Any parents of gifted children here ?

[ChiefKiasu]

tamarind:

...Pardon my ignorance, what is MT ?


I guess besides self esteem, we have to be reasonable as to what is really good enough. Is 85 to 90 marks really not good enough nowadays ? I am also not sure, because my kids are not in primary school yet.

MT = Mother Tongue
Above 85 = Band 1.

Good enough? Depends entirely on parents' expectations. However, it is noteworthy that getting Band 1 in all subjects no longer guarantee you a place in the top secondary schools these days.

[wiimum]

It also depends on the school. Getting a band one in neighbourhood school is likely to be easier than getting a band one is a "branded" school. But as parents I think we need a realistic idea of what our own child can achieve and then set(or help the childset) a realistic target.

[tamarind]

ChiefKiasu,

Thanks I think by the time my kids are taking PSLE at 2015, the standards will probably be even higher I will let my kids decide which secondary school they want to go to.

wiimum,
I totally agree with you about being realistic.

[wiimum]

Looking forward, I think we will probably reach a stage where PSLE is not the valid yard stick to measure the child’s perfomance, just like the IP students now skipping the GCE ‘O’ Level. The DSA programme is the first step towards this, in my opinion.

[en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg]

Tamarind wrote [quote]I guess besides self esteem, we have to be reasonable as to what is really good enough. Is 85 to 90 marks really not good enough nowadays ? I am also not sure, because my kids are not in primary school yet.[/quote]
Just like the son, this mother dont judge performance by marks. Your dd will be in P1 next year right? Even though she is a clever girl, you will spend minimal time daily to ensure her studies/homework in school is okay right? When you sit down with your kids to go through school work, you will know your child development & capabilities. When you got a chance to take a look at your child test/exam papers, you will know which are the questions that your child is able to answer or which are the questions the child is careless & which are the questions that the child did not put an effort to answer.

For ds MT, it is reasonable for me to say, his marks reflects his effort in learning MT in school. But the effort is absent at home. Not his fault entirely. DH, ds & me, has a part to play in & we have been taking for granted that MT is easy to learn. Anyway, I was watching \"Mad About English\", a story about how China prepares for the Olympic Games & their attitude towards learning a new language. I use the storyline to inspire him that he should not be embarrassed by his lack of vocab in MT & it's only by practice that it will become better. Wahh!!! Story must be so inspiring that he immediately put an effort in speaking MT to DH. :lol:

[tamarind]

EN:

Tamarind wrote [quote]I guess besides self esteem, we have to be reasonable as to what is really good enough. Is 85 to 90 marks really not good enough nowadays ? I am also not sure, because my kids are not in primary school yet.

Just like the son, this mother dont judge performance by marks. Your dd will be in P1 next year right? Even though she is a clever girl, you will spend minimal time daily to ensure her studies/homework in school is okay right? When you sit down with your kids to go through school work, you will know your child development & capabilities. When you got a chance to take a look at your child test/exam papers, you will know which are the questions that your child is able to answer or which are the questions the child is careless & which are the questions that the child did not put an effort to answer.

For ds MT, it is reasonable for me to say, his marks reflects his effort in learning MT in school. But the effort is absent at home. Not his fault entirely. DH, ds & me, has a part to play in & we have been taking for granted that MT is easy to learn. Anyway, I was watching \"Mad About English\", a story about how China prepares for the Olympic Games & their attitude towards learning a new language. I use the storyline to inspire him that he should not be embarrassed by his lack of vocab in MT & it's only by practice that it will become better. Wahh!!! Story must be so inspiring that he immediately put an effort in speaking MT to DH. :lol:[/quote]
Although my girl can read many Chinese characters now, thanks to her Berries class, she refuses to speak a single word of mandarin at home. When I speak to her in mandarin, she tells me that she does not understand what I am saying. She probably will not do well in her Chinese oral test. Hopefully she will be like your son, be inspired somehow to put in more effort. Now she tells me she likes to learn Spanish ! That's because she watches Dora on TV.

wiimum:

Looking forward, I think we will probably reach a stage where PSLE is not the valid yard stick to measure the child's perfomance, just like the IP students now skipping the GCE 'O' Level. The DSA programme is the first step towards this, in my opinion.

DSA requires the student to be good at sports, or music, right ? That will put even more pressure on the child to learn other things outside of schoolwork, not unless the child is genuinely interested. How about a child who can draw very well ? Or a child who sings beautifully ? I wonder if these qualities will be considered in the DSA.

[sleepy]

tamarind:

Although my girl can read many Chinese characters now, thanks to her Berries class, she refuses to speak a single word of mandarin at home. When I speak to her in mandarin, she tells me that she does not understand what I am saying. She probably will not do well in her Chinese oral test. Hopefully she will be like your son, be inspired somehow to put in more effort. Now she tells me she likes to learn Spanish ! That's because she watches Dora on TV.

Maybe you can get your parents to speak Mandarin to them at home?

That's how my kids learnt to speak Mandarin, through grandparents. My folks only speak Mandarin so my kids have no choice but to converse in Mandarin to grandparents
Otherwise how to request for sweets, chocolate, biscuits, ice cream? :lol:

Also, going to kindy helps. More opportunity to practice speaking during Chinese lessons. Once a week Chinese enrichment is insufficient to practice speaking

[sleepy]

sleepy:

Hi


For discussion sake, what do you think are the benefits in sending a child for professional assessment?

1) To enter primary school earlier?
But I heard hardly anyone is successful in that. More importantly, the child may not be ready emotionally

2) Any early intervention by school such as tailor made a different set of learning materials for the gifted ones?
If not, no value add in identifying a gifted child earlier (before GEP) since no actions taken by school

As parents I believe all of us already trying our best to provide learning opportunities regardless of giftedness

Any input?

[tamarind]

sleepy:

Maybe you can get your parents to speak Mandarin to them at home?

That's how my kids learnt to speak Mandarin, through grandparents. My folks only speak Mandarin so my kids have no choice but to converse in Mandarin to grandparents
Otherwise how to request for sweets, chocolate, biscuits, ice cream? :lol:

Also, going to kindy helps. More opportunity to practice speaking during Chinese lessons. Once a week Chinese enrichment is insufficient to practice speaking

My mother says 红色 as hong shi instead of hong se :oops: She reads all the Chinese children's books in cantonese to my kids. I am OK lah, I want my kids to speak in fluent Cantonese too. Their paternal grandparents don't speak or read a word of Chinese.

The funny thing is that in her kindergarten, all the children speak in English ! I thought in the HDB heartland, most children should speak mandarin.

I am actually thinking of finding a good kindergarten in Beijing, then bring the kids there to be immersed for one or two months a year. Either my mother or myself will accompany them. Not sure if this is feasible.

[tamarind]

sleepy:

sleepy:

Hi


For discussion sake, what do you think are the benefits in sending a child for professional assessment?

1) To enter primary school earlier?
But I heard hardly anyone is successful in that. More importantly, the child may not be ready emotionally

2) Any early intervention by school such as tailor made a different set of learning materials for the gifted ones?
If not, no value add in identifying a gifted child earlier (before GEP) since no actions taken by school

As parents I believe all of us already trying our best to provide learning opportunities regardless of giftedness

Any input?

I know there are 4 or 5 year old children who behaves like kids who are 7 or 8 years old. Some children who are intellectually more advance, are also very advanced emotionally. I think it is OK for the child to enter primary school earlier, and it is OK for the child to skip to a higher level, for example, from P1 to P3 if she is capable.

The problem is whether professional assessment can accurately determine whether a child is gifted or not.

Actually I think that early intervention should start from kindergarten level. Checkout this forum about Gifted Education in the United States, Canada, etc. Their education system caters to gifted children from 5 years old.

http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=122366