2014 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[sleepy]

janet_lee88:

don't burn midnight oil too early...or else the child and parent will be burnt out.

I think burning mid night oil is counter productive

[janet88]

sleepy:

janet_lee88:

don't burn midnight oil too early...or else the child and parent will be burnt out.

I think burning mid night oil is counter productive

as psle drilling intensifies in school, the child gets stressed. drink more fluids...lights off at 10 latest.

[ProudOfMyKids]

Jennifer:

Recently I got a reply from SEAB with regards to 2013 PSLE easy papers:


\"While there were small refinements made to the few most difficult questions, we wish to assure you that the demands of the PSLE papers, in terms of the skill sets and knowledge required of candidates have remained the same. Students’ perception of the level of difficulty of the paper is a reflection of their abilities in the subject and hence cannot be used as a yardstick to measure the overall standard of the examination. \"

Small refinements are not as small as one thinks.

If we use the Maths paper as an example, the most difficult questions are the problem sums found at the end of the paper. Each of these questions carry 4-5 marks, sometimes 6. Even if one makes changes to 4 of these questions out of the 45-50 in the entire paper, this is easily 20 marks or 20% of the paper. The t-score for the paper can change significantly if the mean of the paper is lifted, at the extreme, from 60 to 80. Even 60 to 70 is more than drastic!

To begin with, as many parents who have gone through the PSLE with their kids, some of these difficult questions are really tough, testing for even the brightest, even if we always get those kids who will still ace their exams irregardless. But for the rest of the cohort, the difficulty of the papers in the past can be downright demoralizing.

However, making changes to the papers to make it easier for the students while not taking into consideration the implication of solely such a change on the entire system has its side effects, which many students and parents alike found grappling this year. In fact, more competitive and pressurizing, defeating the purpose of making an overall less stressful environment!

I don't find that SEAB has said anything useful! In fact, they should go back and reflect on how else better this could have been done? Better coordination between SEAB and MOE? Are they the same......?

[KSP]

janet_lee88:

sleepy:

[quote=\"janet_lee88\"]don't burn midnight oil too early...or else the child and parent will be burnt out.

I think burning mid night oil is counter productive

as psle drilling intensifies in school, the child gets stressed. drink more fluids...lights off at 10 latest.[/quote]why need to study until mid-night? :? don't think the child can absorb too..... just cut down on other hobby classes (if any) or better time management will do ......

consistency is the key here...... keep doing and practicing the right method especially for maths.......

[zbear]

sleepy:

janet_lee88:

don't burn midnight oil too early...or else the child and parent will be burnt out.

I think burning mid night oil is counter productive

I don't think its necessary for a 12 year old to burn midnite oil.

PSLE covers only 4 subjects n they are manageable so long as you put in consistent efforts with proper time management.

[MrsA]

Sun_2010:

T Score is indirect way of ranking. It shows , in a group , how much better one is than the average range. So if T score is calculated for thr GEPpers as a group , it will show their relative strength. Just because the paper is much tougher than mainstream, it doesnt mean the T score will be low. If most score quite low, the T score can still be high.

Like eg
Case A: If a boy scored 95 in maths, while the average range is between 65 to 75 ( about 68% of kids got within this range)
Case B : If another boy in another class got 98 in maths, while the average range is between 80 to 95 ( about 68% of kids got within this range)

Then case A shows the paper was tough, most kids could score quite low , so the T score will be higher than Case B
Because while Raw marks in Case B numerically higher than the Case A , we can see that in case B, most kids found the paper easy to score , so a 98 in this paper has a lesser value than 95 of Case A

I'm confused, will there be T-score for PSLE this year or is it being abolished?

[kiasuFoo]

mommylow:

In view flexibility er PSLE papers in 2013, I wonder how questions will trend this year, especially papers set by schools for CA and SA papers. Will they still favour killer questions or play along with MOE's 2013 PSLE whereby what students learn from the textbooks are tested instead?


Parents, what's your take? Should we continue to expose our DCs to challenging and killer questions and give them undue stress if they are not going to be tested in this year's PSLE like in 2013?

I reckon, I'll take the que from the 1st CA paper this year. Will probably post this question to the teachers during PTM.

I plan to let my ds revise his primary 3-5 work from now till May. I believe that building foundation is the most important. Challenging questions will come along the way when teachers start to drill them after the june hols. That's when we can grab hold of what kind of questions will normally appear in exam papers. Weaknesses and strengths will be identified and I will let my ds drill on challenging questions for his strengths and build more foundation for his weaknesses before moving on to more challenging ones. Any parent sharing their view on this or some other plans u have?

[Jennifer]

2014 PSLE booklets are available at Popular Bookstore now.

[iFirefly]

Hi 2014 PSLE daddies & mummies..


Lets continue to chat, share & support each other here, as we go through the amazing PSLE journey with our beloved little horsies this year.. :grphug:

[j.032906a.032906m.032906]

firefly38:

Hi 2014 PSLE daddies & mummies..


Lets continue to chat, share & support each other here, as we go through the amazing PSLE journey with our beloved little horsies this year.. :grphug:

:rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: