Comparing English Enrichment Programmes

[Happy Mama]

British Council is a definite NO NO.

[mr_ding]

Happy Mama:

British Council is a definite NO NO.

Is it really that bad?

[Yong HL]

My daughter attended ICR from N2 to K1 and she was in the I Can Read Level Book 4 when we decided to drop. Reason for drop : We both found it a struggle just to read the passages. So no point i thought.


Then we signed her up British Council from K2 until now (P1). British Council is more of enrichment. So if you are looking for tuition, maybe BC is not that suitable. I am coaching my daughter english at home using assessment books via the structured approach while i let her attend BC just for general enrichment.

[Happy Mama]

mr_ding:

Happy Mama:

British Council is a definite NO NO.

Is it really that bad?

IMHO, the class size is too large; between 22 to 25 students in a class and the syllabus is totally not related to MOE.

[MMM]

Can’t comment for ICR. My kids did J&E for phonics. Solid program.


They were with BC for 2 years (P2 and P3). Just find that it’s not academic enough. This year, I swopped them to Lcentral and so far it appears to be alot more academic, grammar exercises, compre and compo,etc… can’t tell for exam results yet as they are only sitting for CA1 this wekk. But it’s definitely alot more academic as compared to BC.

I’ve another K2 with LW creative english. Helps with reading and her word recognition. But I intend to switch her to Lcentral in the near future.

[mummy_linda]

Hi Joe, thanks for sharing the tutor's number here. Called her on Monday night n spoke to her for an hr where she patiently answered all my questions. I am very lucky that she happen to have one free slot for p6 so my girl will start with her this week. She's got a website too http://www.littleinkpot.com

averagejoe:

E100:

Hi Joe, it's great! Are u remaining MIA? Appreciate your Effort of describing that capable tutor of yours but u don seems to share w all the eager parents.

Hi, so sorry for not replying earlier. Been a while since I last came here Her number is 94767770, nice lady to talk to. You can call her to find out more.

[Laughing]

Talking about ICR, I had very bad experience with them about 2 years ago. At the very 1st lesson for my 5 yrs old boy, the centre staff & teacher just insisted I leave him in their care but my boy was so frightened that he vomited! And you know what, the angmo immediately wanted me to bring him home and said that he was not ready. But she was the one who did the assessment and said that he was ready… :x


Anyway, I went back home and talked to my kid and accompanied him for the 1st 10 mins in the 2nd lesson. After that, he reluctantly joined the class for 2 years till last year Dec…

[Monster Mummy]

Laughing:

Talking about ICR, I had very bad experience with them about 2 years ago. At the very 1st lesson for my 5 yrs old boy, the centre staff & teacher just insisted I leave him in their care but my boy was so frightened that he vomited! And you know what, the angmo immediately wanted me to bring him home and said that he was not ready. But she was the one who did the assessment and said that he was ready... :x


Anyway, I went back home and talked to my kid and accompanied him for the 1st 10 mins in the 2nd lesson. After that, he reluctantly joined the class for 2 years till last year Dec...

So currently where did your son enrol?

[tcdl]

jasmineong:

Yes, I do agree that reading books is the best way. If your child starts reading from a young age..he or she will have a headstart and they can do well especially in comprehension cloze and the vocabulary sections as well. The best thing is they will actually like to write and not do it because we are forcing them to.


But I find the right creative writing class can sharpen your child's writing skills and give them more strategies to tackle this area. So I spent some time really researching to find a good creative writing class so my child can really benefit. JMHO

Hi Jamine, So have you found a good writing class for your kid yet ? Any experience to share. My child in P3 now, totally no clue in structuring the writing. His comprehension (both English and Chineses) as bad. Big headache now. However, he does read a lot like Gernomino Stilton.

Thanks !

[cimman]

tamarind:

The only way to improve creative writing skills, is to read as many story books as possible. Otherwise no matter how many creative writing classes the child attend, it is not going to help.

I agree with you on the reading as many books as possible part. I too love reading when I was young and never had problems with my English. Chinese on the other hand was never a love for me.
Now my son has language problems. He is in P4 this year. He is in the last band for his English, failed in his Chinese. With him being weak in both English and Chinese, I am at a loss. There is just not enough time to brush up on both languages at the same time. As a result of weaknesses in English, his maths and science is affected as he can't understand the problem statements in Maths and can't express the answers in Science. There are just too many weak areas.
How much time does one allocate to reading on a daily basis ?