anyone with children at International Montessori School?

somebodyfamous

somebodyfamous

Registered User
What do you think? Is it worth it? Do they teach Mandarin? (Its hard to tell from their website)

I like the fact they can start at preschool and go all the way to 12 years old.
 
we are going to visit the school on 28th feb. they have another meeting on 14th feb. u can go and visit and find out more details
 
yes, they have mandarin. most classes are 75% english, 25% mandarin, but one is the opposite. playgroup from 18 months can be either 100% mandarin or english.
 
currently their toddler mandarin class lead teacher is from malaysia. a lot of mom don't like that cos they're hoping for accurate putonghua accents, and quit their children. the assistant teacher speak hong kong style mandarin (if you know what i mean).

but they're definitely one of the better school who use authentic montessori methods.
 
hi joannek,

do u know if the toddler class @ IMS good? other than the language, is the class well conducted & are the toddler teachers being able to engage with the student? I really appreciate yr feedback.

thanks!
 
at the montessori method, there isn't much "engaging". the kids are there to do their own "work". this is how it goes :
1st 30mins, playtime on the indoor playground. usually the kids play with their mom/helper.

then it's work time for 45mins. where the teacher goes around showing the children how to do the "work". maybe for 3 mins each child, a teacher will be showing a child. snack time has also become an individual thing (they used to have snack time together, but since dec 07, they've changed snack time to individual time, letting the kids decide when they'll have the snack.)

last 15 mins, circle time, where they sing songs, do some counting, and passing on an item (a plastic toy animal or a pc of fake fruit). then story time - usually 3 or more of the 13 kids will be walking around in the class rm, where 2 or 3 other helpers are chatting.

i think from this post you get the idea that i don't like the class so much despite that my child went there for 10 mths. i don't know how it is at other playgroups, but at IMS, it seems to me that the teachers are not "engaging" much to the children.
 
my daughter went there for 10 mths, barely knew her classmates, and hardly develop an interactive relationship with the teachers.
 
Sounds like you & your child didn't like it there Joanne. Thanks so much for your input.

A friend of mine, whos child is now 3 loves it there and he plans to let her attend all the way up to 12 years old.

Any more comments?
 
thanks joannek for your input! can i checked if they have the same teacher for the english or/& mandarin class? do you hv any option to choose a more engaging teacher for the toddler class?
 
you are right, i don't like it there. but of course, it's a very personal experience.

i think it's the style of their classes more than the individual teachers who "engage" more. of course, there are teachers who make you feel like they genuinely like kids, and then there are the ones who're there because it's a job.

and i also think that parents have to choose a school which have similar disciplining styles as at home. IMS's general disciplining style is different than our parenting style at home, so i chose not to let my daughter stay there.

i find a lot of the teachers there more traditional and less sensitive to a child's emotion. i've heard many teachers raise their voice at the children (on the playground at 3-6yrs old). and use very stern tone for something very trivial. but a lot of parents like that style, especially asians. so as i say, it's very personal.

you can always sign up for your son, go with him for a month or two, then you'll have a general feel whether you like it or not.
 
Recently attended an information session about Montessori teaching. From what I understand, the essence of the Montessori approach is the development of independence and self initiative; it's more about a way of thinking and an approach to learning (learning how to learn independently). The "inactive" role of the teachers is just what Montessori advocates.

Actually I don't see any difference between an English and a Mandarin Montessori playgroup. I bet the children can benefit most if they attend the group using the language they already know. After all, abundant input is indispensable in language acquisition (from my knowledge in child language acquisition, there is a commonly accepted theory about the inborn special learning device that only works if the child is given sufficient input). I appreciate the philosophy behind the Montessori approach, but when talking about learning a language, Montessori doesn't seem to be the answer.

What I believe is that no single approach provides a solution to all problems. I?ve heard people criticize Doman?s approach of spoon-feeding children with knowledge using flashcards, but if that?s not the only thing in a child?s daily life (not difficult to imagine how dull and passive the child could become if it is!!), and if that helps a child gain early literacy with much ease, why not give it a go? How about Montessori plus Doman? Or even Montessori plus Doman plus some teacher-led language playgroups?:haha:

Linda
 
Thanks for your input Linda. It's all a learning curve for THIS Mum I tell you. I'm actually going to do the Doman method myself after having read the book, watched the DVD and started making the personal flashcards and look forward to making their books too. The Doman method only takes 5 seconds three times a day though so really we do need to fill up our babies times with other activities. hahahaha

I tried a playgroup in Causeway Bay who heavily promotes the Doman method but was surprised after attending a trial lesson that the teacher didn't follow the Doman rules and the flashcards are really small and in black (!)

Anyway I digress, I like the independence that Montessori promotes and I also like teacher led activities where the children can learn to be part of a group (BOTH are necessary in life). So maybe we'll eventually have to send our girls to two places to get the benefits!
 
as i have mentioned, my daughter started at IMS mandarin parent/toddler group when she turned 2. she went there for 1 year. from feb-june, her teachers were both mandarin native speaker with correct putonghua accent. she learnt a lot of putonghua vocab thru story time & circle time.
 
I did the tour of IMS today. I was very impressed with what I could see the students were doing inside the classrooms (the kindergarten years).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top