FAQs

What are your credentials?
I hold an Honours degree from Nanyang Technological University, Electrical & Electronics Engineering,  This is a full-time study programme.

How long have you been teaching?
2023 would be my 27th year of teaching.

What subjects do you offer?
I teach English, Maths and Science for primary levels.
For lower secondary levels, I offer guidance in Maths and Science, and English. Not forgetting, Modular Science too!
For higher secondary levels, I impart knowledge on A/E Mathematics, Pure Physics and English.

What can readers expect when they read your website?
My website represents a collation of my thoughts on how closely parenting and education is closely knitted, and how to go about helping budding learners. Some of the posts can be quite direct as I don’t like to sugarcoat my words. One good instance will be posts that relate to why I drop certain learners. These cases are what I termed as “pitfalls” towards learning, and I will like readers to learn from others’ mistakes, as opposed to making these mistakes themselves. I think that the sharing of such cases will be just as important as sharing testimonials, if not more.

It is imperative that parents look beyond testimonials that are posted by service providers. The reason is that they could have taken in high performers in the first place. It’s just like what I often tell parents when they choose secondary schools, that they should choose one that has a high “value-added” culture, and not just simply looking into the absolute score of the school.

To summarise, my posts represent a fusion of parenting and education, rather than helping to solve specific subject-based questions.

What can parents expect from your sessions?
First of all, I will not be able to promise improvement for any child. In fact, there is no sure-win way to learning. What I can promise though, is that when the child sees me on a regular basis, it is because the child wants to, and not because he is compelled to. In the aftermath of every session, I will definitely update the parents on the child’s progress, be it via call or messaging. The former is preferred though, as a conversation paints a thousand words. Most likely, the parent will be able to observe that the child is able to auto-pilot and does his or her work, without any nagging needed.

How would you describe yourself?
I am an elder friend to all learners under my tutelage. Much of my focus is on building rapport and bringing about holistic change in learning attitude, so that knowledge can be imparted seamlessly.
I shall not say I am the best in the subjects that I mentor. In fact, I do not think this is the case. However, I would say that my methods represent of fusion of working on soft issues such as confidence levels, as well as technical skills. And so far, it has worked well for me and my learners over the past two decades. Being a hands-on parent definitely help in my teaching.

In short, I do not teach children how to score in a subject, neither do I endeavour to spot topics. Rather, I impart knowledge and invoke the thirst to learn.

What is your profile of students like?
My students come from diverse backgrounds. Some include overseas learners from Taiwan, China and Indonesia.
Primary school learners include students from Australian International School, Overseas Family School, Hong Wen Pri, Anderson Pri, Raffles Girls’ Pri, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School, Bendemeer Primary, Ngee Ann Pri, etc.
Secondary school learners include students from Australian International School, Overseas Family School, Anglican High, Dunman High, ACS(I), Victoria school, SJI, Bowen Sec, etc.

Some of my learners are professional athletes as well. One example is Mr Lion Goh, professional golfer, Singapore.

Two of my students have since moved to Bellersby College in Brighton, England and Berkeley College for post-secondary studies.

In short, learners can range from the elite, to slow learners, and students with special needs.

What about the profile of students’ parents?
The diversity of parents include working professionals, blue-collar workers, existing teachers from MOE primary schools, lecturers in local tertiary institutions, presidents of MNCs, etc

There were some posts you wrote, about stopping lessons for some students?
Yes I do. Let me further elaborate on this.
As an educator, I believe that my mission is to make a positive impact on a learner, and his or her family. When the time comes such that I exhausted all my resources to move the child forward, I will notify the parent to seek alternative help. That said, such notification is never impromptu.

My commitment to parents is that, there will never be occasions whereby I will just assign work, sit and wait while the learner does his or her work.

What is the difference between going directly to you, and an agent?
A direct means of communication will increase transparency between the parents and myself. In this way, the expectations of parents can be communicated more effectively.

What is the duration and frequency you will suggest for my child, for each session?
Personally, my preference will be 2 hours per session. My suggestion is a collation of feedback from most, if not all, of my mentees over the past 25 years. As for frequency, it depends on the individual needs of each learner.

Having said, these proposed arrangements are subject to changes, after discussion with parents.

Do you conduct group tuition?
Yes I do. A maximum class size of three students apply, to cater to the needs of students adequately.

Any final words of advice for myself and my child?
My sessions are not solely based on academic syllabus. They are also about study methods (study smart) and highlights on tricky questions. Lifelong skills are also imparted in the process.

For learning to be successful, it takes three hands to clap; parent, child, and educator.