<font color="119911">Chinese enrichment for pre-sch:</font> JTS -- sent my B1 4 1.5hr trial class @ Confucius Institute last Sat. I observed fr o/s -- saw them doing art & craft, singing, etc. There were abt 6 kidz in e class w 1 tchr. My gal said she enjoyed it & wants 2 go bak bt I'm stl contemplating. There's 1 more term 2 go (10wks) bt tchr says itz all fu4 xi2 so no worries if I sign her up. Fee is $390 w abt $80 of material fees (the ctr's own wkbks). Bt got 10% discount w Popular Card. Actuali bigger issue is e timing coz e tchr advised signing up 4 e full 2hr class whc includes 30mins of Mandarin Mathematics (think they charge $530 b4 PCard discount) whc she says helps w right-brain learning, supposedly method veri successful in China. Oh, all e tchrs r fr China. Anyway, stl in two-minds coz veri short turnaround time 2 rush 2 baby ballet. Dunno if shd chiong juz 4 diz 10wks 2 try out 1st. I suppose nxt yr when I B1's out of CC and into kindy then has free PMs 2 better plan e activities she likes. Btw, diz trial wasn't free -- was charged $39 for 1.5hrs & tchr actuali brought my gal out like 10mins b4 time was up!
Ok 2 b fair, she spent 10mins talking 2 me abt her observations & rec 4 my gal. My biggest worri was whether my gal cld gel in & tchr said she was sociable. Othr worri was whether she cld understd e tchr since my gal so 'kentang' bt u noe, when I sent her in & was introducing her 2 e tchr, e current students actuali were mostly spkg 2 e tchr in English!!! Haha, so dat let me heave a sigh of relief
Oh another thing 2 share -- learnt big lesson fr sendg her 2 an art wkshp on Tchr's Day. E wkshp cum trial was a special 1 w e students doing a craft as tchr's day gift. It turned out 2 b a mixed-ages class & B1 was e youngest. Others were between P1-P3. Those were e regular students & three (2 boys & a girl) were bickering like mad. My issue was w their language. Their exchanges included, "You r e most immature boy I've ever seen!" "You wanna fight?!" "I will flatten you if you fight w me!" "Come here or I wl kick your butt!" (diz last statement was 2 e 20+YO tchr...
So aft dat 1hr trial I was 2 process e whole experience w B1 & explaine 2 her how rude some of those comments were, nvr 2 use them, etc. Thankfully she was quite understanding & even told her daddy later, "I cannot talk like those kor2 or jie2"
My hb says datz e thing, once kidz go P1 they talk more colourfully. So I learnt a lesson here & wl pick trial lessons/progs w more caution.
Oh, & B1 stl wanna go bak 2 "art sch". Realised she's veri gamed 4 all diz new experiences lor. Like watch YOG & tell me wanna learn gymnastics, TKD, archery, etc.