I’ve sent my 2 kids to Pat’s Mt Emily since they were 2. One is in K2 and another N2 now. Until this year, I’ve been quite satisfied with Pat Mt Emily but starting this year, quality has deteriorated a lot. Yes, the new principal (still new to me 'cos I only saw her twice this year) is NEVER there, to the extent that I’m wondering if she’s a part timer or running 2 schools concurrently. Staff organization is messy. Back office is quite a mess and the only communication I got from them is reminder about more deposit top ups and school fees. The saving grace is that the teachers are still ok and the fact that my K2 daughter has only less than 1 yr to go and she’ll miss her friends a lot if I change schools now. But next year, I’ll take my younger one out because I don’t have confidence in that school anymore. Patricia Koh left last November from the school she founded and sad to say, things are really 180 degrees different now. It probably is better at other branches if the principals are unchanged and remain as dedicated.

Hi Irene, thanks for your advice. She’s at AMK branch. My friends’s daughter is in the Goldhill branch. I agree with you that not all branches are as good so i guess I might just have been unlucky. Both Hougang and Amk branches are owned by the same franchisee but i was told that the boss sits at Hougang so maybe it is true that it is better.


I read to my children everyday. The reason why i put her in an English class is precisely the reason you mentioned, that nowadays, kids start P1 expected to already read and write, unlike in my days when we go to school to learn. I might check out hougang or goldhill and see if they’re better or teach her myself like you.

My 5 yr old has been with ICR for 2 terms. Before that she spent 3 terms at GUG where she learnt all her zoophonics and could already read up to 2a of "Peter and Jane" series by herself before she started at ICR. I switched her from GUG to ICR because the daughter of a friend of mine is in their ICR program and my friend was happy with her learning, and I wanted her to go through a more structured program.


Unfortunately, I’m now having a lot of reservations with I Can Read. First, they placed her in the ICR preparatory system. I went along with it because I was willing to start her off slow and be familiar with the system and surroundings first. But after 2 terms, I don’t think she learns much at all (compared to all her other enrichment classes where I’ve seen tremendous results within 3-4 mths in the sense that she both thrives on and enjoys her classes).

I’ve sit through her class for 1-2 times. Generally my observation is that it is very messy with no structure. The way the teacher conducts is mostly aural based, with quick questions being fired and jumping from one subject to another after 10-15min? The room is very small too (compared with all her other enrichment classes). I was surprised to find out that she is one of the youngest and there is a P1 kid in her class. Most of them look quite bored and I don’t blame them given the way classes are taught. Another thing that surprised me is that I thought that several kids pretty much know their stuff already. Why are they not "allowed" to be promoted to the ICR class where they can finally start to learn to read? The preparatory class (PRP) seems to be a complete waste of time if a kid spends more than 2 terms in it. They’re expected to be promoted to PRP only when they can blend 4-5 sounds and yet the structure program as advertised by I Can Read only starts in PRP! There’s absolutely no materials for them to bring home from the ICR preparatory class. How can parents help them improve to be "promoted"?

I’ve spoken to the teacher in order the understand how and when she might be promoted to the proper ICR class so that she can actually start learn to read. The teacher didn’t really give a good reply other than she has to blend 4 or 5 sounds and told me to google for words to practise with her. I’m not sure if this is the best way. The whole preparatory class seems like fishy to me. Why hold kids back from the proper structured class that was advertised? I only hope that other parents will realize that their kids are really not learning at all in that class and not waste more than 2 terms of their kids precious learning years there. ICR seems more interested in slowing down the children’s progress than push them to learn to read (and hopefully love reading). If you’ve been inside, you’ll see that the teachers all looked quite stressed out and curt. Moreover, unlike some other schools, there is no slack time in between two classes which shows that there isn’t much attention given to welfare of both teachers and students.

It is a pity that there doesn’t seem to be any good English enrichment class like Berries for Chinese. My daughter is in a class that is 1 year advance of her age in Berries (she’s in K1 this year but is in the K2 class at Berries). Even my 2.5 yr old can read 50-80 characters into his 2nd term at Berries. They absolutely love their classes. This is all more impressive because we mostly speak English at home. At Berries, not only do the teachers use a whole range of delivery channels, it also provides great materials for children to bring home so that parents can provide regular guidance, and innovative technologies too like reading pen and pad (Ok, I’m NOT being paid to advertise for Berries), and is priced at 30-40% cheaper than any of the other English enrichment classes I find in the market. Why is there such a big discrepancy between the standard of English and Chinese enrichment classes in Singapore?

Btw, any advice on what to do with my 5 yr old? Should I take her out and look for another school or teach her to read on my own?