Can Enrichment Classes replace Kindergarten?
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pummanuel:
Did the same for both my kids. Prior to K1, enrichment classes only. I feel that preschool years is the best window to explore their interests and discover strengths/weaknesses. I expose them to a wide variety of enrichments. Once they start primary school, they wouldn't have much spare time and I've to be extremely selective
My friend's friend sent her son to playgroup but withdrew him as he cannot adapt to daily school life. Instead she sent him for 3 enrichment classes in the week, GUG, Berries and Enopi Maths (which she started later). -
keenDaddy:
Many families can only afford CCs less than $500 a month, especially those that have 2 kids or more.
Although, it is true that schools which collect more school fees can pay more for teachers (hence perhaps getting better quality teacher) and afford to have lower teacher-student ratio, there are still good CCs which cost <$1000. At least, I am also not paying that kind of fees.tamarind:
You are very fortunate. My neighbour's little boy goes to a CC. He cannot feed himself, and the teachers didn't care, so he is now very pale and skinny. One day when his grandma fetched him in the evening, she found that his clothes were very wet. It turned out that teachers let kids \"bathe on his own\", and he did not know how to dry himself. So he put on his clothes when his body was still wet.
Yes it is important to find a good CC. But a good CC cost about $1000 or more ? Many families cannot afford that. Even if we can afford to pay that kind of money, there are no good CCs in our area.
It is difficult to find good CCs that cost less than $1000, those parents who have kids in good CCs tend to keep the secret to themselves and refuse to reveal the name of the CC
Personally I find that it is not worth paying $800 to $1000 a month just for \"social interaction\". If \"social interaction\" is really so important, paying $100 a month for half a day at a PCF kindergarten is good enough.
My kids never attended full day CC, they are more than capable of feeding themselves, dressing themselves, brushing their own teeth, bathing themselves, etc by 6 years old. In fact, my girl can finish a bowl of rice all by herself since 20 months old
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There was some discussion about Maths enrichment classes earlier in this thread.
I am teaching higher level Maths now (above O levels), and I find it amusing that parents spend so much effort trying to train their kids to + and - like a calculator before P1.
The fact is that +, -, x, / are only the very basic concepts and all kids will know these concepts sooner or later. Knowing how to add and subtract any number very quickly before P1 does not give you any advantage over other kids. And it definitely does not make a child any smarter.
From my experience, the most important mathematical concept that will benefit a child all the way to university, is algebra and equations. A student who knows algebra very well will find Calculus very easy. I see so many students struggling with Calculus because of they are poor in algebra. Whatever funny methods that enrichment classes teach are useless.
I myself cannot do mental calculations very quickly, but I find Calculus very easy because I have a strong foundation in algebra. I find it sad that very intelligent young kids are being drilled on basics like add and subtract for many hours a day, when in fact, they are perfectly capable of doing algebra, geometry, etc, which they will enjoy so much more. (Note that this only applies to very smart kids)
The ages between 3 and 6 years old, are the best time for learning languages, so parents should just focus on teaching kids to read very well before the age of 7. Research has found that after 7 years old, kids slowly lose the ability to learn languages easily. This is especially important when learning Chinese. Most parents made the mistake of focusing only on English, their kids will struggle with Chinese in upper primary. If parents use the correct methods (check out my blogs for excellent resources : http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-chinese-at-home.html and http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html), I believe that any child of average and above ability can be taught to read any English and Chinese books independently before P1. This will benefit the child for his entire life, much more than being able to + and - any numbers which can be done by calculators -
tamarind:
So you're saying that we should be teaching our preschoolers algebra instead of + - x / ???There was some discussion about Maths enrichment classes earlier in this thread.
I am teaching higher level Maths now (above O levels), and I find it amusing that parents spend so much effort trying to train their kids to + and - like a calculator before P1.
The fact is that +, -, x, / are only the very basic concepts and all kids will know these concepts sooner or later. Knowing how to add and subtract any number very quickly before P1 does not give you any advantage over other kids. And it definitely does not make a child any smarter.
From my experience, the most important mathematical concept that will benefit a child all the way to university, is algebra and equations. A student who knows algebra very well will find Calculus very easy. I see so many students struggling with Calculus because of they are poor in algebra. Whatever funny methods that enrichment classes teach are useless.
I myself cannot do mental calculations very quickly, but I find Calculus very easy because I have a strong foundation in algebra. I find it sad that very intelligent young kids are being drilled on basics like add and subtract for many hours a day, when in fact, they are perfectly capable of doing algebra, geometry, etc, which they will enjoy so much more. (Note that this only applies to very smart kids)
The ages between 3 and 6 years old, are the best time for learning languages, so parents should just focus on teaching kids to read very well before the age of 7. Research has found that after 7 years old, kids slowly lose the ability to learn languages easily. This is especially important when learning Chinese. Most parents made the mistake of focusing only on English, their kids will struggle with Chinese in upper primary. If parents use the correct methods, I believe that any child of average and above ability can be taught to read any English and Chinese books independently before P1. This will benefit the child for his entire life, much more than being able to + and - any numbers which can be done by calculators -
mum05 and tweety17,
Besides attending enrichment classes, parents should take the time to practice with kids everyday. In fact, Berries has a notice telling parents that they must revise the lessons with the child everyday. So long as parents are able to do this, then attending kindergarten is not necessary. -
phankao:
See what is highlighted above : Note that this only applies to very smart kids.
So you're saying that we should be teaching our preschoolers algebra instead of + - x / ???tamarind:
There was some discussion about Maths enrichment classes earlier in this thread.
I am teaching higher level Maths now (above O levels), and I find it amusing that parents spend so much effort trying to train their kids to + and - like a calculator before P1.
The fact is that +, -, x, / are only the very basic concepts and all kids will know these concepts sooner or later. Knowing how to add and subtract any number very quickly before P1 does not give you any advantage over other kids. And it definitely does not make a child any smarter.
From my experience, the most important mathematical concept that will benefit a child all the way to university, is algebra and equations. A student who knows algebra very well will find Calculus very easy. I see so many students struggling with Calculus because of they are poor in algebra. Whatever funny methods that enrichment classes teach are useless.
I myself cannot do mental calculations very quickly, but I find Calculus very easy because I have a strong foundation in algebra. I find it sad that very intelligent young kids are being drilled on basics like add and subtract for many hours a day, when in fact, they are perfectly capable of doing algebra, geometry, etc, which they will enjoy so much more. (Note that this only applies to very smart kids)
The ages between 3 and 6 years old, are the best time for learning languages, so parents should just focus on teaching kids to read very well before the age of 7. Research has found that after 7 years old, kids slowly lose the ability to learn languages easily. This is especially important when learning Chinese. Most parents made the mistake of focusing only on English, their kids will struggle with Chinese in upper primary. If parents use the correct methods, I believe that any child of average and above ability can be taught to read any English and Chinese books independently before P1. This will benefit the child for his entire life, much more than being able to + and - any numbers which can be done by calculators
For average kids, parents should just let them learn on their own pace. And this means + and - up to 10 at 5 years old, and probably up to 20 at 6 years old
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tamarind:
wah, how to differentiate?
For average kids, parents should just let them learn on their own pace. And this means + and - up to 10 at 5 years old, and probably up to 20 at 6 years old -
phankao:
You mean how to differentiate average and very bright kids ?
wah, how to differentiate?tamarind:
For average kids, parents should just let them learn on their own pace. And this means + and - up to 10 at 5 years old, and probably up to 20 at 6 years old -
tamarind:
You mean how to differentiate average and very bright kids ?[/quote]Yup - I'm NOT talking about THAT Math topic! haha!
wah, how to differentiate?phankao:
[quote=\"tamarind\"]
For average kids, parents should just let them learn on their own pace. And this means + and - up to 10 at 5 years old, and probably up to 20 at 6 years old
If the child can count beyond 20, then .... how to teach algebra? -
my 2cents worth
From young, my main focus was on languages for DS1. I tried to coach him in maths (+ and - ), the effort was too strenous and meant too much screaming from me. So the end result is that I just let him be and get basic maths knowledge from his kindy.
To my surprise, he is able to do maths assessment books fairly easily - I barely have to tell him what to do. I attribute this to his grasp of english in that he’s able to make sense of what’s required and translate into the answers sought for.
His calculation speed was abysmal, but is slowly improving with practice - I don’t give him grief over it. whatever works for him, so be it.
So in all, I do agree with tamarind in that from young age my main (and probably only) focus will be on languages and ensuring my kids are comfy in that. 1+1 will always stay the same, but the trick is knowing what operations are required for that specific question and therefore language skill is still key.
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