Comparing Science Enrichment Programs

[Estéema]

TLL used to hv very good teachers. There are now several problems hampering :-


1. Materials attractive to kids learning & covers MOE syllabus.

2. Teachers quality had dipped drastically & there are challenges which the Centre cld not address, even after differentiating into diff clusters. Teaching staff alr diff to find, and to handle diff schools at diff pace, covering diff topics at diff time frames. Many teachers left, leaving very few veteran good teachers.

3. After the outfit was sold to a US Equity, the CEO hv to meet shareholders’ expectations for returns. We experienced less experienced teachers, one KSP parent shared her sis who quoted MOE to enjoy teaching lower primary kids Eng, was expected to take over some Sc classes (with aid of Sc answer keys), we’ve met some veteran ex-TLL tutors either joined other tuition centres or gone into pte tutoring.

4. Last May, many parents were caught by surprised the centres high-handed way to capture more fees with their ‘complursory’ holiday workshops, claiming it’s part of their syllabus. These turned out to be mere revision practices over 2 days of 4 hours each & charged a while month’s fees. Those on GIRO pymt had to take a longer time to serve notice of withdrawal. We cldnt withdraw same mth when they creatively charged it into the regular invoice and we noticed only to be rebuffed to give one month’s notice to withdraw, by which time our kids hv to pay for lessons in June. Same thing for Sept sch holiday. You may google & find some parents wrote on their experiences.

I’m not saying TLL is completely hopeless coz we were thankful we were almost done towards PSLE & we had one subj teacher (not Sc) that was still very responsible. But we scoot out of sight by July & Aug.

After our journey, our experience taught us that there are still good educators in smaller centres, more more capable to coach our kids. And a lot less expensive. You just hv to check ard. I had been sharing abv experiences quite a fair bit. Might let other parents take over sharing their experiences this year.

If there are changes & parents hv good experiences, pls do share yr differing views, if any. I’m just sharing fr our actual experience. Hope it gives u one perspective.

[moohoo]

Thank u for your honest sharing Esteema. It's very helpful to parents like me who are undecided and not sure of where to look.

I do see DC classmates who attend TLL and have very good results though I'm not sure if that is credited to TLL or themselves.

[MerlionInGermany]

moohoo:

I do see DC classmates who attend TLL and have very good results though I'm not sure if that is credited to TLL or themselves.

I think it is part TLL, part themselves. Surely the materials, the teachers, and the students' aptitude and attitude, are all factors affecting the outcome of the results.

As for TLL revision classes, we have never been asked to sign up for any revisions class.

[Estéema]

MerlionInGermany:

moohoo:

I do see DC classmates who attend TLL and have very good results though I'm not sure if that is credited to TLL or themselves.

I think it is part TLL, part themselves. Surely the materials, the teachers, and the students' aptitude and attitude, are all factors affecting the outcome of the results.

As for TLL revision classes, we have never been asked to sign up for any revisions class.

You might find more feedback if u google.

Discovered tt learning lab had paid ads that fills up 1-2 pages & 1/2 parents blogging (bragging for TLL). You can tell coz these few parents hv similar pics & some pics look more like corporate shots & they've a few same pics on diff blogs. All strategized mktg.

I cldnt find the lawyer mum who wrote abt TLL's high-handed way to force parents pay extra, but found 2 others - one ano mum & an inside feedback fr an ex-TLL teacher under glassdoor.com :

1. Parent Feedback

https://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/parent-popular-tuition-centre-charges-exorbitant-prices-extra-classes

2. Teaching Staff & Admin Staff feedback

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/The-Learning-Lab-Singapore-Reviews-EI_IE310176.0,16_IL.17,26_IN217.htm

Seems like TLL Mgt doing a lot of cost cutting, hire younger/cheaper teachers & cutting costs to meet shareholders expectations, since it was sold to US Equity for >$300 million. So seems like they've to claw back & fr then on there's been a lot of unhappiness over mis-mgt of teaching staff & fees charges besides drop in quality.

[lee_yl]

TLL Sc is heavy on enrichment stuff, of which many of the topics will NOT be tested in PSLE. For those who are relatively weak in Sc, there is a chance of getting lost. But for those who are already good in Sc, they will find TLL Sc interesting.


Starting this year, I signed up my P6 DD2 as PSLE is approaching and her Sc result is average. Previously she did not have any Sc tuition and her P5 SA2 Sc result was 85%. After half a year w TLL Sc, her results improved to 86.5%. I told her mummy spent few Ks for 1.5 marks improvement har?! :slapshead:

@Merlion, my DD1 was with TLL for Eng last year and they did force us to sign up for the PSLE revision as a package for term 2 or else I will not be able to continue on to term 3. Earlier, I thought it was free for PSLE students, then I realised they already factored the cost in when we paid term 2 fees.

[laughingcat]

I am so surprised that TLL teachers are not happy with the mgmt. No wonder so many long time TLL teachers left. Then…I am super lucky to get hold of this ex-TLL Science teacher.

[laughingcat]

I am so surprised that TLL teachers are not happy with the mgmt. No wonder so many long time TLL teachers left last year. Then…I considered myself super lucky to get hold of this ex-TLL Science teacher.

[despmom99]

Hi laughingcat

I heard from friends about TLL teachers leaving too. Which level is this ex-TLL teacher teaching? I need tutor for Secondary school. When my kiddos were in primary school, I sent them to Serena greenhouse. Tutor was experienced ex-Science subject head so no headache for me. Explained concepts, taught them answering techniques and keywords. expect the kids to revise for weekly quizzes. Now they need help in Sec science.

[kboon2009]

What are the fees like for Serena greenhouse’s primary school science?


Thanks.

[virgoyan]

woohoo:

tyxmummy:

Dear all,


For those who have enquired regarding the tutor I have previously mentioned, her name is Teacher Nicky.
Please PM me if you need her contact details because I seldom check back on the forum.
My boy has just gotten back his results for PSLE on Wednesday and he got an A* for his science. We are over the moon!! Highly recommend this teacher if you want to see improvement in your children's results.
She only teaches up till primary 6 PSLE so my boy can't continue lesson with her anymore in Secondary School which is really a pity.
[quote=\"kentay\"]

tyxmummy:

My boy is currently under a private tutor and is improving a lot. He's been with her for about 1 year now and his results has been improving steadily from borderline pass last year, he can score A now. She's also teaching my siblings children and they have also been improving, really glad i found her.She teaches only science and i'm not sure whether she travels out far because me and my siblings all live in bukit panjang area.

She provides her own notes, worksheets and mindmaps and sometimes even do simple science experiments with my kid so he really loves her lesson. Science experiment really takes up a lot of time but he got better concept of the topic after the experiments.

Hi, could you PM the contact detail. TIA

[/quote]Hi, appreciate if you can PM me the contact. Thank you.[/quote]

Hi, does Nicky goes to Jurong east to teach? Can PM me her contact? thanks alot!