What to do when your child asks for enrichment classes?

[Luanee]

My 6 yr old girl requested for ballet, drawing and cooking classes... quite good in the sense that whenever she misbehaves or not practise her spelling, I would threaten to cancel her ballet class and she will obey quickly...

[ChiefKiasu]

Luanee:

My 6 yr old girl requested for ballet, drawing and cooking classes... quite good in the sense that whenever she misbehaves or not practise her spelling, I would threaten to cancel her ballet class and she will obey quickly...

Good for you. That means she really likes the class! Money will be well spent.

[nat_mom]

I agree that it's ok for them to have more than 2 enrichment classes at this age, esp if they are the ones asking for it. My gal is attending abacus on Mon, phonics on Wed, ballet on Thur, piano and Chinese on Sat, drawing and swimming on Sun. Other than piano, the rest were requested by her. She looks forward to all her lessons. She had requested for me to look for science enrichment too...but told her i do not want to overload her with another class on Sat, 2 is enough as we could have bonding time after that. Am planning to stop all except piano and Chinese when she goes P1 next year. But usually she has such gd rapport with the teachers that she does not want to withdraw. Had initially wanted to stop her phonics in Jun, but she will reason with me that what Teacher Rosie is teaching is different from what she learns in her pre-school and she wants to learn that so that she can be a better reader :? Spoke to her for quite a while and she finally agrees to stop abacus, phonics come year end

[SMILEY]

nat_mom:

Am planning to stop all except piano and Chinese when she goes P1 next year.

I think swimming is another course that you should consider. As children should be physically fit in order to perform academically.

[metz]

mom2boys:

suddenly has this question - does boys and gals reacts differently with regards to enrichments courses? need some feedback on this.


does gals usually will request parents to bring them to class like drawing, swimming etc?

i was asking my 4yr old boy 'would he like to learn tekwando?' he responded ' ok lor'...then 'hmmm...dun wan lah'....
then I pop another question ' would you like to go for drawing class or music lesson?' he responded ' i want both...' in a cheeky way...so make me wonder should i or should i not send him to these classes...worried in the end, he doesn't like it. waste the $$ and time...

The only course my 5 yr old boy ever requested so far is learning violin. Other than that, I'll suggest for him to try out different courses. If he likes it, he gets to stay on the course. Courses he's having now include Violin, Aikido and BerriesWorld. Other things in the pipeline include fencing (when he turns 6), swimming, inline skating, and piano.

As for my gal, she's been bugging me for ballet classes since 2.5yr old. Got her wish when she turned 3 yr old She's also having Chinese at Berries. Things in the pipeline include swimming, violin and possibly piano.

I used to think sending kids to classes is an extravagant hobby, not to mention torturous and redundant for the kids. But seeing how my kids enjoy themselves in various classes, my view changed. As long as the kids are happy learning another skill, enrichment classes are not necessary bad. Furthermore, it's good for character building. Besides handling academic work well, they are also learning to manage non-academic activities.

[metz]

chamonix:

The only course my 5 yr old boy ever requested so far is learning violin.

Oops, this slipped my mind - he just requested for ballroom dancing recently.

[ChiefKiasu]

chamonix:

Oops, this slipped my mind - he just requested for ballroom dancing recently.

I keep hearing stranger and stranger things everyday. So what triggered his interest? Chacha? Rhumba? Waltz? Tango? Salsa? \"So you think you can dance\" on Mediacorp?

[metz]

ChiefKiasu:

chamonix:

Oops, this slipped my mind - he just requested for ballroom dancing recently.

I keep hearing stranger and stranger things everyday. So what triggered his interest? Chacha? Rhumba? Waltz? Tango? Salsa? \"So you think you can dance\" on Mediacorp?

Haha, you are not the only one who finds it strange. Chacha is the culprit.

[Picolo]

tamarind:

But for parents like me, who have limited financial resources, and no time to bring the kids around, I prefer to DIY.

I saw a baking class which teach kids to bake cupcakes or cookies. One session of 2 hours cost $80 ! I bought my own baking equipment like oven, electric mixer, weighing scale, etc. Total less than $250.

Hi Tamarind,

May I know where did you buy and what brands/models of oven and electric mixer you have? I have been thinking of getting them but so afraid that they may end up like the $600 juicer which I hardly use. Healthy, long lasting white elephant currently.

[tamarind]

Picolo:

Hi Tamarind,

May I know where did you buy and what brands/models of oven and electric mixer you have? I have been thinking of getting them but so afraid that they may end up like the $600 juicer which I hardly use. Healthy, long lasting white elephant currently.

Hi Picolo,
I bought the Kenwood oven, less about $150. I think the Philips electric mixer was about $80. That was 2 years back. The prices could be different now.

When I bought it, I was worried that they will become white elephants too But on days when I did not feel like bringing the kids out, baking cupcakes, muffins, and cookies are so much fun.