Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary

[Jennifer]

tweet:

My DS's English teacher last yr was really fantastic.She went thru each paragraph, looking for main idea in the compre, not only that, she went thru each compre question, making the students circle what,where,when,how & taught them what is the question asking about.

How I wish my P3 boy would get this teacher in future.

He has done very badly this CA1, papers are not returned yet. The only subject he did well is Sci (which I brushed up his answering tactic recently).

I was going through a practice CA1 paper for CL with him yesterday. He told me many test sections were not the same as the sch paper. Was there a change in the format of this year CA1 CL paper? The mock paper (which was 2009 CA1 CL paper) seemed to be the same as previous years leh.

[Jennifer]

E3:

Several years ago, I had attended an English course that taught us how to teach students to work on comprehension and was instructed to teach them this way too.

E3, is this course available to the general public?

[kohhweelin.010441gmail.010441com]

Jennifer:

E3:

Several years ago, I had attended an English course that taught us how to teach students to work on comprehension and was instructed to teach them this way too.

E3, is this course available to the general public?

The workshop was conducted by Dr Cheah Yin Mee. Please see below link for her website and courses. I have linked you directly to workshops for parents. However, I am not too sure how regularly does she conduct workshops for parents. She is more regular at conducting classes for school teachers.

http://www.learningventures.com.sg/cos/o.x?c=/wbn/pagetree&func=view&rid=2475

[kohhweelin.010441gmail.010441com]

Jennifer:

I was going through a practice CA1 paper for CL with him yesterday. He told me many test sections were not the same as the sch paper. Was there a change in the format of this year CA1 CL paper? The mock paper (which was 2009 CA1 CL paper) seemed to be the same as previous years leh.

Shouldn't the teacher inform the parents about the change? My dd received a slip of paper for parents before the chinese exam to inform them of the format of the paper. I had compared it with last year's paper, it was the same.

[kohhweelin.010441gmail.010441com]

Another thing about the Eng compre…this is cosmetic though. Do your kids’eng papers follow the convention of setting the open-ended compre in such a way that the passage is found on the facing side of the questions?


It is easier for the kids to refer to the passage and answer the questions. It was done in this way for the Chinese paper, thus there is a BLANK PAGE before the open-ended compre to ensure that the passage and questions are on facing sides.

The CA Eng paper did not follow this convention. I pity the kids having to flip the page over and over again just to look for the answers. Furthermore, the questions were not so straightforward, it’s so tedious having to run through the content of the passage and then write down the answers at the same time.

[janet88]

Jennifer,

My boy did badly for his CA1…but will go through and see what happened. He should be bringing his papers back today.

Science wise, the child has to know how to answer questions first…after tat he/she has to do past year exam papers for exposure.

Tweet,
It would be great if my son’s EL teacher teaches the class to handle open-ended comprehension like the way your son’s teacher did for the class…EL teacher will be focusing on compo and vocab more after the holiday.

[Jennifer]

E3:

Jennifer:

I was going through a practice CA1 paper for CL with him yesterday. He told me many test sections were not the same as the sch paper. Was there a change in the format of this year CA1 CL paper? The mock paper (which was 2009 CA1 CL paper) seemed to be the same as previous years leh.

Shouldn't the teacher inform the parents about the change? My dd received a slip of paper for parents before the chinese exam to inform them of the format of the paper. I had compared it with last year's paper, it was the same.

I hv the actual CA1 CL paper with me now. The sections are the same, dunno why my boy said different.

[Jennifer]

E3:

Jennifer:

[quote=\"E3\"]Several years ago, I had attended an English course that taught us how to teach students to work on comprehension and was instructed to teach them this way too.

E3, is this course available to the general public?

The workshop was conducted by Dr Cheah Yin Mee. Please see below link for her website and courses. I have linked you directly to workshops for parents. However, I am not too sure how regularly does she conduct workshops for parents. She is more regular at conducting classes for school teachers.

http://www.learningventures.com.sg/cos/o.x?c=/wbn/pagetree&func=view&rid=2475[/quote]E3, thank you for the sharing. Will check it out.

[Jennifer]

There was a Sci qn which I thought was totally out of point for this CA1 - asking which graphs depict the correct level of oxygen and carbon dioxide after some insects died after 2 days in a sealed container. The topics to be tested is only chapter 1 to 3 - living, non-living things, animals and plants. Nowhere was there any worksheets on this type of qn or any mention in the textbook.


He made so many careless mistakes in MA section B becos he did not write any workings. All processed in his little brain mentally :x Are workings in section B not necessary?

Only got patience to go through MA and Sci with him before his nap. Now I got no mood to cook dinner :stupid:

Now looking at his CL and EL papers - so many careless mistakes :x

[donkey]

E3:

donkey:

do you agree that good schools have the good results thanks to the diligent parents instead of the school and neighbourhood schools have the good results thanks to the schools?


haha... what a joke! actually the reason why i enrol my girl in \"branded\" school is because the students in branded school are well behave as compared to the neighbourhood school..

Hi donkey,

I should have made myself clearer. Good schools generally have histories of good results mainly because it's a virtuous cycle.

1) They usually have a pool of more educated parents who are able to teach or afford to provide enrichment to the kids. They are more involved in their kids' studies.

2) Many good schools are SAP schools so most parents or children are Chinese. Given the eastern culture, chinese are generally more hardworking and more involved in their kids' lives.

3) Neighbourhood schools have more diverse needs that the schools require to cater as they usually consist of students from all ethnic groups, and races, and more complicated backgrounds so results-wise may be a little stifled. I would admit that parents are more appreciative of the teachers in these schools because they really need the teachers' help. So if the students achieve good results, the teachers do get alot of credit. Teachers in a neighbourhood schools are more challenged in that sense.

As for behaviour, well...there are schools that are good but full of spoilt brats too...:P Pei Hwa's students are generally better in behaviour because the Chinese culture is rich and the school teaches not only Chinese values but also Christian Values.

I had taught in a SAP school as well as a neighbourhood school. To tell you the truth, the kids I taught in the neighbourhood school were more respectful. I could have enrolled my dd in that SAP school which is one of the top 5 schools but I chose to volunteer and enrol her to Pei Hwa because I believe PH can develop my dd more holistically. This is my personal opinion and experience so may not be so across the board.

janet_lee88:

A friend of mine told me about this boy leaving S'pore for good with his parents bcos his father was posted overseas. His father told him to thank his teachers before leaving. He told his father they (teachers) do not deserve any credit because they didn't do much, and most of what he was taught was through enrichment lessons and his mother.

Janet, with regards to your example, I felt no matter what, the boy should still appreciate his teacher, regardless of whether the teacher deserved any credit. I don't believe he has learnt absolutely nothing from his teacher. It's not easy being a teacher nowadays. It is right of the father to ask the boy to thank his teacher, and the boy should still show the minimum rightful respect to his teacher. In his case, he could be a fortunate child who has extra enrichment to help him in his studies but there could be other children in his class who totally depended on his teacher.

E3,
thank you for your in-depth reply.