This review is on Shekinah Learning Curve School at Tampines Mart
after my girl has attended it for 12 months.
After my first encounter with Miss Ivy, the next time I drop by at
Shekinah Learning Curve (SLC) was in July when I went down to do registration for Lil
Joy. The first time I went to the school with classes ongoing was during the
registration and I cannot forget the happy atmosphere the children were in. I
was not allowed to go into the classroom for fear of disrupting their lessons
but the Principal did allow me to have a look through the tinted glass door. I
saw a bunch of happy kids learning the Chinese word 'flower' and the Chinese
teacher was holding up a real flower to relate the word better for them.
Most importantly, before I sign up with the school, I asked lil
Joy if she wants to study here and her answer was again a sure yes whereas she
always tell me no at the other schools.
I basically enrolled my girl into the school based on good faith
and instinct combined with my girl's willingness to study here. So the strength
of the school was discovered later.
Lil Joy's teacher, Ms Cecilia, is a very dedicated teacher who
will ask me to stay back after school almost every week during the first month
to update me about that Lil Joy, sharing her concern that lil Joy is not able
to write. She was encouraging and let me know some of the expectations the
school hopes to achieve with the child before the end of Nursery 2. She was
also sensitive enough to place her priority in building up rapport with lil Joy
first instead of academic work on her during the initial stage. She took the
extra mile to work with Lil Joy on basic tracing exercises while the rest of
the class are already doing copying work. Ms Cecilia has been prompt at updating
all the parents with the children's update ever since the day of registration.
About 1 month down the road, I noticed that all the 3 teachers in
the school are all just as good and dedicated. This really reduces the stress
for the fear of having the 'lousy' teacher being rotated to my girl's class
because all the teachers are equally good.
All the teachers are not just qualified with basic childhood education but some of them are qualified with montessori certification and holds a childhood education degree. If you do a search online, you will notice that Shekinah has another branch, which is a montessori school.
The school has Montessori equipment and uses Montessori methods
for some lessons. If you are like me, believing in the strength of montessori
but at the same time concerned about the lack of opportunity for your kids to
explore the world with their own creativity. This school is too good to be true
for me because the school curriculum is really very comprehensive and have the
best of both worlds. They are using project-based approach and the teachers
took pains to find resources to deliver their lessons to the children in a fun
and interactive way. There are science, arts, math, language, and personal
development and physical educational incorporated throughout the school term.
The children even have a show and tell session at the end of every term.
The school has a formal quarterly meet the parent session, which
you can choose to attend. There are also ad hoc updates when there are things
to be addressed to, or compliments of the good things your little ones has done
during the normal school days.
I need to emphasis that the small class size was something that I
appreciate a lot. I believe that the maximum no. of students per class is
around 10 to 12. This means the teachers are able to have sufficient attention
to every child.
The classroom is open concept but will be closed up into sections
during academic work sessions. It is very interesting because the children of
all age group are able to interact and learn from each other during joint
activities. The older kids will learn to keep a lookout for the younger ones. I
have seen how all of them crowd around to help the one who has tripped and
fallen down during school dismissal time. It is really just like one big family.
I cannot help but relate the school to Toto-chan's school (From the book, Toto
Chan). Till this day, I still feel very blessed that God has led me to a school
like this for my kids.. and yes.. my son will be enrolling into the school too
when he comes to age.
I do have concerns before lil Joy started school in SLC, which are
all adequately addressed, by the school.
My first major concern was the carpet flooring because lil Joy is
allergic to dust and we do have great concern that she might get sick from the school carpet. Vacuuming is done after every session which means 2 vacuuming is done
everyday and major carpet cleaning is done regularly and the toys are being
wiped down everyday. So far, lil Joy has not came back with any allergic
reactions.
The other concern of mine is the low ratio of Chinese students, lil Joy is the only
Chinese in her class. I was hoping that she gets more exposure to Mandarin in
school and I was a little bummed that she might not have much chance to speak
Mandarin with her same aged friends. But I am so wrong because all the kids
learn Mandarin in the class. By end of the 1st term, lil joy is starting to
reply us in mandarin, showing more interest in Mandarin by singing songs and
reading some Chinese words.
The school is air-conditioned but I see air purifiers and
dehumidifier set up in the school to improve the quality of the air.
All in all, the school has made efforts to address all the
possible concerns from parents.
I will be posting some of the works that the school has done with Lil Joy which will have more photos and not just a wordy post.
Note:
This post is totally not sponsored and is solely based on my own experience and
observation. I paid the full school fees for all the terms.
