Comparing English Enrichment Programmes

[hquek]

Jasmine85:

Thks hquek! It good that the teachers are uni grads! Can you tell me if they have teaching qualification also? How long do classes last? Thks

I am not sure if they have teaching qualifications (don't think so else they should be older after serving bond etc) - you can actually call TAS to find out, I'm sure they will share such information.

Classes are 2hours long, for their regular classes, I think they stagger the next class a bit becos there is always time for parents to 'nab' the teacher and ask about their kids and each parent can take 3-5 min (seems long if you are waiting for her to finish).

btw, a bit more on other aspects of english covered. I see my kid learning dictation and spelling almost every week. They also have mcqs, cloze passages; I see my kid writing out grammar rules. Classes are generally quite interactive as they have quizzes and such. FYI, my child only in P1 but he's being exposed to higher level work (and loving it).

[Herbie]

i hv read a post by tas under the english creative writing thread by tas in response to a query on their teacher n the replay was their teachers has passion in teaching but no info whether they r uni grad…

[hquek]

Herbie:

i hv read a post by tas under the english creative writing thread by tas in response to a query on their teacher n the replay was their teachers has passion in teaching but no info whether they r uni grad..

That was from when I was enquiring about them, the lady I spoke with told me the teachers are all uni grads.

I don't place much emphasis on paper qualifications - if one can't impart knowledge, phd also no point. It was more the enthusiasm I saw when my kid went for their trial class and how they were responsive to ksp parents queries that made me sign up for their classes.

I would say to parents who are thinking about signing up - go see for yourself. I can say a million things but that will be from MY perspective. They give a free trial and this trial is with their regular class. If your child goes there, have fun and learn things; then you know it's good. If a child goes there and feels he's sinking all the time, then the parent should go and find something more suitable.

[Herbie]

I concur with yr comment. There shld be chemistry btw the child and teacher. My concern is compo component… can the teacher mark the compo if they aren’t trained teacher especially for Upper Primary level?


I am not against TAS… They are good as they are willing to share and answer parents queries on english language.

[hquek]

Herbie:

My concern is compo component.. can the teacher mark the compo if they aren't trained teacher especially for Upper Primary level?


I am not against TAS.. They are good as they are willing to share and answer parents queries on english language.

It's good to voice out your thoughts - be it for and against. Gives us things to ponder. Got your point about if not NIE trained, maybe marking skills not quite there.

I see 3 classes going on at the timing my DS1 attends - young, med, older. The founder (I reckon it's her) is taking the P5/6 class and I understand that she is an ex-teacher. So that should assuage concerns about quality of marking for older kids.

But in any case, talk to the school directly with your concerns/requirements. I can only offer what my 2 eyes see - a lot is guess work based on what DS1 brings home. And actually I did see a parent pull out his kid from TAS - they were processing his refund when I was there. Pulling out is not so great news for me, but there are probably 1001 reasons why: the positive I saw in it is that TAS is not 'ngeow' about giving refunds to parents if they are pulling out - I'm sure there are schools that hem and haw when parents don't want to continue.

[Herbie]

hquek, i have sent u a pm. Tq

[hquek]

Herbie:

hquek, i have sent u a pm. Tq

replied.

[quirkymum]

Hi herbie,


Its true what you say that if the teacher is not an exteacher, they might not have skills to mark. However on the other hand, there are current school teachers who do mark inaccurately as they do not mark compos in PSLE. From what I know about TAS, they do regular trainings for all their teachers, I was there on 2 occassions on tuesdays and saw a rather big group of teachers go into a classroom. When I asked the admin person what was it about, she said it was for their regular training and she mentioned that it was a weekly thing as they do finetune their methods and worksheets and she says they find it important for there to be regular training.

I was quite impressed by that as I find that they are progressive. I am not sure about the founder teaching. I think one of the main trainers does teach some classes though.

Anyway for me one sign that they are always progressing is that I heard from one of the administrators that they are coming with grammar and synthesis books for TAS students so that all the notes are put in a book and parents can also use them to go thru with their children at home. I think that would be very useful and I'm looking forward to it.

Perhaps you could ask the TAS teachers how they mark compos to get a better idea?

[cimman]

Jasmine85:

Thks hquek! It good that the teachers are uni grads! Can you tell me if they have teaching qualification also? How long do classes last? Thks

I think it's best that the teacher has passion. Qualifications are not that important compared to passion.

I once put my son in a center where the teacher rushes out to catch the bus home as soon as the class ended. This was with a well known center.
I didn't have a chance to talk to the teacher about my son's progress. During the class, she was always harrassing my son to finish up fast, my guess was she wanted to leave on time. She is a uni grad.

Dedication and passion are more important than having a university degree. For primary school teaching, there is no need for tertiary qualifications.

the good teacher should be able to infect the students with her/his enthusiasm for the subject. Some teachers teach because they needed a job, others it's a calling. I'll rather have a teacher who is enthusiastic about her vocation and not because it's another 9 to 5 job.

[wywy2]

I find the challenge in finding a good centre is that not every child is the same. Sometimes what worked for one does not work for another. My niece used to go to a renowned centre and did very well but it did not work for my kids.


Now I am trying out TAS and so far, I find them good. However, I find that one of my child can catch their techniques faster, one of them still seems ‘blur blur’. Sigh…sometimes, I wish there is a ‘magic’ solution to help and esp now as I realise that the exam papers keep getting harder.

I also agree with Cinman, uni qualifications are not that important for pri school tuition. Actually for TAS, one reason I like them is the teachers are really passionate and they even offer extra help if needed, just that sometimes maybe (like for one of my kids, they may be too slow to catch up with the syllabus)