I was recently invited to send my two boys to a trial Chinese lesson, which I gladly accepted. Given the sad lack of Chinese interaction in our home, I wanted to have the boys exposed to the language in a non-threatening way (i.e. via enrichment lessons when they are still in pre-school) as opposed to being forced to go for tuition.
PerchingKids is a new Chinese language centre that has sprouted up in the 112 Katong Mall – the very first franchise out of Shanghai where it has been operating since 2003. Together with some other bloggers, our kids were invited to attend a demo class last Saturday.
I’ve seen the centre a couple of times, and its bright and cheery interior (and the toys!) have always been a lure for Jay so he was ecstatic to be allowed a chance to bounce around and play with the other kids.
Xavier should also have been there, but unfortunately my sleepy-head was too tired out from a morning of activities that he only slept for too short a time, and so Daddy called a time-out for him.
Before the kids went for their demo class “I’m Creative!” the parents were given a quick briefing on what to expect. “I’m Creative!” is targeted for the 2-6 year olds, and aims to expose the child to the language in a totally fun and experiential way. While each lesson has certain words that the child will be exposed to, the words are not introduced to the child but rather it is through a hands-on session (read: MESS!!!) through art that the child gets exposed to the language.
The lesson was to introduce the kids to the concept of water (水) and raining (下雨了) and other words, but the teacher was bilingual and could prompt the kids in English if need be. I was sitting in the same room with Daphne who was tickled pink hearing her daughter parrot Jay in replying the teacher that the colour in the paint bottle was “lan se” (or blue in Chinese) – even though she didn’t know the word!
Jay is at a conversational level of Chinese and he is generally able to follow any given set of instructions in Chinese. This demo class might have been a little below his level… because he can now “sight read” a few Chinese words and phrases and I’d have personally preferred attending a demo class that may have “taught” him a little more… but that is probably the kiasu parent in me speaking. Cos if you ask Jay, he had a blast! Haha… And what is not to love about a class that taught the concept of raining getting the kids to paint liberally on the classroom wall, and the concept of clouds by getting them to fling pieces of tissue on the above-mentioned walls? An activity that Daphne and I immediately concluded we would so NOT be repeating in our homes!
But I subscribe to the belief that kids learn best through play, and in this aspect, this class ranks high on my list. What I like about PerchingKids and where it differs from other Chinese enrichment centres is that it offers a myriad of classes to suit each kid’s “development” stage (in terms of Chinese), as opposed to a cookie-cutter style lesson plan that goes simply according to the kid’s age.
After the class, I brought Jay for some chicken rice at the food court. Check out his tired out and very satisfied look! Haha…
Well, the good people at PerchingKids have also generously offered me trial classes to giveaway! I have three complimentary workshops, but will be using one to send Jay for a “full” class experience to see how he takes to it. And so that leaves TWO for two readers!
This is my first time using a Rafflecopter widget to run a giveaway (so do bear with me if there’re glitches – but looks to be idiot-proof though so fingers are crossed). To win one of the passes, you simply need to do any one (or ALL) of the below – each earns you a ticket in the raffle to win your kid one of two passes!
Who can enter?
Anyone living in Singapore! But your kid (or your nephew/niece/random stranger you will be bringing to the session should be between 2 & 6 years old)
This giveaway ends on Tuesday, 19 June 2012 & the 2 winners will be announced after that!
Update:
The 2 winners have been randomly drawn out. Congratulations to Priscilla & Jaime! Emails will be sent out to you gals.
3 comments:
I am very interested to let my son join as he can hardly speak Chinese & refuse to speak to which really worries me when he enter elementary stage & not able to catch up with his same peer. I hope that the Chinese school makes him wana learn Chinese himself thur creativity & play.
I am very Interested in it. My nearly 3 year old son hardly speak mandarin & also refuse to convey in mandarin. I hope the class helps him to enjoy the learning fun.of Chinese & love it himself. :)
Sorry for double post, didn't knw my #1 post went thur hence rewrote again. :)
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