Advice on pri/Sec schools in SG that won't spoon feed

[aurorasea]

Hello,

I am new to this forum and was previously from UK/ various countries.

I was recently in this discussion with a friend about education systems in Singapore v.s. overseas (It was an interesting chat) and noted here there's no room for 'creativity', and learning objectives for learning 'must follow the syllabus strictly' & aggressively spoon fed.

At present are there any schools in SG that are more like overseas way of teacing, **and not make children pick up 'SINGLISH' as well**?

I hope I can get some good advice from this forum...since I am thinking about whether I should let my children stay in Singapore & join the local education system. I heard there are International Schools but they may be employing 'local teahers and teach with local spoon-fed methods'...however

Thank you very much

[durain]

your kids will pick up singlish no matter what school you goto. just like if you live in scotland, you will speak like one!

local schools are tough so International Schools are consider easy.



p/s my kids was using chopstick in their school the other day .

[aurorasea]

Thanks! Which International Schools do you recommend?
I understand 'SINGLISH' is hard to avoid completely but I'm more concerned about spoon feeding.

Hah I used to stay in Scotland for some years, but I found it very difficult to acquire the accent.

[beppi]

What's wrong with the kids behaving and talking like all their friends do? They'll do it anyway, no matter if the parents live in self-imposed mental exile and want to impose that on them, too!

People who do not like to do as the Romans do - should not go to Rome!

[snowqueen]

What's wrong with the kids behaving and talking like all their friends do? They'll do it anyway, no matter if the parents live in self-imposed mental exile and want to impose that on them, too!

People who do not like to do as the Romans do - should not go to Rome!

There's nothing wrong with speaking Singlish with their friends, so long as they leave it at the door when they come home and speak proper English to the parents.

I understand that kids will find it easier to speak as their friends do, but it's not good to hear outside of that. Even more so when you are visiting other countries or going home, it's good for them to be able to have a conversation with those who learnt to speak English and not Singlish - if they went to visit the UK/Oz/US they will not be understood properly by those who have never been exposed to Singlish.

I have a friend of mine who has a 3 year old and already she is saying "cannot" whenever her mother asks her to do something - in my mind and the mohter's this is a totally unacceptable way to speak to your parents, or any other elder for that matter.

[durain]

mine said "cannot la" to me.

[BigSis]

Mine speak a bit of Singlish and they go to International School. They don't speak it at home though and I think that's the way it is with kids - eg they often swear like troopers with their friends and don't at home!

From what I've read, some local schools are changing and some of the less exam-driven high achieving ones are getting a bit more creative lately, but unless a person has or has had a child at both a local school and also an international school, we're only going to be going on what we've heard rather than experienced.

I know a few western teachers who work at local schools rather than international and I'm sure they don't teach in the same way that teachers who are educated here do. I also know a few Singaporean teachers who teach at International Schools. They seem to be quite strict, but from what I can work out, there's nothing wrong with their teaching methods.

[carolynW]

I think there are many OZ English / Singlish / Manglish speakers that can switch back and forth from a really localised english to "proper" english that can be more understoond.

As for local schools, my S'porean friends whose kids go there say they spend as much as International School fees on tuition, as the peers all go to school already having learnt the material.

[cairnhiller]

Regarding kids picking up Singlish, an important consideration may be the age of your children. Younger children in primary school may more likely to pick up Singlish since their language skills are still in a very developmental stage. High school students are probably less likely to see dramatic changes in the way they speak, unless they spend several years in the local system.

In terms of school that spoon-feed, one of the things you may want to look at is the curriculum(s) offered. A lot of International Schools offer International Baccalaureate curriculums at the primary, middle school or diploma level, or all three. In general, these curriculums are often more focused on hands-on and experiential learning, with less spoonfeeding aimed at getting kids to score well on exams.

[movingtospore]

As a foreigner you are highly unlikely to be able to get a spot in a decent local school, in my experience anyways.

[madura]

As a foreigner you are highly unlikely to be able to get a spot in a decent local school, in my experience anyways.

Depends on your definition of "decent". If your emphasis is solely on grades, and you believe in cramming and working on past year exam papers, sure, you're right, you won't be able to get a spot because these are the supposedly "top" schools that the locals want their kids to be in too.

Threadstarter seems to be seeking a school which can offer a well-rounded education, something which, imo, many of the "neighbourhood" schools do much better in. It is not impossible for foreigners to get a spot in these schools, and many in this forum have done so.

[boffenl]

My daughter is at a neighborhood school--and I LOVE it. Granted, one of the reasons we moved to Singapore from US/Canada was for the outstanding elementary school curricula. I am an educator and the curricula is amazing--plus the teacher prep program at NIE is one of the best in the world. Granted, classroom numbers are high (35 kids to a teacher in P3) but my P3 is doing algebra and geometry I didn't do until 6th grade.

As for spoon feeding--local teachers don't have the time to spoon feed kids. The kids do a lot of group work and self study. Take a look at some of the textbooks used at local schools--doesn't matter if it's Henry Park or Pei Tong--the curricula is the same and books are the same! Bot sure how some schools get "better" or decent ranking maybe this has to do with media hype? Not sure.

Anyway, go take a tour and speak with some practicing teachers. I think you'll be surprised.