Comparing Chinese Enrichment (Primary/Preschool)

[MMM]

Maybe not for N2. My mum didn’t tell me about any briefing for them on weekdays. or probably no parents around to brief?


Yah the principal is a very committed lady. She is there all the time. Think she is probably a ex-teacher.

[googaga]

hi MMM,

seems Molin is a good choice from most of ur comments abv… my kids r currently with berries: K2 and N2. We’ve been with berries since 2008 and found it not bad. Am thinking of switching over to Molin as the current teachers for my k2 son seems to be just "doing" her job… ;(

[googaga]

oh ya, plus molin is within walkable distance only!

[MMM]

Hi Googaga,


If your kids are happy in Berries then let them be.

My cousin highlighted 3 schools (Berries, Tien Hsia and Molin) to me when she encouraged me to seek chinese enrichment classes for my kids. Berries is out due to location and since Molin comes highly recommended and the fees are reasonable, I just went ahead even without looking at Tien Hsia.

Objectively, I only tried Molin and can’t say for the other 2 but I believe there are good things as well given that they are popular too.

In our case, Molin is a centre that I think I will continue putting them looking at my P2 girl’s ability to cope with the language without me doing much at my end even though she is in one of the best class. Also, quite a no. of her schoolmates are also in Molin.

Just want to share that although my P1 boy started Molin since K1, his character recognition is definitely not as good as my girl (who bothers to revise when she was in K2). On top of that, mummy din spend much time to help him. So I am not driving that all kids who go to Molin will definitely be able to recognise all the characters well. Those who pay attn coupled with family support should be able to recognise alot of characters up to Primary levels easily. My son don’t belong to this category. I see his classmates being able to recognise so many characters but he can’t I know it’s an issue with us not coaching him enough.

I feel that the success of any programme is very much driven by the kid him/herself and parental home support. So we are gg to work hard on our N2 hoping that with more home support, she can pick up earlier than her siblings.

I was so worried about my son coping with P1 and sent him for extra hypy classes in Molin. They usually conduct this during term 4. Now in P1, he appears to be able to cope well with his hypy. With weekly school test averaging around 13.5/15. I felt relieved and preparing him for the test is also painless too. His Molin teacher told my mum that she spoke to him at the beginning of the year that though she heard from his previous Molin teachers that he is not focus,etc… but she is gg to ignore all the earlier comments and will give him due credit if he does well in her class. It’s just 2 months and the teacher and I saw a significant change in him. He is very serious and focus in class now and is doing fine. Though we do need to work on his character recognition still. I am just wondering if he mge to "squeeze" into one of the best chinese class after SA1, will he able to cope given his character recognition and bad handwriting esp when term 3 onwards is all about characters. Bet I got to weigh and discuss that with his Molin teacher soon.

[googaga]

Hi MMM, thanks & it’s nice to hear of more feedback from u : )

For my k2 boy, we started him on chinese enrichment only in k1 which is quite late! But Berries did a great job in that at least he can read simple sentences. We were from Woodlands branch before we switched over to Tampines branch last term due to shifting of house. And frankly speaking, i prefer the teachers in Woodlands as they are more committed. For my younger boy, we became KS and started him in N1 and i must say it was a good choice cos it really helped him a lot in word recognition. I truly agree with you that parental support(revision) plays a big part in helping the child succeed. I think the character of a child also matters. For my case, my k2 needs a lot of pushing & he’s those laid-back kind … while the younger one is more "on the ball". Hence, i need to seek committed teachers who can help to enlighten him! And i’ll be really lucky if i can find one : )

R ur kids in TNS or MBS?

[jedamum]

googaga:

For my younger boy, we became KS and started him in N1 and i must say it was a good choice cos it really helped him a lot in word recognition. I truly agree with you that parental support(revision) plays a big part in helping the child succeed.


I think the character of a child also matters. ?

hi googaga,

my ds1 started in K1 too and although he still doesn't speak mandarin well, it is still passable. I agree on the word recognition part - my problem is that my boy recognise the chinese character, but say out its english meaning instead of remembering its chinese pronunciation! :roll:

character aside, do you think starting berries at N1 will really benefit? my concerns are wouldn't it be more difficult to reinforce the learning at home with a younger kid? and whether they will really absorb the teaching in school (given only once a week session). My ds2 is a very active boy, hence my concern.

[googaga]

hi jedamum, fm my own experience, i really regretted not sending my elder one earlier cos i really see the benefit on my younger one. when my younger boy started at n1, he only just turned 2yrs cos he’s nov bb. i was quite apprehensive too cos he was the youngest n i can see the rest of his frens more socially advanced than him esp the gals. I make it a pt to go thru what was taught every week n the past weeks when we were at hm so he actually could remember what he learnt. Plus we were staying with my parents then, and they speak mandarin to them everyday. It really benefitted them a lot cos i could see a vast improvement in their spoken mandarin. now that we staying on our own, their spoken has deteriorated quite a bit : (

[jedamum]

googaga:

when my younger boy started at n1, he only just turned 2yrs cos he's nov bb. (

oic! my younger boy also a nov bb, he is not really talking yet (still mostly language that only i understand ) and doesn't really takes instruction from others other than myself (and his bro cos he spent most of his time with us so we know how to 'talk' to him). did your kid attended childcare before to the enrichment? i'm also worried on the separation anxiety issues.

[MMM]

googaga:

R ur kids in TNS or MBS?

Hi Googaga,

My kids are in MBS. Good luck with your search.

I also agree on starting them early in such programs but key thing is also try to use the language at home so that they are familiar with the language. During our recent briefing in their school, the teachers suggested that each parent speak different language to the child so they are exposed to both. Fortunately for us, they speak in mandarin to the grandparents and english to us and among themselves. So that helps in the language exposure.

[googaga]

jedamum:

googaga:

when my younger boy started at n1, he only just turned 2yrs cos he's nov bb. (

oic! my younger boy also a nov bb, he is not really talking yet (still mostly language that only i understand ) and doesn't really takes instruction from others other than myself (and his bro cos he spent most of his time with us so we know how to 'talk' to him). did your kid attended childcare before to the enrichment? i'm also worried on the separation anxiety issues.

hi jedamum, do u babytalk with ur younger one? cos my elder son n i speak \"normally\" to the younger one since bb days n so i guess it helps. my elder one very chatty kind so the younger one picks up most of his spoken fm him. He din attend CC or any other classes prior to berries. We used berries to expose him to not being with us all the time so that when time comes for him to attend presch it is easier. Initially he was very sticky n cried but the teachers@berries could manage so i just leave it to them. Very soon, he was ok cos he sees his bro also going independently for his class. His mentality is- whatever his gor gor does, he also wants. so if i send gor gor for this n tat, he also wanna have a go!