Mindstretcher - Discussion

[deardear07]

My child has been with MS bishan for 3yrs. Teachers vary but most that my child has gone through r pretty ok. This year’s tr is even giving v regular feedback on child progress via email or hp.

[FantasyLandDreams]

Anyone can share feedback on P3 and P4 writer toolbox course? Does it help to improve your child’s compo grades? Thanks.

[sky minecrafter]

FantasyLandDreams:

feedback on P3 & P4 writer toolbox? Does it help to improve your child's compo grades?

Hi,
I've only used MS' Writer's Toolbox (WT) & I like their course structure very much.

>Does it help to improve your child's compo grades?
Yes, of course.

This is a summary for P3 WT sometime back. Now tt e new PSLE EL Paper 1 format has been tested, I assume MS curriculum would have been updated.

Then, there were mainly these components:-
(1) Writing Skills
Examples: Simile, Alliteration
(2) Descriptive Skills
(3) Model Compositions
Topics like: Catching a snake; An unforgettable incident; Accident; Snatch theft; Attacked by hornets; An unusual pet; Robbed at home; Strange creature; A distressing experience; Feelings; A mischievous act; Crash in living room; Slipped in the rain
(4) Writing Assessment
~once a semester
(5) Spelling
~monthly; ~10 phrases each time extracted from model compositions

However, e course seems targeted at High Ability/motivated learners; for average children they may feel stressed at e quick pacing.

[Confusedmommy11]

Hi, not sure if you have read my previous comment? My child has attended both KRTC and MS and due to the time conflict, I have switched him from KRTC to MS this year. Importantly, the teachers at KRTC is much more passion and understanding. Yes, in terms of the fees, MS is cheaper, but looking at the overall. The student ratio is 16/class and KRTC is 5-8 and the teachers are not able to cope such a big group as per my experience. Not to forget, the makeup lesson is flexible. Unlike MS, it is NO unless school letter of activity or MC to verify but subject to the availability of others class. I have a hard time to get my refund back even though my child was asked to go for immediate withdrawal and the attitude of the management is pretty bad. Lastly, I would like to emphasize again that the acceptance of high score as a misleading of their popularity. The teachers have claimed that their paper is very challenging and majority students have failed, so what do you think if the children will lose interest in the long run?[/quote]


Hi Gina, thanks a lot for your honest sharing! The student ratio is indeed better for KRTC. I didn't find out about the make-up lessons for both centres though. Thanks for this tip, I had better enquire as well.
So is your child back with KRTC again? Is it Junction 10 branch?

Thanks![/quote]

Hi LDmom,
No, the MS teachers' comments had impact him, he has refused to take up any tuitions. Now I am looking into Superstar teachers as he was keen on. Have you tried it as the review was pretty good.[/quote]


Hi mummies, I am not siding MS but I think it depends on the teachers individually. My nephew is in anchorvale cc for p5 maths and I've heard from him the teacher guides the lower ability students and gets them to try questions they can do rather than the whole paper. So I guess it really depends ba :)Jia u

[---cheers--- 1]

Our children have been learning in Mind Stretcher Bishan for years. In the past, things seem ok.

Share my sad story. Recently, we find that in our boys file folders, many of the work sheets serial numbers are not connected, eg. after comprehension 1, comes comprehension 6. Comprehension 2,3,4,5 are missing. Such cases occur in many contents include, composition, synthesis & transforation, grammar, vocabulary,etc. Totally more than 10 worksheets not found.

After checking with other children/parents, and the mind stretcher bishan branch having investigated other boys file folders, and a meeting with teacher and center, all the parties found the fact that some of these(from week 2 to week 20+) were with teacher for months, never been returned to students after done, thus, never been explained. Some of the missing ones, had never been given to students to do. The teacher is said to have been teaching in MS for 3 years is currently taking many classes there.

The fact was astonishing. Our children spent time in MS class but didn't receive quality teaching for half a year. And the result is their SA1 English results downgraded from English former A* to band 2. If we had not checked the files and discover this problem by chance, we would never know it, then this circumstance will continue and the teacher may remain to be regarded as good, qualified, responsible. We take it as a serious problem and requested extra lesson to make up for the content not covered immediately without causing negative effects to any latter lessons; and replace the teacher. We also advised MS to inform all the parents of the class, most of whom are still not aware.

They are saying that the teacher is good and responsible, having been there for years. But as an experienced teacher he should have known before he did that what he did is not allowed. How could we trust him? They are saying that such cases never happened before. Once is enough. The time we wasted can never come back. And as nobody has checked before, there are no evidence to say such cases had happened or not. You won't discover the fact unless you check it even though the fact is always there. Is it a small possibility matter or a common one? Are there any worksheets missing from your child's Mind Stretcher file folders? Please check it to ensure that you get the equivalent valuable lessons to the money you paid and the time you spent.

The case has been reported to MS vice president but till now no satisfactory reply has been received. One investigation after another. Anyone could give any advice? What will you do if you were one of the parents? Very frustrating and :mad:

[JJ2]

Just to share some thoughts on Mindstretcher Science.


I signed my girl (P3) for MS Science after her weak SA1 results (55%). She has attended 7 lessons so far. I am very surprised and also very concerned with the fast-paced curriculum at MS. They cover 1 topic in 2 lessons. So in these 7 lessons, she has covered Materials (Revision), Plant system, Animal system and the latest one is on Cycles.

I’m contemplating if I should let her continue with MS Science. To cover a topic in only 2 lessons, I don’t think there is any in-depth teaching, consolidation and checking of individual student’s understanding of the topic. It is more like "touch and go" lessons.

Not to mentioned the depressing failing marks she gets for her topical tests.

Anyone sharing similar thoughts as me?

Perhaps I should start looking out for other Science tuition and enrichment classes.

Sigh…

[SuperDadandMum]

Actually, it all depends on what you are looking for. For Science, I find Mind Stretcher notes useful for revision. In fact, I pass my daughter’s Science notes to my nephew and they find it very useful for revision and as guides and extra materials for teaching at home.


Recently they even have Hands-On Experiments for Mathematics, similar to what is being done in schools. My boy came back to say he enjoys the lessons and learn something different from the teachers today.

[JJ2]

Hi SuperDadandMum,

SuperDadandMum:

Actually, it all depends on what you are looking for. For Science, I find Mind Stretcher notes useful for revision. In fact, I pass my daughter's Science notes to my nephew and they find it very useful for revision and as guides and extra materials for teaching at home.

Recently they even have Hands-On Experiments for Mathematics, similar to what is being done in schools. My boy came back to say he enjoys the lessons and learn something different from the teachers today.

Thanks for your feedback.

Actually I feel that the notes are only useful when the teacher knows how to use them by going through and breaking down the concepts and explaining in a way that children understand. I didn't send my girl for 2 hours tuition a week just to collect their notes to study at home. I could have gone through using notes from assessment books, which are equally useful. Not to mention some of the questions in the MS practice papers are from assessment books too.

How well the children understands the lessons can be seen from the way they answer the practice papers. Simple logic, if a child is failing the papers, it means that he or she didn't learn well from the lesson. The teacher would have to revisit the topics and clarify any questions which the children might have instead of just moving on to the next topic.

When I ask the teacher how my girl is coping, she only replies \"ok..ok..\". Ermm.. if she's coping ok, she wouldn't be scoring 10/40 for one of the practice papers. Sigh. Quite disappointed with the teacher for her lack of concern for the children. Sigh.

Maybe just have to find the right centre or teacher. Anyone has good centre or teacher to recommend for primary Science in the West area?

Thanks!!

[TWU]

Hi JJ2,


You may consider True Learning Centre at 200 Jurong East Ave 1, #03-09/10 yo:HA@Jurong.

You may visit its website: http://www.truelearning.com.sg for more details.

[JJ2]

Hi TWU,

TWU:

Hi JJ2,

You may consider True Learning Centre at 200 Jurong East Ave 1, #03-09/10 yo:HA@Jurong.

You may visit its website: http://www.truelearning.com.sg for more details.

I called them before. They don't have P3 classes at their Jurong branch. Only have P4 and onwards.