Textbook Candy 课本糖 (Rediffusion TV on Demand)

Photo credit

If you are a StarHub Cable TV subscriber, you may be already aware that Textbook Candy (课本糖) is already aired.  It is video-on-demand, aired in channel 325.  The programme is meant for primary school students, helping them to revise Chinese.  It is aligned with the Chinese textbook used in schools, each episode covers 1 chapter each.

The programme is broken into 3 sections, mainly 课文讲解, 词语讲解 & 小呼有话对你说.  小呼 is the talking panda, Eva (张美香) is the teaching parent & there are usually 3-4 teachers in the show as well.

The main cast (photo credit)

Here are some screenshots I have captured:

As we are StarHub subscriber, we get to watch an episode for free.  After watching the 1st episode, AJ has been continuing watching it.  It helps him in his revision, I didn't have to prepare him that much for the mid-year exam.  As such, anything that is textbook related, I am hands off.  I left it to him to revise himself by watching the programme.  I only helped in the comprehension & composition.

I have spread the word to other parents & some have given me feedback which I would like to share with you here:

I find the content educational & entertaining. It follows closely to the textbook covering essential topics in a light-hearted way.

My daughter only watched it once & hasn't requested to watch another episode since. She does watch TV but never remember to switch over to this channel. I guess it could just be too much like school work to her. 

Price wise, I find it way too steep for mass media content. It would be good if it is subsidized by Ministry of Education (MOE).

- TC, father of JQ who is 8.

The program is very much aligned to MOE syllabus.  The contents are exactly the same as in the textbook.  The host, 张美香, speaks good Mandarin & she is able to capture my son’s interest.  The panda mascot is attractive to kids of his age too.

The drawback is that there are too many conversations carried out between different characters in the show.  It requires a lot of listening & comprehending.  As my son is weak in Chinese, he was not engaged with the show after 30 minutes.   It will be good to have some songs or short cartoon clips in the show.

Overall, I would still give 2 thumbs up as it is not easy to find a suitable Chinese program that ties in with the textbook that well in Singapore.  The price of $8 per episode is reasonable as well.  

- Hannah, mother of Joshua who is 8.

So what is my verdict of this programme?

Like what Hannah has mentioned, it is not easy to find Chinese TV programme that is aligned with the Ministry of Education syllabus in the market.  In my opinion, this programme can easily surpass any after-school remedial lessons.  However, as it covers only the textbook, parents may have to find other means to help their children on comprehension & composition.

I concur with TC & I do find the $8 subscription for each episode on the high side.  With 12 chapters (12 episodes) in half a year, 1 would have to pay $88 (any 1st episode is free) for the half year revision, & $184 for a full year revision.

I also find that this programme is not suitable for potato children.  It is more suitable for children who already have some foundation in Chinese & merely use this mode as a revision.

Overall, I find this programme beneficial for most primary school goers if they watch it with the purpose of revising what were taught.  I will certainly approved AJ watching it.