Best Concept Montessori Classroom

Sandrine

Any comment about this Montessori classroom in TST?  Have you sent your kids there?  Are the teachers good?  They have one English & one Putonghua teacher in the class.  Class fee is $2,100 for 8 x 2-hour classes a month.  As it requires $1,800 annual membership fee before you can join their programs, I want to gather more info before making any commitment.  Any other Montessori classroom that you will recommend?  My child is 4.

mom2twins

I am also interested in this centre and would like to know too.  

P.S. Sandrine - I've sent u a pm.

cat_dogrob

I am also interested in this centre and would like to know too.

Pl pm me too.

cat

zooh

I've heard many good things about this Montessori classroom from friends who have enrolled their children there. I wanted to enrol my 1.5 son there too, but too bad they only accept children between 2-6.

Nonetheless I had a visit there about a month ago. The classroom is spacious and they have full sets of Montessori materials there. I'm really impressed and my boy loved it too!  I think I'll have him enrolled as soon as he turns 2.

idachan

我覺得麻麻地,我囡囡返得唔開心...

Sandrine

idachan,

Would you share with us why your daughter didn't like it there?  What happened?  How old is she? I understand that Montessori teachers don't interfere much.  Does that mean the children will be playing with the materials on their own most of the time with little interaction with the teachers?  So my question is "Is it worth paying that much?"

zooh

idachan,

Could you please tell us more about your daughter's experience?  How long has she been attending classes there?  My friend's daughter enrolled when she's 2 and she kept crying for mommy for the first month or so, but after awhlie it seems that she got used to the environment pretty well.  I'm a bit worried that my boy will look for mommy when he enrols, I'll see how it goes.


Sandrine,

I've been reading some  Montessori books lately, and they suggest that Montessori teachers are "observers" in the classrooms, while children are their own "teachers".  Montessori teachers provide guidelines for children, but children are to manipulate the materials themselves. You really need to buy the idea if you want to enrol your child in Montessori.

idachan

不如我地一齊分享下,我囡囡九月3歲,佢都返咗9-10堂,但仍然喊,因為centre要最少一星期返2堂,每次2個鐘,其實應該小朋友會好快適應,唔知點解我囡囡好抗拒返,我每次問佢：你小小鐘意or多多鐘意返芭蕾舞,佢答我多多鐘意,我問她其他返緊的活動,她也答我多多鐘意,唯獨是我問Montessori,她就話我唔鐘意返,我知道Montessori是没有其他人影響之下等小朋友自己去找尋答案,所以頭個半鐘是老師不會說什麼的,最後的半小時是學習唐詩,數字等,其實佢其中一個賣點是能學英普,但真正有幾多時間出聲呢??但當初最吸引我的,是centre好新及乾淨，這是真的，而且上星期我工人帶她返去，因囡囡喊得利害（通常佢最多喊頭１５分鐘，跟住佢就不喊，去玩）所以嘔，少少在衫上，少少在地上，其中一個老師很不滿的打開門，（因我工人２小時也在門口等她）佢嘔呀，你快過來抺乾淨佢，佢面上非常不滿，（這些都是工人講給我聽的）工人同我講：太太呀，我覺得這裏的老師好似不喜歡囡囡呀，因為佢常常喊．．．．我聽到心裏當然好唔舒服，你地做媽咪都應該明白，咁各位你地教我，我應該繼續返or暫停呢！！我不是全怪老師，因我囡囡喊又真是討厭，但這老師是否没有愛心呢？？

Sandrine

Idachan,

Did your daughter tell you why she cried? Was it because she didn't like to be left on her own.  Perhaps she hadn't made any friends there?  Anybody hit or pushed her there?  Perhaps she wanted more attention from the teachers?  Was she uncomfortable in the English/Mandarin environment?  Other than the incident you mentioned, did your helper see anything?  Which teacher got impatient, the English or the Mandarin teacher?  I think even if your daughter threw up, the teacher should be the one doing the cleaning.  She shouldn't be relying on the helper outside, unless your daughter cried to see her.  Have you talked to other parents outside the classroom?  How about the communication diary?  What was the teachers' observation and comment?  What had your daughter achieved in the 10 lessons?  Any individualized learning plans for her?  I also share your concern about how both languages can be acquired in the environment when the teachers don't interact much with the children. Am I too greedy?

I've visited the center and agree that it's clean, spacious, tidy and comfortable.  As parents are not allowed to stay in the classroom, I'd like to hear other parents' comments about the center, in particular, about the teachers.

Zooh,

While I understand that teachers play the role as an observer and gives direction where necessary, I believe teachers' quality is just as important as the physical environment itself.  The teacher needs to know how to offer work and link the child to the environment.  She also needs to have good observation so as to plan individual projects for the children.  That's why I'm concerned about the teachers' quality as well.

zooh

聽你咁講, 我去問左都有個囡囡係個度讀緊既朋友, 但係佢話佢又唔覺得佢地既老師有咁既問題喎? 咁其實你有無同佢地既老師傾過?  

我朋友話佢囡囡初時都係喊左成個月有多, 先開始慢慢習慣Monterssori既上課方式.  我朋友話佢個時問過老師, 老師話係因為小朋友通常習慣左大家一齊做同一樣野, 唔習慣自己做自己野, 所以會喊都係正常既.  佢提議可以試下同囡囡講, 叫佢學某樣野然後返屋企教daddy mommy, 令佢想返學校. 試左幾次, 佢囡囡就無再喊啦!  

可能係我先入為主啦, 我就幾鐘意呢度, 其一係因為我上次去參觀時覺得個地方真係好吸引, 其二係因為睇到我朋友個囡囡, 返左呢度之後, 各方面都進步左, 唔會亂發脾氣, 又有手尾, 最得意既係佢已經識得用國語背唐詩我地聽, 佢之前未接觸過國語架!

其實我覺得你囡囡都唔算喊得厲害丫 (因為你話"通常佢最多喊頭１５分鐘，跟住佢就不喊，去玩"), 所以我覺得老師應該唔會因為咁而唔鐘意佢既?  我朋友話佢囡囡開始時會喊足成個鐘添呀!  :-|  希望到時我仔仔唔會喊咁耐啦!  

zooh

Sandrine,

I definitely agree that teachers' quality is very important in the environmet as well.  I'll talk to my friends who have their children going there and get more informatioin about it.  

mylovelygirl

Zooh,

Could you please PM me the details of the centre.

Thanks a lot.

Sandrine

Any update from Idachan or zooh please about the centre?

tracytang

Sandrine and Zooh,

  Can you PM me the details of the centre.  I want my son to join it.  

  Thanks!!

rainydays

It has been 2.5 months since my daughter attended class there at Best Concept.  I brought her for a school visit b4 she turned 2 and sent her to class once she turned 2!  Surprisingly, she didn't cry on the 1st day (plus the following 2 months) of the class! Recently, she started to cry once we say bye bye to her at the classroom entrance.  However, she usually will cry for about 5 mins and return to work happily.  I really like the school because she has become a more confident person and be able to play independently at home.  Not like b4 she always wanted mommy or nanny to be around her!

Sandrine

Hi rainydays,

What are your comments about the teachers there?  Do they devise a personal learning plan for your child? Can you share more about their routines please?  The centre claimed that children are exposed to both English & Mandarin.  Is your daughter picking up both languages too?  

zooh

Sandrine,

I asked my friend about your concerns on acquiring the languages and the children-teacher interaction, and she told me that it seems to be working for the daughter.  Her daughter did not hear or speak Mandarin before, so at first the teacher talked to her in Mandarin, and since she did not understand, the teacher repeats the sentence in Cantonese, then in Mandarin again to let her pick up the language. Now the little girl still speaks English most of the time, but she can understand the Mandarin teacher's directions and can speak a bit Mandarin when the teacher requires her to do so.

Rainydays,
Can you share w/ us more about your daughters' experience there too?  It is really amazing to hear that your daughter did not cry in the first 2 months!  What did you do before you sent her there? And why does she suddenly started crying recently?  

rainydays

B4 she went to class there, i brought her for a school visit on a Saturday.  Over the weekend, i started to tell her she will be attending class there by herself.  I showed her the school phamplet (which they put outside the classroom) and explained to  her that there is no mommies inside the classroom, only kids attend the class by themselves!  On the following Tuesday, she walked into the classroom and said bye bye to me.  

In the very beginning, i brought her to school myself.  But in the 2nd month, i usually dropped her off by car and would ask my nanny to bring her up to the classroom.  Last week, when i started to bring her to school again, she started to cry?  She doesn't want me to leave.  I don't know why ?  I guess it's normal?  All kids are like that?  

But when i ask whether she likes the teachers there, she always say yes!   

rainydays

From my understaning, Serena is mainly the one who teach the kids there.  Annie is only the assistant.  I like Serena because she appears to be an experienced teacher.     The rountine there.... I don't stay outside the classroom from start till end.....from my understanding, they work on their own stations in the first 1.5 hours and will play in the other room for musical instrument + flash cards and so on in the last 1/2 hour.  Not sure if she really picks up both languages there?  My main concern is more focused on whether she can complete (or is interested at doing) the work from each station.

Sandrine

rainydays & zooh,

Many thanks for your sharing.