[Bzee]

What is the difference between Gymboree and Gymbaroo, other than that one is American and the other is Australian? They seem really similar and I'm not sure at which one to register my
8 month old. And there is also a new place called Panda Junction that seems similar to 'ree & 'roo. Also heard of MyGym, which also follows the same format.

Is there one that's more exceptional than the others? Can anyone offer a recommendation or give feedback from experiencing the classes? I'm not sure which one and don't have the time to try each of them out.

[Jenny]

Hi Bianca!

Ree is the more popular one I think but Ree only has about 10 mins of organized activity. The remaining 35 mins is free play. I have never checked out Roo but I hear Roo has alot more organized activity. Free play is a bit of a rip off bc you are paying approx. $160 per class and 35 mins consists of you and your baby playing on the apparatus. I would have thought that there would be a little more singing etc. Notwithstanding, Maxwell really enjoys Ree. He joined at 4 months and now at 9 months, he absolutely loves the place. We will renew.

Mygym is a US thing and I love it. We joined about 1 month ago. Its similar to Ree except the place has different types of toys and swings from Ree. But once again, there is alot of free play - I think about 15 mins is organized activity. The good thing about Mygym is that they have 2 free sessions per week so that you can bring your child just to play. We will probably take advantage of that soon. The place is big and very bright (Centrium building).

I never checked out Panda. I met a woman who takes her child there and seems to really like it. I don't think its a franchise so I havent heard much about it.

If you sign up for Mygym on Sat mornings, I will see you there!

[rani]

I've heard that Panda is started by a woman that was previously at Roo or Ree so I expect its pretty similar.

Rani

[aldougie]

I also give My Gym the thumbs up. We signed our daughter up (she is just 6 months old) and she seems to really enjoy it - you do only get about 15-20 mins organised activity but we've learnt so much and I really like the staff running the place. I also like the fact that they are okay about who takes the children - my husband and I both take our daughter to the organised session on Thursday and our helper takes her to the two Freeplay sessions so we get our moneys worth!

[Bzee]

Thank you all for the information. I'm sold on MyGym and will try it out.

[Jenny]

Bianca, I take the Sat morning classes at 9am. First trial class is free.

[Lai San]

My daughter had been to Gymboree and she liked it. Can't comment on Gymbaroo as we hadn't have a chance to check it out. Have heard of Panda Junction. Have heard very good things about MyGym.

The only reservation about Panda and MyGym is that I suspect neither of them is registered with the social welfare department (for children under 3) nor the education department (for children above 3) given the high floor both of them are on. That means their fire and building safety compliance could be in question. I would explicitly ask the staff about that before I enrol my child.

[Lipe]

I take my boy to Gymboroo, and we both love it. I did a research on both ree and roo and preferred roo, most because of the reasons described above. Another point is what My gym and the other two offers are different. MyGym as the name says is orientated towards motor development and the other two focuses on social, cognitive and spatial development. Also, don't treat "free playing time" as just free playing time (hope you will understand my point). The playing time is very important for the development of the child, and the circuit as they called is design specifically for the group age of your child. Quoting Gymboroo website "They are not simply "gyms" or "playgroups" for children and babies they are educational centers aimed at helping parents learn about the importance of early childhood development to later school learning". Gymboroo also don't mind who is taking the child, and could be parents or helpers. One more thing, I heard good things about Panda Junction, however the owner of the place is a former instructor from Gymboroo. What I heard is that Panda Junction doesn’t have any other support for her program apart the fact that she learned everything at Gymboroo and decided to opened her own school and take part of these big market. I am personally a bit scary about this type of business.