Looking around for enrichment classes for WB2 and WB3 (to
make them more industrious Worker Bees! Haha..) and this place keep popping up
in Google. They have a free trial lesson over the weekend so we thought to go
take a look.
Entrance
When we arrived, the class just started. 4 activities were
introduced in the class.
Classroom
1st Activity: Asking the child to pick up colored
cotton balls using scissors-modified pincers and putting them into a cylinder. Well,
we have not trained WB2 on the use of scissors yet, so it was a bit of struggle
for him
And after some time, WB2 gave up using the pincers and just
used his bare hands to complete the task, until the teacher noticed, and put
the pincers back into his hands. I looked on amused. I must say WB2 is very task
orientated. At least he’s focused on getting the task completed, whatever the
means.
2nd Activity: Connecting colored magnetic blocks
according to the chart assigned by the teacher.
WB2 trying to figure out what to do with the colored blocks.
3rd Activity: Connecting the dots. This needs
little explanation. Teacher hands out worksheet with pre-determined patterns
and the child is to copy accordingly. WB2 doesn’t fare well in this either, and
flatly refused to draw on the dots. “no, no no..” he tells the teacher, preferring
to draw on other blank spaces on the paper instead. The teacher has to hold his
hand to guide him back to the dots.
Teacher guiding WB2's hands to connect the dots
4th Activity: not much of an activity, teacher
literally just hands out ipads to the children and get them to play with
pre-installed app. No surprises that WB2 catches on very quickly and needs
little explanation.
Teacher and WB2 pointing to their own selection on the ipad
At the end of the session, a small buffet spread awaits us
outside, together with a team of “salesgirls” waiting to sell us the courses.
Pros: This place does provide the child with some kind of training in his fine motor skills, etc. Teachers are qualified (eg, MOE trained, certification in early childhood education, etc).
Cons: Location is too not convenient, and courses are pricey. Fees are paid on a term basis (4 months), which translates to $300+/month.
Conclusion: Lacking in this trial session is testimonials and "before and after" examples. Parents are not being shown convincingly where the activities lead to (smarter brain? really?)
For me: Not for me.
