my take on jg trial.
actually i have rather different opinions fr edde lao shi... maybe cos my main motive of joining is not for educational purposes. my intention was solely for seth to interact and have fun, and thus i find jg did a wonderful job. not perfect, but not totally condemned either.
i m comparing with gymbo, jwt and bjg oni. neva been to gug so cannot give a comprehensive feedback. sorry.
1. playtime/ice breaker
as with other similar classes the ice breakers are to let bbs play among themselves. half hour is ok to me. thou some parents complain too long but i find ok leh. cos we oso always complain too short playing time ma (bjg/jwt) so now gif u longer u buay song oso izit? some bbs oso cry when told to keep the toys after 30 mins. so how to be fair? my only complaint for this is that the toys r not suitable for them. rattles and such? more for 6 mths bb. since the group is 6-18 months, i think they should prepare themselves for us since we r all 13 mths as told to them. on the other hand, they did have another set of beach toys and playgym stuff for crawling. but cos it's tucked into a corner, mummies r not sure if they can be played on. so end up neva play. (except for seth who bo chap!) in the end i realise, actually those can be utilised but so tucked behind and the teachers neva 'teach' them to play... so wasted.
2. ice breaker singing
they sing simple songs and i like it when they play with the lights to catch the kids' attention. much better than ringing stupid vampire bells (bjg)! i'm not too particular about where the kids r paying attention or not. even if they r happilycrawling/running around n enjoying the music i m happy liao. n the part where they sing to individual bbs, ok leh..long as seth loves it when they sing to him, he dun pay attention when they sing to others i'm fine. everyone going havoc...rather funny to see in fact! haa...
3. story time
seth was attentive for the duration of 1 page only! so was the others i suppose. haa...but i believe such things r common and will get better in time. i wun expect bbs to sit quietly. in fact if they do i will find it weird. they r oni 1 leh! i like the animated story teller! in fact, i like it that they r not disturbed by the inattentive kids. they continue the story like they have the full attention of everyone.. haa..not easy dat wan!
4. art & craft
heh! this is the best part! yup! i love the mini tables and chairs. was telling irin maybe shd buy back! seth can sit on it n dun move for a long while!! heh heh!! the idea os 'stamping' the markers is fun and easy to do. thou if u look at irin's pics, seth is more interested in opening n capping the markers while daddy was bz stamping! :S n thou the kids may not feel it now, but i believe all mummies r so glad to get our first artwork by bb!
5. snack time
hahaha... how come mummies know the snack is tasteless (edde) and lao hong (irin)?? snacks r for bbs leh...not mummies!!! i dunno abt the taste or texture woh... *looks innocent* but the kids had fun washing hand b4 snacking and sitting quietly, and learning to open the snack bowl covers. i think go habits to learn. but how come no drinks provided ah? luckily everyone brought their own water!
6. outdoor playground time
this one i agree rather redundant. so sian. no helpers around, free and easy on the toys. would have been great if it's playgym. free and easyon playgym i dun mind, like jwt or bjg, but more time given please! will be better if they take this out since already have the beginning round of playtime liao. maybe the initial one can be placed outdoors since i believe that's the purpose of this part. gym outdoors here can be fun!
7. guitar jamming session
i love this part! i love the jamming and singing. thou not kinder like but very spontaneous and i love it! if oni the kids can be allowed to jus dance and groove to the music instead of parents carrying them to walk in circles. i see reyes totally staring at the guitarist in awe..so cute! she'll be a great musician to come! hee... my view hre differ fr edde i think. i feel dat our bbs r too small to be appreciating kinder kind of movement music. i like kinder for the exposure and the socialising. but we gotta admit end of the day it's the parents doing the 'dancing' and walking around in circles. the bbs jus enjoy the 'movements'. seth would have been equally happy if i jus threw him up in the air n catch him and swing him around! no need to pay for it!
8. bubble time
going to so many trials, this is the best bubble time i have seen. maybe the kids r bigger liao. i see them crawling and chasing after the bubbles i feel happy even!
overall: i think the teachers r really great. spontaneous and dun gif me the sian sian feel. n no need to ring bells they can get attention in other ways. in cases where bbs r 'out of line' i see them lifting the bb up gently and machiam playing with them way, then slowly return them to the correct place. not like interrupting everyone and expecting parents to pull bb back or wat. n esp not ringing bell to 'lead bb away'. kaoz think i really hate the bell ringing part of bjg! i oso like the part where they let the bbs choose their choose from the basket. simple tasks but shows sense of identity. cool. downside, i think they were not very prepared. thats y the stuffy room. apparently the air con took ages to power up. they should have turned it on earlier instead . and the name tags? *faint* paper w scotch tape? come on! gymbo has the cutest ones i think. then again better than some places without tags! and seeing that it's a small group, i would expect the teachers to remember the names. but so far non i've seen has been able to do it! disappointing! heh.
verdict: i wun mind paying for once a week sessions jus for play and interaction. but think they dun have dat. hmmm.
ok jmho!