Comparing Chinese Enrichment (Primary/Preschool)

[kissbb]

any comment on berries at west coast?

i’m thinking of letting my boys to join the N2 class… any good teachers there?

[MMM]

maisy:

Hmm ... actually i wasn't looking for \"fun\" element when enrolling my kid for chinese enrichment.... i was looking more for \"engagement\", \"instilling an interest in the language\" & \"motivation\" .. i do not wish to broadcast what is lacking in Molin class as it would not be fair to them. But you can take it that the engagement and inculcating interest were certainly questionable... i wouldn't say those elements were \"missing\" .. hence i m careful to use the word \"questionable\".

To a certain extent, I feel that it's very subjective. My older kids went through the Molin route (K1 and K2) and I feel that it has build a good foundation for them for primary school. So for us, the results are obvious.

In the case of my youngest, she did the nursery class at Molin last year. Due to the small class size, I feel that she has rec'd lots of attention from her teacher. We also rec'd feedbacks from the teacher on how to help her and her \"areas to be improved\". The principal also called for sessions with parents (from past experience, she will provide ideas to parents on how to help the kids etc...). My girl moved on to K1 this year. She enjoys the language, singing the rhymes that she learnt at Molin and also not forgetting the words that she picked up.

But I suppose it's dependent on the child's learning behavior and style. I do acknowledge that everyone has different experience and sometimes it's driven by the teachers we meet who made the difference. Like titank said, fate with the teachers.

[maisy]

MMM:

To a certain extent, I feel that it's very subjective. My older kids went through the Molin route (K1 and K2) and I feel that it has build a good foundation for them for primary school. So for us, the results are obvious.


In the case of my youngest, she did the nursery class at Molin last year. Due to the small class size, I feel that she has rec'd lots of attention from her teacher. We also rec'd feedbacks from the teacher on how to help her and her \"areas to be improved\". The principal also called for sessions with parents (from past experience, she will provide ideas to parents on how to help the kids etc...). My girl moved on to K1 this year. She enjoys the language, singing the rhymes that she learnt at Molin and also not forgetting the words that she picked up.

But I suppose it's dependent on the child's learning behavior and style. I do acknowledge that everyone has different experience and sometimes it's driven by the teachers we meet who made the difference. Like titank said, fate with the teachers.

U mean at K1 level, they have \"singing rhymes\" ? Sadly, they do not have that at N2 level... I would have thought they should introduce singing rhymes for N2 to \"liven up the class\" since these are the tiny tots...and singing of rhymes might be a good way to engage them... but nope they didn't hv it .. like i said previously, maybe their strategy works for the older school-going kids... perhaps not so for the tiny tots

[tamarind]

maisy:

First of all, thanks tamarind for sharing of your blog. I can see that you definitely play a very instrumental role in shaping your kids' development - kudos to you - your kids are lucky to have u I wish I can have half your drive. However, it is true that most , if not all Berries are franchise outlets .. hence different outlets' standard can vary and even terms of enrolment vary slightly as some centres are \"more flexible\" while some are not, altho they largely use the same materials.
But thanks for your recommendation - i will make an appointment w Berries Kembangan and do a trial - Really thanks for sharing.

You are welcome
So far my kids have attended Berries at Bukit Batok, Woodlands, and West Coast, the standards are exactly the same. My friends and SIL have kids in Tanglin and Orchard, and they are also very happy with the standard. I am not sure about other centers. I spoke to the center head at West Coast, she told me that they have to follow directions from the head office.

Do take note that parents have to play a very important part, even if they send kids to enrichment classes. In Berries, parents are advised to spend time to revise with kids everyday, otherwise there may not be any improvement.

Anyway, my girl has stopped her Berries class now that she is in P1. I make sure that she reads many Chinese story books(without hanyu pinyi) consistently, and I feel that she is doing very well learning at home So enrichment classes are not always necessary.

[MMM]

maisy:

U mean at K1 level, they have \"singing rhymes\" ? Sadly, they do not have that at N2 level... I would have thought they should introduce singing rhymes for N2 to \"liven up the class\" since these are the tiny tots...and singing of rhymes might be a good way to engage them... but nope they didn't hv it .. like i said previously, maybe their strategy works for the older school-going kids... perhaps not so for the tiny tots

Actually they have that for N2. We had a class performance last year and the kids were singing various rhymes with actions and all. We were happy because we saw that our girl can remember all that is being taught. Could it be the day you happen to be there, they didn't do it???

[anneffendi]

Hi mummies,

Am keen to enrol my son who is now coming to 5 but we do not have basic mandarin/chinese skills. I only remembere "ren" "kao" "men" hehehe and that was when I was in kindergarten .
I do have some basic understanding in Mandarin and able to communicate simple conversations which I had learnt fm my chinese friends .Hence, I want my son to be well-versed and understanding and communication in Chinese/Mandarin.

Can mummies share with me the following?
it is too exhaustive to read the whole thread
Question is, can I also enrol in Berries ,which I read thru, quite a fun style of learning or Tien Hsia which is very academic ?
What are the fees and environment like for both?
What are the timings like?
Are they always be communicating in Chinese/Mandarin?
I do not mind enrolling my son in "N1" level //First step.
Pls share ,thanks in advance.
Rgds
Mummy Nora

[titank]

tamarind:

You are welcome

So far my kids have attended Berries at Bukit Batok, Woodlands, and West Coast, the standards are exactly the same. My friends and SIL have kids in Tanglin and Orchard, and they are also very happy with the standard. I am not sure about other centers. I spoke to the center head at West Coast, she told me that they have to follow directions from the head office.

Do take note that parents have to play a very important part, even if they send kids to enrichment classes. In Berries, parents are advised to spend time to revise with kids everyday, otherwise there may not be any improvement.

Anyway, my girl has stopped her Berries class now that she is in P1. I make sure that she reads many Chinese story books(without hanyu pinyi) consistently, and I feel that she is doing very well learning at home So enrichment classes are not always necessary.

Hi Tamarind,

How about Mountbatten Berries? Any of your friends' kid try at there?

[Busymom]

MMM:

maisy:

U mean at K1 level, they have \"singing rhymes\" ? Sadly, they do not have that at N2 level... I would have thought they should introduce singing rhymes for N2 to \"liven up the class\" since these are the tiny tots...and singing of rhymes might be a good way to engage them... but nope they didn't hv it .. like i said previously, maybe their strategy works for the older school-going kids... perhaps not so for the tiny tots

Actually they have that for N2. We had a class performance last year and the kids were singing various rhymes with actions and all. We were happy because we saw that our girl can remember all that is being taught. Could it be the day you happen to be there, they didn't do it???

Tien Hsia does that every week too, the rhymes, that is, though not always in a singing form. So far for DS' first 3 lessons in Berries, I haven't seen any rhymes.

Does Molin teach 成语 in the K1/K2 class?

[tamarind]

[quote]
Hi Tamarind,

How about Mountbatten Berries? Any of your friends' kid try at there?[/quote]I haven't heard anything about Mountbatten Berries before.

Busymom:

Tien Hsia does that every week too, the rhymes, that is, though not always in a singing form. So far for DS' first 3 lessons in Berries, I haven't seen any rhymes.

Berries teachers use games to teach the new words. Both my kids remember the words very well after each class, and they enjoy the games. We also let our kids read the Berries lesson of the week every day at home. This reinforcement is very important so that the child can retain the words in her long term memory.

[tamarind]

anneffendi:

Hi mummies,

Am keen to enrol my son who is now coming to 5 but we do not have basic mandarin/chinese skills. I only remembere \"ren\" \"kao\" \"men\" hehehe and that was when I was in kindergarten .
I do have some basic understanding in Mandarin and able to communicate simple conversations which I had learnt fm my chinese friends .Hence, I want my son to be well-versed and understanding and communication in Chinese/Mandarin.

Can mummies share with me the following?
it is too exhaustive to read the whole thread
Question is, can I also enrol in Berries ,which I read thru, quite a fun style of learning or Tien Hsia which is very academic ?
What are the fees and environment like for both?
What are the timings like?
Are they always be communicating in Chinese/Mandarin?
I do not mind enrolling my son in \"N1\" level //First step.
Pls share ,thanks in advance.
Rgds
Mummy Nora

Both my kids associate Chinese with fun, because they play games every time they attend Berries. At their age, the most important task is to develop a love for the language. Berries emphasize recognition of Chinese characters from N2 to K2, there is not much writing and very little homework. I think that this is the correct method of teaching Chinese. Between the age of 3 to 6, all kids have an amazing ability to learn new words, and we should aim to teach them to recognize as many Chinese words as possible. In China, parents aim to teach their kids to be able to read independently by the age of 6, writing comes later.

The fees for Berries is about $380 for one term of 12 weeks. There are various timings every day of the week, you need to check with the centers. I would advise you to go for the weekday afternoon or morning classes, and look for a class with as few kids as possible.

Teachers only use Mandarin to teach, with the help of pictures and real objects.

You should start no later than N2. By K1 the standard at Berries is already very high. I have seen quite a few 5 year old kids who need to join N2 classes because they cannot follow up with the K1 lessons. I have even seen a P1 girl joining a K2 class.

I have looked through the Tien Hsia materials before, personally I feel that Berries materials are better and they have a higher standard compared to Tien Hsia. Berries teach kids to read in sentences from N2, and kids are able to read short stories by the time they reach K1. This is very important because the only way to be good in Chinese is by reading as many story books as possible.