Comparing Chinese Enrichment (Primary/Preschool)
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titank:
Heard they get students to mark their own homework in class and they typically don't go thru the homework. This is especially so in jinying class.
Jiang Education is 20 students in the class. They told me Jaing is proven in the market, 20 students the teacher can still have effective teaching. -
Anyone try Han Language. How is it ?
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MdmKS:
In that case Jiang Education assuming all Students know what to do, don't have to ask questions in the Jin Ying class? Was at Jiang Education few months ago & the staff keep selling the pkg to me. :?:
Heard they get students to mark their own homework in class and they typically don't go thru the homework. This is especially so in jinying class.titank:
Jiang Education is 20 students in the class. They told me Jaing is proven in the market, 20 students the teacher can still have effective teaching. -
I’m thinking to put my daughter (next yr P2) in Molin, 10 kids per class is ok for me… what kind of teaching system does Molin hv?Learn thr play or just worksheets?
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minnie:
10 max in a c lass in acceptable, really wondering how can teacher pass on the \"JIngHua\" and \"quality time\" to the students...mass teaching??!?!Tien Hsia also ard the same class size. I thought 10 in a class should be quite ok?
doraemon:
molin has10 students for K1 class but berries has more but they have 2 teachers in the class, not sure about molin.....
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From what I know, in Tien Hsia, it’s 6 per class for N1, 8 for N2 and 10 for K1 and K2.
Perhaps, once the kids are older, there is no need for a low teacher:student ratio. It’s just like our primary school where the class size is about 30 (well, that used to be 40 during my time and we all learned, didn’t we?). If one wants 1-1 tuition, then that’s a different thing.
However, I have some thinking to do for myself too. Signed up DS (N1) for Berries (as timing for Tien Hsia didn’t suit us) for 1 term and the class size is 12, if not mistaken. It’s true that there is an assistant teacher, but the main teacher is the one who conducts the lesson. The assistant teacher does not do anything else when the main teacher is teaching, though I am sure she is there to help if a need arises (e.g. some kids need to be cuddled or brought out due to crying?). Still, the 1 hr 30 min need to be split between 12 students, right, especially in the case of young children where they need to be prompted to speak.
Not sure if anyone has views to counter my concern? -
Hi Busymom
Actually i hv views to share too ... but not so much as to counter your views...perhaps more so abt tapping your views further on Berries and also sharing my own views abt Molin.. Apart from your description of the role of the asst teacher, how do u like the curriculum and teaching structure of Berries? Also , which Berries are you with?
From your description of your asst teacher in Berries, it seems to sound like the assist teacher in Molin too.
My little boy started his N2 chinese enrichment at molin and i must say i was a little disappointed w the course structure....as Molin doesn't hv trial, i simply signed up thinking since most people think it is good, it should be \"safe\" to go along. honestly, the class was pretty boring and i wonder how would the young kids be \"motivated to learn the language\" when all the teacher did was to make students repeat after her. As my intention is not to slam the centre, i will stop my comments here
i guess i was \"lucky\" as my kid didn't allow me to leave ... so i get to \"sit in\" and witness the class..if not, i would never have found out otherwise
Of course, surely there must be something positive and right abt the centre that makes it so popular today...but my guess is maybe it is better suited for older children, u know , the primary school-going age-group perhaps. Definitely not the tiny tots
Also, the assistant teacher was doing nothing...just sitting there like a fixture. She didn't look interested too. By stroke of luck (for the parents-with-vested-interest), the principal dropped in w a parent who was enquiring, and saw the asst teacher sitting on a chair in a corner (while rest of class including main teacher was seated on the floor) & told her to be \"more involved\" and help out the main teacher.
So now i m thinking of pulling my child out after 1 term...stop loss. Haha... and will start to look around, with berries possibly in mind...but this time round, i will insist on a trial
so , busymom & all other parents, would u kindly help me by sharing w me a little more abt berries & its structure ? i heard standard of berries varies in different centres as they are mostly franchise outlets... or any parents who sat in in tien hsia & saw how the class was conducted - care to share what went on in the class ? Cheers parents! -
Hi Maisy,
I had dropped you a PM. Guess maybe we can exchange some info regarding Molin as my child is currently in N2 class. -
[quote]
so , busymom & all other parents, would u kindly help me by sharing w me a little more abt berries & its structure ? i heard standard of berries varies in different centres as they are mostly franchise outlets... or any parents who sat in in tien hsia & saw how the class was conducted - care to share what went on in the class ? Cheers parents![/quote]I don't think that Berries is a franchise. Their program is definitely very good for pre-school kids. Both my kids have developed an interest in Chinese which I think is most important. The quality of the teacher does vary, and the maximum class size of around 12 to 15 is too big. But their standard is definitely the same for every centre because my kids have attended classes at Bukit Batok, Woodlands and West Coast, they all teach using the same methods and the same materials.
I highly recommend Woodlands. My boy just changed to West Coast. His teacher is OK, but the assistants seem to be inexperienced. There was a crying girl in his class and the assistants did not seem to know what to do.
Anyway, the center head told me that parents are allowed to sit in with kids if they keep crying.
My son has also attended one N2 trial class at Tien Hsia, he looked so bored and refused to go back. I have looked through the materials of Tien Hsia for K1 and K2, I feel that they are not as good as Berries. Berries enable kids to read in sentences from N2, at K1 they are already able to read short stories. I think this is much better than trying to learn as many words as possible without knowing how to link them together.
Berries use fun and games to teach Chinese, every child (that I know) enjoys going to Berries classes. They emphasize on reading much more than writing. This is correct because we should try to teach kids to be able to read independently by the age of 6 years old, writing can come later. If we try to make young kids write too many Chinese words, it will turn off their interest in Chinese.
Also, Berries teach Hanyu Pinyin only at K2, which I think is the correct method of teaching Chinese. Parents should avoid any enrichment classes that teach Hanyu Pinyin at K1. Kids must learn to read as many Chinese words as possible before they know hanyu pinyin. If they learn hanyu pinyin first, it will be very difficult to let them read Chinese books without hanyu pinyin later.
My girl has completed Berries K2 class. She is able to read Chinese books quite fluently. Check out my blog for the books she is reading now :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/chinese-picture-books-3.html
She can read more than 90% of the words in these books.
For more information about the standard of Berries, read these pages in my blog :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/reading-chinese-books.html
This is my boy's Chinese test at Berries when he was in K1 :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/05/jeromes-chinese-test-at-berries.html
Of course, attending Berries class once a week is not enough. Parents are advised to revise the lessons with kids at home everyday. When kids have completed K2, they must read as many Chinese story books as possible to build up their vocabulary. Chinese does not have a very structured grammar, the only way to know how to write good Chinese essays is by reading many books. -
Hi,
Any comments from parents about Berries or Eduplus for secondary school students?
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