Review: Our Children's House Montessori (Clementi)

H has been attending Childcare (CC) since we are both working and he is too hyper for my parents and parents-in-law.

After the no-so-good experience in Sunflower Clementi, we decided to switch him over to a private CC because of a lower teacher student ratio.

Long story short, H is currently in Our Children's House Montessori (Clementi). It used to be called Blossom Blisssparkle Clementi but it got switched over in Mar 2022.

As we had to adjust to the new management, I thought now is a good time to update since a quarter has passed. As with all schools, there are pros and cons, and it differs from parents to parents.

In general, Our Children's House Montessori is structured in a sense. They insist that the children has to carry a standard school bag to school, wear uniform, and be punctual (latest 8.30am*) everyday. *As H takes the school bus, we adhere to the school bus timing instead, which for him is about 9 - 9.15am for the arrival of school bus.

Pros of the school

Montessori style

The children are taught practical life skills which I feel is very important. H also adapts to it very well and we can see tremendous improvement as compared to his previous preschool.

Dedicated teachers

The teachers were retained from the previous operator and since we were there from Oct 2021, there were no turnover as compared to the previous CC. The teachers are also very prompt in responding to our queries. The teachers also follow the class as they get promoted, which is great!

Small class size

For H's class, there are about 9 students with 3 teachers (1 English and Chinese teacher each, and 1 assistant) We also get a regular weekly update of him and his classmates via the school app.

Reasonable school fees

After discounts and the working mum subsidy, we are paying about 1k per month. Of course, this depends on how much subsidy you are getting and if there are any promotions when you enroll.

School bus service available

H loves the school bus Uncle and Aunties. That aside, there is a groupchat for all the parents with their children taking the school bus and they provide a live location which help to minimise the waiting time for the bus.

Private playground

This is one of the main reason why I put H in. Due to the covid situation, CCs stop bringing the children out to the outdoor playgrounds as mandated by ECDA. That was a terrible time for everyone as H had a lot of pent up energy which was unutilized. With a private playground in the school compound, the kids still get some play time.

Cons of the school

A little too structured for my liking

To be honest, the wearing of uniform gets to me. His home clothes are gone to waste @@.

No school bus service on Sat mornings

Since the CC is not so nearby, we ended up letting him stay at home on Saturdays. Aka we have not much chance to do the housework while he is not around.

Additional misc costs

This is something yet to be determined, but one of the additional costs that is upcoming is the payment of app fee. I don't really agree with it being tagged on as an additional fee but I guess everything comes with a cost now.

Update in Dec 22: An additional annual payment of $45 (for app cost) and $150 (material cost) had to be paid in 2023. Not too expensive but may be a note of concern to parents on a budget.

Overall, we are pretty happy with the current school as it is evident that H is happy at school. For those who are interested to enroll in the preschool, do let me know!

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