Enrichment Class - Yay or Nay?

Since the boys are in MindChamps Preschool, the next question people tend to ask would be - do we still send them for other enrichment classes after school hours? The answer is yes.

The very first enrichment class the boys had attended was music appreciation. That was almost 2 years ago with Our Music School at Tanglin Mall. We only persevered for 2 terms before we moved on to Right Brain Training with Heguru @ Fusionopolis. Jon had a full year of Heguru in 2014 but we felt that he wasn't ready for their Preschool program so we withdrew him while Matt continued with Heguru.

For the elder boy, he has started his Chinese enrichment class since beginning of this year with Berries. We wanted him to have Berries because this would increase the Chinese exposure and environment for him. The initial phrase would see him cry and then we heard teacher's complaint on his lack of revision. So we tried to buckle up but the feel was that he still wasn't good enough. So we tried even harder, got down to work daily to get him to recognise the words he learnt. Finally in September mini-test, Jon showed that our effort has paid off.

Progress Report from Berries

Yesterday he brought home a progress report. Both hubby and I felt he has done well although there is still room for improvement. But for Jon who started talking late and had difficulty in speech development, this was a marvellous improvement and achievement for him. The reserved Jon has also interacted well with his classmates and I  was glad to note that he took part in class activities.


We had signed him up for K1 Chinese enrichment with Berries and the younger brother is joining him at Berries next year. Each term fees came about $640+ and multiplied by 2, I am a $1200+ poorer.


For Matt, ever since we withdrew him from Heguru, his Saturday morning became aimless. He would wander around with us and so I signed him up for art class. I remember he enjoyed the painting but didn't like to be alone without us in class. So I got him into Toosy class with Abrakadoodle.

veggie printing

We just started for 3 lessons and I like it that he gets to paint with different styles and materials. Each term consists of 10 lessons and the fees is around $350 for a term. Material cost is inclusive in the fees. With Berries next year, we might either let him continue but change class timing or withdraw him again. The inclination would be he continues his painting class, hopefully as drop-off class while Jon goes for music appreciation.


It is not hard to guess bulk of our income goes to their preschool education and enrichment classes. So it is true that having children can be financially taxing but I have also seen parents not sending their kids to any classes. I guess this is about choice and each's comfortable level. No right or wrong answer.