Dreamaurora:

bzmum22:

[quote=\"Double K\"]Dear All,

Thanks for you advices..

My son was learing at Christofori abt 1 yr++, 30 mins once a week. but i think the timing was too short.. and he was learning at home on the keyboard only coz i havent decide to buy piano yet coz too expensive.. and furthermore not sure my son really interested on piano or not..
So any one can advise me that i supposed buy one piano for him and hire a piano tutor teach him at home is better learn at the Piano centre..

Seek all your advise!!

Thanks so mucH

Dun hv to buy piano, a keyboard is ok to use to finish grade 1.
Teacher at piano centre or at home - both ok as long as teacher is patient and can motivate kid.
Impt is to practise what has been taught in piano centre back at home. Everyday 10-15 mins is enough. Even if cannot achieve practising everyday, at least practise for some days of the week. Piano lessons are usually short, betw 30 mins to 45 mins. So it is the practise at home that is crucial. Mummy can always negotiate with teacher to sit in the lesson so as to learn with the kid. Like that, you will be able to know if your kid play correctly or not at home...even if cannot read the notes, can also listen to the sound to tell if the correct note is played or not .

Will have to respectfully disagree with some points in this suggestion.

A keyboard is NOT OK to finish grade 1. A child should have access to a decent piano right from the very first lesson. Playing piano involves more than just hitting the right notes at the right time, need to develop good tone quality and touch sensitivity. That being said, it is possible to pass grade 1 with a keyboard as the examiner will still pass the candidate if the piece is complete, but merit or distinction is very unlikely.

Piano lessons minimum should be 45 minutes, ideally one hour long. Any lessons shorter than this risk omitting important stuff. Piano lessons not only about playing pieces. Need to go through scales, technique, aural, appreciation, and theory also.

10-15 minutes practice a day definitely not enough to progress, need at least 25 minutes per day for grade 1. As the grade progresses, the practice time should increase also. Need to practice even more if want to do well for exams. Most of my students who do well for exams practice in excess of one hour a day.[/quote]Well, we've been there and done that without a U1 piano and not practising at least 25 mins a day for grade 1 .
I'm a mummy with a kid learning piano, not a teacher and definitely not musically trained. My expectation on my kid is that she learns to play and enjoys playing...passing grade 1 exams or not is not that important. We took the exam to just have a taste of what piano exams are like 'cos she is free of the stresses of our formal education now....and I would say it is not a v gd experience 'cos I'm more stressed up than my kid :rotflmao: . So no more exams, at least for next yr. My instructions to the teacher is she will teach her whatever is necessary for the next grade but we will not take the exam.
Double K,
What you need depends on what is your expectation for your kid. If you want your kid to really excel in this, then you will have to take Dreamaurora's suggestions.
But if your expectation is just for your kid to learn to play an instrument and enjoy playing it, then a more moderated approach will probably be the way to go.
Like you, I also struggle with the questions that you have, and also hv the budget constraints. If I've taken D's suggestions, then we wld not have come this far. My hubby wld have killed this dream long ago 'cos he wld hv calculated the ROI and deem it a non-investment. And if I insisted that my kid practise every day for 25 mins regardless whether she is in the mood or not, or if I'm busy/tired from work or not to sit with her for her practice, then I would probably hv high blood pressure today .
But having said all this, there will come a point in time when I know that my kid will need to hv a proper piano and practise more intensely in order to continue.
Just sharing my experience as a mummy with a kid learning piano, so plse dun bombard me.

Double K:

Dear All,

Thanks for you advices..

My son was learing at Christofori abt 1 yr++, 30 mins once a week. but i think the timing was too short.. and he was learning at home on the keyboard only coz i havent decide to buy piano yet coz too expensive.. and furthermore not sure my son really interested on piano or not..
So any one can advise me that i supposed buy one piano for him and hire a piano tutor teach him at home is better learn at the Piano centre..

Seek all your advise!!

Thanks so mucH

Dun hv to buy piano, a keyboard is ok to use to finish grade 1.
Teacher at piano centre or at home - both ok as long as teacher is patient and can motivate kid.
Impt is to practise what has been taught in piano centre back at home. Everyday 10-15 mins is enough. Even if cannot achieve practising everyday, at least practise for some days of the week. Piano lessons are usually short, betw 30 mins to 45 mins. So it is the practise at home that is crucial. Mummy can always negotiate with teacher to sit in the lesson so as to learn with the kid. Like that, you will be able to know if your kid play correctly or not at home...even if cannot read the notes, can also listen to the sound to tell if the correct note is played or not .

Jav:

Can anyone advise if I want to exchange my 3 months old maid with another maid from the same agency, what will be the procedure? If the new maid has 7 months old, do I pay in advance for her again? Then I would have paid 6+7mth advances. Some more have to pay for additional levy for 1st maid until she finds a new maid?

Depends on if the new maid has any outstanding loans. Even if she has paid off all her loans, it is likely that the agency will charge her some fees for the new placement.
So depending on how much she owes the agency, the agency will offset the balance amt prepaid for your old maid for this new maid. Then you will hv to top up the rest.
Levy is one thing, there is also insurance cover for the new maid.
Changing maid is always costly to employers.

michyms:

My maid told me that new maids from Philippines are getting $450 with 4 off days!!!

Hmmm....why did she tell u that? hinting/negotiating for higher salary?
Well, you can tell her it is not true.
Mine is a new maid fr PH.

My 1 month old maid with no prior overseas experience is getting $400, w no off days.

So, not all maids are asking for min $450.
If you have the time, then "shop" around a bit more.

Anna Ng:

Yesterday I sent my maid to the agency for counseling session. After that I saw her keep crying in the kitchen and she also said sorry to me. How can I handle her now? Can somebody advise? Pretend nothing happen or ?

What's the counselling session abt?

Dun let your maid cook maggi mee. Just let her cook rice. U ration the amt of rice for her to cook. She can use the soup and the ingredients for the noodles as a dish for her rice. I'm assuming that you will add vegetables or egg to your maggi noodles. If you dun add anything, then just give her some veg or an egg. Dun need to hv 3 dishes lah. Maid shld be able to cook for herself. If she wants to be black faced abt cooking her own meals, then let her be....surely she cannot expect the employer to cook for her when the employer is not eating the same food as her.

If your family cook porridge and has cooked her share, then tell her to eat the porridge so as not to waste and tell her that if she is still not full, she can top-up with bread. Frankly, if she dun like porridge, then dun cook her share. Just let her cook her own share of rice. She can go with the dishes for porridge.
This is how we handle the issue of maggi noodles and porridge.
And dun hv to buy snacks for your maid as in-betw meals lah. U are spoiling her and setting her high expectations. I dun even buy mac for my maid when I bring my kids out for a breakfast treat n the maid comes along. She will eat bread at home. If we have extras, then she will take part of the mac meal...like we have extra coffee or hashbrown, then we will give her, but she will never get the full set. Anyway, the maid eats breakfast early 'cos she wakes up early to do housework, different breakfast timing from us.
If your maid wants to show attitude abt food, then just go back to the basics....no extra \"snacks\" or in-betw meals....we are only responsible for their 3 main meals. There is really no need to give money to maid to pack food fr outside if the family is eating out n not bring maid along, and the maid knows how to cook ie. can handle the stove and electrical appliances at home. U can always give her some rice, some canned food like sardines, baked beans, or some veg n eggs and she can cook her own meals.
Just my 2 cents

What do you expect her to pay?

How are you going to get her to pay if she refuse to come back to SG and cut off all comms?

If she has left some money with you before she left, you cld probably deduct whatever you deemed she owed you from there.
Else, the reality is you just hv to swallow it all. I dun think there is anyway you can recover whatever from the maid.

Hi,


My boy is 4.5 yo.
I’m trying to teach him Chinese at home.
But I’m hvg difficulty getting him to read the words.
Every word to him is 人.
It’s not that he doesn’t know the difference in form, but he is just being cheeky and makes it his personal joke, often laughing away when I told him "No, it is not 人."
So how to know if he has master the word and know how to read?
Would appreciate some ideas.

TIA

omgmum:

bzmum22:

[quote=\"omgmum\"]
Same here! When we go out, my maid will change into v nice clothes while I would just grab whatever's washed and ironed because I have to get ready my girl too!

omgmum,
why are you getting ready your girl when you can get your maid to do it?
Then you can spend time dolling yourself u lah .

Because my maid lets my girl wear the weirdest, mismatched clothes out. Considering that she really dresses up, I would have expected her to know a thing or two about colour coordination. My girl wants to choose her own clothes now and the maid will seriously just let her wear prints with floral, and not in a chic, Boho way. :yikes:[/quote]Aiya, you just ask her to change if she dresses your girl weird lor. They will eventually get the message. I dun let my maid change until we all hv changed. No reason why I shld be changing my kids while she takes her own sweet time to dress up lor...who is the Mdm here?
As for kids, I teach them how to match clothes. If they chooses pieces that clashes, I'll just tell them it doesnt match.