Comparing Chinese Enrichment (Primary/Preschool)

[MdmKS]

Anyone has any idea which is the best HCL tuition centre for secondary school? TIA.

[titank]

Intend to find some chinese enrichment for my DD in Jan 2010 next year.

Any good recommendations? How am I able to compare thier syllabus?

Would a child said about 39 months to young to start?

[foreverj]

EatNonStop:

Hi,


Anyone from NE area (Kovan / Hougang) can advise good chinese learning center for my current K1 gal ? Thought of sending her for chinese enrichment classes when she turns K2 (6 yrs old). Heard much about Woodland Berries learning center , any commends on Hougang Berries learning center?
My son is 2.5 yrs old now, is it advisable for him to start early?

hi, i've gone for a trial with berries hougang for n1. its alright, not bad but i find the things they teach are easily found in good cc where they have chinese immersion programmes. plus berries is expensive to do on a long term basis. does your ds and dd attend cc or kindergarten already?

[tcdl]

Busymom:

Hi ttl and momz


Hua would be able to start the new Playgroup class from 1 August (Sat) at the 4.30pm time slot. That would be week 5 of the current term (whole term comprises 10 weeks) and the term fee would therefore be pro-rated. Please go down and register your child's name for the class. They said must register first before they can start the class. The centre's opening hours are:
Mon - Fri: 9am to 5.30pm
Sat: 9am to 7pm
Sun: 9am to 6pm

Hi Busymom,

How's the new Paygroup class you sort of help to organise in Hua @ United Square for your 2.5yo ? I, too, have a 2.5yo boy whom I am currently looking around for a Chinese Enrichment class.

Do let me have your view of the class. Thanks.

Regards

[tcdl]

Hi,


Aftering reading through the whole thread, I am still rather confused as to which is the best for my kids. I have a 2.5yo and a P1 whom I am looking for suitable Chinese Enrichment class. I am hoping to start the 2.5 yo soon and my P1 during the Nov/Dec holiday or in Jan 2010.

I am staying in Tampines and my parents in East Coast. My 2.5yo has yet to start his Pre-N school. Currently, I am also looking for a suitable childcare centre for him (Any recommendation ?). My P1 is attending a SAP school. I am looking for centres in the East area.

This is what I have gathered after reading:-

~ For the 2.5 yo, Berries, Hua & TianHsia seems suitable.
~ For the P1, Molin & TienHsia seems good. Not much info about Hua.


I need comment from parents for the following :-

1) Berries - I saw comments that the Woodlands is great. Any parents or hear-say from friends who has experience from Tampines Mart, Tampines Central, Kembangan or Mountbatten branch to share their views?

2) Though my P1 boys is OK with his Higher Chinese, I am worried about his creative writing when he proceed to P2/P3. We speak mostly English at home, thus if we get him to write a Chinese essay, he is likely to think in English, write in Chinese but in an English way. I am looking at Molin and TiendHsia as I understand they are more academic with some activites. I feel that he should be out of the over-activties based class. But I still can't decide on which, so I was thinking to see whichever branch is good, I shall go for it. Anyone can comment on Molin - Parkway (one and only branch) and TienHsia Simei branch ? Or any further comparison advice and recommendation to share ?

3) Hua - Comments for Hua @ Marine Parade ? Is the centre good for Nursery and Lower Primary ?

Appreciate any comments, advice and recommenddations from all parents.

looking forward to hear form you.

Regards,
Didi

[ChiefKiasu]

tcdl:

... Aftering reading through the whole thread, I am still rather confused as to which is the best for my kids...

That's because everyone's situation is different and you need to map the feedbacks to your own needs.

I believe your requirements are close to mine: 1 younger pre-schooler and another in Primary school. Also staying in the East.

We only have to worry about Chinese so far for our children, because we are an almost entirely English-speaking home. Somehow, we did not manage to institute a Chinese-speaking discipline despite our many sparodic efforts.

You are right in focusing on the composition writing part, but don't forget the oral and comprehension parts either. IMO, Molin and Tien Hsia are amongst the top enrichment services you can have for Primary Schoolers, although I'm not sure they are as effective for pre-schoolers. I note that some of the community, such as MMM, has got good experience with Molin for her 4yo kid.

For pre-schoolers, I focus on getting my daughter used to sounds and characters. So I send her to Yuquan for the Chinese idioms class and Berries for the daily communications skills. I have had excellent results since we started her last June when she was 3. She can rattle off Chinese idioms and even recognise quite a few Chinese characters now. Understanding them is, of course, a different story . But the idea is to get them used to the sounds, so that when they encounter them in future, the \"right brain\" learning will merge with the \"left brain\" understanding. She enjoys both Berries and Yuquan... so the only problem is the waking up early on weekends and the hit on our wallets

[usaik]

It seems like the general feel about Berris is that it is only good for preschoolers. However, I would like to share my experience and views on Berries from a slightly different perspective.


I have a P2 boy whom I have been sending to Berris. I started him when he was around 5+. I wish I could start him earlier but unfortunately I was not exposed enough to know more of such enrichment classes and started sending him to Berris only when I notice that he needed help.

Berries’s programmes was tough for him when I first send him there. Every lesson, the kids will be given a booklet to read. Ds could hardly read more 30% of the words. He was struggling. I don’t think he could grasp and recognize most of the words. But I made him continue as it was good immersion for him in a good Chinese speaking environment and honestly speaking, I did not know of other options available then.
In his class then, one of the lesson may be on the Chinese idiom, 守株待兔. He might not be able to recognize the word 守株待兔, he might not even remember the idiom, but I was still hopful that he would however get to know the story behind it and I believed he did.

Although I did not see drastic progress in his Chinese for 2 years, since I believe languages are not to be "drilled", they are to be "enriched" in order for one to impove, I let ds continue with Berris. I manage to finally see the result when he was in P1 after 2 years.

Ds is now in P2, he is still with Berris. I still like the kind of programmes they are offering. They are not drilling the child with a lot of exercises which I personally think does not require much teaching. In addition, I do think they offer well thought through programme. They are enriching the child and equiping the child for later. I especially like way they teach the child in composition writing, oral writing and listening skills. Ds can now recognize the word 守株待兔. When did he start recognizing the word? I am not sure. But what I do know is that he is learning how to structure 守株待兔 into sentences now in P2. I am sure eventually he would be able to apply it into his composition which Berris is already guiding them and teaching them. I also like how they simulate Oral exams and the very important tips and attitude they instil.

I think Berris works for ds very well even though he is now in P2 taking higher chinese in school. His SAP school in P2 does not require him to be assessed in Chinese composition this year. But he will need to be assessed next year in P3. What ds is learning in Berris today on composition cannot be applied immediately. And seriously, I do not think he can mange it today as well. I am glad Berris started him this year and prepared them well ahead of time. I really do not think language is something that can be drilled and picked up overnight. It needs to be "enriched". I think Berris works that way and works for my ds well in a less stressful manner.

Another very important point to note, the teachers have very good rapport with the children (at least so far those who had and is still teaching ds). One example I would like to cite is… at the beginning of this year, ds was giving probem to the his teacher. He needed the adjustment to the new teacher and the teacher sensitively gave him the time and attention his needed. By mid-year, Ds’s attitude had changed for the better drastically. I could see a lot of effort had in by the teacher. Ds is more diligent in his Chinese work as well.

[Pen88n]

It has been a while since I have had time to get on forum due to busy work.


I had benefitted from feedbacks and comments from other parents in this forum when I was initially choosing a Chinese enrichment centre for my ds. I thought it is time for me to share my experience on the 2 centres my ds has attended over the last year so that other parents can have some opinions to make their decisions as well.

I signed my ds for Molin last year. Mid this year, I withdrew him from Molin and he started lessons with Jiang. These are what I’ve observed of the 2 centres:

Molin:
- dedicated teachers and smaller class size
- follow school syllabus closely and every lesson covered school text in advance in detail
- spelling and worksheet all based on school syllabus
- teacher does not guide much for compo writing, not much emphasis
- reading material is newpaper topics rewritten to suit level of student

Jiang (jing ying class):
- bigger class size, teacher does not communicate much to parents
- own textbook and worksheet following their textbook
- homework based on school text and expect kid to cover on their own / with parents
- longer class hours: 1.5 hours to cover their own textbook and 1.5 hours for creative writing
- creative writing more emphasis and cover wide topics
- reading material is hua pao from China, and kids have to do worksheet on that as well

I personally think Molin would suit kids who need guidance in Chinese for school, as they cover school syllabus in greater detail, basically like tuition. Jiang does not have that coverage for the jing ying class as they expect kid / parents to be able to handle that in their homework. However, if one is looking for more enrichment than tuition for kid, then Jiang would be better as their exposure to the language beyond textbook is much better. Their coverage for creative writing is also good.

Hope this helps other parents.

[doraemon]

Hi pen88n,


may i know how old is your ds? wondering whether jiang is suitable for 4 yr old or molin? my son is now in berries, thinking of switching. thanks!

[mathsparks]

Pen88n:

Molin:

- dedicated teachers and smaller class size
- follow school syllabus closely and every lesson covered school text in advance in detail
- spelling and worksheet all based on school syllabus
- teacher does not guide much for compo writing, not much emphasis
- reading material is newpaper topics rewritten to suit level of student

Molin has different enrichment class for compo/compre, hence the lack of emphasis in the regular enrichment class.