The Alternative Story (TAS) - Discussion

[JayneLL]

The shophouses at Amk area are all quite small, quite hard for them to expand at existing premise unless their next door neighbour moves out and they take over and knock down the walls.


I went to their new premise, it is done up nicely, not so much space for parents to sit but I like the overall look. I jokingly suggested to them to take over the former This Fashion premise but I heard now it is taken by NTUC. That place can probably fit more than 10 classes!

[nonKiasu]

coolit:

Hi nonKiasu,


The teacher is teacher elaine. My friend's kid used to be under her then changed to another class due to time constraints. She is experienced and she knows how to engage younger kids. My friend was quite happy with her. Now my friend's kid is going to be
under teacher stella. Hope she is as good.

Btw, I have pmed you for referral.

Hi, coolit,

Thanks. Got your pm. Will use you as referral if I do sign up after the trial.

Frankly, I don't know what to look for during trial. Can we parents see how they conduct the class during trial? Otherwise, how to decide after that? Pai say, quite inexperience in tution.
Btw, I was told that Singpost classrooms are under renovation for the next 3 weeks and the temp loc is at Fortune centre.

[coolit]

nonKiasu:

Hi, coolit,

Thanks. Got your pm. Will use you as referral if I do sign up after the trial.

Frankly, I don't know what to look for during trial. Can we parents see how they conduct the class during trial? Otherwise, how to decide after that? Pai say, quite inexperience in tution.
Btw, I was told that Singpost classrooms are under renovation for the next 3 weeks and the temp loc is at Fortune centre.

Sure, don't worry we all used to be inexperienced once.

Parents cannot go into the class but you can talk to the teacher after class
and look at the materials and work done. You can also find out from the
teacher how your child's participation was and his weakness and strengths. You
can talk to your children and see if they like the class and teacher.

I am not sure about Sing Post location as my children are not there.

[hquek]

VooVoo:

Any feedback on Teacher Joanne at AMK? Btw, need referral for AMK please! Thanks!

Think DS was under Joanne for 1 lesson before, quite ok. He's 'tried' a few teachers already due to teacher on leave/missed lesson and told me that way the teachers teach are about the same. But do go for trial class to see if your kid enjoys.

For the trial class, parents are not allowed in, neither can we peep into the classroom. But if one is persistent to stand outside and wait, may be able to hear what the teacher is saying (again depend if teacher got loud voice) and whether kids are participating. After the class, catch the teacher and likely she will be able to go into a long spiel on the child - what was covered, strength, weakness etc. I was pretty amazed they can say so much since there are many kids inside. Had that happen to me, and also witness other parents hearing about their individual kids on other times.

[hquek]

firefly38:

hi hquek, how does the referral system work? is it the case where you can be referral to new students only once? if so, please feel free to be referral to other parents whose kids are confirmed joining TAS soon, as they may be in need of a referral more urgently than me (eg. voovoo).


i will request for referral again once i confirm signing up TAS for my DS2 (feel bad to keep you waiting).. thanks!

Upon signing up,if you have referral, they knock a bit of money off the first term's fee. The person referring will also enjoy that little discount on the first referral he/she has made on that term. If more than 1 person wants to use my kid's name, no issue, just that I will only enjoy 1 discount - thus rather to let others make the subsequent referrals so more pp can enjoy.

No worries. I'll look out for other pp who may want to sign up soon.

But do keep in mind their cutoffs in case you can't get the teachers/slots you desire. I only know existing parents have to make payment in oct to secure. Figure shortly thereafter they will start accepting 2012 kids.

[hquek]

btw, after the trial, what I experienced was that they won’t pressure you to sign up. If you want to leave and ask your child in a non-pressure environment if they like it, by all means do so. this is not beauty salon…no pressure one.

[kitty2]

I wonder any of your kids ever scored 39.5/40 for compo after attending TAS/TLL?It’s very amazing for a kid to score so high but i heard some kids did but not from both centres.

[hquek]

hi kitty2,


For those centres that boast of such kids, I would think that much, or most depend on the child (and sometimes the marker) - centres may help, but certainly not all kids will benefit that way.

When i send my kid to tas, it was not with the expectation that he will get full marks or even 39.5. (he’s only in P1, so that helps in moderating my expectations). I like to think that I’m sending him there to get a grounding in grammar (which I can’t teach) and get a flavour of what may come up in tests and exams. I aim to reach the nirvana where I look only at the effort he put in, rather than the number he get. Still working on this…

[SmallMedLarge]

I am very very interested to send my P2 child to TAS after reading all the good reviews.

Which is a better branch? Do they teach grammar or just focus on compre + compo. Anyone heard of Creative Campus in upper Thomson?

[Monster Mummy]

I think that this is depend on individual child’s capability. As long as they have improved and learned from the class, it should be quite acceptable from my end. This is because some kids might take some time to improve and we cannot expect the improvement increased tremendously.