About MandarinStars
MandarinStars offers Chinese tuition to students in mainstream MOE schools who may be struggling because of poor working memory, dyslexia, ADHD, autism spectrum, or dealing with issues related to low self-esteem or confidence, and others.
Informed by insights from psychological and educational research, we provide a student-centered learning environment that is customised to the needs of individual students and offered in small class sizes of 6 or less.
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We first assess students to identify any underlying learning disorders and then group them in the right learning environment with teachers trained to use customised materials for students struggling to learn because of ADHD, dyslexia or poor working memory.
Lessons are scaffolded, which refers to how we break down learning objectives into small bite-sized chunks which is easier for students to grasp. Lessons come alive through creative worksheets and teaching methods that get students to read, hear, see and do.
These methods are proven and effective in helping students improve their Chinese learning ability based on results that we have achieved in the past.
MandarinStars was started by Frances Yeo, a psychologist with over 20 years’ experience, together with a core team of teachers and curriculum writers, to address a gap in providing educational services for students who are struggling to cope in mainstream schools due to hidden handicaps like an undiagnosed learning disorder, poor working memory or childhood esteem issues.
智多星教育中心
Effective, Student-Centred Education
In one inspiring story, Frances Yeo, MandarinStars Founder, recounts how a P6 student with a strong aversion to Chinese was reluctantly signed up for a trial class by his mother. After attending just one lesson, he asked for more classes!
He enjoyed the lesson because the teacher was able to hold his attention and made the learning fun. “Now when I see those words, I see the pictures that Teacher showed me and that helps me remember.”
“We have seen students grow in confidence as they master new words and enjoy learning again. That gives us great joy.” – Loo Ping, MandarinStars.
Small Class Sizes
Classes are kept small – no more than 6 students per class. This way, teachers can match the pace to suit students’ ability to grasp the material, slowing down and even repeating when needed.
Creatively Engaging Students
Research shows learning is more effective when more parts of the brain is engaged. Using such insights, we creatively use customised materials and teaching methods that get students to learn by seeing and doing.
>30
Combined years of teaching experience
>2,000
customised worksheets developed for P1 to P6
>22
years experience in psychology and paediatric psychological testing
>8,000
diagnostic tests administered for learning disorders, ADHD, autism, intellectual impairment and others.
Student-Centred Classrooms
We help students learn by first understanding their challenges and then customising the learning environment to their needs.
Matched To Each Student’s Abilities
Students may struggle with learning Chinese for many reasons. We first assess the student’s ability in the subject and then teach at a pace where they can absorb the lesson.
Chinese Learning
Made Fun
Many students dread Chinese because of the rote learning. We work hard at teaching Chinese in creative new ways. By making lessons more engaging, the student is more likely to retain and remember the words.
Scaffolded Learning
We scaffold by breaking down the lesson into many smaller parts that are introduced to the student in a structured way before the learning is reinforced by active learning actions.
Building Confidence First
By helping students make small gains, we build their confidence and overcome any fear of Chinese. Confidence allows students to express their instinctive curiousity to learn and opens up the mind to learning.
Customised Learning Materials
Our teachers proactively plan and teach MOE curriculum using teaching strategies and exclusive MandarinStars materials developed by our in-house curriculum team. We may modify the content to suit the student’s interests so they engage more readily with the lesson.
Aligned With MOE Syllabus
We teach reading, vocabulary, spelling, comprehension and essay writing according to school textbooks. Lessons cover the components tested in schools such as listening comprehension, oral, language use, combining sentences, reading comprehension, and composition (作文).
Our Founder
About Frances Yeo
- Psychologist of 22 years’ experience.
- Trained in peer-reviewed and medically proven techniques such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR), and schema therapy.
- Specializes in diagnostic assessments and providing psychological support for children, teens and families.
- Well known in Singapore for her expertise in treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum, learning disorders, depression, anxiety and esteem issues.
- Frances has helped many children through accurate testing and evaluation using standardized cognitive and academic tests, and regularly engages with teachers and schools to implement holistic treatment programs.
Career Highlights
- Graduated with B Soc. Sc. Psychology, from the University of New South Wales.
- Obtained MA. Psychology from the University of Sydney.
- Registered Psychologist (Singapore). Full Member of Singapore Psychological Society, Australian Psychological Society.
- Started career at Singapore Prison Service and worked there for 2 years.
- Principal Psychologist, in charge of a team of eight psychologists, at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) where she worked for 7 years.
- Collaborated with Healthway Medical Group to establish The Child Developmental Centre Clinic at Novena, an integrated child development and allied health services centre with 22 clinicians and early intervention teachers for 5 years.
- Collaborated with Thomson Medical Centre to provide psychological services, which eventually led to co-founding Thomson Kids Specialised Learning, a centre dedicated to helping students with learning difficulties through structured educational programs derived from evidence-based interventions.
- Started MandarinStars together with core group of teachers and curriculum writers in July 2023.
- A working mother of 3 kids each with their unique strengths and challenges.
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