Comparing Chinese Enrichment (Primary/Preschool)

[buds]

jedamum:

buds:

How long is the trial session?
Where exactly is the location of this Berries outlet in Bt Batok?

should be same as the lesson...the lesson is 1.5hr. the trial used to be $28+. but recently seems to reduce. they have very good business. their saturday classes for older kids (ie K2 and lower pri) have long waiting list. It's located at the community centre near Westmall. You staying West?

Yup, am a Westie!

buds:

Aaaaah... ds2 must be the one who said \"cry a bit can what, cos i like to cry mah?\"

jedamum:

mistaken identity la! my boy can talk 2-3 words in a sentence niah. his favourite is 'MUMMY!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!'

Ops! Paiseh...
Sorry hor..

I've back tracked liao.
This was the post of the like to cry fella...
Hehehehee!!! :lol: :lol:

mom2boys:

my words to my son:-

'today u K1, big boy already..have fun..dun cry ok?\"

'mummy, cry a little bit also can what....i like to cry...' :x

[jedamum]

J2mum:

Hi,

beside sending my ger to Molin. I also sent my son (N1) to Berries for trial class. He was crying thru-out the class, looking very sad during the class. I never expect the outcome with be so bad. He is attending Childcare (full day) now. I thot he will be independent enough to attend class on his own but he end up calling his sister most of the time.

J2mum,
I just came back from Berries. It's a funny experience.
Prior to the lessons, they had toys for the kids. My boy was happily playing and didn't know that I left the room. When it's time to keep the toys, he refused and gripped onto the toy cars tightly. When the teacher pry it out of his hands, he started to cry for me. As this is my second boy, the expectations and anxiety is not as severe as the first. I would have break out in sweat hearing my firstborn cry, but with his ds2, I :siam: ran from behind the door to hide at the admin counter. After a while, the teachers carried him out to look for me.
He refused to sit with the rest. Don't want to pay attention. When it's activities time, he doesn't Q up, likes to jump around and even 'helped' the teacher take/keep the materials. He climbs onto the small table, took the marker...if i had not stop him, he would have scribbled on the wall.
Then it's song and actions time. Every one was sitting down singing and doing actions. My boy was standing in front of them swaying away and singing and doing all the actions correctly, but standing up.
Then it's story telling time in another room. There is a small railing. I had to stop him from climbing.
Then it's back to the class to do some work. He took a handful of pencils and refuse to circle the correct words. Teacher tried to bribe him with crayons. He said OK, took the crayons then ran away. The teacher gave up and then brought him to me and ask me to help him to complete the work. I sat him on my lap, took his hand, spoke to him and he dutifully let me guide his hands to circle the correct words. Thereafter i told him to bring it to the teacher and he did.

I like the curriculum structure. But I won't be signing him up cos,
1) the teacher admit that my boy is not ready (i can sense their exasperation) for a classroom stint. my boy had never attended any childcare or classes and that they said is part of the reasons why he had no inclinations on what is expected of him and wants to do things his way only.
2) my boy doesn't know mandarin well. he already doesn't follow instructions from others, let alone instructions in a language he is not familiar with.
3) once a week to get him to familiarise with a school setting is insufficient. I'll wait for him to start his preN in end Jun and let the teacher train him 5x a week (i had prewarned the teachers about his active behaviour).

Despite his young age (few of the youngest in class), he is the tallest. I had to emphasis and hope that the teachers understand that he is not as matured as he looks.

I had fun though.

[ChiefKiasu]

jedamum:

...I just came back from Berries. It's a funny experience...

Wow, that's some experience, jedamum. This is the 2nd lesson? How old is your DS2 again? I'm surprised Berries allow parents to be in the same class - I thought that was against their school policy.

Anyway, my girl was somewhat like that during her first lessons in a Chinese enrichment class. We had to sit in for an entire month before she finally warmed up and happily participated in the activities. By the time we sent her to Berries 6 months later, she was more than happy to have us disappear from the room so that she can play with her friends.

[jedamum]

ChiefKiasu:

This is the 2nd lesson? How old is your DS2 again? I'm surprised Berries allow parents to be in the same class - I thought that was against their school policy.

This is only his first trial. He is 27 mth old.
The teacher allowed me to sit in because it is a trial class.
I don't think the teacher is ready to handle my boy - they did gave me an apologetic look when they said that they feel that it would be better if he had started his weekdays preschooling (ie PreNursery or Childcare) first before he join the once a week class.

[J2mum]

Jedamum,

From ur posting. I can sense that the teachers are not ready to handle ur boy. I can understand, if my kid is in the class I wun want him/her to be distracted by other kids as well as enrichment class doesnt come cheap.

My boy reaction is quite different from urs. He was weeping in the class. Keep telling the teacher he wanted Jie jie, not mummy!

I asked him again if he will be interested to attend the \"School\". He shook his head. I guess he is not ready. May be let him attend Molin when he is N2.

[buds]

jedamum:

J2mum:

Hi,

beside sending my ger to Molin. I also sent my son (N1) to Berries for trial class. He was crying thru-out the class, looking very sad during the class. I never expect the outcome with be so bad. He is attending Childcare (full day) now. I thot he will be independent enough to attend class on his own but he end up calling his sister most of the time.

J2mum,
I just came back from Berries. It's a funny experience.
Prior to the lessons, they had toys for the kids. My boy was happily playing and didn't know that I left the room. When it's time to keep the toys, he refused and gripped onto the toy cars tightly. When the teacher pry it out of his hands, he started to cry for me. As this is my second boy, the expectations and anxiety is not as severe as the first. I would have break out in sweat hearing my firstborn cry, but with his ds2, I :siam: ran from behind the door to hide at the admin counter. After a while, the teachers carried him out to look for me.
He refused to sit with the rest. Don't want to pay attention. When it's activities time, he doesn't Q up, likes to jump around and even 'helped' the teacher take/keep the materials. He climbs onto the small table, took the marker...if i had not stop him, he would have scribbled on the wall.
Then it's song and actions time. Every one was sitting down singing and doing actions. My boy was standing in front of them swaying away and singing and doing all the actions correctly, but standing up.
Then it's story telling time in another room. There is a small railing. I had to stop him from climbing.
Then it's back to the class to do some work. He took a handful of pencils and refuse to circle the correct words. Teacher tried to bribe him with crayons. He said OK, took the crayons then ran away. The teacher gave up and then brought him to me and ask me to help him to complete the work. I sat him on my lap, took his hand, spoke to him and he dutifully let me guide his hands to circle the correct words. Thereafter i told him to bring it to the teacher and he did.

I like the curriculum structure. But I won't be signing him up cos,
1) the teacher admit that my boy is not ready (i can sense their exasperation) for a classroom stint. my boy had never attended any childcare or classes and that they said is part of the reasons why he had no inclinations on what is expected of him and wants to do things his way only.
2) my boy doesn't know mandarin well. he already doesn't follow instructions from others, let alone instructions in a language he is not familiar with.
3) once a week to get him to familiarise with a school setting is insufficient. I'll wait for him to start his preN in end Jun and let the teacher train him 5x a week (i had prewarned the teachers about his active behaviour).

Despite his young age (few of the youngest in class), he is the tallest. I had to emphasis and hope that the teachers understand that he is not as matured as he looks.

I had fun though.

Glad you had fun. And thankfully that was a trial.
Mebbe if it wasn't, they might return you the monies paid
and get you to come back when your child is more ready.
The teacher was right with her actions. And you're right too
with your decision of not signing him up yet - not all mummies
can accept when teacher says \"your child not ready\". So, you
did good in my eyes.

Enrichment programmes are meant to enrich. And enrichment
classes have their own curriculum to cover as well within a
certain time frame too.

So most times the facilitators cannot put too emphasis or time on
the getting children to sit down or behave. The part where they
had toys (familiar toys) that children can play with is quite good
to get the children to sit in nicely with less separation anxiety.

[tamarind]

jedamum:

I like the curriculum structure. But I won't be signing him up cos,
1) the teacher admit that my boy is not ready (i can sense their exasperation) for a classroom stint. my boy had never attended any childcare or classes and that they said is part of the reasons why he had no inclinations on what is expected of him and wants to do things his way only.
2) my boy doesn't know mandarin well. he already doesn't follow instructions from others, let alone instructions in a language he is not familiar with.
3) once a week to get him to familiarise with a school setting is insufficient. I'll wait for him to start his preN in end Jun and let the teacher train him 5x a week (i had prewarned the teachers about his active behaviour).

jedamum,
My girl attended Berries at Bukit Batok for one whole year in N2. When she entered K1, I moved her to Berries at Woodlands. The teachers at Bukit Batok are not good at handling children who cannot sit still.

I find that the teachers at Woodlands are much better at classroom control. They have much more patience with crying children. I have seen teachers carrying and comforting crying children for a long time.

While at Bukit Batok, I have seen mommies sitting in with their kids for many weeks. I myself stayed with my girl for quite a while when she first started at N2.

Both my kids do not understand mandarin when they first attended Berries. Their teachers are very ready to speak in English to explain things that they don't understand. My kids now understand mandarin very well, and my older girl can speak mandarin quite fluently, my boy is starting to speak very simple sentences.

My kids learn have Chinese lessons everyday at their PCF kindergarten. I want them to attend Berries because their standard of Chinese is very high, definitely higher than Tien Hsia. Being a kiasu mommy, I want my kids to learn more

[jedamum]

tamarind:

I find that the teachers at Woodlands are much better at classroom control. They have much more patience with crying children. I have seen teachers carrying and comforting crying children for a long time.

Woodlands a bit far out for me.... considering that I am not proficient in my driving skills yet :oops:

tamarind:

While at Bukit Batok, I have seen mommies sitting in with their kids for many weeks. I myself stayed with my girl for quite a while when she first started at N2.

Can they? They told me no parents allowed after initial trial.
I'm ok that they told me upfront that my kid is not ready. It is better than to pacify me and tell me to give it a try, then when my kid really have difficult settling in, I need to withdraw and forfeit my fee payment (had bad experience with other enrichment centre actually :P).

Last Saturday when I sent my ds1 to berries, my ds2 actually excitedly ran into 'his' classroom, and spout the 2 words that he learnt during the trial - i guess he was paying attention after all! I think he was expecting to see the same pile of toys .

[buds]

jedamum:

tamarind:

I find that the teachers at Woodlands are much better at classroom control. They have much more patience with crying children. I have seen teachers carrying and comforting crying children for a long time.

Woodlands a bit far out for me.... considering that I am not proficient in my driving skills yet :oops:

tamarind:

While at Bukit Batok, I have seen mommies sitting in with their kids for many weeks. I myself stayed with my girl for quite a while when she first started at N2.

Can they? They told me no parents allowed after initial trial.
I'm ok that they told me upfront that my kid is not ready. It is better than to pacify me and tell me to give it a try, then when my kid really have difficult settling in, I need to withdraw and forfeit my fee payment (had bad experience with other enrichment centre actually :P).

Last Saturday when I sent my ds1 to berries, my ds2 actually excitedly ran into 'his' classroom, and spout the 2 words that he learnt during the trial - i guess he was paying attention after all! I think he was expecting to see the same pile of toys .

Doesn mean the child doesn sit still, he ain't listening.
My younger girl is like that too. We assume she is not
listening half the time, but the stuff she picks up are
like so fast.

I ever had a K1 girl who kept crying for her mummy
non-stop. The mummy gave up giving in to her cries
and whines and toughed it out outside for the rest of
her one week leave plus another week - unpaid, after
the initial 3-days given sit-in period was over.

The girl wud roll on the floor from one side to the other.
Mind you. The classroom size was huge. She did exactly
that for two whole months. She wud fall asleep on her
own when she was tired. We wud all know cos the class
wud be very quiet.

The other children all became accustomed to that habit
of hers and even always gave her space to roll by moving
forward, nearer to the board, so she wudn accidentally kick
them. They eventually paid no attention to her repetitve actions
in class, cries or screams. So did her own mom and other parents.
Other parents were nice enuf to show support by not complaining how
noisy the class was and not exactly a conducive environment for the
children to learn.

I personally gave the mom daily feedback on her girl's progress
without fail during pick up at dismissal. I shared with her that
there were times i saw her girl peeped at my lessons!
And other times look at her friends. She had to bring back all
the assignments home, cos she wudn do a single thing in school.
The mom understood and gave her whole hearted co-operation.

The feedback from the mom was the girl cud do all the
assignments given to her at home and without any help.
The girl cud name all her 35 friends, including their fathers'
names! That was how i called out the names for attendance
taking...

Then, after the exact 2 mths... she came with her mom at
my classroom door and with judging from her mom, she
said, \"Teacher, from now on i am not going to cry anymore
and i am going to be a good girl.\" The whole class clapped
for her. She became instant frenz with everyone aft
that as if she had known them and interacting with them for
the past two months. She sang all the songs i played on the
piano so sweetly with her smile and laughter.

Children, aye...
No matter how long they take to settle in, they WILL settle.
With a tough mummy, it can work. A patient teacher with
a patient ear will help too. Hehee.. Oh yes, and a teacher
with strong arms definitely has a plus. All that carrying (of
children) will build biceps!

[shylyn]

tamarind:

My girl attended Berries at Bukit Batok for one whole year in N2. When she entered K1, I moved her to Berries at Woodlands. The teachers at Bukit Batok are not good at handling children who cannot sit still.

I find that the teachers at Woodlands are much better at classroom control. They have much more patience with crying children. I have seen teachers carrying and comforting crying children for a long time.

While at Bukit Batok, I have seen mommies sitting in with their kids for many weeks. I myself stayed with my girl for quite a while when she first started at N2.

Hi Taramind
I'm intending to sign my boy up for the one at BB as well..& after reading what u wrote, rather worried..cos my boy also not those type to sit quietly & listen unless he's interested in the activities leh. Another worry is tt he will cry for me if i were to leave him there by himself. :roll:

tamarind:

Both my kids do not understand mandarin when they first attended Berries. Their teachers are very ready to speak in English to explain things that they don't understand. My kids now understand mandarin very well, and my older girl can speak mandarin quite fluently, my boy is starting to speak very simple sentences.

My kids learn have Chinese lessons everyday at their PCF kindergarten. I want them to attend Berries because their standard of Chinese is very high, definitely higher than Tien Hsia. Being a kiasu mommy, I want my kids to learn more

This explains why we r in this forum anyway, being KS is a gd thing but of cos within limits lah
My boy also seldom speak Mandarin..mainly in English with us..plus his CC also not a Mandarin environment unlike your girl & boy's PCF.