5 Replies
I think it is good to start them from 4yo. My niece goes to Berries at Safra Toa Payoh and her Chinese vocabulary is way better than her 7yo sister. The waiting list is very long though. They have opened a new school at Bishan North this year and there are more vacancies here. http://www.berriesworld.com At first I was concerned they are memorizing by hard the words. Which I think initially this will be the situation but after a while we tried to write the words down separately on pieces of paper and showed my niece and she could read them! She can even pick up some words from the newspapers my parents are reading :)
I sent mine to Yu Quan Language school at Coronation Plaza when my son was in K1. He enjoyed the Chinese Idioms Literacy Program Basic - exposed him to stories behind Chinese idioms, recognition of idioms through rhymes and rhythms. After class, he was very eager to share with us after his lesson what he had learnt, and started singing all the new idioms in a rhythmic pattern :)
My family is English speaking mainly, i started my girl on chinese lessons only when she started primary school. She's attending Hua Language school now. If she is attending kindergarten what they teach in school is sufficient for Pri 1.
Err... since 1 years old I put my child in Chinese class but it's fun and interactive type!!! No memorising! Just singing songs and story telling type!!
Hua language at seletar mall.