2013 PSLE Discussions and Strategy
-
happyheart:
As a form of revision, thinking of asking dd to finish all the undone SA1 and then prelim.Past PSLE mummies,
Is it advisable to start working on past year prelim papers during this Holiday? Still have to finish all undone SA1 papers
? -
happyheart:
We will head off to Tioman Island for 3 days...snorkelling, canoeing, reading, fishing, eating & bonding!ScaredyMum:
[quote=\"happyheart\"]I don't care what is the exam result. He loves the sea and marine animals. I am taking him out to the sea during June Holiday. :snuggles:
happyheart, when u say take him out to sea, how do u do that? Cruise? Yacht?
Haha... seems like only travels and play catch my attention, even though this is a PSLE discussion thread! :evil:
Are you going anywhere?
I am meeting my girl friends tonight to chill out first..this SA1 already stressed me out, I need rejuvenation![/quote]Oicc... i seriously thought you have a yacht to bring them out wor...wow...hahaha
I am taking only 2 days to bring them out but not overseas. DH cannot make it, I have thought of bringing them overseas to a short trip myself, but SCARED la... 1 woman with 2 tiny boys... like easy targets lei...
So saving up my leaves for the GRAND trip after PSLE/SA2 :boogie:
DC SA1 will only finish tml
-
happyheart:
The schools should have covered all P6 syllabus by now. Term 3 is only revision & preparation for PSLE. Your child can try to attempt the past year prelim. If can't finish all SA1 & prelim papers. Select those more challenging ones.My boy did not do a lot of papers. It is quality that counts not quantity.Past PSLE mummies,
Is it advisable to start working on past year prelim papers during this Holiday? Still have to finish all undone SA1 papers ? -
happyheart:
My opinion is that it's better to be selective. There's no need to do all the papers just because you have them. In areas where your child has no problems or few problems, then maybe just a little practice is enough. When my daughter was preparing for PSLE, because she was strong in Maths, we didn't ask her to do the MCQs or short questions most of the time, and assigned 6 problems sums a day. She would do some MCQs and short questions maybe once every 2 weeks or when it was part of the school homework. Similarly for the parts of the English paper which she usually found easy. If your child is too tired, he will absorb less well and probably be resentful. I also think that the child should ample relaxation and play time as it's still a long way from the PSLE. Aim to peak at the PSLE, not the prelims.Past PSLE mummies,
Is it advisable to start working on past year prelim papers during this Holiday? Still have to finish all undone SA1 papers ? -
slmkhoo:
Thank you for the advice. How to tell whether the child has peaked already or not?
My opinion is that it's better to be selective. There's no need to do all the papers just because you have them. In areas where your child has no problems or few problems, then maybe just a little practice is enough. When my daughter was preparing for PSLE, because she was strong in Maths, we didn't ask her to do the MCQs or short questions most of the time, and assigned 6 problems sums a day. She would do some MCQs and short questions maybe once every 2 weeks or when it was part of the school homework. Similarly for the parts of the English paper which she usually found easy. If your child is too tired, he will absorb less well and probably be resentful. I also think that the child should ample relaxation and play time as it's still a long way from the PSLE. Aim to peak at the PSLE, not the prelims.happyheart:
Past PSLE mummies,
Is it advisable to start working on past year prelim papers during this Holiday? Still have to finish all undone SA1 papers ? -
ngl2010:
Hi ngl2010,
Mathematics: Focus on MCQ and problem sums 3 marks and below. They are the easiest to score.
Thanks for sharing and I think it is going to benefit many parents here.
PSLE is just about 3 to 4 months away and I guess every study tip counts.
I guess all I can chip in is the Math part. From my experience in helping students to improve their grades, this is what works very well for us and I feel that these could be what some other parents just need for their children to see the progress.
Identifying the root issue - If the child is still failing, this also means most likely the root issue is not addressed. And most likely, it is linked to emotion and perception.
Do not ask \"How come you don't know?. Instead ask \"How do you perceives (sees) math?\" You will be surprised that some children say \"Math stinks\", \"Math is the last thing I want to see.\" or \"I hate Math.\"
So find out the cause and then address the emotional aspect first. It is when you remove this emotional block, then your child can absorb the content.
Learn concepts and skils, not content - I think by now, the child should have been taught the content and the various simple formulas. However, exams DO NOT test your child on content, but they MIX the content up and test your child on concepts.
For instance, knowing fraction or ratio does not mean you can SOLVE questions on Remainder concept.
Let's use Remainder concept as an example, your child needs to know
1. converting to fractions.
2. multiplying fractions
3. dividing fractions
4. finding the right units and match them to the right value
5. division to find value of a unit
And if the child's misconception is in dividing fraction by a fraction, it will be very tough to solve this question and what normally happens is, the child sees this 2 to 3-mark questions as tough and parents see it as the child is poor in answer short answer questions.
Well, there is a more positive way of seeing it. If this misconception is all your child needs to clear, what you need to do is to just help your child understands at his level and he will be able to learn and apply it and solve it.
If you have no idea what misconceptions your child has, just identify incorrect answers. The answers are wrong because of misconceptions.
And do note once they change the fractions to ratios or decimals or percentage, the tested content will be different but the concept of using branch method to solve this question is the same.
Help children make sense of what they are learning - It is common that we wonder why some kids just can't understand / learn / apply / know regardless of how hard we try.
The reason is we, being older, have already formed knowledge maps in our mind and our knowledge maps are normally more established and better organised than these kids'.
For children, having seen it for the first time (probably), may not have such a well-organised knowledge map.
For a child who is failing and has yet to pass, the knowledge map is similar to loose marbles scattered on the floor. And having taught just topics, it is hard for them to link and make sense of what they have learnt.The individual marbles are isolated and there's nothing to link them.
As caring adults, what we can do is help them to make sense and connect these marbles (the topics taught in school) together so that they know what they are studying is connected and how these topics are connected.
Help them to understand it at their level, meaning that you help them to connect it to something they ALREADY KNOW.
It is similar to using analogy to explain facts and this will work better than just telling the child to read and understand. This is exactly like how I use marbles (above) to explain this point, it makes the explanation and understanding easier because you can pretty much see/ hear/ feel the marbles being thrown on the floor and you can relate to it because you have seen marbles before or have played with them before.
If your child has yet understood or can't apply, help them to make the connection.
Making learning fun - Use game based learning. Assessment books, textbooks, top school papers, revision papers are just tools and these are pretty common in our children's lives. There is no freshness and if a child does not like the topic, most probably the learning process is dull, boring and not engaging. In short, it is NOT fun.
Use other more interesting tools like blocks, board games, real life objects.
For example, for speed, will you be able to use a long ruler, toy cars and Monopoly houses as the towns.
For example, for volume, will you be able to use a bowl or glass and water?
For example, for understanding the skills to doing well in math, will you be able to use a game of chess/ reversi/ snake and ladder to explain the different skills the child should learn? Skills involve being flexible and be open to change depending on the situation (or how the questions are phrased.)
I hope this sharing can really benefit and possibly give some hope to parents whose children are not improving or doing well yet. And I use the word \"yet\" because your child can definitely score well.
My 2 cents,
John -
ngl2010:
Thank you for the advice. How to tell whether the child has peaked already or not?[/quote]Peak or not?
My opinion is that it's better to be selective. There's no need to do all the papers just because you have them. In areas where your child has no problems or few problems, then maybe just a little practice is enough. When my daughter was preparing for PSLE, because she was strong in Maths, we didn't ask her to do the MCQs or short questions most of the time, and assigned 6 problems sums a day. She would do some MCQs and short questions maybe once every 2 weeks or when it was part of the school homework. Similarly for the parts of the English paper which she usually found easy. If your child is too tired, he will absorb less well and probably be resentful. I also think that the child should ample relaxation and play time as it's still a long way from the PSLE. Aim to peak at the PSLE, not the prelims.slmkhoo:
[quote=\"happyheart\"]Past PSLE mummies,
Is it advisable to start working on past year prelim papers during this Holiday? Still have to finish all undone SA1 papers ?
These will be the signs you can see...
1. You can see the child improves by over 20 marks or even more within a few weeks or just a month or two...in some cases, the child's mark just doubled or tripled depending on the initial score.
2. The child loves the subject so much that s/he is doing it without being ask and that particular subject is one of the favorites...
3. And whenever s/he studying the subject, s/he is always smiley...
4. Plus most importantly, the grades just keep on improving or is maintained at the high grade.
5. And you have a feel that your child has become confident and you feel happy for your child. -
JohnYeo:
Thank you for the explanation, John. Can a child peak in 1 subject but not the others? Can the peak be maintained?
Peak or not?ngl2010:
Thank you for the advice. How to tell whether the child has peaked already or not?
These will be the signs you can see...
1. You can see the child improves by over 20 marks or even more within a few weeks or just a month or two...in some cases, the child's mark just doubled or tripled depending on the initial score.
2. The child loves the subject so much that s/he is doing it without being ask and that particular subject is one of the favorites...
3. And whenever s/he studying the subject, s/he is always smiley...
4. Plus most importantly, the grades just keep on improving or is maintained at the high grade.
5. And you have a feel that your child has become confident and you feel happy for your child. -
ngl2010:
Thank you for the advice. How to tell whether the child has peaked already or not?
I suppose you first have to know what your child is able to achieve. Some kids' 'peaks' will be higher than others. If they are still not doing what I believe they can do, then I guess they haven't peaked. A lot of details which require memorization may not be at the tip of their tongues yet, but should be when they are at their peak. If they are getting worse than before, they may have already peaked.
For my daughter, we just went by time and intensity. Up to 2 weeks before the prelims, she was working steadily but not very hard (just school homework plus a bit more), then we asked her to do more rapid review of all the material in the 2 weeks plus some practice papers. After the prelims, she had a few days rest, then we asked her to continue doing complete practice papers (actually most of them came from school). Along the way, we dealt with uncertainties or weaknesses as we encountered them. I don't think she ever worked more than 3 hrs a day even at the most intense part of her revision. What we did was to make sure that we eliminated 'busy' work - doing things that she already knew well or some rather silly homework (I would help her) etc - and homed in on her areas of weakness. She is also quite auditory, so I would take a few minutes each day to talk to her about what she had revised that day, and I think that helped her remember better. But I must say that she is a fast worker and learns fast too, so she probably worked less than most kids. -
ngl2010:
Thank you for the explanation, John. Can a child peak in 1 subject but not the others? Can the peak be maintained?[/quote]Glad to help, ngl2010.
Peak or not?JohnYeo:
[quote=\"ngl2010\"]
Thank you for the advice. How to tell whether the child has peaked already or not?
These will be the signs you can see...
1. You can see the child improves by over 20 marks or even more within a few weeks or just a month or two...in some cases, the child's mark just doubled or tripled depending on the initial score.
2. The child loves the subject so much that s/he is doing it without being ask and that particular subject is one of the favorites...
3. And whenever s/he studying the subject, s/he is always smiley...
4. Plus most importantly, the grades just keep on improving or is maintained at the high grade.
5. And you have a feel that your child has become confident and you feel happy for your child.
Personally, I feel a child can peak in 1 subject as well as in others too.
It is making connection and helping the child to make sense. I have seen children peaking in math and they exhibit all the signs that I just have explained to you in the previous posts.
For instance, to do well in Math, it involves strategies like identifying, making sense of it, connecting with interests, leveraging on the child's existing strengths...
and likewise, these strategies can be used for Science too...
I can't say for English because my English is average...hehe...
And of course, it can be used for most science and math topics in secondary school...
Edit:
Sorry I missed out the part on \"if peak can be maintained?\"
Yes it can because I feel when a child has reached the peak. One of the reasons is because the child became self-driven and self-motivated...
When the child starts to study that subject by himself, there is consistent practice without any reminder from outside source. It is very much self-driven by the child so I think it can be maintained...
But again, there are many external factors like bad influence, family change and so on. Because during my social work days, I have seen a child who was doing well till he mingled with the wrong crowd.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better š
Register Login
Online Users
Statistics
Recent Topics
