Gavin went for a trial class at Monster Tennis today as part of my school holiday exposure program. Of all the activities I have suggested so far, he was not at all keen about this one. That said, I was quite pleased to note that it did not require much arm twisting to get him to agree to go (which is quite a change from the past where I would be banging my head against the wall with frustration after trying to cajole him to “give it a go”). Here are the details…
Monster Tennis is located in Plaza Damas, Sri Hartamas (see Map to Monster Tennis):
Address: L-1-14, Plaza Damas, 60 Jln Sri Hartamas 1, Sri Hartamas, 50480 KL
Telephone: +6012-366 7880
Website: www.monstertenniskl.com
They offer tennis lessons for children age 3 to 8. These are their available programs:
- Munchkin (accompanied by a parent): under 3 year olds
- Tots: 3-4 year olds
- Stars: 5-6 years olds
- Champs: 7-8 years olds
Fees:
- Trial class – RM60 (30 minutes)
- Registration – RM80 (lifetime)
- Group lessons (2-4 children per group) – RM480 (8 sessions, 45 minutes each)
- Individual lessons – RM720 (6 sessions, 30 minutes each)
- Private package (2 children) – RM1140 (6 sessions, 45 minute each)
- Munchkin program (3 children per group) – RM360 (6 sessions, 30 minutes each)
They are normally open from 2pm to 5pm for classes. All trial classes are held before 2pm or after 5pm and are by appointment only.
The trial session was also a great way to gauge Gavin’s physical competencies – hand-eye coordination, ability to follow instruction, motor skills, balance, etc. Based on his performance today, for a child his age, he did pretty well except for catching. It was somewhat of a surprise for me since I’ve always thought of Gavin as more of an academic than a sports person.
If I was worried that a tennis lesson would be too tedious for Gavin, I have to say that the session at Monster Tennis was well structured. They had a lot of different activities which help to develop the skills a child requires to play tennis that went beyond simply hitting a ball with a tennis racquet. The variety of activities kept the session interesting and fun.
When I asked Gavin at the end of the session what he thought of it, he said Monster Tennis was second on the list after cooking lessons.
It seems the more classes we trial, the more activities I find that I would like Gavin to do. But once he starts school, it would be impractical for him to do them all. Not to mention that the cost of it all would have Daddy coming after me with an axe. If only we could drop school and just do these activities – I’m sure Gavin would love that idea. Don’t worry Daddy, I’m just kidding.
The original idea for letting Gavin trial a variety of classes was so that he could:
- broaden his experiences
- add some variety in his daily routine (while he was on extended school holidays)
- discover his passion
The intention is to let him sign up for the one class that he enjoyed most out of all the trial classes he attended. Secondly, even if he decides he doesn’t like these activities now, he may come to enjoy them later in life when he encounters them again. Thirdly, it might also help him open up to the idea of trying new things.
If you would like to follow us on this journey, this is the list of extra-curricular activities that have been planned so far (click the links to read about the activities we have tried so far; more links will be added as we get through the list):
- Gymnastics (alternative Gym class with Adventure Maze)
- Cooking
- Art
- Tennis
- Taekwondo
- Golf
- Fencing
- Rock Climbing
- Music
- Metalwork – Royal Selangor Pewter School of Hard Knocks
- CT Workshop
- Speech and Drama
If you know of any other activities that might be fun for a child to experience, please leave a comment – thank you!
About the author
- More at
1003 SUBSCRIBERS
POSTS
2868 FANS
Hi Shen Li,
How about dance? I don’t mean ballet, as most boys (and their parents) may not be too keen on that, but I’ve heard of parents here in Oz sending even boys to hip hop and jazz classes at a young age. Gives them an appreciation for rhythm and music.
wow – that’s a long list you have there. am curious about the fencing class. is it the one at BSC?
anyway, there’s speech & drama….. and also lego at CT workshop, BVII.
Thanks for the suggestion Denise. Great idea! I don’t know if Gavin still likes dance, but he used to like it when he was little. Will have to look around for dance classes for young children.
Hi Hui-Wearn,
Yeah, fencing is the one I saw at BSC. I remember seeing another place somewhere else and thinking, “Oh, they have it here, too.” But I can’t for the life of me remember where it was! I tried googling to find it and nothing came up. So yeah, it looks like the one at BSC for now.
Do you know of any speech and drama programs we can try? What is the CT workshop in BVII? I’ll go check it out. Gavin loves Lego.
Thanks!
Acts at Damansara Heights has drama & dance & music. not sure about Lorna Whiston…. or KLPac….
check out the CT workshop page on FB. like then and enjoy a discount off the trial class. i have yet to send Evan for trial – hopefully soon.
Cool. Will definitely check them out. Trying to do as much as we can before Gavin starts school.
Perhaps the non-structured activity such as in Megakidz club @ Midvalley…a place with wild play and “no rules”…
Yes. The kids love free play. I take them to Kizsports and the one in BSC. Haven’t tried MegaKidz yet because Gareth was too young for it. The one in Young Explorers is pretty cool, too, but again Gareth is too young for it.