I Can Read - Discussion

[KassandraKas]

Hi. Former ICR employee here to answer some questions.
1) I will not recommend specific courses or teachers or branches.
2) I will not be responsible for your decisions on whether to enrol.
3) All opinions are from my experiences and what I have heard from colleagues.

Assessment / Enrolment
For your child to join a course, he/she must be assessed and put into a course which the teacher or assessor feels is most suitable. Now, please pay close attention to what I am going to say.

1) DO NOT help or interfere with your child's assessment, unless the teacher or assessor is making your child uncomfortable. If you do, you are in fact harming your child. He/she may end up in a class more advanced than his/her actual abilities.

2) DO NOT accept assessments as a sibling pair or group. Even if they are twins or in the same class at preschool. Always insist a child is assessed individually, with only parent or guardian accompanying. Assessment in pairs or groups give the child a false sense of security, especially those with separation anxiety. Some teachers and assessors use this trick to make the kids happy, so that parents will sign up. Do not fall for this. Your child may not be in the same class as their siblings or friends, that would be a rude shock to them on Day One.

[If your child has a meltdown and is unable to complete the assessment, ask to reschedule. There have been cases where several attempts were made before the child got through with the assessment. Some children do best when assessed alone; others may need to have a parent/guardian in the room but not helping them. Find out what works for your child.]

3) Don't be charmed by nice words, make sure the teacher/assessor goes through what will be taught in the course (it is on the assessment form, last page). Ask to look at materials, ask questions. This is a sales pitch and they want to close it, so make sure you have a good deal.

4) Please be honest about your child's strengths and weaknesses. If he/she may be suspected special needs or learning disability case, do let the teacher/assessor know. This will be taken into consideration so that they can look out for areas of difficulty and help your child out. Staff must be aware so that they can be prepared to help the child, otherwise the child will feel stressed. Take note that ICR has English as Second Language (ESL) classes at selected but not all centres.

5) ICR is not specifically catering to special needs or learning disability. This is very important to keep in mind. If you are enrolling your special kid to give them the opportunity to socialise with neurotypical (NT) kids, please mention during assessment. Some of the courses are progressive, so if they cannot follow one level, the next level will be harder. Or the child may have to repeat the level. Make sure you know what you are signing up for.

6) Please do not peek into classrooms or allow your child to enter a classroom when there is a lesson. Some assessments are held during lesson hours. I have seen some parents taking a tour and peeking into classrooms to see how lessons are conducted. Sometimes, the assessor is playing tour guide. While we understand that you'd want to see the environment, imagine how your own child will feel if he/she looks up and a stranger's face is staring at him/her! It is unsettling for kids and teachers. If you wish to have a look at the environment, call and ask if they can allow you to visit before lessons commence.

Selecting a Course and a Teacher

Course

*Pre-reading = there will be NO reading. This is to get phonics skills and basic letter writing done. Please don't ask the teacher why your child is not reading a book yet. The name of the course says it all. Your child may be able to visually blend and read words. Do not "cheat" by making them memorise words as this undermines what you paid for them to learn.

1) The recommended course is what the teacher/assessor feels is right for your child. Let your child attend several lessons first to see if it works. If your child finds it too tough, the teacher may recommend downgrade. If it is too easy, the child may be promoted faster. Check with teacher after 3rd or 4th lesson, when your child has adapted to the environment. 1st and 2nd lessons are usually not accurate as your child is adjusting.

2) DO NOT ask the teacher whether your child is promoted. They are not allowed to tell you. You will receive a call from the management to let you know when your child is ready. Please don't pressure staff to promote a child that is not ready, I have seen cases where staff gave in to please the parents, and the child couldn't follow the new class!

3) Before you sign and pay, ask for REFUND POLICY and WITHDRAWAL NOTICE. There are many disputes when parents want to withdraw or ask for a refund, then get a shock when they realise they can't get their money immediately. The conditions are in the contract. CHECK CHECK CHECK.

Teacher

1) "Foreign" teachers vs local/ SEAsian teachers. Many people look for the Caucasian teachers, or the American/European/Australian teachers. All ICR teachers go through the same training for course materials. Therefore, regardless of race and ethnicity, they need to pass a test and the HQ assessment before they are employed. Don't choose by race or appearances.

2) Accent is subjective. Some parents think if their children learn from a British teacher, they will acquire a British accent. This is not true. Your kids see the teacher once a week; they see you every single day. Unless you have a British accent and your neighbourhood does too, learning from a teacher for 1.5 hours once a week will not give them an accent. In addition, English ability is not determined by race or "native language". Treat the teachers fairly, select a teacher whose class is convenient for you (location and time).

3) You CAN arrange a parent teacher meeting PTM, one to one, during a teacher's free slots. You don't have to wait until after a class, or until you receive a PTM notice. Many parents are not told of this; sometimes teachers are the ones arranging for private PTM. If you feel you rarely get to talk to a busy teacher, and you wish to get an update without other kaypoh people eavesdropping, call ahead to arrange a PTM. Sometimes parents mistake a busy teacher as a teacher that doesn't care or doesn't like their child. In fact, they could have arranged PTM or even a time to call and chat with the teacher.

[That's all for now, I will post again regarding other aspects of the experiences of ICR].

[Cecilia123]

Hi, would like to know anybody has problem with the course fee for I Can Read online classes?
My daughter is in pre-reading 3 during CB. We signed up for the online class which we were told that course fee was 50%. We were told to make full payment for classes during CB and they will make deduction in the next term.
However now we were told that the online is 50% for April. May & June only 25%. Only pre-reading 1 entitled to 3 mths 50% during CB online classes.
In June I did checked with their staff and they confirmed that is was 50% for April to June. Now another staff insisted that my information is not correct.

Would like to know does anybody have the same problem or was unlucky to be given the wrong information in the first place?

[KassandraKas]

Ok so now I will talk about the start of class, break time, pick up time, homework and letters from the centre.

1) Start of Class
Enter the centre 5 minutes before class starts. Centre should have a designated waiting area. Please do not enter that area, allow your kids to go mingle with their friends while waiting for class to start. For very young kids, you can bring them in just before class in case they cry. Encourage your child to have a routine to remove their shoes and put them on the shelf, then sanitize their hands. Front desk staff will not be handling cashiering or enquiries during this crucial period, as many kids will be moving around and need supervision.

2) Break
Some centres have a "library" which are just book shelves with books to encourage reading. However, depending on the centre, some of them may not allow the kids to read during break time. This is because complaints were made when parents see their kids "not in the classroom" and "not learning". Before making complaints, it is best to find out the rationale behind letting the kids hang out at the shelves. Teachers do need a toilet break too and it would be good to let the kids read leisurely while the teacher makes a quick trip to the bathroom.

Eating is not encouraged during break time so, unless there is a medical condition, please make sure the child has eaten before class or will eat after class. Food can cause allergic reactions in other children, or some foods may be against some kids' religious beliefs. Drinking plain water is fine so kids should always bring a filled water bottle.

3) Pick-up time
Classes that end just before lunch hour or closing time are trickier. Parents/guardians should try to pick up their kids on time. For lunch hour, most centres will close as teachers and staff leave to purchase food. Therefore, we encourage parents to come on time. There have been cases where children tried to sneak out to find their parents or were frightened as they thought they had been abandoned. There were instances where parents or grandparents miscommunicated and forgot to pick up the child. So kindly remind family members and guardians of pick-up time.

4) Homework
Each teacher has a slightly different approach to homework. Each class also differs in their progress and the amount of homework they can handle. If your child is struggling, do let the teacher know. If your child is doing well but his/her class is progressing slowly, speak to the teacher about your concerns, especially for the Reading Level programme. Let the teachers know if there is difficulty getting the child to practice or if there's no one available to practice with the child.

5) Letters from the centre
Whenever there are fees to be paid or important notices (Revision Spelling, PTM, holiday closures), letters WILL BE GIVEN. Each child will receive it unless he/she was absent. Letters may be given to the children to hold in their hands (so they can give to their parents immediately) or put in their bags (to prevent it being lost in transit). We have had cases where parents were furious at not being notified, because they did not check their children's bags. During change of classes, teachers have limited time to attend to queries and may not be able to inform everyone, so do check the kids' bags for homework and important notices.

[KassandraKas]

PSLE & ICR PEP (Primary Programme)

Hi for all the parents whose kids are in the PEP programme, I'd like to give an honest update.

If you are signing your child up for enrichment and creative writing, go ahead.
If you are signing up to prepare your child for primary school.... SKIP IT.

I will be very honest - it is marketed as aligned to MOE syllabus but actually only 50%. And that is a generous amount of close-one-eye estimation.

Not only that, the content is at a higher level than most average primary school content. So there's a chance that your child can be put at a lower program than he is in MOE school.
However, if your child is assessed to be more than 2 grades below his school level, I would suggest getting re-assessment or finding better alternatives.

Here's how it went for my colleagues:

- Teach creative writing in styles not used or not accepted in MOE compositions (write superhero stories, write instructions for recipe, write alien stories etc).

- Lots of explanation that is not useful for primary school. It's good for extra knowledge but not helpful if your child is already struggling.

- No practice for MOE-style papers except during Lesson 11, which is at the end of each term. So from Lessons 1-10, they don't do anything in MOE format. Suddenly at Lesson 11, they do a MOE-style test, in MOE format.

- Lesson 11 test comprises of composition, grammar mcq, vocab mcq, cloze, comprehension etc... and all must be done in 1.5hours. That is hardly enough time for those who really struggle. Many parents are not aware of this, some did not even know there are tests at all.

* Lesson 12: some terms have an extra lesson for going through corrections. TAKE NOTE: some teachers mess their schedules up, so instead of doing the test at Lesson 11, they play it cool and do it on Lesson 12. Then they SKIP GOING THROUGH AND CORRECTIONS. So parents, please track the schedule. Unless there's a valid explanation (public holidays, centre closure due to emergencies, teacher absent and relief teacher messed up), the main teacher should not skip or push back unnecessarily.

***************

Some children may enjoy learning in a group, with content different from school stuff. My suggestion is that you observe and see if ICR is supporting your child or making things more stressful. I have seen kids who got better in terms of creativity, but also those who started to dread coming for classes. Especially true if they are in Pri 3 and above, when school work is piling up.

[cindycsm]

Omg! The structure is so similar to MES.

[KassandraKas]

Hi @cindycsm,

From what I heard, ICR and MES used to have some form of collaboration. Then they decided to part ways. There have been some ex-MES teachers who hop over to ICR and vice versa. IIRC, ex-MES teachers have said that ICR treat their staff better.

No comments from me personally as I never worked at MES. I did attend an interview that did not feel right: one of the owners was having a bad flu and still shook my hand, they lied about "not related to ICR at all". When I worked for ICR, no one hid the fact that they used to collab.

Education wise, I have heard that some materials in MES are a bit better structured than ICR.

[Icye]

Hi, can anyone from Tampines branch ICR have referral code? Gonna enrolled my kid there for phonics class.. also any recommended teacher for that branch? Many thanks in advance !