what's your experience? u have anything to share, sunflower? i prefer some proof to judge first. i suppose you heard or seen something, so u have any folklore to tell the difference?tq

4 Years !

i used to study in an international school.
i start going nursery at age 2, kindergarten at 3 and 4. LOL

my mum told me after i attend classes in the morning i attended playschool because i was active and refused to sleep during the noon. LOL
started grade 1 at 5. LOL!

i think it really depend on the child him/herself.
and i didnt grow up in malaysia. LOL

if your child is the hyper type then why not send him/her to kindy earlier? they can learn things faster that way. i remembered my kindy taught us how to swim and draw using my creative which is splash art. still loving it. <3
but of course, dont force them if they cant. like my sister, she is more a home person, so my parents only send her to kindy at the age of 4.

I was send to day care when I was a year old.
Until 3 years old, then I was put in nursery and started kindergarten when I was 5. Then everyday after kindergarten I was send to day care center until evening when my parents picked me up. lol.

Totally agree with you. We should judge what age to send our kids to playschool/kindergarten based on their readiness... instead of forcing them to those center if they are not ready or keep them away at home even if they are all well ready to learn something new.
I should say.. sending them to school/kindy/playschool... do let the parents see the kid's potential much earlier.

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Added on May 31, 2011, 9:06 amYeah.. not everyone have a choice especially when nobody there to take care of the kids.... so gotta be at the center even at 2mths old.

But I do see the positive side.. some center allow small toddler join the elder kids singing session where this encourage very early learning and this kind of toddler tend to be more vocal and won't shy away.

This post has been edited by cc980024: May 31 2011, 09:06 AM

That's quite true. In my case, compared to my brother, who was enroll in kindergarten at the age of 4, was taken care at home all the while before that, he took quite some time to get exposed to other children. He would cry and refuse to go to kindergarten during the first few months.

But I think because I was sent out earlier when I had not much clue about the outside world, and day care centers also has certain activities plus more kids to play around, so I tend to be more able to mix around with people. My brother now, even though he's 13, he keeps saying he won't make friends with others unless they come and talk to him first.

Agreed with you too, there is this day care, kindergarden and pre-school thingy to differenciate, from my understanding, day care is for baby to 1-3 years old where they will hire nanny at the school and mainly focus on taking care of the babies and small kids whom parents are not free during day time. Whereas kindergarden is for 3-5 years old whereby they will start teaching the kids about dicipline, how to do things and how to play(they play lots of games), then pre-school is for 5-6 years old where they do teach the kids to study or learn to write, to prepare them to go for standard 1. Nowadays especially in big city, both parents are working and really nobody to take care/teach the kids anymore, so sending them to a trusted day care/kindergarden/pre-school is a very good choice rather than hire a indonesian maid to take care of the kids at home.

i sent both my girls to sch when they were 3.
now they r 4 n 3.

i c the difference, it's better as their command of language is better.
the socializin also helps.
find a school that u r comfortable with and can communicate with. it helps.

I send my 2.5yr old daughter to Q-Dxx mid last year, now it's her 2nd year there already
Beginning of this year I also send my 2yr+ son to the same school, now already half year there.

From what i see, they've learn a lot, and I mean A LOT during their school days, they are more independent now, now both of them can hold a pencil properly, and my daughter can write 1-10, A-I without any help at all

Initially both of them get sick quite frequently coming back from school, it's due to most of the time they are holed up at home, with limited contact with other people besides their immediate family members.
My mom actually objected to send them to playschool/kindie so early, as they get sick all the time, but I strongly believed that kids should go out there to mingle with as many people as possible, and yes they'll get sick pretty fast, but that's just the initial stage to build up their immune system.
And now, after my mom sees the drastic change to her grandchildren, in terms of health, language mastering and other things, she even encourage other relatives to send their kids to pre-school/kindie as soon as possible.

After reading all of your views here, I had a chat with my hubby..and after much thought, hubby and I would actually like to try to send our son to a pre-school/play school next year.

Our main reason for sending him is more for interaction with kids his own age (he's about to be 2) and at the same time to have fun and learn new things. As such, any one that you parents would recommend..in KL area (Wangsa Maju, Bangsar or Sri Hartamas area)

My friends was suggest to " Smartreader", but don't know whether got branch in kl area or not...

I did checkout their website..but looks like they mainly focus on reading..I'm looking for a place that has a balance of learn and play.

just to remind everyone... it's very important when your kids are in kindergarden that you decide if he/she will be in chinese / malay school later on as the syllabus is different.... now when kids are in standard 1, the teachers just assume they know everything from kindergarden already. if the kindie teachers don't prompt you remember to ask... my friend just send her boy to chinese school and he got a culture shock... not prep properly lor...

my friend just send her boy to chinese school and he got a culture shock... not prep properly lor..

What's mean for culture shock? Know everything? something like? included what?

Any good kindies to recommend in PJ area?

i send out my elder daughter to playschool when she was 2. it's good to expose ur kids early. so far so good, now she's 6 yrs old. i remember when her 1st time entering pre-school (different school) she really excited to meet up new friends and learn new stuff.but other kids just keep crying and dont want lepas from their parents, and the parents also kept coming to school for 'check up' either they child is ok or not. this is so ma fan.

I think nowadays..after all these recent horror stories of abuse and deaths in nursery...It is good that the parents check on their kids. I think I would do it too..just to make sure..

Yes....im agreed with your point phythia79:-

No matter how my daughter nanny was "sayang" my princess......i'm also will do the checking my daughter's whole body situation every time i bring her back. If find out some different or strange....will asking the nanny in the next day, either she got the bite from "nyamuk" a lot....small problem i'm also keep asking. But it's have the communicate skill lah.

Good communication can maintaince good relationship!

Hmm what age to send...I dont think there is a right or wrong answer here. It all depends on their parents and family lifestyle, some just dont have the time to nurture them, hence sending preschool early would be a better choice for them.

As for my kids, we decided to send only when they were 6 years old. SInce my wife is a homemaker, we thought its better to teach them at home, rather than going to school, although its just preschool, i hate the idea of homework, extreme discipline at such a tender age

They turn out just well, pre school teacher were surprised, at their performance just one year there, and they normally top their class, since they had all learned at home