I’ve been very busy last week. This explains why Project 365 has taken a back seat; hopefully I can get back on track soon.

Well, the good news is – TWO issues that have been bugging me for the past few weeks have been resolved now. Yay! First, it’s about finding a Chinese Enrichment class for Little Edison, which I’ll be sharing in this post. Second, it’s about the search for our part-time helper. I’ll blog about it when I have time.

Learning Materials from Hua Language Centre

I read a lot of reviews on the various Chinese Enrichment schools in Singapore, and I’ve also gathered some feedbacks from my friends. After some discussions with V, we narrowed our options down to THREE. These are the 3 schools that we’ve shortlisted:

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Hua Language Centre (at Greenwich)

• Course fees per term: $380, Material fees per term: $20 [Total: $400]
• Duration: 2 hours per session, 10 sessions per term

This is the most expensive school among the three. Hua Language Centre has recently opened a new branch in Greenwich V. At this point, I don’t see a lot of students yet. In general, the school is highly- recognized as an effective Chinese Language enrichment program with good track record in PSLE Chinese results for the past 15 years. I have no doubt in their teaching method.

We wanted a Sunday morning class, and fortunately, there are still vacancies available. The language is taught through a special reading program, games, sing-along, story-telling and oral activities. He will be trained to recognize Chinese strokes, their variations and the order in which they are written.

We paid $38 for a trial class. After the two-hour lesson (which I think is quite long), our boy walked out of the classroom in a daze. Maybe he was confused or over-loaded with too many Chinese words. I spoke to the teacher and she commented that our boy didn’t pay much attention in the class and his proficiency in Chinese Language is still very limited.

When she found out that we never speak Chinese at home, she began to understand his lack of interest in the language. Nonetheless, it’s still not too late to enroll him and she believes that he’ll be able to catch up after a few lessons.

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Berries (at Hougang Central)

• Course fees per term: $385.20, Material fees per term: $5.85 [Total: $391.05]
• Duration: 1hr 45 mins per session, 12 sessions per term

Berries is indeed the most popular Chinese Enrichment school in Singapore. The weekend classes are all fully-booked. The only available timing is weekday 5:00pm, which is not favorable for us. Our boy usually naps at 4:30pm and I can imagine his grumpy face when he has to wake up at 4:45pm to go to school.

Furthermore, I don’t wish to add additional responsibility to my parents-in-law to fetch him to and from enrichment class on weekday. We were placed on their waiting list for Sunday class, but I don’t expect to get any miracle call from them.

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Tien Hsia (at Kovan Heartland Mall)

• Course fees per term: $290, Material fees per term: $0 [Total: $290]
• Duration: 1.5 hours per session, 10 sessions per term

This is another highly-rated Chinese Enrichment school. They have very limited vacancies for weekend classes now, and we were offered a Sunday afternoon slot as well as a free trial class. The duration of each session is 1.5 hours, which I think is most ideal.

After the trial class, I spoke to the teacher. This time, I was not surprised when she told me that our boy was not paying attention in the class and his complete lack of interest in the language. What really puzzles me is that our boy refused to attend the class anymore.

Personally, I dislike the environment in this branch. The lift leading up to the school stinks because of the durian stalls in the street level. The corridor and waiting area outside the school are crowded and chaotic when the classes dismiss, and the toilets are dirty.

The pro of this school, however, is that it doesn’t require any deposit, registration or material fee. It’s the cheapest among the three, and their trial class is free too!

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Conclusion

Our aim is to provide Little Edison with more exposure to Chinese Language so that he will cultivate interest in it. We enrolled him at Hua Language Centre. If any case, if we’re so lucky to get a miracle call from Berries, we will still be able to switch from Hua to Berries (if we want to).

Now, we have English Phonics class on Saturday and Chinese Enrichment class on Sunday. It’s going to be FUN! What’s next?!

I’ve finally decided to send Little Edison for Chinese enrichment class. Although I’ve been putting a lot of efforts to teach him Chinese at home, I’ve to admit that our progress is rather pathetic.

First of all, the language itself is already a hurdle for me, as I don’t actually have any formal education on it. V, on the other hand, dislikes tutoring him at home even though he has a better command on the language than me (please don’t ask me why).

Little Edison likes English a lot; he views it as a language for entertainment (TV programs), for education and for interaction (we speak English at home). Chinese seems to be a language of struggle for him. Perhaps, it is all our fault – we should have spoken more Chinese at home when he was younger.

I told V that we must be realistic with our own “limited” ability and our expectations of him when it comes to Chinese. Since we intend to enroll him in a SAP school with strong emphasis on bilingualism, we have to help him to build a strong foundation and interest in the Chinese Language.

I’ve shortlisted a few Chinese enrichment classes – that is near to our place.

1. Hua Language Centre
2. Berries
3. Beijing Language School
4. Tien Hsia Language School
5. Eduplus Language Centre

Personally, I prefer a fun-learning environment rather than academically-driven. I’m also looking for some feedbacks on these schools. So, please drop me a comment – especially if you’ve any experiences with these schools or any recommendations.

Appreciate it and Thanks!

Jan & Elly at Greenwich V Shopping Mall

Little Edison attended his first Phonics class at Jan & Elly last weekend, and it turned out very well. He enjoyed his lessons a lot.

He has two lessons per week this term. The first lesson is the bridging 1-to-1 for him to catch up with the lessons that he missed in Term 1 (its Term 2 now). Then, there will be a 20 minutes’ break before he continues with his second lesson, where he will join other students for his regular lesson in Term 2.

There are some simple homeworks for him to do, that is to review the letter sounds that he has learnt and complete the unfinished worksheets, if any.

Worksheets from his Phonics class

When I asked him about his class, his reply was, “Yes, I like my English class. I like Teacher Sean.” I’m so glad to hear that.

Last week, the Husband and I made a concerted effort to find an English Language and Phonics Enrichment class for Little Edison. We feel that he is still slow in reading, and we need some external help to expedite the process. Otherwise, he will definitely suffer when he goes to P1.

We shortlisted two enrichment classes for him – I Can Read and Jan & Elly. Both centers have a branch near our house. We called up to make an appointment. Firstly, we need to bring him to the centre for assessment to determine his competency in reading and speaking the English Language. From there, the centre will determine the suitable program for him. 

I Can Read (Sengkang), 11 Rivervale Crescent, #02-08 Rivervale Mall, Singapore 545082

We went to I Can Read in Rivervale Mall with high expectations after reading the good reviews from parents on KiasuParents website. We were told to reach the center by 9am for the assessment. We arrived 10 mins earlier, but waited for half an hour before the teacher is available to conduct the assessment for Little Edison.

The assessment took about five minutes. Little Edison has a good letter foundation, but he is still unable to distinguish letter sounds of the alphabets. So, the teacher recommended him to join the I Can Read Preliminary class to further establish his phonological abilities and letter formation.

The teacher spent the next five minutes explaining to us the importance of phonics to improve a child’s ability to read and write, as well as an overview and effectiveness of their program. Then, he rushed off for his class at 9:30am.

Each lesson takes 1.5 hours, and there is a guaranteed 11 lessons per term. The course fee is $530.72 per term for weekend classes. We wanted to enquire further about the program, for instance, how the student is evaluated and promoted to the next level, what we can expect from each term or level and most importantly, what our son can achieved if he continues with this program until the end of his K2.

However, the center manager seemed to be very busy with her administrative work. She gave us a short reply for every question that we posed to her. At the end, V wasn’t satisfied and we didn’t enroll him. Personally, I find that the program is good. My only concern is the lack of toilet in the center. The children have to walk out to the nearest toilet in the shopping mall – which I feel that it’s unsafe.

Jan & Elly (Seletar Hills), 1 Seletar Rd, #02-10 Greenwich V, Singapore 807011

We had our lunch before we drove to Jan & Elly at the new Greenwich V shopping mall at Seletar Hills. The center is very new – it was opened early this year (their 3rd branch). The environment is cosy and comfortable. The center manager (a very nice lady) gave us an overview of their program. Then, she conducted the assessment on Little Edison.

By the age of 5, Little Edison should be joining the Phonics Intermediate class. However, he has not mastered all the letter sounds. So, she has two proposals for us. First, we can enroll him in the Intermediate class and add a few bridging lessons for him to revise on all the letter sounds.

Bridging is the one-to-one customized lesson to accelerate his learning by completing more than one lesson per week.

The second option is to enroll him in Phonics Readiness class for one term with a few bridging lessons to cover all the letter sounds. By the end of the term, he should have a good working knowledge of each letter sound and he’ll be promoted to the Intermediate class mid this year.

She suggested the latter option, so that it will not be too stressful for Little Edison. For the subsequent terms in July and Oct, he will join the Intermediate class to learn about the basic blending skills, word recognition and reading. By the time he goes to K2, he will be in the Phonics Advanced class.

Assessment will be conducted by the teacher after every 3 lessons. What I like most is the bridging 1-to-1 lesson – although it is quite expensive. It focuses on areas that need improvement so that the children can progress through the program smoothly.

Secondly, the center has its own toilet. So, I don’t have to worry about safety. The duration of each lesson is 1 hour. The course fee is $300 per term (10 lessons) and bridging 1-to-1 is charged at $80 for 40 mins.

Both of us like Jan & Elly, the same goes to Little Edison. So, we enrolled him straightaway. After the registration and payments, we returned home happily. Hopefully, this program will work for Little Edison and most importantly, he will enjoy his lessons and reading.

Looking forward to his first Phonics class this weekend!

Continued from the last post…

I feel the pressure because there are so many things for him to learn, and there is so little time for me to teach him. Learn to write, spell, count, doing additions and subtractions, read the Peter & Jane books, read the Basic Chinese 500 books, read assorted story books, learn the phonics, learn to tell time, learn to draw, and the list goes on.

Seriously, being a full-time working mother and without a helper, I have limited time to do all these activities with him. I also do not want to force him to do tons of worksheets and writings every night, because I feel that it’s important to spend quality family time together.

During the last parent-teacher meeting, his teacher shared with me that one of his classmates has to complete ten worksheets at home every day (on her mother’s request). I told her that we didn’t do that much, maybe just half of that amount.

Too much of writings turn him off. So, we spend about 20 minutes doing worksheets and the rest of the time will be on reading and other activities.

So, I made this time-table for him and I’m pushing myself to complete all six lessons with him every week. Of course he deserves one rest day every week – that is why this time-table only contains six days. Our rest day will usually be Friday because we dine out and return home late.

I think this time-table is well-balanced now. Did I miss out anything? We spend about 30 to 40 mins daily – that’s about 10 mins for each subject / activity.

While I was searching for educational materials for Kindergarten, I stumbled upon this wonderful website by IXL Learning. It has a list of skills for students in Kindergarten! The skills are organized into categories, and you can move your mouse over any skill name to see a sample question on the website.

You can also get your child to practice from your computer. Just click on any link, IXL will track their scores, and the questions will increase in difficulty as they improve!

Good try!

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