Florence Learning Hub

This is the status for 2023 :

Pr 6 : No vacancies
Pr 5 : No vacancies
Pr 4 : Limited places
Pr 3 : Limited places
Pr 2 : No vacancies
Pr 1 : No vacancies

Here is the status for 2021 classes :

1) Pr 6 : No vacancy
2) Pr 5 : No vacancy
3) Pr 4 : limited places
4) Pr 3 : limited places
5) Pr 1&2 : available places

Thank you very much .

Florence Lim

When Circuit Breaker measures kicked in and Home –Based Learning was enforced , the newspapers had a field day writing about how many of the students were coping with this new form of online learning platform.

Pictures of families with parents and kids working together amicably at the same table in a room do not reflect the strain or stress before and after the happy shots were taken.

It is very similar to family vacation photographs. They do not reflect the tensions , the screams and the fights that all happened just before the cameraman says . “ Cheese !”.
Everybody just freezes, turns to the camera lens and puts on this cheery smile that belies the friction that happened earlier..
Never mind that after the camera moment is over, the squabble continues.

Having gone online teaching since late March, I realise that HBL is not perfect and thankfully, the MOE agrees and has brought forward the Mid-year holidays.

HBL may work for kids in the Secondary schools and institutions of higher learning but for Primary levels, it is not ideal and that is why, many parents of such kids are doubly stressed having to work from home and also , to supervise the learning journey of their primary school-going kids….a task usually in the hands of the teachers or tutors hired ; who are no longer physically around to ensure that it gets carried out.

As a tutor of many years , I now have to work online for the first time in my life.

The learning curve is really steep.

Yes, you have heard that many times but it is really true.

For one who has never heard of Zoom , Webinar or Google Meet and who can only use the computer to carry out sufficient tasks like ordering things online, surfing the Internet for news and writing emails ( oh …..I can carry out the occasional EXCEL spreadsheet tasks that is required for my work ), I had to spend long hours for a few early mornings practising how to conduct lessons on Zoom without appearing like a techno- goondu when the actual lessons are in progress.

To date, I am capable enough to weave through the main applications of Zoom.

I use my main computer to maintain eye-contact with my students, an iPadPro to write out notes or math equations , another iPad to broadcast movies or photos and lastly, my mobile phone comes in handy when I need to contact a parent instantly to go after a child who is not moving in tandem with the rest of the class .

Despite my manifold approaches, quality teaching still falls short.

I recall that it is akin to the days when I conduct a new and complicated lesson. I would go all out like a showman introducing the new topic, tell stories about the lesson objectives, give warnings about the need for good attention to details and launch into many examples of how the questions should be dealt with.

I pay great attention to my pedagogy skills ; honed over the years with many upgrades until I had perfected it.

Imagine my horror and sadness when the worksheets come rolling in.

The number of students who were unable to accomplish most of the tasks and achieve a passing grade were more than acceptable.

What has gone wrong ?

Why ? Why ? Why ?

I ploughed through their working and try to figure out how their minds responded to their tasks at hand when they were not under my supervision.

So far, I have loosely grouped these young kids into four major groups.

Group 1 :
This group is made up of the kids that every parent , teacher and tutor wants. They are the intelligent, compliant and disciplined ones. The Dream Team can be made up of such children in super risk-averse Singapore.

One could place this group anywhere in the world, with few amenities and luxuries, and the little darlings will do their work as well as usual.

HBL or tuition centre or school ; it does not matter.

Too bad tutors like us don’t see many of these kids to give us less stress.

Group 2 :
This group forms the main bulk of the student cohort. They are the slightly-above average Joes or Janes.

They cope decently well in class. They produce most of their work correctly with some mistakes here and there. With a bit of help and guidance, they go back on track and things are okay again .Both parties ( Groups 1&2) can move on to the next level .

Group 3 :

This group is made up of the ones that no one wants to touch with a ten-foot pole in the realm of teaching.

They do not do well in the classroom, tuition centre and definitely, not HBL !

They have a multitude of reasons regarding why they were already not doing well in the school and HBL worsens the matter because of the lack of supervision from qualified teaching personnel.

During HBL, these are the ones who can listen to my ‘wonderful’ lesson and ‘catch no ball’ . Most things said roll off them like water on a duck’s back.
Nothing much sticks.

Marking their work is sheer agony…like pulling out teeth. One has to comb through pages of scribbled nonsense that has great disconnect and mistakes are aplenty; be they spelling, punctuation, disjointed statements etc.

I have always told my friends and children..” Any donkey can teach a genius but it takes a genius to teach a donkey.”

This group of kids are the ones I spend long hours tutoring and nurturing until I can bring about a change in their attitudes towards learning, build up their self-esteem and make them more confident when they go into the examination hall.

My success with working with such kids requires long hours of teaching, interaction and of course, a large amount of scolding, screaming and praise.

Human psychology comes into play when dealing with them until satisfactory results are produced.

I have had many successes but sadly, there were also a few kids that have come my way that I had failed to change for the better . There was too much bad to deal with ; beyond my ability.

Group 4:

This group is made up of the mavericks.

They are the most challenging and interesting lot.

They are unpredictable regarding results and one must monitor their every move closely. They can give you great joy one day and make you tear your hair out another day.

This group is the one that keeps every parent, teacher and tutor on their toes. They are not below average students and some have the intelligence that can surpass the Group 1 kids.

They are the underachievers.

If work is supervised and monitored closely, they are generally acceptable,

If one forgets to supervise this group of kids, trouble starts.

1) Their work is incomplete or mostly not done.

2) They resort to copying or cheating .

3) They manipulate their working to fit the answers you have given during discussions,.

4) They try to outwit the system .

During HBL, they are the ones with the most problems with their computers…audio or visual problems are abound because they do not want eye-contact and voice interaction with you.

** Group 3 kids are not smart enough to be guilty of the last two reasons.

This group is the one group that does not do well at all in HBL.

And the number of hours needed to undo all the wrong and mayhem they have created is monumental.
I have great problems getting parents to help supervise them too.

Sometimes when I come across a piece of work done by such kids, I would ask them , “ Isn’t it stupid to spend time doing such a shoddy piece of work and then , spend long hours doing the corrections ? “

These kids cannot understand the value of doing a job well at the first try. That they could save so much time doing it once instead of twice.

All they wanted to do was anything else other than sitting at the table to study.

Which child do you have ?

I can’t wait to go back to the tuition centre and for my work to go back to normal again.

This is my one and only posting annually.

Pri 6 : No vacancy
Pri 5 : No vacancy
Pri 4 : No vacancy
Pri 3 : Limited vacancies
Pri 2 : No vacancy
Pri 1 : Limited vacancies

For further inquireis, please call/text 92340012.

Thank you very much.

Florence Lim

Intake for 2019:

Pri 6 : Full
Pri 5 : Full
Pri 4 : Full
Pri 3 : 4 vacancies
Pri 2 : Full
Pri 1 : Full

Places available on a first- come ,first -served basis.

Intake for 2019:

Pri 6 : 2 vacancies
Pri 5 : No vacancy
Pri 4 : No vacancy
Pri 3 : 4 vacancies
Pri 2 : 2 vacancies
Pri 1 : 2 vacancies

Places available on a first- come ,first -served basis.

Latest update : 1 Nov 2017

Intake for 2018 :

Pri 6 : Full
Pri 5 : 2 vacancies
Pri 4 : Full
Pri 3 : 2 vacancies
Pri 2 : Full
Pri 1 : Full

For the academic year of 2018:

Pri 6 : Full
Pri 1-5 : very limited vacancies . 1-2 places per year .

Please call to arrange for an interview.

Thank you very much .

Florence Lim

Welcome to 's new page! Florence Learning Hub is a tuition centre run by veteran educator Mrs Florence Lim, who has 36 years of teaching experience in the fields of English, Mathematics and Science.

Conveniently located in Balmoral Plaza in the centre of Singapore, Florence Learning Hub provides group tutoring services for children from Primary 1 till Primary 6 levels.

Please contact us to find out how we may help your child achieve his or her best educational potential today. http://florencelearninghub.com

What students say about Mrs Lim