Comparing English Enrichment Programmes

[leeven]

iLoveChubby:

Hi! I will be bringing my DS for a trial at TAS (gg P2 next yr) - heard so much good comments abt TAS so decided to give it a shot! :)... if everything goes well, will sign up!

Actually DS was in Mindstretcher for the past year but didnt see any improvement.. in fact he dreads gg to his weekly class at MS... altho MS gives out tons of materials and cover all parts of the necessary components like cloze, grammar, vocab, compo, compre, mock tests etc etc and his file was like EXTREMELY THICK with all the materials.. it seems like they are \"killing\" his interest for the language.. MS claims to teach \"30% more difficult\" than their level.. but i dont know gd or bad becos s'times DS said he doesnt understd what e teacher is talking abt...
So hopefully TAS can instill the love of language in him..

I agree with you if you want more worksheets then go to MS (I have experienced both for Eng, Sci), They dont explain or teach. Now I have moved my DS to TLL for English. He really loves it . no more complaints to go tuition

[leeven]

smartmummy:

Hi mummies/daddies!


WHich is better English creative writing?TAS or MS?
Pls help me.

TAS no experience. MS they give lots and lots of worksheets and do corrections (if any thing wrong no explanation) . if you want your kids more hands on then MS is ok but otherwise not. Also MS takes in more students (is like another school).I have moved my DS out of MS due to some conflicts with them and no regrets.

[smartmummy]

leeven:

smartmummy:

Hi mummies/daddies!


WHich is better English creative writing?TAS or MS?
Pls help me.

TAS no experience. MS they give lots and lots of worksheets and do corrections (if any thing wrong no explanation) . if you want your kids more hands on then MS is ok but otherwise not. Also MS takes in more students (is like another school).I have moved my DS out of MS due to some conflicts with them and no regrets.

Thanks for ur info. My son hates to do a lot of hw.Then it will be more headache for me.My DH think that entrichment centre Teach technique than me.Is it enough, if I follow the assessment books and past papers for maths and sci?

[hquek]

Not sure if this is of help. There usually isn’t any homework for TAS. At most learn spelling, last time was dictation. On rare occasions, DS may have to finish up a compo. Usually all compre, compo, worksheets are completed in class.


I personally like it becos if there is any hw, the burden will fall on me to have to check. figure it’s enough that they do what’s necessary during their class-time and not have to focus on marking last week’s work.

[quirkymum]

TAS focus on explanations and principles. For grammar and synthesis, they will teach the principles and it makes it so much easier for my kids to understand and apply, for compare, they will explain and use techniques to get the kids to be specific. Although TAS is rather new, they do have rather developed strategies. Teachers also will stay back to help a kid if he or she is struggling.

[hh2]

leeven:

I agree with you if you want more worksheets then go to MS (I have experienced both for Eng, Sci), They dont explain or teach. Now I have moved my DS to TLL for English. He really loves it . no more complaints to go tuition

Hi leeven,

How long was your child at MS? I was thinking of trying out their science prog.
Are the teachers at MS all teaching in the same way or is it a problem with maybe one particular teacher you encountered? I did hear from a friend that their sci prog is not too bad.

[hh2]

Agree with hquek and quirkymum about TAS. I just joined not too longer ago and there is not much homework which I also like, as every week my kid will be learning something new and not rushing to go through past homework and the teacher can clearly explained to me what was my child’s weakness or strength and explain certain techniques being taught.

[happy2bemummy]

Hi hh2 and leeven,


Who are the teachers your child is under at TAS and TLL respectively? Still deciding between the 2. TLL will blow a hole in my pocket but worth it if its good, TAS seems good also so still undecided.

[iLoveChubby]

Which mindstretcher branch is yr DS? Is he in the HA class?[/quote]


He is in MS bishan… no, he is not in HA class but still he already find some vocab q difficult… To be fair, i thk MS curriculum is pretty tied to MOE and their materials r not bad … but just that DS totally dreads gg to the class… his MS teacher seems q ok to me but i thk she reminds him too much of his own teacher in school…
MS, to him, is just like attending another "mini school"…
So hopefully by switching him over to another centre which has different method of teaching may generate his interest in the language.

[aaaaaa]

I find that it is always so difficult to get a response from TAS, called and text so many times, but not responding at all. Sad and disappointing. Probably not going to continue anymore.