hi arielle,
I think the contents of the classes vary even though it's for the same age group. My nephew used to have a Malay teacher in SM class too and Malay songs were played during the class. I guess the teacher must able to speak the language before she can do the flashcards, hence no Chinese flashcards in your dd's class.
As for teachers, I think it boils down to personality and passion even though all the SM teachers have been through training. I like my son's 1st teacher very much. She was very passionate and enthusiastic to teach, and very patient with the kids. She would go through the lesson contents with the parents at the end of the class so that we need not take notes during class. When the kids' birthdays fell during the week, she would prepare a birthday card and the class would sing happy birthday song. On the last week of each term, she would ask parents to bring cameras to take photos. Such gestures brought the parents and teacher closer. So far, she's still the best teacher but she's no longer with SM.
And yes, my dd's class is full (even for a weekday class). As the parents in my dd's class are very nice, I'll probably stick with the current class.
For home practice, I used to make nice materials for PM, ESP and others. But all the researching and making take up so much time and effort that I decide being simple is best. Now even food coupons from KFC, Pizza hut and BK have become useful home practice materials.
Other than the 1000pc flashcards bought from BP, I have made my own flashcards too. But this is really time consuming. If you know any other sources of flashcards, please let me know.
Do you take notes after each lesson?
