Enrichment Classes for Children: Finding the Perfect Balance

As E goes into toddlerhood, I get more and more parents asking me whether we send E to enrichment classes. Many conversations with other parents revolve around the enrichment classes that the children go to – whether they are still going for the classes, how the classes are, what new classes are they going for…

Not including the enrichment E goes for in childcare, which we signed him up for because we didn’t want him to be left alone in the classroom when all the other children are in the enrichment class, E has been going for music class for about 10 months now.

Since the time that E could communicate with us (around 1 year old), every time we walked past Aureus Academy, he would look into the school and point at the pianos inside. We’d ask “Do you want to learn?” He’d consistently respond with a nod and later on respond with a yes when he started talking. When he was about 2.5 years old, we enquired with the school on the minimum age that the school takes in students, and they recommended the starting age to be at 3 years old and would be helpful if he could differentiate colours and knew the alphabet. Though he wasn’t 3 years old yet, he knew his colours and the alphabet so we asked if we could sign him up for the free trial and they allowed us to do that.

Upon signing up for the 30-minute free trial, we were given some timings to choose from. We chose the timing that worked for us and before the session, we received an email from the academy to remind us of the trial session.

The day of the trial session came and we both sat in with E through the session. The teacher sang some songs with E, and introduced the coloured bells and the xylophone to E. We were quite pleased to see the interaction that E had with the teacher.

When the session ended, we were led to the reception counter. Over there, the teacher shared with us her recommendation on the length of the session that E should go for – there are three options to choose from (30-minutes, 45-minutes, 60-minutes). After that, the receptionist went through with us the available timings that the teacher had. We picked the timing that worked best for us and from there, E began his music journey.

It was not always a mountain-top experience in the last 10 months. I remember there was a period of time that E resisted going to class. He would throw tantrums before music class. Initially I was quite puzzled because he’d always enjoyed going to music class, but it occurred to me one day that he could be resisting because he might be finding certain things that he was learning too difficult. So I asked him, "Do you find the music class now too difficult?” He said yes. I assured him that the teacher would let him do easier and fun things that day and he became calmer. When we met the teacher, I shared with her what happened and suggested that she let him do something easier and more fun for him that day, and she did. E came out of class happy 30 minutes later.

In all honesty, Aureus Academy is not the cheapest music school there is, but there are several things that I’m thankful and appreciate the academy for.

1. The teacher that E is assigned to takes time to get to know him and work with him to help him learn well and enjoy the process.

2. The school has an app that allows us to change the class timings easily on our own if we cannot make it for class.

3. They offer free trial sessions for new students. (Sign up for your free trial here!)

We are the type of parents that would only send E for enrichment classes if he expresses his interest in learning something in particular. Reason being that we want him to enjoy the classes that he goes to, which would then help us feel that the money is worth spending. Haha. We also believe that when E enjoys what he’s doing, he will in turn learn better and truly be enriched.

E has mentioned to us recently that he wants to learn swimming, so we’ve been looking for a swim coach for him. Will be sharing about this in another blog post when the time comes!

With that said, we hope your children enjoy enrichment classes as much as our E does!

(This blog post is not a partnership with Aureus Academy. We don’t get anything from them for sharing our experience with them. We’ll only enjoy some free credits for E’s future music classes if you sign up for the free trial through this link and thereafter decide to enrol with the school.)

Written by E's Mommy, co-founder of Toddle 'n' Doodle.