Mindstretcher - Discussion

[Shimmers]

This is for itskryptic and all the experienced mommies…

I need your advise,since u put ur child in tampines branch for 2 years now.

I went there alone twice with the intention to sign up my next year P1 boy. Each time I went, I was attented by 2 diff recep. The 1st one told me that I should think it over coz regstration fees incldg the course and deposit is not cheap. She said it all depends on the child, coz if he is an independant learner, it will not help by sending to MS as the teacher does not concentrate on individual child’s capabilities but to teach on the whole. No 1-1 help will be given during the class.
According to the 2nd recep who attended to me,(the class im looking at is a back to back class on weekend) so she said my son wont be able to sit thru the long 4 hrs. My son wasnt even there for her to be judgemental.What makes her think that way? I asked her and she said no parents ever sent their kids for back to back class. I told her well one needs to learn rite? My son will be attending P1 next year and has to be in school for 6 hrs but she rebut saying in school,kids have recess but not in MS.
Im so confused now. Doesnt her job require her to sell courses?

Can anyone advise me if its tough to send P1 to back-back class,means 4 hrs straight for 2 subjects?

[bebe]

For P1 kid, I think 4hrs straight with no break in between is very taxing. In fact, most enrichment classes for P1 last abt 1.5hr per session. You cannot make comparison to school hours, it is very different. The center prob "stretches" the kids’ mind more than the school does.


My gal who is in P2 often complained to me that she felt tired after the 2hrlesson. I had signed her up back to back 2 subjects for P3 n lessons will commence next month. I asked her to try out for 2 months and see if she can manage. I am prepared to stop one of the subjects if she finds it difficult to cope.

[itskryptic]

Shimmers:

This is for itskryptic and all the experienced mommies..

I need your advise,since u put ur child in tampines branch for 2 years now.

I went there alone twice with the intention to sign up my next year P1 boy. Each time I went, I was attented by 2 diff recep. The 1st one told me that I should think it over coz regstration fees incldg the course and deposit is not cheap. She said it all depends on the child, coz if he is an independant learner, it will not help by sending to MS as the teacher does not concentrate on individual child's capabilities but to teach on the whole. No 1-1 help will be given during the class.
According to the 2nd recep who attended to me,(the class im looking at is a back to back class on weekend) so she said my son wont be able to sit thru the long 4 hrs. My son wasnt even there for her to be judgemental.What makes her think that way? I asked her and she said no parents ever sent their kids for back to back class. I told her well one needs to learn rite? My son will be attending P1 next year and has to be in school for 6 hrs but she rebut saying in school,kids have recess but not in MS.
Im so confused now. Doesnt her job require her to sell courses?

Can anyone advise me if its tough to send P1 to back-back class,means 4 hrs straight for 2 subjects?

Hi Shimmers,

Sorry it took this long for a reply. Wasn't in SG for the past week. I think you're taking the receptionists' responses in the wrong light. Yes, I do agree that the primary role of these customer service staff is to sell the courses to the customers, I think they are going beyond the call of duty by giving you an alternative suggestion.

bebe:

For P1 kid, I think 4hrs straight with no break in between is very taxing. In fact, most enrichment classes for P1 last abt 1.5hr per session. You cannot make comparison to school hours, it is very different. The center prob \"stretches\" the kids' mind more than the school does.

My gal who is in P2 often complained to me that she felt tired after the 2hrlesson. I had signed her up back to back 2 subjects for P3 n lessons will commence next month. I asked her to try out for 2 months and see if she can manage. I am prepared to stop one of the subjects if she finds it difficult to cope.

I've to agree with bebe on this as it is important for you to understand that MS lessons and the lessons in school is very different and can get rather intensive. This might be a little too taxing for the little ones. My boy has been with MS for two years plus now and he's doing alright now cos he's in P5 going up to P6. His attention span is longer and I've to admit, in the initial stages in P4, he faced some problems focusing during the second lesson (3rd - 4th hour). In school, the teachers have the luxury of time to take things at a leisurely pace and to ensure that academic lessons are broken down into different group activities, hands-on exercises and they might even switch subjects. The longest lessons in schools span for 3 periods (or 1.5 hours) only before they switch to another or even go for recess.

I've seen how the staff in MS Tampines work and I can say that they do think about the students, not only about selling the courses to the parents. So, I think you can take it with a pinch of salt and see it as a suggestion. They were thinking about your son and his ability to see lessons at the centre as something less dreadful in smaller doses. Esp. at a young age , you wouldn't want to shock him to the idea of tuition and cause him to switch off to it altogether.

Then again, I'm just offering just one of many suggestions. Maybe you can consider breaking up the classes into two days so that the little one can leave the house on different days knowing that \"I just have Maths to focus on today for 2 hours then I can go home to rest my brain\" and vice versa. As he goes along, you can decide to merge the two classes on one day if you see him as being enthusiastic enough to go for the full load.

Have a good week ahead

[LuvMom]

Hi,


My reply might come a little late. I have 2 children in MindStretcher EL programme. They had been there for more than a year. From my personal evaluation, the progress is rather slow. In fact, the weaker areas eg. comprehension and composition still remains. 1 of my daughters is in the high achiever EL class. I’ve yet to see results too.

I’m intending to switch enrichment centres for them. The only factor holding me back is the cheaper fees compared to other centres. So, if you can afford more, my personal advice is to try others. Mindstretcher is okay as a safety net, so that your kids won’t fall far below average. But to see improvements for average kids, maybe it takes a while more.

Any other parents would like to comment?

[itskryptic]

LuvMom:

Hi,


My reply might come a little late. I have 2 children in MindStretcher EL programme. They had been there for more than a year. From my personal evaluation, the progress is rather slow. In fact, the weaker areas eg. comprehension and composition still remains. 1 of my daughters is in the high achiever EL class. I've yet to see results too.

I'm intending to switch enrichment centres for them. The only factor holding me back is the cheaper fees compared to other centres. So, if you can afford more, my personal advice is to try others. Mindstretcher is okay as a safety net, so that your kids won't fall far below average. But to see improvements for average kids, maybe it takes a while more.

Any other parents would like to comment?

i think it's dependent on the teacher, our involvement and how much our children apply what is being taught. my boy conscientiously uses what he has learnt for his school work and he tells me that it's about knowing that works and what doesn't with the teachers in his school. english is a very subjective subject and for me, ms works fine for my boy - for all three subjects. so, i guess i'm lucky in that sense.

as parents, we need to understand that we cannot send our kids for tuition and hope it magically turns our children smart. we need to gather their feedback and look through the materials ourselves if need be to see if it's working for them. only then can we decide if the arrangement is working for them. my wife and i both would spend time reading through the materials and finding out what is being taught and we also see what he is writing in school or how he is fairing in his school work. most of the time, we would do it during the weekends while the boy is busy with his games and we'd casually ask him what he has been learning. i'm glad to say that the model compositions, countless language exercises and comprehension drills have been working for him. once i see that he's actually using what he has learnt from ms on his school work and getting props from him school teacher for it, i know that he has done his part as a student to learn. money well spent.

if we base on results alone, we're not doing enough as parents to get to the root of the problem. if we don't do our part, no centre would work for them, no matter how expensive. just my two cents worth cos it's not being fair to the centre or our children if we keep switching them from one place to another just based on the results. it causes the kids to develop adjustment problems from the constant changes around him.

I'm sure LuvMum has her merits for deciding on switching to another centre but as a parent who has benefitted, i'm giving point of view so that others out there can have a balanced viewpoint.

btw LuvMum, if you don't mind me asking. which branch are your daughters at and what levels are they in?

[LuvMom]

hi itskryptic


Like you, I’ve devoted much time to monitoring my children. Very rightly so, each child learns differently. I have more than 3 kids and I definitely understand this.

For better understanding of the situation, perhaps I’ll provide more info. I’ve been with my kids throughout their learning process and especially so for the enrichment programmes which we commit ourselves to. I believe a year’s monitoring is a reasonable amount of time for a fair assessment of the programme. I do not support changing centres unless it is deemed necessary. Fortunately, for my kids, I managed to enrol them for other programmes to try for a shorter period (ie a month) and results are remarkable.

As parents, it’s always a joy to see our kids love learning and not feel frustrated. I’m happy to see my kids grow in their love of learning in other centres. And especially so when I can see results.

Itskryptic, I’m glad MS works well for u.

[sjchong]

LuvMom:

hi itskryptic


Like you, I've devoted much time to monitoring my children. Very rightly so, each child learns differently. I have more than 3 kids and I definitely understand this.

For better understanding of the situation, perhaps I'll provide more info. I've been with my kids throughout their learning process and especially so for the enrichment programmes which we commit ourselves to. I believe a year's monitoring is a reasonable amount of time for a fair assessment of the programme. I do not support changing centres unless it is deemed necessary. Fortunately, for my kids, I managed to enrol them for other programmes to try for a shorter period (ie a month) and results are remarkable.

As parents, it's always a joy to see our kids love learning and not feel frustrated. I'm happy to see my kids grow in their love of learning in other centres. And especially so when I can see results.

Itskryptic, I'm glad MS works well for u.

Hi,

Can I find out which centres did you send your children to? Much appreciate your help.

[24hr-mum]

hi LuvMom


how many kids do u have? are u a sahm?
do join my new club - Club for Moms with 3 kids or more

i have only tried Mindstretcher last year for a mth - my girl was p1, and i tried the eng enrichment class. i find its just doing assessment wksheets. nothing special. but the contents are gd if u r wkg n dont intend to teach urself but as i m a sahm my expectations are higher, hope the centre can teach sthg that i cant. so i didnt continue. any 1 mth is too short to comment also. just my own gut feel

but my girl went for Mindstretcher writer toolbox, just compo. the vocab learnt is good n bombastic. n the fees are reasonable. in fact value for money cos the class is 2hrs.

but i m also thinkg of switching, to find greener pasture

how do u decide which child get wat tuition, n how do u juggle the timing, location, sending n fetching etc? i m getting headache arranging the schedule next year. n i still hvnt finalised cos waiting for trial n assessment by the centres. my number 2 and 3 hve two classes each. #1 has 4 cos alrdy p3 nx yr. budget is an issue too.

[LuvMom]

hi


I'm working part-time juggling with 4 kids (2yrs to 12 yrs). I understand how difficult it is to arrange the schedule and transport for each n everyone of them. But I'm thankful that the puzzle seems to fit when I prioritize my kids' needs.

Some enrichment centres I found to be good for my kids are: Morris Ellen, Lorna Whiston, The Learning Lab, Maths Olympiad Training Hub. I send them based on their present weakness and the potential I see in them. I used to believe that my kids can do without any extra help besides their schools. As the years go by, I realised this new generation is so different. My brighter child needs more challenges and extra stimuli, the less intellectual one needs more guidance, the average child needs more play n motivation. It's really difficult to have different teaching styles at home. If I sense a difference in their learning curve, based on their attitude, concentration, enthusiasm and results, I'll know that programme/ teacher is making a difference in my child's life.

When a child struggles and is willing to be helped. I see my role in their lives to be that support, to source around for the best possible help we can offer them.

Financially, the kids were guided to do their own budgeting. They are given a set of standards to achieve in schools. If they attain the target, they can plan their little excursions or outings. However, if the finances need to be directed to help in their academic developments, the 'play' budget has to be sacrificed. They will decide which 'playarea' to sacrifices. Trust me, this makes my role much easier, as I'm not the 'bad' person taking the benefit away from the kids. As such, they understand that extra lessons are only to help them and is dispensable. They all know Mommy loves to see them play!

Hope my sharing helps.

[24hr-mum]

so how do u proritise the kids need for tuition?


on average each child has how many classes?