Comparing Chinese Enrichment (Primary/Preschool)

[buds]

jedamum:

tamarind:

I find that the teachers at Woodlands are much better at classroom control. They have much more patience with crying children. I have seen teachers carrying and comforting crying children for a long time.

Woodlands a bit far out for me.... considering that I am not proficient in my driving skills yet :oops:

tamarind:

While at Bukit Batok, I have seen mommies sitting in with their kids for many weeks. I myself stayed with my girl for quite a while when she first started at N2.

Can they? They told me no parents allowed after initial trial.
I'm ok that they told me upfront that my kid is not ready. It is better than to pacify me and tell me to give it a try, then when my kid really have difficult settling in, I need to withdraw and forfeit my fee payment (had bad experience with other enrichment centre actually :P).

Last Saturday when I sent my ds1 to berries, my ds2 actually excitedly ran into 'his' classroom, and spout the 2 words that he learnt during the trial - i guess he was paying attention after all! I think he was expecting to see the same pile of toys .

Doesn mean the child doesn sit still, he ain't listening.
My younger girl is like that too. We assume she is not
listening half the time, but the stuff she picks up are
like so fast.

I ever had a K1 girl who kept crying for her mummy
non-stop. The mummy gave up giving in to her cries
and whines and toughed it out outside for the rest of
her one week leave plus another week - unpaid, after
the initial 3-days given sit-in period was over.

The girl wud roll on the floor from one side to the other.
Mind you. The classroom size was huge. She did exactly
that for two whole months. She wud fall asleep on her
own when she was tired. We wud all know cos the class
wud be very quiet.

The other children all became accustomed to that habit
of hers and even always gave her space to roll by moving
forward, nearer to the board, so she wudn accidentally kick
them. They eventually paid no attention to her repetitve actions
in class, cries or screams. So did her own mom and other parents.
Other parents were nice enuf to show support by not complaining how
noisy the class was and not exactly a conducive environment for the
children to learn.

I personally gave the mom daily feedback on her girl's progress
without fail during pick up at dismissal. I shared with her that
there were times i saw her girl peeped at my lessons!
And other times look at her friends. She had to bring back all
the assignments home, cos she wudn do a single thing in school.
The mom understood and gave her whole hearted co-operation.

The feedback from the mom was the girl cud do all the
assignments given to her at home and without any help.
The girl cud name all her 35 friends, including their fathers'
names! That was how i called out the names for attendance
taking...

Then, after the exact 2 mths... she came with her mom at
my classroom door and with judging from her mom, she
said, \"Teacher, from now on i am not going to cry anymore
and i am going to be a good girl.\" The whole class clapped
for her. She became instant frenz with everyone aft
that as if she had known them and interacting with them for
the past two months. She sang all the songs i played on the
piano so sweetly with her smile and laughter.

Children, aye...
No matter how long they take to settle in, they WILL settle.
With a tough mummy, it can work. A patient teacher with
a patient ear will help too. Hehee.. Oh yes, and a teacher
with strong arms definitely has a plus. All that carrying (of
children) will build biceps!

[shylyn]

tamarind:

My girl attended Berries at Bukit Batok for one whole year in N2. When she entered K1, I moved her to Berries at Woodlands. The teachers at Bukit Batok are not good at handling children who cannot sit still.

I find that the teachers at Woodlands are much better at classroom control. They have much more patience with crying children. I have seen teachers carrying and comforting crying children for a long time.

While at Bukit Batok, I have seen mommies sitting in with their kids for many weeks. I myself stayed with my girl for quite a while when she first started at N2.

Hi Taramind
I'm intending to sign my boy up for the one at BB as well..& after reading what u wrote, rather worried..cos my boy also not those type to sit quietly & listen unless he's interested in the activities leh. Another worry is tt he will cry for me if i were to leave him there by himself. :roll:

tamarind:

Both my kids do not understand mandarin when they first attended Berries. Their teachers are very ready to speak in English to explain things that they don't understand. My kids now understand mandarin very well, and my older girl can speak mandarin quite fluently, my boy is starting to speak very simple sentences.

My kids learn have Chinese lessons everyday at their PCF kindergarten. I want them to attend Berries because their standard of Chinese is very high, definitely higher than Tien Hsia. Being a kiasu mommy, I want my kids to learn more

This explains why we r in this forum anyway, being KS is a gd thing but of cos within limits lah
My boy also seldom speak Mandarin..mainly in English with us..plus his CC also not a Mandarin environment unlike your girl & boy's PCF.

[shylyn]

jedamum:

Woodlands a bit far out for me.... considering that I am not proficient in my driving skills yet :oops: .

Hi Jedamum
I'm also tempted to sign my boy for the Woodlands branch after reading Taramind's reviews..but distance wise, BB is much nearer..ur DS1 has been attending e bb branch right? How long & how r e teachers there? Rem tt ur DS2 & my boy is abt same age (hope my memory didn't fail me ) think might be in that class ur ds2 attended if i intended to sign him up. Opps..just realise tt i didn't know which day u r attending..so might not b same class.

jedamum:

Can they? They told me no parents allowed after initial trial.
I'm ok that they told me upfront that my kid is not ready. It is better than to pacify me and tell me to give it a try, then when my kid really have difficult settling in, I need to withdraw and forfeit my fee payment (had bad experience with other enrichment centre actually :P).

I'm hoping to slowly let my boy attend the class by himself..but experience told me, very diff...he will cry one.. :oops: hoping someday, he will be able to attend classes by himself w/o making a fuss

jedamum:

Last Saturday when I sent my ds1 to berries, my ds2 actually excitedly ran into 'his' classroom, and spout the 2 words that he learnt during the trial - i guess he was paying attention after all! I think he was expecting to see the same pile of toys .

wow..ur ds2 can multi task..hee.. :lol:

[jedamum]

My ds1 has been there since mid K1. Now he is in P1. So far i am satisfied with the teachers. My ds1 is the sit and listen type, so he does not give teachers any problem .


I didn't sign my ds2 up. The teacher told me that he is not ready considering that he has not started any playgroup/daily class.

Overall, i like the staff/teachers there. Last Saturday when i was there, I saw a teacher 'teaching' a parent (whose kid is in Pri sch) some HYPY basics.

[googaga]

buds:

Children, aye...
No matter how long they take to settle in, they WILL settle.
With a tough mummy, it can work. A patient teacher with
a patient ear will help too. Hehee.. Oh yes, and a teacher
with strong arms definitely has a plus. All that carrying (of
children) will build biceps!

Hi Buds, i totally agree with ur comments above! Cos i was that \"tough\" mommy who chose to be oblivious to my son's cries n i'm lucky that the teachers at woodlands are so loving n patient to him. One assistant teacher will sit him on her lap, coax him or even carry him if he's not ready to sit on his own. This carried on for abt 4 to 5 mths if i remember correctly. And one fine day he just walked in willingly n even look forward to the class every week! Hope this will encourage other mummies here : )

[tamarind]

jedamum:

tamarind:

While at Bukit Batok, I have seen mommies sitting in with their kids for many weeks. I myself stayed with my girl for quite a while when she first started at N2.

Can they? They told me no parents allowed after initial trial.

I am a very thick skin mommy. I never asked whether I can sit in or not. I just assumed that I can. The teacher did not ask me to leave leh. My girl was very sticky to me, but later I promised to buy her favourite food (kueh lapis !) then she agreed to let me go. Her classmate cried for many weeks, and the mommy had to sit in throughout the 2 hours. I think Bukit Batok has a new centre head now, may be she is more strict with the rules.

Bukit Batok Berries has very good and fun loving teachers, but they are just too nice to kids. If the class is big it can become very noisy and out of control. At most the teacher will say \"I tell your mommy later hah\".

The teachers in Woodlands Berries seem to be more \"fierce\", but the controlled environment is better for my kids. I think my boy's K1 teacher is quite serious and boring. But he does not complain so no problem


To other mommies reading this,
Woodlands Berries has the best centre head I have ever met in any pre-school. She is very nice and caring. I highly recommend the school !


shylyn,
Bukit Batok Berries is good, but you need to find a smaller class. You can ask them how many kids in the class at each specific timing. My girl used to be in a class with a total 4 kids only. In a small class, each child has more attention from the teacher.

Orchard Berries is also good, then you can drop your boy and go shopping.

[hugeclaw]

Due to distance and convience, thought if sending my k2 boy to Han Language at kovan, it’s seems that this school is not very popular in this forum. Mind to share any experience with Han Language?

[keithmummy]

[Moderator's note: Topics merged.]


Hi,

I am thinking of starting my boy for Chinese enrichment.
He is taking P1 higher chinese.
Anybody has sent your kids to Berries or Tian Xia?
What do you think of the school? :?

[shylyn]

jedamum:

My ds1 has been there since mid K1. Now he is in P1. So far i am satisfied with the teachers. My ds1 is the sit and listen type, so he does not give teachers any problem .


I didn't sign my ds2 up. The teacher told me that he is not ready considering that he has not started any playgroup/daily class.

Overall, i like the staff/teachers there. Last Saturday when i was there, I saw a teacher 'teaching' a parent (whose kid is in Pri sch) some HYPY basics.

Thks jedamum for your reply..indeed helpful..think i should call up e centre tomo..cos after dropping them an email on Mon, no reply till now

Will u sign ur ds2 once he is more ready?

taramind:

The teachers in Woodlands Berries seem to be more \"fierce\", but the controlled environment is better for my kids. I think my boy's K1 teacher is quite serious and boring. But he does not complain so no problem

I would also prefer a teacher to discipline my boy..cos knowing his 'pattern' he needs someone who is firm yet loving to teach him..he knows exactly who can be bullied lah..but then again, i shall try out personally & if really they r unable to take him to hand, then consider 'shifting' to Woodlands one..

taramind:

Bukit Batok Berries is good, but you need to find a smaller class. You can ask them how many kids in the class at each specific timing. My girl used to be in a class with a total 4 kids only. In a small class, each child has more attention from the teacher.

Orchard Berries is also good, then you can drop your boy and go shopping.

Thks for the tip..hmm..wonder whether to pop by this sun to check out... :roll:
orchard branch huh...aiyo..doubt i can go shopping...my boy will be like super glue..esp for the 1st few session..

[mckenzy]

we’re pulling our p5 boy out of Berries… reached a point when the material and training not enough to cope with his school standards…