All About Primary One Readiness & Preparatory Courses

[KoalaMummy]

blur mother:

Hi all, thks! I shall ignore this preparatory class then. Hai...,, it's so 'siong' to b a parent nowadays

i totally agree with you. and this is a good forum to share and learn too... :lovesite:

[timtim]

Hi,


My son going to P1 next yr. He is attending phonics (Read in a week), P1 prep for math/eng & chinese (han yu pinyin) classes now in addition to his K2 (PCF). I do so becuase he’s not so good with English (esp. spoken). Reason being he’s look after by a nanny who speaks only chinese (even the chinese also not very accurate…). Think he also lacks confidence in expressing himself using english and doesn’t know how to apply what he learnt - grammar, vocab etc. But he has no problem in spelling and remembering most common words, or read from story books. I have tried my best to teach and speak to him but results not good. I am really tired out. Does anyone has more effective ways in improving spoken english for kid? Thanks very much for any help.

The chinese class is bcos PCF doesn’t teach Han Yu Pinyin and i thought better expose him to that instead of wait till P1. I heard it’s a cramp course in P1 whereby they expect the poor kid to master the HYPY in 3 months. Is it true?

[timtim]

timtim:

Hi,


My son going to P1 next yr. He is attending phonics (Read in a week), P1 prep for math/eng & chinese (han yu pinyin) classes now in addition to his K2 (PCF). I do so becuase he's not so good with English (esp. spoken). Reason being he's look after by a nanny who speaks only chinese (even the chinese also not very accurate...). Think he also lacks confidence in expressing himself using english and doesn't know how to apply what he learnt - grammar, vocab etc. But he has no problem in spelling and remembering most common words, or read from story books. I have tried my best to teach and speak to him but results not good. I am really tired out. Does anyone has more effective ways in improving spoken english for kid? Thanks very much for any help.

The chinese class is bcos PCF doesn't teach Han Yu Pinyin and i thought better expose him to that instead of wait till P1. I heard it's a cramp course in P1 whereby they expect the poor kid to master the HYPY in 3 months. Is it true?

Oh, to add on, actually I'm more worried if he can cope in P1. Whether he can interact effectively and communicate clearly with his teachers and peers. Scared teachers will grade him poorly as they can't understand him. He's also a bit shy in speaking to people so that may affect impression. He's actually very active and outspoken (not so gd lah). I scared he fared poorly in oral assessment.... Tks!

[blur mother]

Hi Tim Tim, I understand your concern. I am also afraid that my daughter cannot express herself well as she used to be taken care day and night by a nanny too who cannot speak good English and Chinese. Thus, whenever she is with me, I try to communicate with her as much as possible in good English in an adult manner. No baby talk. Btw, I heard that if ur chd is learning phonics and hanyu pinyin concurrently, it might confuse them. Is that so?

[jocelyn]

timtim:

Hi,


My son going to P1 next yr. He is attending phonics (Read in a week), P1 prep for math/eng & chinese (han yu pinyin) classes now in addition to his K2 (PCF). I do so becuase he's not so good with English (esp. spoken). Reason being he's look after by a nanny who speaks only chinese (even the chinese also not very accurate...). Think he also lacks confidence in expressing himself using english and doesn't know how to apply what he learnt - grammar, vocab etc. But he has no problem in spelling and remembering most common words, or read from story books. I have tried my best to teach and speak to him but results not good. I am really tired out. Does anyone has more effective ways in improving spoken english for kid? Thanks very much for any help.

The chinese class is bcos PCF doesn't teach Han Yu Pinyin and i thought better expose him to that instead of wait till P1. I heard it's a cramp course in P1 whereby they expect the poor kid to master the HYPY in 3 months. Is it true?

May I know how's your son progress for READ IN A WEEK? thinking of registrating my child there as well... going P1 next year....

[Monster Mummy]

Hi,


I think that it is not really because to my opinion, phonics is to assist the children in decoding the word and read. While Hanyupinyin is about the similarity but it is assist children who is weak in chinese able to read from the hanyupinyin.

Yet, it is would be best for children to know how to read the chinese character as well else they wil tendency to read hanyupinyin then to understand the chinese character.

[timtim]

Ya, that's what I am doing now, try to talk to him in English whenever I can and expect him to reply to me in english and correct/help him if he has problem expressing or said wrongly. But somehow, it's difficult for him to change to speak properly or in proper sentence, he continue to speak his own way. I thought children learns fast, so I don't understand why he didn't pick up good english speaking in his kindergarten (thru communicating with teachers or classmates).


Learning phonics and HYPY does confuse him a bit, sometime he pronounce english words using HYPY style, so funny and he can pronounce a chinese work using phonics which can be wrong. But HYPY also helps him in reading chinese char new to him as he's quite good in HYPY now. Also easier for me to teach him HYPY. In anyway, students are expected to learn HYPY in P1 in a very short time, so expose to them earlier will prepare them better. Actually there's are a lot of similarity between phonics and HYPY. Besides HYPY, I also teach him chinese chars almost everyday and making him to write everyday on common chinese words.

blur mother:

Hi Tim Tim, I understand your concern. I am also afraid that my daughter cannot express herself well as she used to be taken care day and night by a nanny too who cannot speak good English and Chinese. Thus, whenever she is with me, I try to communicate with her as much as possible in good English in an adult manner. No baby talk. Btw, I heard that if ur chd is learning phonics and hanyu pinyin concurrently, it might confuse them. Is that so?

[timtim]

jocelyn:

May I know how's your son progress for READ IN A WEEK? thinking of registrating my child there as well... going P1 next year....

My son joined halfway in the Intermediate class (after assessment, was told he's good enough to join) and now into Advanced. Maybe partly because he has some foundation in another centre for few months before I decided to switch to READ IN A WEEK in Rivervale Mall. I also anxious, that's why send him there few months before his P1 next yr. So far teacher say he's ok. My only concern is he's still has problem in applying the skills learned in reading and sometimes I have to remind him. I have to constantly revise with him on the phonics learned. Maybe will see if want to continue by yr end when he completes his advance module.

[mummy of 3]

Hi timtim,

How is the Read in a Week Phonics Programme?
Plan to enrol my DD1 at CCK Branch. Is it very good? My DD1 is attending phonics at RC (Intermediate also).

[i3mum]

Hi mummy of 3,


It's me again! Haha If you are looking for P1 preparatory class in the West, can try the RC at Toh yi Drive, if you do not mind traveling. Another mummy introduce to me:

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=117&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=500

Mdm Rahayu 97479223 Little Wings.


I heard the K2 class is from 8.30 to 10.30am currently on every sat and it starts from Jan. So next year Jan you can sign your DD if you wish to. It's $30 per subject (English & Maths) per month-which will be $60 in total.

mummy of 3:

Hi timtim,
How is the Read in a Week Phonics Programme?
Plan to enrol my DD1 at CCK Branch. Is it very good? My DD1 is attending phonics at RC (Intermediate also).