2013 PSLE Discussions and Strategy
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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. -
JohnYeo:
By this description, my daughter never peaked!Peak 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. -
slmkhoo:
Hi slmkhoo,
By this description, my daughter never peaked!JohnYeo:
Peak 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.
Different children takes different time...so just be patient...one of the important factors, I feel, that can help to make sure the child will eventually peak is enjoyment in the learning process...
I think at the end of the day, there are different definition of \"peak\". So this is just one of the many definition.
John -
JohnYeo:
Reading this, I guess what I mean by 'peaking' is different from yours. What I mean is that the child is doing the best he is able to, whether that is getting an A or a C.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. -
slmkhoo:
Definitely...same word with many definition and interpretations...and different ways of measuring it...
Reading this, I guess what I mean by 'peaking' is different from yours. What I mean is that the child is doing the best he is able to, whether that is getting an A or a C.JohnYeo:
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.
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slmkhoo:
Ya! :faint: If yours didn't, my daughters are definitely even way behind, slmkhoo.
By this description, my daughter never peaked!JohnYeo:
Peak 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.
PS. Hee.. I am happy I don't mix your nick up with \"slim khoo\" :evil: or \"sim khoo\" anymore.
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Thank you SlmKhoo and John for your explanation.
I am currently worried my son had peaked because he had became a confident and happy boy in the last 2 weeks. Preliminary SA1 results added to his confidence (his school set easy papers). I have never seen him like this before so I am worried that he will all the way go downhill from now.
I am thinking how to maintain this peak or even let him go down the valley and peak again. I am not saying that he had achieved all As but he is in his best form now. He is relaxed, only do homework given by school and do 1 top school paper a week but doing reasonably well in SA1. I have to be careful in giving him 'concoction' of work during June holiday so he can maintain his form. It is a different problem now :frustrated: -
ngl2010:
Hey ngl2010! You are welcome...Thank you SlmKhoo and John for your explanation.
I am currently worried my son had peaked because he had became a confident and happy boy in the last 2 weeks. Preliminary SA1 results added to his confidence (his school set easy papers). I have never seen him like this before so I am worried that he will all the way go downhill from now.
I am thinking how to maintain this peak or even let him go down the valley and peak again. I am not saying that he had achieved all As but he is in his best form now. He is relaxed, only do homework given by school and do 1 top school paper a week but doing reasonably well in SA1. I have to be careful in giving him 'concoction' of work during June holiday so he can maintain his form. It is a different problem now :frustrated:
One word for you...Congrats!
And is ok to go downhill
But the difference now is that the next time your child
improves, the rate will be FASTER and the peak value
(if there's such thing) will be HIGHER.
Just take note that sometimes, there may be careless
mistakes made because possibly, your DS is doing
very fast and in his zone (meaning he's really concentrating
and the world around him just stops)
Still, it is a good problem...
What you need to do now maybe to identify
and find out why, what caused the peak...
so now is for you to make sense out of this...
Talk about it with your son and share with him
what you seen and how you feel and help DS
to be aware of what's going too...
Most probably, your DS may already know how
and why he reached the peak...maybe he can
even tell you what happened and what motivated
him.
And now he knows the secrets to his route of
reaching the peak of his mountain!
Congrats again!
John -
Thanks, John. Now I think about it, it could have been my meetings with his teachers. One of his teachers even made it a big deal in his class because that particular teacher is not his form teacher and also not mother tongue teacher. So, it is very rare for her to get a meeting request from a parent. I can feel that my son was happy that I made an effort to meet a lot of his teachers to talk about him.
Those were also my first meetings with his teachers outside PTM. I had never done that before. During the meetings, he was next to me listening to my conversation with his teachers. His teachers pointed out his weaknesses and how to overcome them.
I think after those meetings, things went smoother and smoother. He understood why we insist on him reading newspaper everyday, why I told him not to write about death in his compo all the time, why he needs to do certain things, etc. Because it is easier to ask him to do something, I nagged less and I guess it makes him a happier boy too
I hope my sharing can benefit other PSLE parents
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