Abrakadoodling

After the trial at Art Bug, Art Class #2 for Noey was at Abrakadoodle last week.

I had heard positive reviews of the place from different friends so I was interested to check it out. The fact that it is conveniently sited near my place was also a big plus.

Noey was happy enough to go after I explained to him that it was a different class from the one he went to previously. I think school has really helped him be more independent. It was a full class of 8 kids and while he was a bit hesitant initially, he settled down with the rest to listen to the teacher explain the lesson for the day.

Nomi and I stayed to peek through the glass for a bit, then went downstairs to do our groceries.

We popped back for the last 10 mins of the class where parents are invited back for the presentation by the kids of their art work.

When it was Noey’s turn, he was able to say that it was Papa’s office building, and point out a window where Papa was. He was also able to explain how he did the piece — that he “coloured with crayons” and “peeled off the tape” and “painted with a sponge”. For a first timer, I was really quite proud of him.

The lesson did sink in, because over dinner, he was able to tell me about the Effifel Tower and that it was the shape of a triangle. I was even more impressed when we came across a drawing of the Petronas Towers in the art work of one of his books and he excitedly told me “I saw this! On the computer during art class! The teacher showed me this building!” He couldn’t remember the name of the Towers but I was happy that he could visually identify the building. I promised him that we would go to KL one day to see it.

There is actually another art school that I’m interested in checking out — Art Boot Camp at Turf City — but I decided to sign Noey up for a term at Abrakadoodle first for several admittedly non-art reasons: (1) it is near home, (2) the class timings just work better, and (3) when he’s in class, I can grocery shop at the Cold Storage downstairs, which is perfect for me! I also like Abrakadoodle’s rolling term system. You just sign up for 10 lessons, independent of the term. I like their more flexible system for makeup classes and the fact that public holidays will not be counted in your 10 lessons. On this last point, they have the edge over Art Bug, which annoyingly applies the Julia Gabriel standard terms, where there is a makeup class only where there are 2 public holidays in a term (none if there is only 1), and requires you to decide by week 5 if you’re continuing for the next term or lose your deposit. Those conditions, together with needing an MC for makeup classes used to annoy me to no end when Noey was attending PlayClub.

Noey starts tomorrow. I hope he enjoys it. Looks like me and my trusty grocery companion will be spending more time together wandering the aisles!

The trial class is $40, but if you like Abrakadoodle’s Facebook Page, it’s reduced to $30. They also waive the trial class fee if you sign up on the day of the trial.