For Parents: Centre-based Classes or Live Online Classes: Which is better for my child?

At TLCS, we have two different format of classes: centre-based classes and live online classes.

Both options have small class sizes to ensure that your child receives the necessary attention to improve. They also follow the same TLCS English and Mathematics curriculums. However, as every child is different, which option is more effective for your child?

Here are some of the key factors to consider when deciding which is better for your child.

Key Factors to Consider	Centre-based Classes	Live Online Classes
Learning	Physical learning aids are used to engage students in learning.	Digital learning resources are used to engage students in learning.
Feedback	Our teachers walk around to observe the progress of your child and provide immediate feedback.	Our teachers make use of digital resources to provide immediate feedback.
Assessment	Classwork is predominantly given and collected using hardcopies.	Classwork is predominantly given and collected using softcopies.
Travelling time	Time needed to travel to and from the centre.	Save time travelling to and from centre.
Reviewing the Lesson	Lessons are mostly not recorded.	Lessons are recorded and made available for students to review after the lesson.

As you can observe from the table above, there are four main factors to consider when you are deciding between centre-based classes and live online classes. Centre-based classes make use of traditional face-to-face teaching and hard-copy notes, while live online classes make use of digital resources and soft-copy notes. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages.

For example, physical learning aids can be used to illustrate and model concepts during centre-based classes, and this promotes abstract understanding in concepts (Jerome Bruner’s Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract Approach), an aspect that is hard to replicate in live online classes. However, in this increasingly digitalised world, it is also important that students become familiar and confident in using digital platforms.

At TLCS, we believe that education is about preparing our students for the future world, and the future world requires our students to be digitally adept. Moreover, knowledge is now widely and freely available online, and there are now many digital resources that can help the students develop deep conceptual understanding, similar to what their physical learning aids counterparts can achieve. At TLCS, we constantly develop our curriculum and resources to incorporate more purposeful digital resources. This promotes critical thinking, problem solving, communication and information analysis skills, so that our students are prepared for the future world.

So, which option is better for your child?

If your child is not afraid to ask questions when in doubt, then live online classes will be a great fit for your child! Digital learning requires your child to be proactive in asking questions as it will be difficult for the teacher to actively monitor what your child is writing or doing, something that is the norm in centre-based classes. Live online classes will not be effective if your child is afraid to let the teacher know of his/her difficulties, which will hamper their learning.

If your child is disciplined and motivated, and able to maintain high levels of concentration throughout the lesson, then live online classes will be a great fit for your child too. In centre-based classes, students can be actively monitored. In contrast, at the live online classes, students may not always be able to show what they are writing or doing depending on the task at hand. In this case, centre-based classes will be more beneficial if your child requires constant monitoring to stay on task.

If you wish to save time travelling to and from the centre, or if you live far away but would like your child to join our classes, live online classes will be an excellent choice. One big advantage live online classes have over centre-based classes is that it removes the geographical barriers for your child to attend our classes. We have many students from all over Singapore who attend our classes, and are glad to be able to join our classes to learn effectively and save time travelling in the process.

Based on our experience with both types of classes, we have found that it is more effective for Primary students to join our centre-based classes as they need more guidance and motivation by a physical teacher. On the other hand, our Secondary and Junior College students have found live online classes to be effective and efficient as they learn equally well, save time travelling to the centre, and pay lesser for the online classes. Ultimately, whichever format you opt for, TLCS has both centre-based classes and live online classes for all levels to fully cater our teaching to every child, and we hope that your child can fulfil his or her potential when learning at our classes. If you have more queries regarding which format your child should opt for, do drop us a message and our curriculum specialists will get in touch with you.

If your child only has a few topics or concepts he does not understand, do consider our bespoke online consultations for Primary, Secondary, Junior College and Polytechnic levels. Our curriculum specialists will work with you to customize a targeted learning plan for your child that focuses on specific areas that you would like your child to improve on.

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