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    British Council - Discussion

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved English
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    • ChiefKiasuC Offline
      ChiefKiasu
      last edited by

      CL:
      ... however, in P1 creative writing is different. Maybe different teacher has differnt style. It is more on desk bound...

      Hi CL, thanks for your details. They are very helpful. It appears then that the main issue is whether the creative writing programme offered by BC is suitable for your child.

      Creative writing is hard for most Singaporean children, because it requires multiple skills, including:
      1. good language command
      2. creativity in generating ideas
      3. organizational skills to link ideas together into a coherent and interesting story line.

      To improve on creative writing, the best way is really to encourage the child to read voraciously. That would improve command of language, and fill up the mind with new ideas that can be repurposed for various scenarios for creative writing. Personally, I don't think it is possible for a child to sit in a classroom taking instructions from teachers and become very good in a language or creative in writing. It is, of course, possible for a course to drill students with \"pre-canned\" passages for common exam/test topics so that students can regurgitate verbatim during the tests, but I think that completely misses the point and is more likely to kill off any remaining vestiges of interest in a child for creative writing. It is probably better to just let the child read widely any book of his/her interest and get him/her to summarize what he/she has read, first verbally, and then in writing.

      Organization skills and techniques, on the other hand, can be trained. Most good stories have an intro, a body, and an ending. There should be a cast, an event, and a lesson to be learnt. This is where creative writing courses should focus on.

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      • MMMM Offline
        MMM
        last edited by

        My kids attended the BC hol camp this week and wanted to share some experience.


        I was really impressed as a result of the following :
        1) Kids enjoy the lessons. They look forward to their BC lessons the next day. They found it very cool with all the various resources and think this is the best lesson they’ve attended.

        2) I had a talk with my son’s teacher yesterday as he is the "problematic" fellow. She identified some of the learning "disabilities" or "barriers’ that my son has eg. when asked to copy directly, he wasn’t able to do so correctly and he was unable to detect error. Such are signs of a potential issue. Also, he is not able to focus, sit still, etc… and he is potentially going to have problem in P1. Throughout his preschool and enrichment classes, none of his teachers has ever made such observations and feedback to us except just a plain remark that he is not a paper and pencil fellow. Frankly, I am glad that the teacher highlighted all this to me so that it can act as a watchout and also we can try to work on it now. I felt that the teachers were very qualified and well-trained.

        The teacher also told me that alot of parents come to BC wanting to see significant improvement in 6 monthsn given the price they have to pay. No doubt, there will be improvement but alot depends on family support and the child,etc… which I felt it’s rather realistic.

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        • J Offline
          J2mum
          last edited by

          I am so glad that I found this thread on BC and thanks to the feedback from MMM, CL and ChiefKiasu.


          I missed the enrolment for the Jan intake and have enquired if we could join in mid way but decided to wait for the next intake instead.

          MMM, did u continue your kids with BC?

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          • MMMM Offline
            MMM
            last edited by

            Hi,


            Yes, my kids started their BC lessons at the beginning of the year. Enjoying their lessons tremendously. It’s only been a month and i can’t say that they have improved,etc… I think it’s too early to tell. But I think the key thing is they must be happy learning english and once they enjoy it, they will do extra as it’s no longer a chore.

            Another observation is that kids are encourage to speak up in class. They are encourage to be vocal which is what the local education system sometimes fail to nurture as this is a life skill.

            Happened to speak to a relative over CNY as her daughter scored 260+ in 2008 PSLE. She related to me that her daughter was in learning lab for a while and found the learning boring. So they switch her to BC for the past few years and she enjoyed the learning and the language tremendously. So now in Sec 1, they have chosen to stick to BC. I thot that was a good feedback which gave us the confidence to continue as we are just taking the 1st step ourselves.

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            • J Offline
              J2mum
              last edited by

              MMM,

              how are you kids doing in BC now? Which branch?

              I have signed up my ger for BC at Tampines. I cant wait for her to start class and see result from the programme.

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              • MMMM Offline
                MMM
                last edited by

                Hi,


                My kids are at Napier. Personally, I prefer the Napier branch due to the facilities. As they occupy the entire building as compared to a few units. My kids have gone to the Tampines branch before for the hols programme. But I suppose the teacher quality should still be the same.

                They are still enjoying their lessons there and appear to be progressing well.

                On the other hand, I suggest you go with a open mind iso a certain expectations to see immediate results. I personally don’t think it’s reasonable as eg. Rome is not build overnite.

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                • M Offline
                  moonee
                  last edited by

                  [Moderator's note: Topics merged.]


                  My daughter is in P3 and is rather bad in compo/compre and grammar. I have considered sending her to British council. I have info on learning lab but have not tried as there is a long waiting list( I hear) Could someone advise whether british council is any good. :?

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • jedamumJ Offline
                    jedamum
                    last edited by

                    :torchme: moonee,

                    there are already some http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=993&start=0 on British Council.
                    do a search next time before posting, k 😉.
                    TQ.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • J Offline
                      joconde
                      last edited by

                      For those with BC, anyone at upper primary level ? Can share exp and it’s effectiveness ?


                      Right now my p5 son is with a specialised English tutor (group of 6). Has been with this tutor for one whole year already, and i dun see significant improvement in results. Result is more or less maintained the same, in fact this SA1 his results slipped, but i think much is due to his carelessness. But one thing for sure, the tuition has not helped much in his compo. In fact, i tried tutoring him in writing myself few mths back and was delighted to see improvement in his compo grades.

                      So now i’ve more or less decided to coach him myself on compo. (i think group coaching just doesn’t work, as it doesn’t focused on his weak area). But for other aspect i still prefer to ‘outsource’. i’m looking for something that’s result-oriented, geared towards exam prepareation. Is BC suitable ? i’m a bit concerned as i heard they dun mark their work. How does the student learn and understand their mistakes then ?

                      And BTW, am i making the right dcision to switch tutor when there’s no result after one year ? He’s enjoying the class, making friends, tutor is dedicated… i just dunno what the problem is 😞

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                      • A Offline
                        astroboy
                        last edited by

                        Need some advice on traffic flow at Napier Road BC.


                        Understand there is no public car park at the campus. Do they have temp parking space so that parents can park their car and collect/send the kids to the class. My gal is small so need to hand hold her to the class.

                        How do parents who have young kids do it? Tks.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0

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