I wanted a preschool near to our place at bishan so I visited the following preschools which was nearby:
- Calum Junior (Bishan)
- Totsville Montessori (Bishan)
- Maple Bear (Midview City)
- Mindchamps(Midview City)
- Little Wonders Montessori Childcare (Bishan)
- Hampton (Bishan)
- Brighton Montessori Grassroot Club
Here are my reviews of each of the childcare/preschools after having visited them
Calum Junior
- Landed property opposite junction 8 area
- Outdoor playground but looked abit run down
- 3 levels with basement area for assembly (have to climb alot of stairs)
- Classrooms looked a little untidy and messy
- Teachers looked okay, educational materials looked interesting
- Not cheap (think it was around 1.5k?)
Totsville Montessori
- Located at basement 1 under one of the hdb flats at bishan
- Very small and cramped
- Windows all closed with no outdoor sunlight, felt a lil claustrophobic
- A little messy n noisy, no partition walls between different classes
- Educational material looked not bad, had some maths chart on the walls
- Saw a sick child being picked up by his grandpa
- For 18 months, only 3-4 hour sessions available and fees very expensive given the short sessions (even though it follows montessori program)!!
Maple Bear
- Very large area, spacious open area
- Gigantic indoor playground (like some castle) with a ball pit, chloe loved it
- Wet play area
- Classrooms are not separated in the outside area so a little noisy
- Not many children were there when we visited so felt a little empty
- No uniforms, children were wearing home clothes
- Fees: around 1.4-1.5k
Mindchamps
- Large spacious area with individual classrooms for each level (pre-nursery, N1, N2 etc)
- Super big gym area
- Big indoor playground which looked very new
- Staff look very caring and good with handling the kids (the chinese lady who brought us around was very intelligent, friendly and good at talking ha)
- Children were very interactive and looked very happy
- Organic milk, yoghurt provided for kids
- Very expensive! 1.9k before subsidy but includes most extra curriculum activities
- Smaller school, not much play area
- Children were napping when we visited so nothing much to see
- Looked a little empty and cold
- Didnt have any feeling for this preschool at all
- Fees were affordable, less than 1k
- Follows montessori program
Hampton
- Below one of the hdb blocks at bishan
- Windows were all closed due to aircon (not much natural outdoor light coming in)
- 2-3 teachers were sitting on the floor with the kids, putting the 18 months old class kids to sleep. Some in uniform some in home clothes
- A few children/grandparents/maids were streaming in and out of the school while i was there, apparently family members can pick up children anytime after lunch/afternoon and some grandparents prefer to pick them early even though they are in full day 7am to 7pm
- Under PCF and joint venture with Eton preschool
- Very affordable fees(one of the lowest! $700 plus before subsidy)
Brighton Montessori Grassroot Club
- Large spacious, occupy 2 levels at the grassroots club
- Outdoor playground
- Classrooms are partitioned so not noisy
- Children looked happy, independent and well behaved generally
- Principal was very professional and kids seem to love her lol
- Follows montessori program
- Fees on the high side, 1.7k before subsidy
Have decided to shortlist mindchamps and Brighton montessori given what we have seen so far, Kelvin will visit these 2 schools next time with me so we can decide which one!
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