Enrichment Classes - A Roundup

Another roundup of the classes that the 2 little ones are currently attending, or will be attending in the coming year.

For Ian:

1. Piano - His last group class has ended mid of this month, and he will be moving on to a 1-to-1 lesson from February next year.  He has attended a trial class with the new teacher, and it seems that his foundation is on the weaker side, considering that he has attended the group class for almost 2 years.
2. Creative Writing - He has completed the pre-creative writing class that lasted from June to November, and has attained the teacher's recommendation to progress to the creative writing class in January.  As the course is meant for primary 1 students, the teacher warned that he may have difficulty in writing as compared to the other students in the class who are true P1 kids.  Nevertheless, it is still a good exposure for him.
3. Abacus - This is the beginning of the last term for him.  I think I can hear his relief that his most torturous class is going to end soon.  Ironically, we are starting to see an improvement in his abacus after we made up our mind to end the agony.
4. Junior Math @ TLL - Since we were not seeing any result in his mathematical concepts after putting him through more than 1 year in the abacus class, we have scouted around for another alternative to help to build up his foundation.  At long last, we found him a place in the super popular/expensive enrichment school.  After just 4 lessons, it does appear to us that his concepts have improved a little.  And we are pleasantly surprised that the school teaches them (K2 kids) symmetry and measurements in the first 2 or 3 classes.

For Isabelle, she is currently still in the HGR program.  Ian has to give up his HGR class in exchange for the new class at TLL, but he is enjoying the new class just as much.  And he volunteers to do the homework everyday, which is such a total opposite reaction to his abacus homework.

Here was his welcome gift from the first lesson - ingenious!  The balloon dog appeared to be walking as you dragged it across the floor.  Isabelle loved this balloon so much that she snatched it from him the moment he walked out the class with it.  Unfortunately for Ian, he only got to play with it when she was in bed.

A hard-earned gift after sitting in the class for close to 2 hours.

Enrichment Classes - Roundup for July 2013

Another update on the enrichment classes my 2 little ones are attending...

For Ian, there are some changes!  He agreed to drop the English Speech & Drama class that is conducted in his childcare centre.  This is after I asked him to choose between this or the Robotics class.  He has also completed the Advanced Phonics class at the beginning of June. So he is left with the following classes:

1. Piano Advanced Group - Staring to see a little improvement recently, as he starts to read the music score and plays on his own.
2. Abacus - Still quite a chore to make him do his homework, but seeing a little improvement as he can now do the simple addition and subtraction questions mentally, and also do the audio questions much faster than before.  However, his mathematical concept is still quite weak.
3. English Pre-Creative Writing - Nothing much at the moment, just learning nouns and adjectives.  And, also some exercises to spur their creative juices.
4. Right-Brain Training - One of the classes that he simply refuses to give up at the moment.  The teacher says that he is slowly improving and is starting to get some of the numbers in the memory exercises correct.  But he manages to get most or all of the picture memory cards correct most of the time.  
5. Lego Robotics - One of the other classes that he refuses to drop.  He enjoys the class tremendously and I think he loves getting a certificate at the end of each project!

Isabelle has started to attend classes at the same right-brain training centre as Ian.  She is so much better now, after being exposed to the childcare centre.  For the last 3 lessons, she has not created much problem in the class.  

Roundup of Enrichment Classes - Updates

Classes that Ian are attending (no change from #1 to #5 since the last post):

1. Piano - Still not playing very well, though he loves going to this class so much that he urges us to bring him to the class even before it is time to go.  Recently, discovered by accident that one good way to spike his interest to practise the homework was to show him a video on YouTube first, then let him remember how the song sounds like before trying to play.
2. Abacus - Finally getting 5 books to bring home.  As usual, it is a chore to make him do his abacus homework.
3. Advanced Phonics - Into his final term of the phonics course now, and last week was one of the assessment tests with a spelling test.  It was the first time he had given me such a shock - 2 out of 4.  I tried to find out from him what were the words tested, but to no avail.  
4. English Speech & Drama
5. Right Brain Training - He loves this class as well.  The teachers say that he is slowly improving in the memory exercises.  The teacher pointed out that a notable point is that he can spot the 2 new cards introduced each week.
6. Lego Robotics (started since some time in Febuary) - Organised by his childcare centre.  It exposes them to the learning of robotics, its design and construction.  I got to peep at his class during one of the lessons and they were using laptops for each child to learn.  I am not sure how much he benefits from this class, but he seems to enjoy it a lot as he gets to interact with mini robots and try to build his own.

After starting Isabelle in childcare in Febuary, she seems more open to interacting with strangers now.  Maybe in a few months' time, she may be able to join some enrichment class too.

A Roundup of Enrichment Classes

In this new year, we had attempted to enroll Isabelle into a right-brain training class HEGL.  I had attended the first lesson with her.  Although she was rather uncooperative at times, we still managed to sit in throughout the class.  In the second lesson, I had thought that she would be better-behaved with her Daddy with her, but it was the exact opposite.  She started crying upon entering the classroom and had refused to stay there.  Hence, we had decided to let Ian "take over" this enrichment class.

The principal had kindly allowed me to sit in with him in the first class, and unlike how he ran around when he attended at the LNT when he was younger, he could now sit still and listen to instructions.  However, he could still improve on his ability to focus.  In those memory exercises, he fared pretty badly.  We shall see how he improves in the next few months!  *Fingers-crossed*  The consolation was, he really enjoyed himself and took the initiative to ask to do the homework when we were back home!

The other classes that Ian is continuing from last year are:

1. Piano (last term of the beginning class now, with advanced group class starting from Febuary) - he is beginning to read the score and play on his own now, though still not playing smoothly unless he has memorised it.
2. Abacus (into his second term) - doing double-digit addition/subtraction using abacus, still having some problem with simple addition without an abacus.
3. Advanced phonics (starting from January) - doing long vowels as of now, with sentence writing, and simple comprehension.
4. English Speech and Drama (in childcare) - sheesh, no idea what they are doing!  But he seemed to be having tons of fun when we attended the open house lesson last year.

Since stopping his Chinese enrichment class, it had become a bargaining chip to make him do our bidding as he really detested being sent to the class again.  We had been home-teaching him using materials that a friend  gave us, and so far Ian seemed to improve more than the 3 terms of Chinese enrichment class.  It had not been an easy task, as it was quite evident that he had no interest in the language.  It took us many revisions just to drill a word into his mind.  Hopefully, the right-brain training lessons will improve his memory skills and enable him to remember Chinese characters with more ease.

Recently, he also surprised us when he used his phonetic skills to figure out the spelling of a word.  Just a few months ago when I tested him, he was still clueless as to how to apply his knowledge, and all of a sudden, he seemed to understand now.  When I asked him who had taught him that, he said that he had self-taught!  *Faint*

Baking Class for Ian

Ian got to join his friends Carys and Cayden for a pizza making workshop at Billionaire's Kids!  We were pretty late for the lesson that day.  I wonder whether the rush had affected Ian's mood, as he looked grumpy when we arrived at the class.  However, after the class, he told me that he had enjoyed himself and wanted to participate again.

Enjoy the photos!

 Kneading the dough

 Spreading Nutella on top

 Decorating with marshmallows

 This is his bunny!

 Cheese!

A certificate of achievement!

Ian's Enrichment Classes

After 3 terms at Tien Hsia, we had decided to call it a day for the time being as he dreaded going to the class.  Another reason was that we had a hard time teaching him arithmetic, and felt that it was time to start him on the abacus class.

He took an assessment test with CMA in June, and the teacher allowed him to skip the Kindy class and join the Kinder class right away.  He attended the first lesson today, and we brought home 2 workbooks that I had to remind myself to go through with him on a daily basis.  Hopefully, he would not start to dread this class as well.

He would also be starting the 4th term of the intermediate phonics class next week, and he was still enjoying the lessons very much.

The other enrichment class that he was still attending was the piano course, which he also enjoyed.  It was not easy at the beginning to get him to read the notes, but at least there was some progress now.  He still did not play by reading the scores on his own, but at least he could remember how to play the song after a few practices.

Holiday Art Workshops

A much requested enrichment class from our little boy - art class.  So I had registered 2 classes for him this March holiday at the Wowart Studio.

#1 - What An Antique (Antique Clay Tile)

#2 - Frame This! (Copper Tooling)

The classes were for 4-12 years old, as the timing and date matched our schedule, plus the younger class was a little too easy for him.  He thoroughly enjoyed the 2 classes without feeling tired, even though they were back-to-back.

Upon reaching home, Ian eagerly placed his masterpieces onto the shelf together with the previous artwork that he had done in the December holiday workshop.

Gym For Isabelle

I attended a free trial lesson at the Gymnademics with Isabelle in February and had signed up for their classes, with the hope that more physical activities with our girl would help in her motor skills and physical development, as she appeared a little slow in this aspect.

The class started first with flash cards showing a group of words, followed by the instructor reading out bits of knowledge on the topic.  Then, there was the music appreciation part, where there was singing accompanied by flashing the lyrics on cards, and also exposing the children to the keyboard and the notes.

In every lesson, the babies would practise hanging on a bar that was attached to the wall.  Isabelle did not like this activity much.  She would start to fuss once she was brought to the bar.

Next, we would go out on the exercise mats and do some balance activities with our babes.  Isabelle really liked these as she would get to swirl around in the air.  After the balancing exercises, the babies were allowed to practise crawling on the ground or through their 'hurdles'.

The class would end with the Chinese part of the flashcards and singing, if the Chinese teacher was around.

Ian - Beginning of a new year means beginning of enrichment classes again!

We have not been sending Ian to enrichment classes last year, partly because of my unstable pregnancy and partly because we had wanted to settle down to a more manageable routine with a new baby.  However, we felt that his progress had stagnanted after stopping his LNT classes at the end of year 2010.  Hence, Hubby also agreed to send him for classes starting this year.  After gathering feedbacks from friends, we had shortlisted Chinese, Phonics and Piano classes for Ian.

Chinese @ Tien Hsia
The first of the enrichment classes to commence.  The trial lesson was FOC, but we had to pay for the trial if we decided to sign up.  The charging part did not make sense to me, but we signed up anyway because Ian said that he wanted to go again when we asked him right after the class.  The good thing was that this centre did not make us pay registration fees or deposit.  The bad thing was, a few days after the trial, Ian said he did not want to go again and he preferred the art class (that he attended in December) to the Chinese class.  Errr... well, since we had signed him up for a term, there was no turning back now.  Hubby and I agreed to give him some time in this class and see how things turned out at the end.  Our objective was to see some improvement in his poor Chinese.  Somehow, we felt that he had no interest in the language as he did not like to read Chinese story books nor speak Mandarin.


Phonics @ Jan & Elly
When I learned, during the first lesson, that the curriculum for learning the sounds of the 26 alphabets would stretch for 6 months, I opted to put Ian through a placement test upon the suggestion of the teacher.  Ian passed the test for half the alphabets, and the teacher gave us a few options.  One was to let him enjoy the class for the entire 6 months, or to home-tutor him the other half of the alphabets, or to take an intensive course of about 4 lessons to bridge the gap.  And he could either join the intermediate class immediately, or wait for the current batch of students in the beginner's class to graduate and join them later.  The risk in joining immediately was that he might not be able to catch up, because from their experience, most children start to understand sound blending only around the age of 4.5 years old.  Since we felt that it was quite a waste of time to spend 6 months on the letter sounds when he knew at least half of it and could already recognise all the upper and lower cases, we opted for the intensive course.  And, we opted to let him join the intermediate class immediately too, since the teacher felt that we could give it a try as he might be able to cope if we did some revision at home.  He has since attended one intensive lesson and one intermediate lesson.  The teacher's feedback was that he coped pretty well in the intensive lesson and was ok in the intermediate.  But it could be due to fatigue from the back-to-back lessons (45 minutes of intensive course, followed by an hour of intermediate lesson).  Anyway, there are 3 more of such tiring weekends to go, and then things will be less hectic again when it is only a one-hour lesson.


Piano @ Mandeville
Ian has always shown an interest in music since young, and after asking around, we finally decided to enroll him in this school as they have piano lessons suitable for his age group.  It will only commence in February and we hope that he will truely like the class.


English/Mandarin Speech & Drama
The speech and drama classes were conducted in his school by Julia Gabriel.  I had intended to sign him up for only the English version, but put a tick by mistake for the Chinese version.  Even though I had scribbled away the tick, they had counted it as an interest to enroll in the class.  I only got to know about it, after he had attended the first lesson (the school did not collect any payment until I asked about it later).  Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, because Ian said that he enjoyed both classes.  I had been secretly suspecting that he loved to perform, and probably this was the reason that he enjoyed the speech and drama classes now because he would have a lot of chances to perform!  Hopefully, this mistake would also spur his interest in Chinese!

Ian, Wow, Art

It was an official closure day for Ian's school today, and I had signed him up for a holiday workshop at WowArt Studio, after learning about it from a friend.  It was $38 for one lesson (1 hour 15 mins).

Yesterday afternoon, Hubby had brought me around the area for me get a little more familiarized.  This morning, after dropping Hubby off at work, the 3 of us headed directly to the studio although it was a little early.  It was drizzling, so I could not park at the open carpark outside, even though it was very empty.  Instead, I tried to park into the basement carpark.  I was not sure whether it was open to visitors, and caught a fellow motorist around to ask.  She was not sure whether it was open to guests but she had been parking there for an hour anyway.  And the strange thing was, the barrier was up, meaning that she could exit without paying.  Anyway, I just parked there as well, and brought the children up.

There were only 3 children in this class, which I liked for the small group.  In the class, the teacher taught them how to knead clay, and they had to cut out some shapes using dough cutter.  As expected of Ian, after he finished a shape, he would crush it up and do it all over again.  The teacher had to remind him not to do that again after he had finished another one.  She also helped to put the finished product aside so that he could not do it. 

After Ian had settled down in the class, I went out with Isabelle back to the carpark.  The carpark attendant was back, and she said she would help me with the barrier later when I needed to exit.  There was a Sheng Shiong supermarket and I walked around.  It was pretty cold, so I just grabbed myself a bottle of drink and returned to the studio to wait for Ian.

When I returned, Ian had already finished painting the clay model and they were doing free painting.  When I saw his "abstract art", I thought that hmm, I had better enrol him in some art classes soon.  I guess painting/drawing is not his forte, at this stage.

Here was Ian's finished product, though I was not sure how much of it was done by the teacher...

I had asked him on the way home on the class, and he told me that he liked going there, and asked me to bring him back again. 

As for the carpark, the attendant charged me 1 hour 1 minute, $1.90. 

We had originally wanted to meet up with Hubby for lunch, but unfortunately, he had been called away for a business lunch.  Hence, we bought takeaway lunch from the drive-through Macs.  It was Ian's favourite food and he kept bugging me to give him the fries on the way back.

First Speech & Drama Class

As Ian starts his N1 class this year, we are pleasantly surprised that he is now eligible to join a series of enrichment classes available at his childcare.  We enrolled him for 2 classes - English Speech & Drama (conducted by Julia Gabriel), and a music class (conducted by Opus One).  Unfortunately, only the former have enough students to start a class.

Today marks the first lesson in English Speech and Drama.  I went slightly earlier to see how the class was, but unfortunately, as I approached the glass windows, I thought Ian had spotted me and hence had to withdraw myself.

Hopefully, he will be able to benefit from this class, which was recommended by many people we had asked.

Last Lesson at LNT

Today marked the end of Ian's lessons at LNT.  He has been attending their lessons since Jan 2009 (he was about 8 months at that time), and it has been nearly 2 years.

Some of the stuff taught in the class were pretty helpful in his development, such as drawing mazes, crafts, counting, learning the names of common furniture, logic blocks, cutting.  These activities gave me a clue on the areas on which I could start to teach him at home. 

However, Ian is still unable to pay attention to the class, especially when it comes to flash cards.  He has just started to appreciate the songs, but as for some activities such as differentiating an object from a group, stacking 3D blocks, he was pretty much behind because he joined the 2007 children. 

We wondered whether it was because he skipped a year and missed out the foundations of building these 3D blocks, etc.  Anyway, we decided that it was time for a break.  He was not concentrating much in the class, and we had been pretty tired bringing him there and forcing him to concentrate in the class.

Perhaps it was good to try out other classes to see whether something else would be more appropriate for his interests.