $160 per subject.
(registration $20 & materials $91.50) = $271.50 for the first time attending.

Now if i was earning 2.5k or more... i will let lil tot attend more subject...
but i don't earn that much sooo for the mean time... 1 subject will do... PLUS i don't want to stress out tot so much... she is still going to be only 5yrs old wat.. still a kid who loves to play and sing songs.... not study study study!

but 2011 she will be K2 and was hoping to change phonics to MPM maths.
MPM math aims to improve confidence and inculcate independent problem-solving It trains children in Math concepts and calculation skills while promoting TRUE problem solving skills – children will be able to solve sophisticated Math problems using basic skills they have learnt. Progressively, a positive self-learning attitude develops in MPM-trained children.

so this will get her ready for primary school.

SEE IVE JOINED THE PARENTS SOCIETY GROUP & BECOME A KAISU PARENT!!!

(but at least my tot will get a head start of what is to come in primary school)