Comparing Chinese Enrichment (Primary/Preschool)

[sembgal]

stjt:

sembgal:

[quote=\"stjt\"]I am stuck between Berries(hougang) and Tien Hsia(kovan). My DS 4yrs old loves these 2 but i can only choose one.

Any feedback for these two?

I can only advise you to go for the teacher. With your instinct, you should know which teacher truly cares for your child and wants to help your child improves. A passionate teacher matters more than the brand name of the school.

I only went for the trial once and I am not in the class to see how the teacher teach[/quote]Then you will have to ask your child which teacher your child likes more.

[Dec]

Hi,

Anyone heard of Le Zhi language centre?
Anyone tried their compo/compre/oral program for pri and nursery class, is it good?
I have let my dd tried tien hsia for their compo class a term. I don't find it good, my gal said the teacher will wrote the compo and blank space (fill in the blank) to let the kids copy it.

[AdonciaTang]

I like berries. Their materials are quite good. My younger son attending class at berries too.

[stjt]

he.likes to attend both.

btw is tingxie impt in K2. berries like don’t have

[longmao.029846irene]

I find cultivating d love in d language for important…

So i chose berries wen DS in k2. Fun n motivating. Since DS now in a highly STRESS
SAP sch… Wldnt chg to tienhien wh is mre acamedic inclined.
Personally find tingxie / spelling in K2 not necessary, most impt must b able to recongized / blend (eng) out d character /word, wh in turn help in reading…
Reading goes a long way to help in vocab n writing in pri sch yrs

[sembgal]

stjt:

he.likes to attend both.

btw is tingxie impt in K2. berries like don't have

Just to share with you. My child has been with 天下for past 3 years. She enjoys her lessons and I do see a vast improvement in her Chinese from not understanding Chinese to be able to read and recognise Chinese words effortlessly. For me, I have Berries materials to go through with her at my own time. Therefore, my child can have the best of both. The parent has to do a revision after every 天下 lesson. Eg: if lesson is on Thursday, parents has to revise by the next following Wednesday. My child is blessed with a passionate Chinese teacher who has been with her for past 3 years and this enthusiasm towards Chinese has rubbed off on my child. Take your time to find a good Chinese teacher.
As for 听写，I find that it provides practice for a K2 child to get used to having sentences that ends with punctuation marks for 2 to 3 times a term 听写。example k2 听写： 1）我喜欢吃鱼。2）小鸟会不会飞？ 3）这是书。The child has to write fast enough while remembering every strokes. There is a time limit for 听写。 Parents teach 听写 and give 听写 to the child at home is different from teacher gives in class to everyone. There is a likelihood that the child will either write too slow or forget the word. It serves as practice to prepare a child for Pri 1.
K2 天下 Preparatory class for P1 follow very closely to the new Chinese syllabus. I have the new P1 Chinese textbooks and have done a comparison. At K2 level, 汉语拼音 is incorporated every lesson. I did away with the external 汉语拼音enrichment that I signed my child up for initially in Term 1. I know that my child is prepared well, even Oral pictorial discussion is covered.天下 has term test on second last lesson of term. Regular weekly revision will see good results in the child and no last min preparation is needed to study for the test. So far I'm satisfied with her results that is almost quite close to full marks. Last lesson of term, parents are invited for Open House to see children perform. It helps to build up the child's confidence to speak up in front of an audience. Ultimately, the final decision will be made by you and your child. Enjoy your selection process.

[phtthp]

stjt:

he.likes to attend both.

btw is tingxie impt in K2. berries like don't have

Is better to start tingxie from k2.
In some primary schools p1, their tingxie is not just 2 words, but in one long complete sentence that end with a full stop.

At least if start from k2, child would have come across writing some simple, basic words. At least you've 1 year in k2 to slowly learn to practise writing out simple words. If child come to p1 then start to have tingxie in one full complete sentences (in some schools), if the child is a fast learner, no issue. But what if the child is a slow learner, need more time to familiarize how to write keystroke, won't that even be more pressurized ? Which environment you prefer? To let yr child practise learning how to write words for tingxie under a relaxed mode, or wait until p1 then come for tingxie ?

Pre-schools like nanyang kindergarten start tingxie from k1.

Berries for pre-Sch is more for kids to enjoy learning Chinese in a relaxed mode. Berries is never academic for pre-Sch, So they don't have tingxie for k2. Tien Hsia and Jiang Lao Shi are slightly more academic, So k2 kids do have tingxie.

Is up to parents. Even if the kid attend berries no tingxie in k2, parents can always gv them tingxie at home. Just buy a 60 cents jitter book, practise writing in it or on a whiteboard. Start with simple, basic words first.

[stjt]

tien heisn K2 tingxie has so many words in a sentence…so will.the kid.feel.stress if they ?cant remember and slowly hate chinese for that?

the one i went at tien hsien is a very young chinese teacher and when my boy spoke to.the teacher in chinese she doesnt.seem to respone to my boy…so shall i wait at other time slot?

[stjt]

and will the kids.get.confuse in hypy if it is taught so early in first term.of K2 instead of term 2or3?

[sembgal]

stjt:

and will the kids.get.confuse in hypy if it is taught so early in first term.of K2 instead of term 2or3?

I actually started exposing my child to 汉语拼音 in another class when she was in K1 last year. She could not absorb much. However this year in K2, I can see a difference. Not only is she able to recognise the 汉语拼音, she is able to tell me that when you put i next to to j, q，x, it forms ji , qi , xi and remove the dot on top if need to put intonation （the 4 tones). She added that in Chinese it comes as q without the tail, unlike English.

It is better to expose the child to 汉语拼音 after the child has learnt the phonetic sounds. If a K2 child is not exposed to learning 汉语拼音, I worry that the child may not be able to catch up later when in Pri 1.