Creating new
Pathways for learning
Find out about our early intervention programmes



About US
Leveraging on more than 40 years of extensive experience in women’s and children’s health, Thomson Kids Specialised Learning and Thomson Counselling are key components of Thomson Medical’s ecosystem of synergistic services, where children’s developmental health and well-being are taken care of holistically.
Supported by psychologists, speech and language therapists and special needs trained teachers, Thomson Kids Specialised Learning is a learning centre for children with learning difficulties, through structured educational programmes derived from research-proven teaching methods.
Thomson Kids Specialised Learning is helmed by Ms Frances Yeo, a child psychologist with more than 20 years of clinical experience. For the past 5 years, Frances has also led a paediatric clinic specialising in psychology and counselling.
Our Curriculum
The ability to read and write is foundational for learning. Children with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, language delays and learning difficulties often struggle with basic literacy, which then holds back their learning, cognitive development and social interaction.
Through our specialised interventions, we help students with unique learning needs develop their listening, oracy, reading and writing skills.
Our English and Chinese Programmes are developed for students who may be struggling in mainstream schools.
We offer a differentiated curriculum based on MOE syllabus but taught using specialised material and teaching methods.
Our proprietary materials and structured learning programmes are developed by our highly experienced team, comprising experts in child psychology, curriculum writers and special needs teachers.
From our extensive experience from years of working with students with ADHD, Autism and learning difficulties, we have seen how students can thrive with an instructional approach based on these key principles:
We first start by accurately diagnosing the student’s underlying problems. Only then are we are able to enrol the student with the right learning programmes and adapt teaching methods to their specific needs. For example, a student with weak auditory working memory would need visual supports to learn.
Our teachers are trained on the latest evidence-based instructional methods and are supported by our specially developed teaching materials to help students overcome their particular challenges. Children with learning difficulties can overcome their challenges through perseverance with the right instructional approach.
Scaffolding is an important concept for teaching students with learning disabilities. Evidence from research shows that scaffolding is effective in helping students learn more as compared to traditional methods. This approach requires the teacher to first have a good understanding of the student’s learning needs and abilities based on inputs from the diagnostic assessment.
Students with learning difficulties often suffer from depression and poor self-esteem as they repeatedly fail to keep up with peers. We focus on helping students build up confidence and instil a sense of independent inquiry by breaking down learning into manageable parts that challenge but do not overwhelm.
Explore our Programmes

Specialised English Programme - GRIT
Dedicated teachers in our Orton-Gillingham inspired English programme (GRIT) make phonics, morphology, comprehension and writing strategies systematic, sequential and fun for your child. With practical and hands-on language activities in our curriculum, your child will not just acquire literacy concepts but also develop GRIT—to help them achieve and succeed in life.
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Specialised Chinese Programme - 铁棒磨成针
In our Chinese programme (铁棒磨成针), we see Chinese as more than an academic subject—the sharing of Chinese culture and values is key to promote resilience in your child. Your child will enjoy multisensory and hands-on language activities. Be it character recognition, stroke order, sentence structures, comprehension or writing, our teachers make Chinese interactive, systematic and fun.

Meet our specialists

FRANCES YEO
“I see many children who struggle with learning. They are not confident because of hidden learning difficulties and struggle in schools. From working with these kids, I have seen many of them overcome their challenges if we can create the right environments for them. By making lessons engaging through multi-sensory activities, these children can do much better as compared to traditional classroom learning. We founded Thomson Kids to provide the appropriate learning environments based on insights from research and our collective clinical experience. “
FRANCES YEO
As a psychologist, Frances specializes in working with children and teens, together with their parents and families. She is experienced in a wide range of issues including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum, learning disorders, eating disorders, and esteem issues. As a mother, she understands fully how every child is different and how important for parents to understand the unique talents and personality of each child. Frances works with parents to better attune to the child’s needs and helps address the issues by recalibrating parenting styles and expectations.
The first step to helping a child usually starts with an accurate diagnosis of the underlying issues. With more than 20 years’ experience in the field of psychology, specializing almost exclusively on child and adolescent development for the last 16 years, Frances has been able to help many children through accurate testing and evaluation using standardized cognitive and academic tests. She regularly engages with teachers and schools to ensure a holistic treatment program for the children she sees.
Frances was trained in Sydney, Australia, where she obtained a Bachelor's degree at the University of New South Wales before completing her studies with a Master’s degree at the University of Sydney. She began her career at Singapore Prison Service, where she treated offending behaviors and assessed the risk of re-offending for two years. Subsequently, she joined KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) where she established the Psychology Service and, as the Principal Psychologist, grew the team to eight psychologists. During her 7 years at KKH, Frances worked with children, family, and adults, conducting diagnostic assessments for learning difficulties and ADHD. She also treated individuals with anxiety, stress, obsessive-compulsive disorders, eating disorders, self-harming, and depression. In 2009, Frances left KKH for private practice where she established The Child Developmental Centre Clinic at Novena Medical Centre. During her 5 years there, Frances grew the practice to integrated child development and allied health services centre with 22 clinicians and early intervention teachers. Since 2015, Frances has been practicing at Thomson Medical Centre. Passionate about doing more for students with specific learning difficulties and neurodevelopmental disorders, she leads the setup of Thomson Medical Group’s Thomson Kids Specialised Learning – a centre dedicated to helping students with learning difficulties through structured educational programs, derived from evidence-based interventions.
Like other fields of medical science, clinical psychology has seen rapid advances due to clinical research. Frances is trained in peer-reviewed and medically proven techniques such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR), and schema therapy. She contributes regularly to magazines and newspapers.
LEE XIN YING
"Having both the 'heartware'—a passion for special needs—and the 'hardware'—training in special education, linguistics and psychology, I strive to empower children with special needs in their literacy journey. I enjoy learning and growing together with my students amidst beautiful struggles.”

LEE XIN YING
Lee Xin Ying is a passionate, dedicated and experienced special needs educator. She strives to provide unique, multi-sensory and concrete learning experiences to make literacy concepts relevant to even the most reluctant learner. Using her creativity and resourcefulness to break beyond traditional teaching and learning methods, she infuses technology and game-based practices into her curriculum and lessons. A reflective practitioner, she has her students at the heart of everything she does, constantly on the lookout for strategies to make lessons more relatable, enjoyable and effective.
Xin Ying graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor’s in Linguistics and Multilingual Studies degree and a double major in Psychology (First Class Honours, Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal recipient). Subsequently, she furthered her studies in the field of special education, attaining a Distinction in the Master of Arts in Special Education (Post Graduate Certificate) under the University of South Wales and the DAS Academy. She also holds a Specialist Diploma in Specific Learning Differences (DAS Academy) and a Professional Certificate in Dyslexia and Chinese Language Support.
She formerly worked in Dyslexia Association of Singapore as a Senior Educational Therapist, trained in the Orton Gillingham approach for both English and Chinese. In her time at DAS, she was involved in supervising and guiding new educational therapists as well as educational exchanges with MOE special needs teachers. In recognition of her teaching abilities as well as her helpful, caring and enthusiastic nature, she was recognised as an exemplary role model and conferred the 2017 MAP EdT of the Year award.
After leaving DAS, Xin Ying honed her curriculum writing skills as the Head of Curriculum (English) at Literacy Plus. She was integral in the redevelopment of their entire primary and secondary curriculum to make it more engaging and relevant, infusing best practices for special education into the curriculum. Apart from curriculum writing, she also has years of writing and editorial experience in both English and Chinese under her belt—having worked as an editor, a freelance translator and a bilingual writer.

ELIZABETH MUI YEE YEN
“I believe that children with special needs have endless potential. I enjoy celebrating wins – big and small. Supporting my students in meeting their therapy goals can be immensely motivating. Watching them achieve gains in communication skills fuels my drive to continuously provide effective interventions to help every child I meet learn to communicate with confidence“
ELIZABETH MUI YEE YEN
Elizabeth is a registered Speech Therapist under the Singapore Allied Health Professions Council (AHPC). She graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics, and furthered her studies at the University of Melbourne where she obtained a Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology.
Elizabeth has 6 years of experience working as a speech therapist with children and adolescents in VWO special education schools under APSN. She has experience in working with children with a range of presentations, including but not limited to: Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Global Developmental Delay, intellectual disability, speech and language delay/ disorder, and social communication disorders. During her time at APSN, she had the opportunity to attend international conferences (in Australia and UK) as a speaker to share about LEGO group programmes and speech therapy research projects she conducted in the schools.
Elizabeth is able to converse fluently in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. She enjoys customising her therapy approach to individual interests to keep speech therapy sessions fun and engaging. She believes in the value of working closely with parents, caregivers, and other professionals to provide holistic support for her clients to achieve their goals. Elizabeth is trained in DIR Floortime® 101, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS®), Hanen - More Than Words® and Signposts for Building Better Behaviour.
SEE LAY YEN
"I find it fulfilling to support and help students with learning difficulties improve and grow in self-confidence. Students with learning difficulties can learn a second language through perseverance and systematic, multisensory instructional approach. I strive to help them reach their highest potential. ”

SEE LAY YEN
Lay Yen has been specialising in providing Chinese Language intervention for students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) since 2012. She believes that students with learning difficulties can reach their highest potential through perseverance and systematic, multi-sensory instructional approach. She also believes in helping students work towards independent learning by equipping them with learning strategies. She feels a strong sense of satisfaction when students gain self-confidence and grow in resilience in facing learning challenges. She is constantly exploring teaching strategies to make learning engaging and effective for students.
Lay Yen graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies (HON). Subsequently, she obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Chinese Language, Primary Level) from the National Institute of Education (NIE). She also holds an Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Chinese Language and Literature from NIE. She then furthered her studies in the field of special education and attained a Postgraduate Certificate in Special Educational Needs under the University of South Wales and the DAS Academy. She is also a qualified trainer with the Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA) by the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ).
Lay Yen was formerly a Chinese Language Teacher in a Primary School. She joined the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) in 2012 and was a Senior Educational Therapist, trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach for both teaching English and Chinese language. She was a core team member of the DAS Chinese curriculum team, involved in developing the Chinese curriculum, conducting research related to Dyslexia and the learning of the Chinese Language, as well as mentoring new Educational Therapists. She was also a trainer at the DAS Academy for new educational therapists and the public. In 2017, she received a CEO commendation team award for her contribution towards developing the Chinese assessment tool. After leaving DAS, she began her private practice as a tutor for students with SPLD, while doing adjunct lecturing with DAS.
Hear From Our Clients
“Shane is my third child, so when I observed that he did not speak by age 2.5 years, could not point at anything, would not look me in the eyes or anyone else in our family, I found his behaviour weird. From age 2, he would always be lying down on his side and lining up trains in a straight line then staring at these trains from the corner of his eye. Such inappropriate play habits were a concern for me, but my biggest worry was "why can't my child say a word?"
“Heartfelt thanks for all you’ve done for my daughter’s life. We have seen gradual improvements and how she is trying her level best to realign herself again. She’s taking these steps voluntarily, but I know you are the key reason she is able to put in a lot of effort to bring herself up again. Our highest gratitude and appreciation. We are so grateful for you being there all the way, for our kind support and professionalism. Kudos Ms Frances!"
“I have two boys who were diagnosed with ASD and they are in mainstream school. They have been seeing Ms Frances for several years. Throughout the years, she has given us useful suggestions on how to deal with their learning and behavioural issues in school. With her help, the boys have been coping well and happy in mainstream.”
“I couldn’t read or understand much which affected my spelling. Whenever I had a composition exam, I couldn’t write anything. I would have a ton of great ideas but would not be able to pen it down. Ms Xin Ying’s lessons made it easier to remember how to spell certain words. I can read much better and faster now thanks to the flashcards (card drill) Ms Xin Ying made us do every lesson. Also, other than teaching using worksheets alone, Ms Xin Ying would include games like Kahoot! and reward us with sweets or little gifts whenever we got it right.”
“When Shoshanna was in K2, we sent her for English enrichment class as her teacher expressed concern that she isn’t quite on par with her peers. Through that, we found that her progress was slow and sent her for a psychological assessment. After we found out she is dyslexic, we got remediation right away. I strongly believe it is important for the child not to be affected by their challenges during their schooling journey; it isn’t about grades but their confidence and emotional well-being.
“I didn't find out I had dyslexia till I was Primary 5 and did a test. Before that, I didn’t even know what dyslexia was. I also have ADHD, which was discovered earlier, around kindergarten, because my teacher suspected I had that. Due to my ADHD, I had strong impulses and they were stronger if there were underlying emotions—they were really hard to control. I did whatever I wanted, without thinking. I get very distracted very easily, even if it’s a faint click in the room. I would stop everything I was doing. And I am also extremely forgetful. For me, a little stress helps me get in the mood to focus.”
“I found out that I am dyslexic through my former English tuition teacher when I was in Secondary 2. My mother often finds it incredibly frustrating that I could not get the spelling of the words correct, even after much practice memorising it. However, thanks to Ms Xin Ying's guidance, my spelling has improved by leaps and bounds. In fact, not only did my spelling improve, so did my reading. Now, I am not only able to read much quicker than before but with greater clarity too. What I enjoy the most during her lesson is how she makes learning fun. In many of her classes, she would incorporate many different small and fun activities to keep us engaged, making her lessons extremely enjoyable. In one of her lessons, she even had us baking cookies while teaching us writing concepts.”
“My frustrations as a dyslexic were mostly about not being able to read as fast and proficiently as everyone else in my class. I continuously would think that I was, and were, always going to be 2 steps behind my classmates and that I would never be able to catch up or even be lucky enough to be on the same level as them.
“We were unaware that Aysha had dyslexia until she started P1. As a child, she didn’t give us any reasons to cause concern as she had met her developmental milestones (was quick in learning how to talk / walk). She was quick to make friends, sociable and didn’t demonstrate any signs of having a learning difficulty or any developmental obstacles.
I am extremely grateful to Frances for helping my child in a critical year of her life (pre PSLE). I approached Frances for help because my child was showing a lack of motivation for school and interest in social interactions. It made for a fraught relationship as I found myself pushing her hard in the name of tough love. Frances firstly helped eliminate concerns around clinical conditions and then proceeded to peel the onion for us on how my child perceives the world and processes information.
FAQs
- Curriculum
- Specialist Teachers
- Class Information
- Fee Policy
- Enrolment Policy
- Withdrawal Policy
- COVID-19 Related Questions
- What is Thomson Kids Curriculum about?
- How do you group the students into each class?
- What will my child learn at Thomson Kids?
- Not all students with learning disorders have the same learning needs. How does your teacher adapt the lessons so that my child can benefit most from the lessons?
- How does the teacher ensure that my child is making the improvements in his learning?
Thomson Kids teaching philosophy is based on the concept of neuroplasticity, where peer-reviewed research has shown that our brains can be re-wired through repetitive targeted learning.
Our teaching approach builds on scaffolding, where students with learning difficulties learn better when teachers provide supports, or scaffolds, to enhance learning and aid in the mastery of tasks.
Furthermore, children with learning difficulties do not learn well in traditional classroom learning. They learn better when learning experiences engages their different senses. Neuroimaging studies shows that multisensory learning activates larger parts of our brains, therefore increasing the chances of improved neural connections and connecting information to previously learned information.
Basically, the more of our brain we use, the better chance we have of remembering things later and connecting new knowledge to things that we already know. We do not use assessment books. We developed our own teaching and learning materials based on insights from research and our collective clinical experience.
Before enrolling for our Specialised English or Chinese Programmes, each student will be assessed by our psychologist to determine his/her learning needs. Children will be grouped based on ability and chronological age.
For each ability level, our curriculum team has planned specific learning objectives according to MOE school curriculum requirements. This means that children will be learning the key reading and writing skills which they need to build a strong foundation in English and Chinese Language. Our materials are directly relevant to school and we aim to equip children with exam skills to tackle school-based assignments.
We recognise that not all students have the same unique learning needs. While our teacher follows the specific learning objectives for each lesson, our teacher may modify tasks for students such as reducing the number or the complexity of questions. The programme is supported by our curriculum specialist and psychologist who will make recommendations to modify the learning materials, when needed.
Concepts are reinforced at every lesson, as we are aware that students with learning difficulties have fast forgetting. Our teachers will assess the students’ needs throughout the year to ensure that students are not falling behind in their learning. An annual test will be conducted at the end of the year to measure each student’s learning improvements.
- What qualifications do your teachers have?
- How will I be updated about my child’s learning progress in the classes?
- I like to speak to the teacher to find out more about my child’s progress.
All our teachers have experience teaching preschool or primary students in Singapore. Our teachers undergo our in-house train-the-trainer programme to ensure that they are familiar with the Thomson Kids curriculum. Many of our teachers have also attended courses in teaching special needs students.
Our centre has a parent/student portal where teachers will upload information about what your child has learnt in the lesson. We provide lesson materials and worksheets which your child will bring home. We strongly believe in parental engagement in fostering learning in students and strongly encouraged you to reinforce the weekly learning concepts at home.
Our teachers communicate regularly with parents regarding their child’s progress via the student/parent portal. If you have questions, you can email your teacher(s) via the Parent portal.
- How many students will be in each class?
- How long will each lesson be?
- Are parents allowed in the lesson?
- What are your class schedules like?
- What is your public holiday policy?
- What is your replacement class policy?
- Do you have lessons during MOE school holidays?
Research shows that small-group instruction encourages active student participation, higher achievement, and greater ability to view situations from others' perspectives. For these reasons, we keep our classes to a maximum of 5 students to one teacher.
Each lesson will be 1.5 hours long.
Only students will be attending the lesson.
Class schedules differ and depends on demand and teacher availability. Our classes typically start from 10am with the last class ending at 8pm.
No lessons will be held if it falls on a public holiday. We will provide home-based learning materials to students so that they will continue to keep up with their learning.
If your child misses a lesson because he is sick, on holiday, busy with school activities etc., we will replace up to a maximum of two lessons per term in the form of vouchers which can be used to off-set fees for the next term.
No lessons will be held during MOE school holidays.
- What is your payment policy?
To secure a student’s space in the class, fees are paid one month before the start of the new term. Fees are not transferrable and refundable. We accept Cash, Credit Cards, PayNow, Bank Transfer. We are applying to be an Approved Institution (AI) registered with Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) under the Baby Bonus Scheme (more information to come).
- How do I enrol my child?
Please contact us by Whats App or submitting a form on our website. Our customer service staff will contact you within 3 working days to discuss your child’s needs and arrange a time for you to come in to meet with our psychologist.
- How do I withdraw my child from the class?
To ensure that children have maximum opportunities for group learning, no midterm withdrawals are allowed. One-month withdrawal notice is required should you like to withdraw your child from our programme. Parents will need to fill up a withdrawal form.
- What will happen if there is a circuit breaker in the future and schools are not allowed to be open?
- What are your safe-distancing measures and infection control at your centre?
We are prepared for the unforeseen circumstances caused by the current pandemic. Our teachers will conduct online lessons should this situation occur in the future.
After every lesson, our teachers use hospital-grade disinfectant to wipe down all contact surfaces. There will be no intermingling between students in different classrooms. All students are required to bring in their own stationery and temperature is screened before entering the centre premises.