Comparing Chinese Enrichment (Primary/Preschool)

[caroline3sg]

wwcookie


All TienHsia teachers are China nationals. Hence they speak excellent chinese (ie beijing chinese - very nice intonation).

Their programmes are divided into enrichment (ie follow textbook) & writing. So if you are referring to enrichment, you need to bring textbook to class.

How the class is conduced for enrichment: the teacher started with reading the textbook passage, followed by the class. Then the teacher would distribute a list covering the vocabulary, how it is used, what are the common similar words, opposite words. Then they are given worksheets to do. Finally the teacher go through and mark them.

Towards exams, they would be given oral and listening test. Of course, main paper as well. The standard, according to them, is higher than sch. But it is not far from actual sch results (ie apply to many students).

Extra 2 lessons (ie worksheets covering most common/favourate/comprehensive words) are given when exams are near. This is free and need to register due to limited slots.

However, extra effort is needed to understand/find out about the teacher before signing up the particular time slot coz not all teachers are of equal calibre. My girl’s teacher, according to one mummy, is the Jurong East head teacher. She is excellent. She can motivate my girl. When we couldn’t make it and had make up in another branch (ie CCK), that particular teacher is stern looking, soft spoken in class, never explain meaning. Another teacher in CCK branch teaching higher chinese, also never explain, maybe just reading from the vocab list or not at all. You know when attempting questions, you need to explain the 4 words meaning or what is the correct word in that sentence. That teacher never do this, just tell the answer.

No activities in class, strictly academic.

[Green pastures]

Dear Lizawa


Thanks for your help. I wld certainly chk out Busy Bee.

Regards

[wwcookie]

Ohhh.. no fun activities? Dont think my boy will like it :?

[applepie]

Hi wwcookie,


my boy is attending berries. He has been with this school since nursery. Though I have heard abt Tien Hsia’s teaching method, I still let him continue with berries becaue of the fun activities they injected into the lesson. Without these activities, think my son would not have enjoyed learning chinese in a fun way. And thank goodness, at least he doesn’t have a phobia for this language ! The lead teacher (there are 2 teachers to one class) taking my son’s class is very inspiring and she’s able to captivate the children’s interest throughout the lesson.

Can any one share about the quality of the chinese school in fu lu shou complex (think it’s called jiang education?) and the other one at middle road called Yuquan Language School ? The latter school was also recommended by my son’s school. Are these 2 schools more of the academic type with lots of worksheets and homework?

Appreciate if you can share some feedback about the schools.

[ChiefKiasu]

applepie:

...Can any one share about the quality of the chinese school in fu lu shou complex (think it's called jiang education?) and the other one at middle road called Yuquan Language School ? The latter school was also recommended by my son's school. Are these 2 schools more of the academic type with lots of worksheets and homework?


Appreciate if you can share some feedback about the schools.

Jiang education is a highly respected language centre, well known amongst executives here.

I sent my P3 son for Yuquan's intensive 成语 and 字经 courses over the June holidays. Here's another http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=349&highlight=yuquan. He completed 2 modules over the holidays and is now starting the next. He appeared to enjoy the classes tremendously and I do see some improvement with his ability to use better Chinese vocab and idioms. No homework or creative writing. The teacher would teach them methods to memorize the phrases and idioms in the class itself. It's a pretty powerful method for building up their vocab, but not too useful for creative writing. However, it does allow them to throw in the idioms that they learnt into their compositions.

[applepie]

Thanks Chiefkiasu for the feedback on Yuquan. Am considering to transfer my son over to either Yuquan or Jiang come this dec holidays.


By the way, are their teachers chinese nationals? what is the name of the building where the school is located?

[ChiefKiasu]

applepie:

...By the way, are their teachers chinese nationals? what is the name of the building where the school is located?

The teachers are as Chinese as can be. Even the principal is a Chinese national.

[caroline3sg]

wwcookie

When in primary level, it is serious work, no fun activities. Fun activities only for K1/K2 level.

[Ljas1370]

Hi Parents,


Have anybody heard of Molin Tutorial Centre located at GRTH Building (East Coast Road) 2 buildings away from katong Mall? Kindly give some feedback.

Also, which of the following school will you pick?
1) Molin tutorial Centre
2) Tien Hsia Language School
3) Berries
4) Yuquan Language School
5) Skylace Language School
6) Jiang Education Centre

Tks so much

[ChiefKiasu]

Your choice depends on how old your child is. While most of these schools offer the full gamut of courses targeting children from 3-12 and beyond, they have their own "core competencies" or emphasis in specific areas and topics. Below are what I think are the core competencies of each of these programmes based on my own research and in my own humble opinion:


Best for 3 years to 8 years
- Berries (introductory, fun, builds vocabulary)

Best for 5 years to 10 years
- Yuquan Language School (fun, drills, builds vocabulary)

Best for 7-12 years (fun, MOE syllabus training, composition and comprehension)
- Hua Language Centre
- Tien Hsia Language School
- Skylace Language School

Best for 9-12 years (Serious MOE exam training, composition and comprehension)
- Molin tutorial Centre
- Jiang Education Centre

Feel free to disagree with me.