26th Feb Talent plus for Ryann?

Today i took morning off so as to visit talent plus at Blk 172B. One thing i was pretty much impressed was when i called the centre manager, she mentioned that i can just pop by the school anytime between 9am - 1.15pm. When i reached the centre, I realized that the teachers will not be informed when a parent is going for visiting so that we can be assured that we are seeing the actual situation of the class. Many childcare will specially do things just to please the visiting parents but when you spot check them, you will see a different story.

Teacher Rachel, a very young teacher is in charge of that centre. She showed me around the place. There were about 11 - 12 kids. 6 were on the mat watching dvd on a laptop. the other 5 or 6 were eating they biscuits or snacks. It was their rest time then. Ryann went in the class and started messing the place as usual.

Talent plus curriculum is set by the school itself but the delivery methods varies from different teachers. Those teachers are on contract basis and thus i ask more questions so that i can know teacher Rachel better.

Teacher Rachel shared with me that she will not be focusing on so much on the 'study' part but she will be teaching more on lifelong skills such as the art of sharing, waiting, taking turns and listening to ground rules etc. The kids are taught to take turns during break time. They learn how to recognise their own name on their bag to take their snack box out. They learn Independence by self feeding. I shared with her my concerns about Ryann's development to see how she explain her views about it. She shared with me that there are 2 side of the story. Either he can do it but just didn't want to show it or he cant do it. From my examples, she feels that Ryann is able to do it but just didn't want to show it. Then the reinforcement will play a part to educate him to perform. It takes a while but he will soon understand what can be done and what cant as she reinforce the ideas to him. She mentioned that she is a very consistent person and that when she say 'no' today, tomorrow will still be 'no' too.

Kiddy ABC wasn't able to answer me that well in such aspects. Thus from her replies i can sense her confidence in her. Although she might be pretty strict for a 18 months old but i think it is not entirely bad as well. Ryann doesn't respond to us when we are angry because he knows that we will still shower lots of love to him after that. (Argh.. he got us. ) When it is a stranger, a teacher, he might be able to learn better then.

The place is cleaner and the fees are cheaper too. I like the idea that they have a routine of what they are suppose to do every day. Kids need a routine to guide them since they do not understand about time just yet. Kiddy ABC could not answer my question about their routine as detailed as talentplus.

Before i leave the class, it is the holistic learning session at 5 areas of learning. The books learning corner and the stamping corner are closed and the kids knowing that, didn't go to those corner. One little boy sat on the mat and didn't join the rest of the kids playing with cooking toys etc. And when i noticed that, teacher Rachel explained to me that his favourite section is the books section which is closed but he knows that he is not allowed to go to that section thus he stayed on the mat. I am so amazed at how she had discipline the kids in just barely 2 months (she only started in Jan). Although that boy is slightly bigger but i felt that it is a great achievement.

She shared the same views as me on the not pampering and sheltering the child too much as that will hinder their learning process. She will hope that parents or caregivers will support her on that and not shelter the kids by saying he cant do it.

She also explained to me about the ways they communicate with parents. In talent plus, she either send memo, emails or official letters to maintain communication with the parents. They will write about the progress of the child and what happen on that day etc. This will help me understand more about Ryann's progress. Kiddy ABC told me that they have a communication book but she dun read them regularly thus if i have got urgent matters, can call her directly or speak to her face to face. That is not very impressive isn't it?

Debate between Kiddy ABC and Talentplus, of cos i have to ask myself what is my focus now for Ryann. To be frank with you, Talentplus won all my votes. They may not focus alot on educational now but I personally think disciplinary, Independence and self help skills are far more important then anything. Mr Anything (hubby) said anything of cos!