Hi Mummies
I see there's some interest in play/enrichment classes?
Julia Gabriel
I started bringing my bb to JG's Mandarin Playnest when she was about 7 months old. The Playnest is for babies who are 6-18 months old. The minimum commitment for Mandarin Playnest is three times a week. There is also an English Playnest and babies enrolled in that programme have to attend at least two times a week.
I feel the programme is excellent. There are three teachers in each class. The teachers in my bb's class are so energetic and animated. They really make an effort to engage with each and every child in the class, so that each child gets some one-on-one time with the teachers, which is really important if your focus is on language immersion.
The school is very well-run and the facilities are excellent and kept very clean. They wash the toys after each class and if a bb puts a toy in his/her mouth, that toy is removed from the play area immediately and put away for sterilising. They check for HFMD rashes and take the bb's temps before each class. They also rotate the toys offered in each class so the bbs never get bored. Their outdoor play equipment is also in great condition - and one of the mums remarked to me the other day that putting aside the teachers, the art and craft opportunities, etc, the cost of the class (abt $20 an hr) is worth it just for the play equipment alone.
A typical class is structured as follows:
- 15-20 mins unstructured indoor play time with different toys, gym equipment from the Children's Factory (you can see their stuff on Amazon.Com); teachers go around and play with the bbs, identifying objects and speaking to the bbs in Mandarin (or English - depending on your class)
- 15-20 min of welcome songs, greetings by a puppet and a storytelling/ drama/ skit presentation by the teachers based on the theme of the week - eg: if the theme for the week is white, an assistant teacher "arrives" wearing a lamb costume and there is a whole dialogue between the head teacher and the assistant teacher-cum-lamb during which the kids learnt vocab like lamb, hungry, bread, milk, egg tart (all with the appropriate props, costumes etc).
- 15 minutes of outdoor play (depending on the week, it could be swimming (in a shallow tub pool), water play, sand play or playground time
- snack time - the babies sit together at little tables and enjoy a cup of water and an organic snack (biscuits or fruit usually)
- more play time (5-10 mins)
- song/singing time, goodbye (with bubbles)
Overall, I'd definitely recommend it. JG has branches at Forum and Evans Road. I've only visited the latter.