Progressive Schools

[LVSnot]

Oh, I went through this phase a while back so I need to really think about what it was that I read - a bunch of stuff online and from the library. Let me see what I can remember and I'll post it here later when I get a minute. I think I can post links under my registered name, right?

OP, sorry I don't mean to take your thread on a ride! 

[sewbge]

Am going to look up link. Sounds very interesting. Maybe we should all start a new school in Singapore. Only joking but it would be fun. They have Alfie Kohn here in the States. Wonder if he has talked there. So is uwc the best option if the girls can get in?

[sewbge]

No need to apolgise - am always interested in new ideas/things to read and pass to my friends.

[all good]

So is uwc the best option if the girls can get in?

You're kind of asking 'how long is a piece of string,' in my opinion. Basically, all of the established international schools here are quite good and definitely better by leaps and bounds than your average public school in the US. They are definitely more on par with good private schools in the US. 

[UWC]

When I applied my child at SAS, it was full. So we went to UWC and we love it. UWC makes children think for themselves, express their opinion and comments.

[same same]

When I applied my child at SAS, it was full. So we went to UWC and we love it. UWC makes children think for themselves, express their opinion and comments.

And so does SAS

[some thoughts]

Most international schools around here encourage the children to think for themselves, which is why most parents would rather put them there than in the local schools.  Uniforms or no uniforms, I don't think it's going to smother the kids too much to go to school here rather than the one they were previously at.

Speaking of school bells and school holidays etc.  I've always been under the impression that what LVS says is true about the farming times and the school bells being to get the children used to working in an environment where bells mean breaks (ie a factory environment) but I find it confusing because I used to work in a posh boarding school and they had bells too - these were kids who were from wealthy families and would not be expecting to enter a factory environment, so why have the bells, and why do private schools stick to the long summer holidays too if those kids were never from farming backgrounds in the first place I wonder?

I was reading about a progressive school in the UK, it's in Letchworth (St Christopher's) - sounds quite interesting, but I'm not sure my kids would relish the vegetarian menu that they stick to  

[Scummy NLI]

It depends how you define "farming". The landed gentry would own half a county which which may be given over to farming.

Maybe the bells is partly Skinnerism?

[some thoughts]

It depends how you define "farming". The landed gentry would own half a county which which may be given over to farming.

ah yes, good point, or perhaps it was also the start of tea party season 

[Comment]

Thanks for the confirmation about child friendlyness of UWC and SAS.  UWC definetly looks this way on their website but my experience with schools is what you read is not always true.  I have not run across for profit schools before and it did sort of turn me of the Australian and Canadian school (maybe needlessly?).  Seems strange to me as in the states being a non profit brings tax breaks.  My kids have always been in private just because the intense interest of teaching to the test in the State where we live (which by the way is pretty much last on the list when they rate states on Education). Just a question.  Assume all the schools have good mandarin programs?  It is a priority for our children to learn the language while they are in Singapore.

[speakadelingo]

Assume all the schools have good mandarin programs?  It is a priority for our children to learn the language while they are in Singapore.

Most of them do but I can't see any child becoming fluent unless they travel to Mandarin speaking areas of China every so often.  Ours have been doing Mandarin for 8 years and still couldn't have much of a conversation.  We're thinking of going to China just so they can practice! 

That's the thing about international school - there aren't that many kids who will speak Mandarin as a first language.  If you were to put your children in local school then they'd be immersed in it a bit more but still not completely; there are a lot of English, Singlish, Malay and Tamil speakers at local schools too. 

To be honest, I don't think Mandarin is as widely spoken here as the government would like to have us believe!

[Lili Von Shtupp]

I'm procrastinating at work today, so complied a list of things that provided a jumping-off point for me regarding some of the ideas we were talking about before. It's really a wormhole, one idea leads to another idea and so forth.

Here's Sir Ken Robinson's talk at TED:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

His two books are: The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything and Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative.

Creativity in education:

http://www.jpb.com/creative/Creativity_in_Education.pdf

How parents can foster creativity in children. There is a wealth of information and practical advice out there - from books (some at the library) to blogs that talk about the subject conceptually or offer specific activities. Ideas like this:

http://www.edarticle.com/essays-on-teaching/for-parents-and-teachers-becoming-a-teacher-of-creativity.html

My own journey has taken me into the realm of homeschooling. I don't plan to homeschool my child, but I think there's a lot for me to learn from these people, especially since my child will be going through the local school system, I think it will be up to my husband and me to supplement his education with creative ideals. The unschoolers freak me out. Great ideas:

http://www.unschooling.com/

That's a start, but really, good luck getting out of that wormhole...

[not spoken]

Assume all the schools have good mandarin programs?  It is a priority for our children to learn the language while they are in Singapore.

Most of them do but I can't see any child becoming fluent unless they travel to Mandarin speaking areas of China every so often.  Ours have been doing Mandarin for 8 years and still couldn't have much of a conversation.  We're thinking of going to China just so they can practice! 

That's the thing about international school - there aren't that many kids who will speak Mandarin as a first language.  If you were to put your children in local school then they'd be immersed in it a bit more but still not completely; there are a lot of English, Singlish, Malay and Tamil speakers at local schools too. 

To be honest, I don't think Mandarin is as widely spoken here as the government would like to have us believe!

Mandarin is the home language of almost nobody, LKY just decided it was a good idea (and taught himself, he wasnt a speaker either).

Schoolhouse by the bay does immersive mandain if you would like your kids to really speak it rather than sing happy birthday.  Sister school in bukit timah.

International school stuff, while ok, is basically a waste of time.

[sewbge]

Thanks for letting me know about Mandarin.  Did not know that about Singapore - thought Mandarin was the official language.  My daughter did spanish in elementary for 6 years and learnt basically nothing.  The school they attend now does no language as they don't think they can do it well.  Shocked at first but now think it is probably good not to waste the time unless it is immersion.  We had thought to move to China somewhere but thinking now it will be Singapore.

Appreciate the links.  Will definetly read them.  We are exploring waiting lists at the moment as someone suggested.  Will see what we find out.  The schools there seem so big - even the non profits.  What is that all about?  Have to cover the costs of the facilities? 

[international]

The schools there seem so big - even the non profits.  What is that all about?  Have to cover the costs of the facilities? 

The international schools are all big but remember they all house kids from pre-school age through high school and they really wouldn't be able to build a bunch of different buildings when land is a premium here, so most of them tend to build one for all. I can't speak for how all of them do it, but SAS separates the school into smaller 'schools' which makes it feel a bit smaller. They have the Early Childhood Center which is pre-school and pre-kindergarten, the Primary School (K-2), the Intermediate School (3-5), Middle School (6-8) and High School (9-12).