(2001) calling all 2001 babies

Wa cham... my boy dun have any SA1 this year... so I not able to gauge him till year end kind.... I hope he just put in his best effort... like all other mummies, I am also very worried about his chinese... not so much wif his maths and english though... nowadays, its really not easy to be a mom.. its seems like we are the ones who are stressed up .. more stressed than the one taking the exams....
sad.gif
 


Dear Jol,

What you have just written sounds so dear. As a family, we speak 华语, when my son was in K1, he was good with his Chinese characters, ting xie as easy business. Since K2, we focus on English, sending him to phonics class, reading English books. So now, all Chinese have been forgotten. I am trying to redo Chinese. But exams are so near, it will be difficult.

Next, about missing out entire/partial question, this always happen to him too. There is very little hope to score 98, 95 because maybe about 10 marks will be gone for carelessness. I wonder whether there is any fast solution for carelessness.
 
I miss those pre-school days, no exam, no homework. Can take leave go play. Now worry about exam, worry about no homework.
 
Hi all,

I'm new here and hope to join in your discussion. I have a P1 boy in Pei Hwa this year. Like other parents, I feel myself somehow more stressed up of late, ever since I received the letter from school about the SA1 exam timetable.

My boy is the bookworm type, will pick up any non-fiction books (except Magic school bus but it's about Science). So, generally knowledge quite good. But, he is very careless in his work. After reading all the previous posts, I now feel a lot better because P1 kids are typically like this!!! So, maybe we parents are the ones with problems, cos we need to accept that this is the phase they are going through...

I also found that parents also react similarly, haha. However, I do not send my P1 kid for any enrichment programmes (Maths/Eng/Chinese/Science), only have swimming and piano lessons.
 
BTW, my P1 son NEVER had to prepare moxie and even tingxie in Chinese until last week. For the so-called tingxie, it needs not be prepared cos what happens is the teacher will read some Chinese words in class, and the students to write down the HYPY.

Seems that other classes have diff practices?
 
jOL, Lim

I attended a Maths workshop recently. The speaker said carelessness is because short term memory is not good

He suggested mental arithmetic in order to improve short term memory. This is through practice

my girl also very careless. 6 copied to be 9.
or didn't read question properly, didn't answer to the question
 
Dear Hippo,

I get what you mean, practice, practice. I sat with my boy working thro' past year exam papers, I reminded him that a number of questions are trick questions so if he is not careful he will fall into the traps. I think he will slowly realize the dangers of being careless. It worked well but being FTWM, I have little time to sit comfortably with him to give him tips for so many exam situations.
 
I figured that not recognising Chinese characters and not knowing how to write Chinese is caused by the fact that schools nowadays do not give much 抄写. The writing of each Chinese word is only one line (5 or 6 times). This is insufficient. Remember during those days, it was one full page for one word. That was nightmare but it registered the word.
 
It also doesn't help that the school started it off with hypy. My boy forgot most of the chinese character he learnt in Kindergarten. He was trying to catch up with his hypy in P1 as he did not learn it in kindergaren. Now that he knows his hypy, he forgot about the chinese characters.
 
No choice, now my boy is in the same situation, I will have to learn Chinese together with him. I must make him 抄写 everyday. I have also forgotten how to write Chinese, now I can re-learn as a P1. That's not too bad.
 
Dunno le, son's ST memory I must say is pretty outstanding judging from the comments from his previous teachers, but still careless sometimes. So, I can't find a logical explanation for this except that it is what children this stage probably go through. I believe more practice and reinforcement of checking his own work will do the trick.
 
Mommies

I feel that Maths enrichment should ideally be
1. creative
2. stimulate more indepth understanding of a topic (instead of acceleration to other topics)
3. not too homework intensive

Is there such a Maths enrichment in the market?


And what about English? Your child attending any English enrichment classes? especially in creative writing?


Thanks for sharing
happy.gif
 
Hi Hippo2002,

Yes, i agree wif u.. Maths enrichment classes must be stimulating to the kids, if not they will lose interest in the subject totally. - if not they would be bored bMy son is taking Enopi Maths- that is made up with 2 parts, ie the Basic Maths and Creative Maths. Basic Maths- more on the normal school academic areas while Creative Maths- mostly on IQ maths questions...so far my boy likes to attend the maths class...actually we did not really source around.. so since he likes this Enopi Maths,I think we will stay put with that first...

As for English- the is with British Council- I think its called "Creative Writing"... hee hee.. so pai sai... wasn't really clear abt wat my son is taking...
 
Hi Hippo2002,

I agree with you that Maths enrichment should be creative but I have not found such one yet. That's why my P3 son has not attended any Maths enrichment before. I rather buy assessment books for him to do at home than spending money on those boring maths tuition which simply follow what the school teaches.
 
Hi Yuki,

I have made enquiries about Enopi Maths before and it's the 1st part on the Basic Maths that my son may be bored in.

As for English, may I know how long has your son attended British Council and how do you find them? I understand that they don't have courses just on Creative Writing, they cover everything in general.
 
Hi Bishanmum,
I have checked it out already- his British Council class is called Creative English- not writing. I only started him on the course this year.. so far so good. My boy is monolingual kind- so all along his English is quite good but I want him to know how to use the language properly- on how, what and which tense/verbs to use etc..especially when he speaks and writes..I sat in during one of his lessons a month ago, not too bad I must say- lesson is interesting and most importantly, these natives speak really good and clear English...Really dun wish to spend money on any tuition teacher whose English might be just about my own standard to teach my boy....

As for the Enopi Maths- yes, sometimes we also find the basic maths boring...we like the part on creative maths.. but still I must admit, the basic maths section would provide him with the "practice" that the subject requires.. Mathematics is always- the more practice the better...
 
hi batman=snowqueen,

ur son attending kumon?? can share how is it as I am considering to send my son which is K1 now to kumon. When will be a good start for the kid? K1, K2 or P1??

hope you can share ya...
 
Yuki,

Thanks for your feedback. Are you allowed to sit in? So do you find the class size too big because I understand that they can take upto 20 over students in one class, compared to other enrichment centres which only take upto 10 or 12? By the way, how old is your boy?
 
Bishanmum,

U mean for the British Council? We are only allowed to sit in for one lesson following their invitation... So far his class size is about 18 to 20..., I also cant remember.. but its considered full intake. Personally, I felt that his class size is quite ok, as the students are all in Primary One, ie at least 6 years old.. so thay dun really need a low teacher-student ratio..
 
Hi Hippo2002,

One of the topics that the children go through in the Creative English course is on teaching the kids how to produce different types of writing including creative and descriptive writing, poems, diary extracts, reports, letters, factual writing, posters and advertisements. Another emphasis is on improving the child's vocabulary and how to use a range of vocabulary to express themselves in speaking and writing... I supposed all these will only help them in writing a good composition... To really write a creative piece of writing, other than proper use of English, the child must have a good imagination which is something I always believe that it cannot be taught...
 
Yuki

Thanks for your feedback.
Your boy went to the center at Tampines poly? how long per session? fees?

agreed. to write good compo must have good imagination
 
Hippo2002,

Yes.. the one at Tampines Point (the one with NTUC Income).. I paid about S$1900 to S$2000 thereabouts for the whole year (2 semesters x 6 months)as we are taking the weekend slot.. I think weekday is slightly cheaper around S$1700 to S$1800...Oh ya.. per session is about 1hr 45mins per week
 
Can someone share your child's Chinese learning experience at Berries or other Chinese tuition class. I better start doing something about my son's Chinese language soon.
 
Yuki
wow, the fees are steep!
enrolled my girl with icreative recently but I noticed they covered roughly the same thing as her kindergarten, seems not much value-add, simply a revision for her rather than enhancement


Lim
my girl attended trial at Berries. I didn't enrol her. I feel that she needs one to one attention because her Chinese is really weak. Haven been teaching her personally, asking her to write some Chinese characters almost everyday since beginning of this year. Satisfied with her progress so far. She may not catch up this much if in a group learning environment
 
Dear Hippo,

I had never thought that my son will have a Chinese problem, because I had him started with Mandarin as a baby. Children grow and change so fast, just 2 years ago, he was proChinese. We are doing all we can now, including switching back to all Mandarin at home, write Chinese daily and watch Chinese cartoon. Just imagine the horror, I was practising Chinese oral with him and he stared at a picture of the zoo and he had forgotten it is 动物园 in Chinese. I need to have it fix quickly.
 
Biyan,

You may try the mandarin channel called "YOYO TV"at MIO provided by Singtel. The programs are really fun and all my friends' children enjoy it.
 
Hi, all

Has anybody heard of The Story Island? I understand it was opened by an ex-radio producer in one of the Chinese stations. They seem to conduct Chinese lessons quite differently from the usual enrichment courses from Berries or Tien Hsia. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
 
Thanks Lynn, I am currently on starhub cable, watching the Chinese version of Disney channel and Cartoon Network. I threatened to cancel cable if my boy do not watch Chinese version. hee hee...
 
Hi mlhg,

My boy joined them for 1 term when he was in P2. You are right, their principal is an ex-radio producer, Zhang Meixiang. They teach vocabs and phrases based on about 6 story books in 1 term (students get to bring home these story books). They also do a summary at the end of each story. It is indeed an interesting approach of learning Chinese, especially for those children who dislike this subject.
 
bishanmum

do they cover academic stuff such as creative writing? writing composition?

or geared towards a fun way of introducing Chinese language?
 
Hi hippo2002,

Actually the fees seems high because i quoted the lump sum.. actually not so bad lah the British Council fees.. if u work it out, its about S$480 per term... tien hsia is already charging us S$330 per term...
 
hippo2002,

No, this one doesn't teach school syllabus and compo writing but they also have other branches which are teaching the academic stuff. You can also try Tien Hsia. My boy is attending their enrichment class but I may also consider their Compre and Compo Writing class because his Chinese compo not so good.
 
Hi, bishanmum

Thank you for your feedback on The Story Island. Just to clarify...are they more into 'story-telling' to make Chinese more interesting for kids, as compared to the conventional methods of other Chinese enrichment centre such as Tien Hsia or Berries that have Compre and Compo?

Thanks once again.
 
jaz,
My son joined Kumon Chinese last year Oct which is end of K2. So far I find his hanyu pinyin still not very good. Kumon's method of teaching is to do worksheets everyday and he doesn't like to write. I also find his Chinese not much improve. Frankly speaking, I don't knw how they teach during the half an hr lesson. Sometimes my son is also pack with sch hmwork & abacus hmwork, so I'm thking of withdraw him out and send him to Yuquan which is cheaper. Becos I'm the only one who pay for his kumon fees so got to find something affordable for me.

Maybe kumon is good at Eng & maths bah. I feel that it's good to let your kid go when he's K1 as they will learn the correct stroke of chinese charactors. The worksheets actually indicate numbers on the stroke so I feel that it's good to learn.

Anyone heard of this school? Seems like not bad leh. And fees at least cheaper than Kumon.
http://www.yuquan.com.sg/home.php
 
Hi mlhg,

They don't do story telling as in teacher telling stories to the class in a classroom setting. They learn oral by reading and acting out the story from the story books given to the students. Each story book takes about 2 lessons to cover. The teacher projects the story on the wall and teach vocabs and phrases based on the story itself. They also do worksheets and summary at the end of each story. It is actually a totally different approach from other Chinese enrichment centres and that is why they claim that they are the 1st such school in Singapore.
 
batman
let my girl attended Kumon Chinese for a few months too. Didn't like it, stopped at 3A.
Too much hanyu pinyin leh, she already relied so heavily on hanyin pinyin to read, I prefer her to recognise more Chinese characters


bishanmum
Tien Hsia compo class only starts from P2. I am interested too. I don't know how to teach compo
 
hippo2002,

How old is your girl now? Actually, my boy's school only starts compo writing in P3 which carries 20% in the exams. That's why most Chinese enrichment schools don't have compo writing course for lower primary. According to them, P1 & P2's knowledge of vocabs and phrases are very limited, so most of them can only write sentences. Only when they reach P3, they start to learn chengyu and their vocabs also increase. By then they can express better in compo writing and this is a more appropriate time to go for such courses.
 
My boy is in P1 now, school already start them on simple composition. Next week semester exam on composition too. Really worried how they can write short story...
I started him on "Creative writing" class just 2 weeks back.
 
Hi Cynthia,

You mean your P1 boy is going to have Chinese compo for SA1? It must be very stressful... Which school is he from? I'm already so worried for my boy's coming SA1 Chinese compo even though he only starts in P3 this year.

May I know where your boy is taking his Creative Writing lesson? I have not come across any Chinese enrichment centre offering compo writing at P1 level so far.
 
bishanmum

my neighbour's daughter started compo in P1. Need to write 5 sentences in P1. She's P2 this year, need to write 8 sentences

that's why I kan cheong lor. My girl going to P1 next year. Her current standard cannot write even 1 sentence
 
My daily Chinese writing and speaking exercise with my boy is paying off just after 2 weeks. I think he is coming back on track. Maybe don't need to go enrichment class. I am reminding both myself and all moms who are concerned about their children's' Chinese, the Chinese syllabus and teaching in some/most schools are insufficient. We better do something to help.
 
hippo2002,

Wow, your neighbour's daughter's school also very stressful leh...

I don't think a K2 child can write a Chinese sentence on her own. Moreover, MOE also emphasizes more on reading and recognising Chinese words now, so the schools also seldom teach writing.

Is your girl attending any Chinese enrichment? You may want to consider Tien Hsia, they are quite academic. My boy is there since P1.
 
Hi bishanmum,

How much r u paying for Tien Hsia?

My P1 son is taking up English creative writing and the methods they use is wat u juz mentioned with Story Island.

Maybe i can try Story Island since its around jurong.
 
Bishanmum,

Which one do u prefer - Story Island or Tien Hsia?

The Tien Hsia ur child is attending itz at Jurong?
 
Hi Yvonne,

I would say Tien Hsia is very academic because it follows the school syllabus and they teach according to the school textbooks. It is more for those who want to do better in their exams.

As for Story Island, it is fun and interesting as children learn Chinese through stories. It may help those who dislike Chinese to cultivate the interest of reading Chinese story books. If I have additional budget, then I would choose Story Island to add on to Tien Hsia because doing well in exams is still my priority.

No, we go to the one at Bishan CC. Btw, how old is your child?
 
bishanmum

my girl is not attending any Chinese enrichment. She's rather weak in Chinese. I am teaching her personally as I feel that she can progress faster with one to one attention than in a group environment
 
hippo2002,

If you could teach your girl, then it is even better than sending her to enrichment. You are the best person to know her weak areas.

I'm quite impatient and also a perfectionist, so I tend to lose my temper easily with my two children if I teach them myself. No choice lah, have to let the enrichment centres earn my money.
 


Bishanmum,

My son is in P1. Very lazy need a lot of pushing.

He's smart but dont like classes. Actually the fees are diffrence by 20 to 30 bucks only.

I think I will send him to Story Island as he doesnt like classroom style.
 
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