Media Review
Joey is in Primary 5 this year and most parents would know that while you can relatively take it easy in the lower Primary levels, the whole ball game really changes when your kid enters Primary 5. That’s when the school starts preparing the kids for PSLE that will come in about 18 months’ time, so the momentum picks up and everyone gets into battle mode. Frankly speaking, I haven’t felt it yet because both the husband and I are very chill when it comes to academics, but I am sure my Joey can feel the stress coming from her fellow classmates and the teachers in school. As a mom, all I want to do is to help her manage the stress level and cope with it, while performing her best.
The subject that Joey is least confident in has always been Math. The syllabus is really not that simple nowadays, especially for Upper Primary levels, so I am really glad that Joey is taking lessons at The Learning Lab. It has made her transition from Primary 4 to 5 a much smoother one, especially in the area of Mathematics. I can only imagine how much I would have to scratch my head if I have to coach her myself. Weekly lessons at The Learning Lab have definitely helped to prepare her in her understanding of the various topics, and reinforced what was being taught in school. Having attended lessons at The Learning Lab for a couple of months (and a whole term previously), here’s sharing 3 reasons why I think The Learning Lab has been so effective in producing results and top students every year:
1. Qualified Teachers With A Passion
Almost every teacher I’ve met at The Learning Lab has shown me passion in what they do. Passion really differentiates a mediocre teacher from an excellent one, because passion is such a contagious thing. It can translate to the students and motivate them to strive for better performance. Joey would tell you that when she steps into a classroom where the teacher is bursting with energy and there’s fire in his eyes, she will be more motivated to learn. The teachers at The Learning Lab are not only qualified, but also teaches with an enthusiasm and passion that I like very much. When I get to speak with some of them after the class, I can sense their genuine concern for my kid’s learning progress and that is important to me. Teachers who are merely doing a job without passion can never produce great learners.
2. Lessons Are Interesting & Engaging
I like to ask Joey how she felt after every lesson at The Learning Lab – It’s the only way I can gauge whether she learnt well that day. Lessons coverage are usually quite extensive so she takes a while to fully grasp the concepts learnt that day, but she leaves the class feeling challenged and motivated to go back home and study it more. She would tell me how the teacher asked certain questions to get everyone thinking and how much interest it created among the students. Lessons at The Learning Lab are never one-way – Students are always given the chance to share their thoughts and try solving challenging problems. That is really where the bulk of the learning takes place – It’s not in the listening to the teacher’s explanations, but in the digesting of the explanations and then applying them on the spot. If you pass by a class in progress, you will notice that the teacher and students are often engaged in discussions and I bet the students would leave the class with a deep impression of what was being discussed and learnt.
3. Synergy In Exchanges
In a typical TLL class setting, there are about 10-12 students and every one comes from a different academic background – Some come from a rigorous studying environment and others from a more relaxed one. When they meet in a class and share their ideas and different ways of solving mathematical problems, synergy occurs. I guess that is why I personally prefer group tuition over a private one-to-one tuition - Being in the same environment with peers helps Joey in her learning. She often steps out of the class and tells me that someone from another school shared a new method of solving a particular problem which was easier to understand and that got her all excited. It has opened up her eyes to see that Mathematics is not a boring subject and that there can be more than one way to solve a problem. There are also certain concepts which Joey has difficulty understanding in school, maybe because the teacher was teaching really fast, but because of the detailed explanation by the teachers and fellow classmates at The Learning Lab, she could grasp the concept much better. I like this kind of positive synergy – It motivates my kid to keep on learning.
So, thankfully, while it is a big jump from Primary 4 to Primary 5, I am glad to see that Joey seems to be taking it pretty well. I definitely attribute it to her taking lessons at The Learning Lab because it has boosted her confidence and given her a head start to a rigorous PSLE preparation course. While academics is definitely not everything and should not be used to define the worth of a kid, the ability to cope and perform well academically would definitely help the kid stay happy and at ease in our very competitive society. There needs to be a balance in everything we do – I don’t push my kids to the wall, but some kind of pushing is always necessary to bring out their potential. Don’t you agree? :)
Registration for Term 2 – 2017 classes at The Learning Lab is now open! Sign up early and enjoy enrolment incentives. Learn more about their programs here: http://tll.sg/term2-2017-classes
Disclosure: The J Babies was sponsored one term of P5 Math lessons at The Learning Lab for purpose of review. No other compensation was received. All opinions presented in this post are solely ours.
