Comparing Chinese Enrichment (Primary/Preschool)

[Funz]

Cannot say anything about Berries since no experience with them.


DD and DS are with TH@JP since N2 till now they are in P2 and K2 respectively. So far, I will say I am pretty happy with TH. They follow the MOE syllabus pretty closely. So much so that at times, their tingxie list is similar to DD’s school’s list. As for teacher turnover, I think it happens everywhere, even in our kid’s primary school. However, I noticed so far, most of the teachers who take DD and DS in each level that they were in are still there taking that same age grp and they still remember my kids.

There is a pretty big change in the teaching method from preschool to primary school. For their preschool method, they were still taught many rhymes and they play games or act out the rhymes. And every end of term they have a performance for the parents. Once in P1, no such activities. All desk work, a lot of writing and from 1.5hrs extend to 2hrs. DD was complaining initially but eventually got used to it.

[MoonFlower]

I have not sent my ds to either schools, just share what i hear and know. Berries more suitable for preschoolers as they are enrichment center. According to my friend who is ex teacher teaching there, time seem to be a bit short and lesson can be rush as they need to clear the new words and also reading within 1 lesson. For TH, a friend share with me, they tend to drill the children so maybe primary school is more suitable cos they are more like tuition.

I do know that some centers will just engage any china Pr or personnels to teach even though they may not be in teaching line at all. You need to be careful when choosing a China teacher cops of their accent(some provinces we have hard time understanding.), some new do not understand our learning culture here. My ds last yr in school have this relief china teacher for about 5months. It was a bad,bad experience but no choice just have to bear with it.
I had sent my ds to nearby RC under Yu Quan for lesson, the china teacher is kind of "too young" and also i don’t see my ds benefit from it therefore after a year we stopped.

[lil_jade]

Did you try Berries? It's probably the BEST chinese enrichment rated by many parents!


My DD, 4 this year, has attended for 1/2 year and I feel she has improved, and loves going to Berries!

We just came back from lesson this morning, and I was surprised to see an ANG MOH gal in her class! She knows zero chinese, and the parents who were sitting in (cos 1st lesson of the term today) knew nothing too! So, I do believe that Berries or other good and fun enrichment centre will help your child. But, must make sure it's FUN. Berries has song, dance, music, toys etc...

On a side note, I'm contemplating stopping Berries.. no fault of Berries, just that I am already reading very much to my DD n I seemed to be repeating what Berries is doing... then I can save the $$ to buy more chinese storybooks for my DD... :lol:

ADave:

Fuzz:

My boy is 4 and also weak in Chinese. He used to hate it and refuse to answer when we try speaking to him in Chinese.

A few months ago, I bought him some chinese cartoon dvds to try to make Chinese more fun. We also found him a tutor whom he likes v much and he has tuition with his cousin who's also 4, so it's more fun for both of them. The tuition is 2 hours but they spend at least 45min playing games or doing fun things like art/craft, and the whole time the tutor will be speaking in Chinese. I find it's been v helpful. They seem to learn more when they're having fun!

So if your kid hates Chinese, don't keep forcing him/her to read books or write words etc. As long as they don't enjoy it, they will never learn the language well.

I went through the same thing when I was young, hated chinese, but still managed to get B4 for o levels due to memorising everything and hours of tuition. But now my Chinese sucks and I can't remember most of it. I learnt it only for the sake of exams and didn't understand the importance of chinese at that time. We can't expect our kids to know the value of it at their age and if they don't enjoy it, they'll never learn it well.

So if you're choosing chinese enrichment or tuition, it's a good idea to check their programme, see if it's more hands-on and fun. Just my 2 cents worth!

Hi Fuzz, my son is the same age as yours. We are malay family and mostly speak english at home with him. I am preparing him for mandarin as 2nd language for p1. We brought him to Tien Hsia for trial and he doesnt like it at all. The teacher also couldnt handle him :(. I am now thinking of getting a private tutor for him doing 1-1 and also someone who can translate back in english so its easier for us parents to keep track of his progress. We are residing in Jurong west. DO you know of any tutor? Thanks!

[ADave]

i think i want to give another enrichment centre a try…so far 2 doesnt work with him. for you its easier as you can read books to him and converse too…for us, hahaha so much difficult to do it. i have heard many good feedback on berries. maybe i shud give it a try

[lwm99]

Anyone has feedback on Kumon Chinese enrichment class? I have the impression that they are better for their Maths, follow by English.

[daddybear]

Hi all,


I just sent my 4 year old son to a Berries trial class and the teacher recommended that he goes to the nursery class as he does not seem to understand most of what she says.

1) Should I send him to to the Berries nursery class?... (he actually attended 3 terms of chinese) during his nursery year
2) Send him to Berries K1 class and put him through intensive chinese at home. Hoping he will catch up
3) Do a dual class, attend both Nursery and K1 chinese.

Other questions would be what do you do to encourage your children to speak chinese at home?

Currently, the only shows I allow him to watch are chinese education shows like YoYo TV. I have tried to speak in chinese to him but he tells me he is an english boy and does not understand chinese...
:stupid:

Just wondering how others cope and address this issue...

[hquek]

daddybear:

Hi all,


I just sent my 4 year old son to a Berries trial class and the teacher recommended that he goes to the nursery class as he does not seem to understand most of what she says.

1) Should I send him to to the Berries nursery class?... (he actually attended 3 terms of chinese) during his nursery year
2) Send him to Berries K1 class and put him through intensive chinese at home. Hoping he will catch up
3) Do a dual class, attend both Nursery and K1 chinese.

Other questions would be what do you do to encourage your children to speak chinese at home?

Currently, the only shows I allow him to watch are chinese education shows like YoYo TV. I have tried to speak in chinese to him but he tells me he is an english boy and does not understand chinese...
:stupid:

Just wondering how others cope and address this issue...

I don't recommend to put him in a class where he cannot understand what's going on - my take is that this will discourage him only and make him feel chinese is something totally alien.

If you are able, put him in the N class and do regular reading with him, speak chinese regularly to him. It's good you let him watch chinese tv - but I'm not sure how much impact there will be.

DS1 used to be resistant to chinese. When we turn on chinese shows, anything with subtitles he'll watch; and he'll just switch off (ie do his own stuff) if there are no subtitles. I signed him up for chinese S&D classes, and chinese enrichment classes; also started to read to him chinese storybooks. He's now ok (not resistant anymore).

[sleepy]

lwm99:

Anyone has feedback on Kumon Chinese enrichment class? I have the impression that they are better for their Maths, follow by English.

My dd attended for 3 months. Seem to focus quite a fair bit on hanyu pinyin. Anyway didn't attend long enough to reap benefits, if any.

[24hr-mum]

for ch shows, let him watch sun 10am-11am kids drama


or watch playhse disney but turn the language to chinese mode

[hquek]

24hr-mum:

for ch shows, let him watch sun 10am-11am kids drama


or watch playhse disney but turn the language to chinese mode

kid dependent. Mine will just ignore the tv totally if program is in chinese and there are no subtitles. Except! for xi yang yang...that's the only show he watches.