L WHERE: EtonHouse,MountbattenL FEE: $1,551/month for afull-day programme

QUESTIONS popped up themoment they spied anunknown face. Eagerly, theyquizzed: “Who are you?”

The cheekier ones enjoined:“How old are you?” and yes,even: “Are you married?”

Children at this EtonHousepre-school in Mountbattenprivate estate are taught to askquestions and express theiropinions freely, said seniorpre-school director JosephyneHo, 42.

They are also encouraged tothink for themselves, andresolve their own conflicts.

Teachers stay on thesidelines: When a pair ofsix-year-olds argue over whogets first dibs on the dice usedfor a maths lesson, they turn toeach other – rather than theteacher – crunching their littlefists for a scissors-paper-stonegame to settle the conflict.

“We teach children to thinkfor themselves – making surethey fit the mould, but canfunction well out of it,” saidMs Ho.

Even lunchtime is distinctlyunschool-like. The lights aredimmed and soft classicalmusic plays in the background– “like a restaurant, so childrencan relax”, said teacherSamantha Morier, 24.

The 2,960 sq m centre has 11classrooms in a double-storeyhouse; and an outdoor space

with a playground, vegetableand herb garden, and a lawn.

The 26 teachers hold at leastan early childhood diploma,with some pursuing a degree.They are in charge of 123children at the centre.

With the ample outdoor

space, teachers can conduct anart class on the lawn. Childrenalso learn maths outdoors –under a trellis next to a herbgarden with basil and mintplants – using a board gamewhere they roll a dice to forman addition or subtraction sum,and scribble the solution onmini whiteboards.

But it is also clear that noteveryone can afford such aneducation. The centre charges$1,551.50 per month forKindergarten 2 children.EtonHouse has 10 centres here,charging different fees, whichcan go over $2,000 a month.

The lunchtime chatter hintsat the privileged backgroundsof the kids. A discussion onschool-holiday destinationsthrew up countries likeAustralia and Japan.KEZIA TOH

L WHERE: Hampton, BishanL FEE: $727/month for afull-day programme

CHILDREN play by the rulebook here – when they arehanded mini percussioninstruments, they place themdemurely on their laps, insteadof rattling them as boisteroussix-year-olds do.

At this Hampton pre-schoolon Bishan Street 13 – anEtonHouse-managed childcarecentre of the PAP CommunityFoundation (PCF) – childrenare well-schooled for primaryschool under teacher HuangRu’s watchful eye.

The class of 23 rattles theinstruments to the beat of aneight-line Mandarin ditty andrecites the lyrics aloud, withMadam Huang, 33, occasionallystopping the rapid-fireintonation to correct thechildren’s pronunciation.

The children get moreenthusiastic when they pretendto be characters from the song:In groups of five, they curl up,pretending to be struggling antstrying to move a “bean” – animprovised bean bag.

The centre is the PCF’s firstcollaboration with a privateoperator to tap its expertise inearly childhood education.

PCF also has another tie-upwith NTUC First Campus atthe Little Wings centres, whichhas a curriculum that focuseson learning through play andhands-on activities.

At Hampton, 18 teacherstake charge of 124 children

from nursery to K2 – a ratiothat veers more towardsEtonHouse’s smallerteacher-pupil ratio than PCF’s.

Pupils are gradually trainedto get used to the disciplineexpected in primary school –moving to and fro from aplayground for an activity, theystand obediently in line whileMadam Huang gently taps eachpair to do a headcount, withthe children following her tapsand reciting in even numbers.

“Primary school teachershandle bigger groups, so it ishard to keep an eye out foreach child. We have to let themknow these rules, to keep themsafe when they go outside.”

The childcare centre charges$727.60 for a full-dayprogramme – falling in themiddle range between the feescharged at PCF and EtonHouse.

Lessons function as theywould at a primary school –children take turns to fill inverbs, adjectives and nouns onthe whiteboard, before copyingthese examples into notebooks.

As pupils head for primaryschool, the curriculum has tohelp them move smoothly intoformal schooling, said centresupervisor Chia Bee Yong, 51.

For example, homework –usually in the form of simpleworksheets or artwork – isassigned every Friday from K1,so children get used to the idea.

Said Madam Huang:“Primary 1 is not that hard –children need to know thefoundation so they don’tbecome frazzled. But we trynot to load them with so muchinformation that it turns themoff learning.”KEZIA TOH

L WHERE: My First Skool,Taman JurongL FEE: $674/month for afull-day programme

CHILDREN are usually told offfor scribbling on the furniture.

But at this National TradesUnion Congress (NTUC) MyFirst Skool in Taman Jurong,they are free to doodle on theconcrete floors. And there is notheme – children draw whatthey like at this daily session.

This gives them “space forself-expression”, said teacherNur Ashiqin. With the primaryschool syllabus placing greateremphasis on speaking andwriting skills, pre-schools haveto adapt, said the 24-year-old,who has been teaching for ayear.

The most important thing,she added, is to give the quieterones the confidence to speakup. “I have to call on them andencourage them to do so.”

The 960 sq m centre –which has studios and a galleryfor children to exhibit theircreations – is the pre-schoolchain’s first standalone,two-storey building. Most ofthe other branches are locatedat HDB void decks.

It charges $674.10 permonth for its Kindergarten 2programme – $50 more thanthe fee at void deck centres.

There are 24 teachers whotake charge of over 200children. Teachers hold at leastan early childhood diploma,though some are starting ontheir degree qualification, said

centre principal Zalina Ismail.To make sure that children

are comfortable in both Englishand Mandarin, two teachers –each fluent in one language –shadow every class.

These classes are alsothematic: a K2 lesson centreson a song about a frog’s lifecycle, for example. Childrenlearn English, mathematics andscience, by thinking about thenumber of eggs mature frogsproduce and the differentstages of a frog’s life cycle.

While classes are fluidenough for children to learnthrough play, they must stillprepare them in terms ofdiscipline for primary school,said Ms Zalina, 29.

Children line up in twoswhen moving around thecentre, and raise their handswhen they want to speak. And

during the last three months ofa child’s K2 year, teachersassign homework once everytwo weeks.

But this “is usuallyactivity-based rather than rotelearning”, said Ms Zalina. “Wehave them draw their familymembers’ foot sizes to helpthem learn about comparison.”

There are no spelling tests atthis centre – which made someparents feel a little insecure.

Public relations executiveKaren Tan, 36, said she wasinitially concerned that hersix-year-old son might not bewell prepared for Primary 1.

“But I see him enjoying andhaving fun through play – it isgood to have that now becausewhen kids go to primaryschool, it just becomes acompetitive rat race,” she said.KEZIA TOH

L WHERE: PCF, WoodlandsL FEE: $117/month for ahalf-day programme

MENTION PAP CommunityFoundation (PCF)kindergartens, and the image ofstern teachers, firm disciplineand worksheets may come tomind.

But the PCF centre atWoodlands Block 824 beliessuch an image.

There is no homework,worksheets or tests at thiscentre, which charges $117.70 amonth for its Kindergarten 2programme.

Five teachers – all have adiploma in early childhoodeducation – watch over morethan 90 children aged between21/2 and six. Most of theiryoung charges come fromfamilies living in the HousingBoard estate.

The brightly coloured 400sq m centre is split into twobays under a HDB block – witha classroom for each level, asmall reception area, a kitchenand a common dance studio.

The closest thing to an“assignment” involves thetracing of strokes of Chinesecharacters. The other fewpen-and-paper activities takethe form of making sense ofscrambled sentences, and thewriting of personal responsesto statements in jotter books.

Unlike in primary school, thetimetable is not organisedaccording to subjects here.Instead, the curriculum isstructured around themes, and

the teaching methods cater to avariety of learning styles.

For example, children learnEnglish while finding out aboutthe jobs of people in a school,such as a teacher or a gardener.Pupils are encouraged to thinkon their feet and to speak up inclass. When asked what agardener’s job is, they repliedenthusiastically: “Plant flowersand trees” and “Water plants”.

Asked what happens if theplants stop growing andbecome stunted, thequick-witted ones suggested:“Water more.”

In music and movementclass, pupils go to an adjacentdance studio where they clapand count the beats in a songto learn mathematics andrhythm.

Said the centre’s principalMak Kit Leng, 44: “If you

prescribe something so rigidlike a spelling list, you arelearning for the sake of learningand will forget later.”

But it’s not all fun at thecentre – it does prepare pupilsfor the discipline of primaryschool. They are expected tokeep quiet and pay attentionwhen the teacher rings a bell orflashes a red card indicating anend to chatter. Said teacherFerlene Heng, 30: “It’s goodtraining for Primary 1.”

Housewife Lena Tan, 38,who sends her three children toa PCF centre, said that itprepares them well for therigours of formal schooling.

“They practise theirhandwriting, learn to spellsimple words and form simplesentences, which really helpsthem when they go to school.”KEZIA TOH

PARENTS are paying starkly dif-ferent prices for their children’searly years: Those who send theirpre-schoolers to an EtonHousecentre pay over $1,500 a monthfor a full-day kindergarten pro-gramme. Those at mass market

ones like NTUC’s My First Skoolpay less than half of that.

Yesterday, Acting CommunityDevelopment, Youth and SportsMinister Chan Chun Sing voicedhis concerns about pre-schools be-coming a “luxury good problem”,where pricier programmes are per-ceived to be better.

Does money buy quality in ear-ly childhood education and child-care? Some parents may think so.Experts say higher fees may meanbetter facilities, but it is the teach-ers that really matter.

“It is how the teacher relates to

children that builds the relation-ship and makes them respond tolearning,” said Dr Christine Chen,62, founder and president of theAssociation for Early ChildhoodEducators.

Mr Philip Koh, 49, an earlychildhood trainer and consultant,said some parents may feel thehigh-end centres are betterbecause they still associate massmarket operators, such as PAPCommunity Foundation (PCF),with rote learning.

But programmes offered bythese operators have evolved over

the years, said Mr Koh. For in-stance, they are now focusingmore on learning through play.

At the PCF centre at Block 824in Woodlands Street 81, for exam-ple, there is no homework ortests. But parents may still thinkchildren learn by rote – a remnantof PCF centres of old, said the cen-tre’s principal Mak Kit Leng, 44.

Some parents also have the mis-conception that lower fees meantheir children are taught by un-trained teachers, said Dr NirmalaKaruppiah, an early childhood lec-turer from the National Institute

of Education.All new teachers are now re-

quired to have at least an earlychildhood diploma.

Experts, however, acknow-ledge that some of the pricier cen-tres may have the financial advan-tage of hiring more teachers – andbetter qualified ones too.

At Brighton Montessori, whichcharges $850 to $1,275 a monthfor a Kindergarten 2 half-day pro-gramme, teachers track the learn-ing curve of each pupil. A teacherassigns each child a different activ-ity according to his level, said its

founder Connie Cho.But pre-schools with less finan-

cial muscle can expect some help.The Government has said it wouldset up a statutory board to over-see pre-school education and givebetter training to teachers.

But some feel how well a childlearns may have more to do withwhat is taught at home. Said MrKoh: “A higher-end preschoolteacher really just needs to buildon what is already encouraged athome – where children are expres-sive and well-spoken.”

keziatoh@sph.com.sg

Learning mathsunder a trellis

PCF centre, but inEtonHouse style

Lesson of the day:A song about frogs

No homework atthis PCF centre

By KEZIA TOH

Pre-schoolers at My First Skool in Taman Jurong get to draw what they likeon the tiled floor with coloured chalk every day. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

A DAY AT...

Do higher fees really mean better-quality facilities and teachers?

Pre-school children at EtonHouse in Mountbatten private estate doingoutdoor painting with teacher Samantha Morier. ST PHOTO: AZIZ HUSSIN

How different is a $100-a-month kindergarten from one that charges $1,000?Kezia Toh spends a day at four different pre-schools to find out

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

MOULDING THINKING KIDS

We teach children tothink for themselves– making sure they fitthe mould, but canfunction well out of it.– Senior pre-school directorJosephyne Ho

Pre-school children engaged in drawing at the PAP Community Foundationcentre at Woodlands Block 824. ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM

Children at Hampton using instruments during a Chinese lesson. The centreis the PCF’s first tie-up with a private operator. ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA

The $100 v $1,000 difference

D10 SSAATTUURRDDAAYY S A T U R D A Y , O C T O B E R 6 , 2 0 1 2