2013 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[icy_mama]

Jennifer:

icy_mama:

that have to depend on what u will be cooking. some lunches are more attractive than others.


my ds will give small morsels to his friends to try, or they will exchange. my dd will request for me to cook double portions of popular foods.

Bet your children's classmates would want to go to the same sec sch as your children. Else no more yummy home cooked food to share

if for this reason, her best friends will want to go same school as her, most probably she'd request more fancy cookings. she has had some really good girls as friends since p3. she's gonna be crying her heart out after psle.

some of her classmates do get homecooked food, but according to my dd, not appetizing at all.

[ngl2010]

icy_mama, this is so pressurizing if the kids are comparing whether the food is yummy or not


Will your DS consider boys school for secondary so my DS can take up your generous offer although only 2 years later? :please:

Last night I tried to find out more from DS why he wants home cooked lunch. He said he envy his friends who get home-cooked lunch. The funny thing is the home-cooked lunch trend is only among the boys. It is not happening among the girls in his school :?

[frusparents]

I am quite frustrated, worried and perplexed with my DS prelims results

He did quite badly IMO, and if comparing to what the rest are sharing here.
It’s all between 60-68, and based on these, the est T-score is between 188 to 195.

He has been getting pte tuition for all subjects since last year, and I am devastated that his results did not get any better. I am also perplexed as I know the tutors have been conscientiously working with him on his weaker areas and I just cannot understand why he did not show any improvements at all.

I have limited time to do any revision with him, after he completes his school & tuition work. The little time I had to practise Math Paper 1 with him using other schools’ papers, he did better than in exams. Same goes to Paper 2 and Sci papers.

When I asked him what was the reasons that he seemed to do better at home than during exams, were he nervous etc, he said no… but there were alot of careless mistakes, unnecc answers, not thinking straight kinda answers in his papers.

How can I help him further? Am we too late?

[icy_mama]

ngl2010:

icy_mama, this is so pressurizing if the kids are comparing whether the food is yummy or not


Will your DS consider boys school for secondary so my DS can take up your generous offer although only 2 years later? :please:

Last night I tried to find out more from DS why he wants home cooked lunch. He said he envy his friends who get home-cooked lunch. The funny thing is the home-cooked lunch trend is only among the boys. It is not happening among the girls in his school :?

i think it's a good to have. no hard feelings there or pressure on any parents to do same. somedays dd will request to have tuckshop food too. depends on varying moods and tastebuds at days.

if time and schedule do not permit bringing foods to school, i'm sure our kids will understand. i've always been bringing foods for my dc even for cca days, not only specially for psle. just because they enjoyed homecooked food for lunch cos it fills them up more than canteen food. my dc prefers bringing food for recess too as they dislike queuing up for food. they'd prefer to have more time for play. however, they reach school early before 7am for breakfast at school canteen.

ps if my ds can get to ri, i'll be super pleased.

[ngl2010]

icy_mama:

ngl2010:

icy_mama, this is so pressurizing if the kids are comparing whether the food is yummy or not


Will your DS consider boys school for secondary so my DS can take up your generous offer although only 2 years later? :please:

Last night I tried to find out more from DS why he wants home cooked lunch. He said he envy his friends who get home-cooked lunch. The funny thing is the home-cooked lunch trend is only among the boys. It is not happening among the girls in his school :?

i think it's a good to have. no hard feelings there or pressure on any parents to do same. somedays dd will request to have tuckshop food too. depends on varying moods and tastebuds at days.

if time and schedule do not permit bringing foods to school, i'm sure our kids will understand. i've always been bringing foods for my dc even for cca days, not only specially for psle. just because they enjoyed homecooked food for lunch cos it fills them up more than canteen food. my dc prefers bringing food for recess too as they dislike queuing up for food. they'd prefer to have more time for play. however, they reach school early before 7am for breakfast at school canteen.

ps if my ds can get to ri, i'll be super pleased.

I'm just pulling your leg lah... Children are easy to be bribed. Once a while I will just get him McDonald's meal as what Zeemimi mentioned and I am sure his meal would be the envy of his friends on that day No stress :boogie:

DS also said the school lunch portion is small and the queue is long.

I am so OT here. I'll find appropriate thread to continue

[icy_mama]

now my turn to have long sexy legs.

[Verysuperkiasu]

frusparents:

I am quite frustrated, worried and perplexed with my DS prelims results

He did quite badly IMO, and if comparing to what the rest are sharing here.
It's all between 60-68, and based on these, the est T-score is between 188 to 195.

He has been getting pte tuition for all subjects since last year, and I am devastated that his results did not get any better. I am also perplexed as I know the tutors have been conscientiously working with him on his weaker areas and I just cannot understand why he did not show any improvements at all.

I have limited time to do any revision with him, after he completes his school & tuition work. The little time I had to practise Math Paper 1 with him using other schools' papers, he did better than in exams. Same goes to Paper 2 and Sci papers.

When I asked him what was the reasons that he seemed to do better at home than during exams, were he nervous etc, he said no... but there were alot of careless mistakes, unnecc answers, not thinking straight kinda answers in his papers.

How can I help him further? Am we too late?

I know how you feel....exams is not an accurate way of assessing the student's knowledge - not for everyone. Like my dd, the teacher said it depends on her state of mind at that instant. Her marks fluctuate like roller coaster - it's scary coz u don't know which way it's going to swing to. Not that she doesn't know, she just got mental block - like u said 'not thinking straight'. For eg - one of the 4 mark question in Math paper 2 - she totally got a mental block how to solve, but when the papers were returned and the teacher was going thru the sum, she suddenly 'click' and solved the problem even b4 the teacher did. That's why I said it's an inaccurate assessment for knowledge for chn like my dd.

Now, the question how to help - think most important is to remind ourselves to give the best emotional and moral support first to our chn. Otherwise they'll perform worse.

Next, see where the problem is - if it's carelessness then I think we try to think of ways to help the child. Like asking them to circle the keywords in the question - which serve as reminders what they must do. I know it's easier said than done. My dd also tried - didn't always work. But just have to remind them to make a conscious effort to becareful.

Also, sufficient rest is essential to them - think the lack of sleep has affected my dd's performance - which may lead to the so called mental block. I've spoken to the sch teacher - they'll try to make the chn do work in class rather than pile them up with work at home till wee hours of the morning.

I'm also giving dd some brain booster - omega 3 for kids and essence of chicken during this one month - to reduce tiredness and increase mental focus. I'm also struggling like you - as a parent trying to help our kids.....

Hopefully it will pay off.....

All the best to our kids taking PSLE :xedfingers:

ps - it's never too late to do something however little time we have.

[frusparents]

I am also doing all the above mentioned - remind myself to give the best emotional and moral support, dun give additional/unnecc stress, asking him to circle the keywords in the question, reminding him to be careful, not showing my frustrations, making sure he has enough rest & relaxation so that he does not burn out etc etc…


I am just afraid that I am NOT pushing him enough… currently I just ensure that he completes school & tuition homework and am afraid to give him extra, worrying that he will be over-stress. But, what if I was wrong? This question keep popping in my mind and I have to remind myself not to fall into the trap of overloading him.

If the school results is indeed a true reflection of what his PSLE results are going to be like, I am contented if he can get anything between 195-200 and will be happy if it’s anything more than 200.

I am just worried, very worried indeed, if he cannot even make it to Express. That is because I do not believe that he is not up to standard. He knows his work, I just do not get it why it does not show in his results, haiz…

[icy_mama]

frusparents, as long as your ds is trying his best, and you're doing all u can, refrain from stressing him up even more. some children just do not perform in exams situation. my dd is also like that although she refused to admit to it.


she told me not to tell her good luck on exam day or give any last minute reminders lest i stress her up even more.

[sharonkhoo]

frusparents:

I am just afraid that I am NOT pushing him enough... currently I just ensure that he completes school & tuition homework and am afraid to give him extra, worrying that he will be over-stress. But, what if I was wrong? This question keep popping in my mind and I have to remind myself not to fall into the trap of overloading him.


...I am just worried, very worried indeed, if he cannot even make it to Express. That is because I do not believe that he is not up to standard. He knows his work, I just do not get it why it does not show in his results, haiz...

This is something every parent has to grapple with. Make the best decision you can given what you know of your child, and don't try to 2nd-guess yourself. No point agonising over 'what if ...' because no matter what you decide, those questions will still be there. And chopping and changing will just confuse and stress your child.

I also have a child whose exam results do not reflect what I believe she is capable of. This is something we just have to accept, and hope that she can find her niche eventually. More stress will just make it worse.