Lego classes

[shwetakhanna]

Does anyone know if there are any Lego education classes in new territories or Kowloon? Know a couple of them in central, but that's too far for us to travel.
Took my 4 yo to children's technology workshop in cwb for a couple of classes and she was very much into it. So wanted to enrol her into a regular class, if something similar is available around.
Thanks.

 

[cyf]

There are some lego classes in Kowloon but they are in Chinese.....
http://www.roboedu.hk/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35

 

[marie313]

wow i've got a crazy idea - why don't you teach her yourself? I don't understand why you need to send your child to a class to learn how to play with lego!!! all you have to do is get a brick, and put it on top of another brick. If you want to get fancy, you can follow the instructions included! BOOM - you just saved yourself a few thousand dollars.

 

[shwetakhanna]

thanks cyf. will check this out.

thanks marie313 for the idea. Do you think anyone i would have started looking for something without trying it at home? Well,i have tried this with my lo at home and have found that she doesn't like to follow the steps with me and after 5 minutes she wants to play with some other toy. My basic requirement is to somehow help her to increase her concentration at what she is doing. Right now she cannot concentrate at one thing for more than 4-5 minutes and then starts looking around for other tasks. And there is nothing better than lego for this purpose. Took her to a couple of lego classes in causeway bay which i bought on groupon and found that she could sit there for one hour playing or making with lego as there was nothing else around except blocks. Actually it depends a lot on the environment around. Anyways thanks again for your suggestion...

 

[Honkyblues]

Hi Shwetakhanna
I'm also thinking of enrolling my 6-yr-old in the Children's Technology Workshop as he loves Lego, and I think the engineering class will take his interest to a new level. The programme looks really good. Glad to hear your little one enjoyed it.

Marie313: your answer to Shwetakhanna seemed rather sarcastic and unhelpful. It might be a valid question, but could have been phrased in a less judgmental way. You say you don't understand why someone would need to send their child to a Lego class. Let me enlighten you... Of course my 6-year-old can do Lego at home (and loves the Lego kits). He can sit there for 90 minutes at a time following the steps. But if he gets stuck or makes a mistake, he wants immediate attention which I can't also give him as I have two other younger children at home. The Lego Workshops can introduce new concepts of pulleys, gears, levers, engines etc. Frankly, it's cheaper to do that in a class than to buy those sorts of expensive kits. Plus, he gets the benefit of working alongside (or even in a team) with other children; and gets the explanations and attention he deserves.

Perhaps with your off-the-cuff reply you hadn't really thought through why a Lego class might be beneficial. It's a little more advanced than putting one brick on top of another. Hope that helps explain.

 

[pixelelf]

sorry to hijack this thread, ive been looking at youtube videos for Children's Technology Workshop and found them very interesting too. anyone tried them?

 

[shwetakhanna]

Yes, we have tries CTW, and they are very interesting . In just two classes, my daughter learned what a pulley and a gear is. We took the classes on weekdays evenings and they were not very crowded, two kids with one instructor. Don't know about the weekends , they might be full. You should give it a try. Good luck.

And thanks honkyblues for explaining my point so well.

 

[pixelelf]

thank you! yea my 4 year old also has very short attention span, but he's been asking me to teach him how to build some complicated blocks aka weapons since we refused to buy toy weapons. which i wonder which is worse. buy him one or build :/

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[howardcoombs]

which i wonder which is worse. buy him one or build :/

Building is much better and more fun.
When my kids were around 5-6, I taught them how to whittle and over time they made some really neat weapons. Very good for the imagination as well as hand eye co-ordination.

 

[marie313]

Im sorry if i sounded sarcastic, i just get frustrated with the 'extra curricular' trend in hong kong. parents are spending soooo much money on sending their kids to classes for things that, when i was a kid, parents just did themselves. when i was little, my mum did cooking with us, art, we went for walks, played games. sometimes *gasp* she did nothing with us and we were expected to entertain ourselves. I was one of 4 kids, and we learned excellent skills like taking turns and waiting, sometimes we fought and then we made up, all important life skills! I have 2 children and i do the same with them, they don't go to any extra curricular classes (apart from ballet once a week for my eldest) and they are happy, sociable and well adjusted. They work hard at school and play hard at home!
Don't you worry that when your children become adults they are going to have a really hard time because there will be no-one to constantly entertain them or tell them what to do next? Perhaps this could be a reason for their short attention span?
I get it that these classes can be fun or educational, but so can you! it seems like parents no longer trust in themselves to be their child's educator.
Sorry for the rant, but you know what they say, better out than in!