2013 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[icy_mama]

happyheart:

I have problem getting DS to practise both ENG and MT compo writing during this holiday, he will do anything to get away from writing. How do you encourage your DC to writeor practise compo? Do you mark and grade them?

same here. compos are always right at the bottom of the stack! alot of bargaining there. :stompfeet:

yes, i want, or more like would like dd to do and time herself. mt compo is looked thru by chinese tutor, eng ones, i'd look thru for contents and fluency in writing, no grading cos i dunno how to. then i'll get her to read aloud her own compo, to practise for oral too, and grade herself.

[AdonciaTang]

icy_mama:

happyheart:

I have problem getting DS to practise both ENG and MT compo writing during this holiday, he will do anything to get away from writing. How do you encourage your DC to writeor practise compo? Do you mark and grade them?

same here. compos are always right at the bottom of the stack! alot of bargaining there. :stompfeet:

yes, i want, or more like would like dd to do and time herself. mt compo is looked thru by chinese tutor, eng ones, i'd look thru for contents and fluency in writing, no grading cos i dunno how to. then i'll get her to read aloud her own compo, to practise for oral too, and grade herself.

Yes they drag their feet to do a compo.

What I did was simple, if they don finish what I asked them to do. They don even need to sleep. I will make sure I get what I wan then they they do their things like watching tv or games.

I grade the grammer and editing part then I pass to their tuition teacher at the centre to look through.

[happyheart]

Ok! looks like I am not alone in this! I think for me, the MT compo that potato DS write will surely 'wins hands down'...because it is frankly, below P6 standard. His sentence structure, vocab and flair (and sometimes logic!) not there leh. If I mark, I will have fast heart beat

[clay569]

Mine too. For eng compo, last year I started his engine going by writing with him. Then we exchanged and read each other’s essay. He found it fun and we wrote another together. Days later, he asked to write together again. I also got him to write a short descriptive paragraph on, say walking in a dark alley and seeing a hooded man walking towards you. Then I discussed with him on it…where’s good, how to build suspense, sentence construction etc. Slowly he found it more interesting and became more willing.


Chinese compo is a big challenge for DS. Doesn’t help that my Chinese isn’t good enough to help him. I got him to learn some idioms pertaining to a particular emotion, say ‘happy’, fooorced him to memorise, then assign him a compo topic that would use some of these idioms. Slowly he got less reluctant. Standard is still not anywhere near average yet but at least he’s not that against it anymore. It’s now June. I cant expect miracles so told him to just memorise a few idioms per emotion/weather and just keep re-using in his practices till psle. After all, the psle marker is going to read his work only once.

[happyheart]

clay569:

Mine too. For eng compo, last year I started his engine going by writing with him. Then we exchanged and read each other's essay. He found it fun and we wrote another together. Days later, he asked to write together again. I also got him to write a short descriptive paragraph on, say walking in a dark alley and seeing a hooded man walking towards you. Then I discussed with him on it...where's good, how to build suspense, sentence construction etc. Slowly he found it more interesting and became more willing.


Chinese compo is a big challenge for DS. Doesn't help that my Chinese isn't good enough to help him. I got him to learn some idioms pertaining to a particular emotion, say 'happy', fooorced him to memorise, then assign him a compo topic that would use some of these idioms. Slowly he got less reluctant. Standard is still not anywhere near average yet but at least he's not that against it anymore. It's now June. I cant expect miracles so told him to just memorise a few idioms per emotion/weather and just keep re-using in his practices till psle. After all, the psle marker is going to read his work only once.

:salute: some of you are really smart and hardworking! I am no where so creative to make them work that way! I think DS writes better Eng compo than me so I can't comment much. It is the Chinese compo that is very lacking in terms of standard. I try to make him memorise some idioms but hor..once SA1 is over, he returned them back to me leh! :slapshead:

[AdonciaTang]

happyheart:

clay569:

Mine too. For eng compo, last year I started his engine going by writing with him. Then we exchanged and read each other's essay. He found it fun and we wrote another together. Days later, he asked to write together again. I also got him to write a short descriptive paragraph on, say walking in a dark alley and seeing a hooded man walking towards you. Then I discussed with him on it...where's good, how to build suspense, sentence construction etc. Slowly he found it more interesting and became more willing.


Chinese compo is a big challenge for DS. Doesn't help that my Chinese isn't good enough to help him. I got him to learn some idioms pertaining to a particular emotion, say 'happy', fooorced him to memorise, then assign him a compo topic that would use some of these idioms. Slowly he got less reluctant. Standard is still not anywhere near average yet but at least he's not that against it anymore. It's now June. I cant expect miracles so told him to just memorise a few idioms per emotion/weather and just keep re-using in his practices till psle. After all, the psle marker is going to read his work only once.

:salute: some of you are really smart and hardworking! I am no where so creative to make them work that way! I think DS writes better Eng compo than me so I can't comment much. It is the Chinese compo that is very lacking in terms of standard. I try to make him memorise some idioms but hor..once SA1 is over, he returned them back to me leh! :slapshead:

that happens to me very often too. cause our family dont speak chinese so its hard for them to practise too. I have change now and uses chinese to communicate with them whenever possible.

[janet88]

For my son’s 作文, my son told me roughly how he prepared…memorize a 开头 and 结尾。中间，加conversation and 成语…then remember to insert the story line of compo with helping words given. That’s about all I remember.


He also worked on 语文运用 (MCQ) assessment books as the sections in Paper 1 are easier to score marks compared to comprehension OE.

[kiasuparentsirock]

Can anybody suggest any good books for :


Comprehension open ended for english and chinese
Comprehension cloze (english)

[Pa Pa Na Na]

Hi. I am new to KSP. MY elder boy will be sitting for PSLE this year.

We have read through the 2013 PSLE Instructions To Candidates booklet, by the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB). We are greatly concerned with Point 11 on Page 1 of the booklet which states, ‘Write your answers legibly in blue/black ink or ball pens. If you need to change your answers, cross them out and re-write the answers.’ His teachers and tutors have told us that correction tapes are DISALLOWED in PSLE. Can parents advise if this is true? Is it ‘DISALLOWED’ or ‘DISCOURAGED’ as the instruction seems ambiguous. I have written in to SEAB to enquire if correction tapes can be used at PSLE and have asked them for the rationale behind this instruction if correction tape is DISALLOWED. I am awaiting SEAB’s response. This instruction is causing us great anxieties as my son has been conditioned to using correction tapes. If this is a standing instruction, then correction tape should have been banned in schools to prevent pupils from getting used to them. We think it is more effective and time consuming for students to simply use the correction tape to ‘erase’ his mistake especially for Mathematics and Compositions, and the overall presentation of answers during examinations will be neater. Can parents kindly share your sentiments and experiences please? Thanks!

[ngl2010]

Pa Pa Na Na:

Hi. I am new to KSP. MY elder boy will be sitting for PSLE this year.

We have read through the 2013 PSLE Instructions To Candidates booklet, by the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB). We are greatly concerned with Point 11 on Page 1 of the booklet which states, 'Write your answers legibly in blue/black ink or ball pens. If you need to change your answers, cross them out and re-write the answers.' His teachers and tutors have told us that correction tapes are DISALLOWED in PSLE. Can parents advise if this is true? Is it 'disallowed' or 'discouraged' as the instruction seems ambiguous? I have written in to SEAB to enquire if correction tapes can be used at PSLE and have asked them for the rationale behind this instruction if correction tape is disallowed. I am awaiting SEAB's response. This instruction is causing us great anxieties as my son has been conditioned to using correction tapes. Can parents please share your sentiments and experiences please? Thanks!

Hi. This is the first time I heard of it. I thought it is only discouraged. There was a great deal discussions of it in Kiasuparents Forum in 2012 and 2013 about the use of correction tape but the conclusion is the correction tape is discouraged, not banned.

I am in panic mode now as my son is used to correction tape. No correction tape will mean disaster for him.

Any parents can confirm whether the correction tape is discouraged or banned? The last reply we got from SEAB was a few years ago. Has the policy changed?