All About GEP

[metz]

tamarind:

I heard a rumor, don't know whether it is true or not, that if a student has special skills like knowing how to play the piano, then he has a higher chance of getting scholarships ? This again, is elitist, because lower income families may not be able to send their kids for music lessons.

Heard from my sil's that some neighbourhood schools do offer elitist programs such as golf, violin etc... Besides, if I'm not wrong, cc do provide some programs at lower costs too. So, kids from the lower income families are not really being deprived.

[tamarind]

There are many families in Singapore having household income of $2000, and has 2 or more kids. There are also phonics and Chinese enrichment classes to attend, which should be higher priority than music. These low income families may not be able to afford music lessons.


CC courses are cheap, but I do not think that the quality is good. I have let my kids join a speech and drama class before, it was so bad that I pulled them out halfway.

[mulan]

Hi Chief Kiasu,


I actually dun see that he is naturally gifted, that is why the doubt is there.

Have spoken to him , told him the and cons, he actually wanted to try.

He is not trained to be in GEP, as we let to him to go play play, but didn’t know he is selected.

The decision is that we will let him try cos he wanted it.

Being a working mother of 4 is truly no joke, esp my eldest is going for PSLE nex yr

We will monitor and see, if worst case I may quit to focus on them.

thks for the advice.

[ChiefKiasu]

mulan:

...I actually dun see that he is naturally gifted, that is why the doubt is there...

Sometimes, we parents tend to underestimate what our children are capable of. If he managed to go through the 2 gates set by our educators without preparation, he is likely to be what they are looking for. Since he wants to try, then you have made the right decision. Do keep us posted on his progress!

[EQmum]

mulan:

I actually dun see that he is naturally gifted, that is why the doubt is there.

mulan,

I can understand your worry. I am in the same situation as you last year. But after undergo a year of GEP with my ds, I can ensure you that your son will fit himself in very well. All you need to do is to give your full support and encourage him all th way.

[clayman]

mulan:

Hi Chief Kiasu,


I actually dun see that he is naturally gifted, that is why the doubt is there.

Have spoken to him , told him the and cons, he actually wanted to try.

He is not trained to be in GEP, as we let to him to go play play, but didn't know he is selected.

The decision is that we will let him try cos he wanted it.

Being a working mother of 4 is truly no joke, esp my eldest is going for PSLE nex yr

We will monitor and see, if worst case I may quit to focus on them.

thks for the advice.

Hi Mulan,

My son is also the play play sort and we did not hype up any expectations at all. We took a \" if he gets in...get in lor...if not also never mind\" approach.

It was a pleasant surprise that he got in and his teachers in school also encouraged him to take it up. I had a talk with him and also told him what the expectations are. I also brought him along for the briefing so that he has a better idea of what the programme entails. In the end he decided to go for it. The good thing is that he doesn't have to uproot to another school...so that helps.

Which school do you plan to put your son in? My son is in ACS.

Cheers

[mulan]

Thks Chief Kiasu,

Wish me luck, I'm feeling the stress now.

[ctct61t]

Sometimes, Parents got more stress than children themselves for the GEP program.

[cluelessmom]

My ger has just been selected for the GEP program :shock: . I have never sent her for any tution or enrichment classess but after reading another thread about the expectations of the chinese scores fr another GEP school, it got me worried. Her chinese grades are just passable but if the expectations are to score above 90, I'll probably faint...... she is very headstrong and very against the idea of having any tuition or enrichment classess....in the neighbourhood school maybe she can breeze past her exams without tuition or efforts but I am really worried now if she can handle the program without xtra efforts or tuition.. any parents of geppers care to comfort me on this......

[EQmum]

cluelessmom [quote]the expectations are to score above 90, I'll probably faint...... [/quote]
Dear cluelessmom,

Not to worry too much. When my son enter the GEP early year, he had to pick up higher chinese instead of the chinese that he had in P3. Cos he goes to a SAP school. He actually failed his first chinese test and that was his first time he ever failed in any test or exam. Sad to said that I sent him for enrichment class out of no choice. If your ger is against it, then you can encourage her to read more. Take the top PSLE girl as an example. In my son school, the highest grade in higher MT for this year is 91.9, average 73.5 and the lowest is 53.5. So you can see they still can manage well and all of them are taking higher MT for next year again. Just relax. What your ger needs is your support and encouragement to sail through with her.