P1 workload

[Luanee]

BTW how do u ppl know whether ur kids school having CA or SA? I dont even know whether mine has or not!


Homework wise, nil, except for spelling and hanyu pinyin lists. And mine is elite school.

[jedamum]

Luanee:

BTW how do u ppl know whether ur kids school having CA or SA? I dont even know whether mine has or not!

Luanee,
i explored the school's website and refer to their Calendar of Events for 2008 to see if CAs are required for P1s.

[buds]

Heyya Luanee,


P1 orientation for parents they do inform.
If they don't parents can also ask.

Likewise with jedamum, my kiddies school
also has the calendar of activities for parents
to view to keep up with the on-goings of the
school.

Mebbe, since your child is in elite school no need
for homework... perhaps.

Aniwaes, if school doesn't give homework...
Parents can give.

[caroline3sg]

luanee

You didn’t ask me before?? cfm no CA from P1 to 6.


jedamum/luanee
when I was sch hunting for P1 registration last yr, having no CA is one of my criteria. My son’s sch has CA from P3 but today I found out from sch website that this is first yr for P3 & 4 to abolish CA (2009 P5 has CA2). Last yr pilot to replace CA with regular assessment. I guess maybe my son when in P3, should be same, no more CA.

[Luanee]

caroline3sg:

luanee

You didn't ask me before?? cfm no CA from P1 to 6.

Ha caroline no, this concept of CA and SA only came up to me recently when I see the other mummies' posts, hee..

[winth]

Actually the key is that you need to test the child in a timed environment. Kids who have not been in a CA environment tend to feel very relaxed and do not know that results/bands are given to the child, which subsequently they get graded like how we parents know it.



Schools are now abolishing CAs and it seems common.
Actually I thought that was an excuse for giving the teachers more lax time.

[caroline3sg]

winth

I don’t agree with your statement "Kids who have not been in a CA environment tend to feel very relaxed and do not know that results/bands are given to the child".

Schs without CA has topical tests instead. Though they are not counted towards final marks in report book, they give parents and child an idea how much they have grasped the topic, then we oursellves zoom into area of weakness for revision for SA. On the topical test, there would be indication of class average & highest mark. So we know where we stand.

luanee, take note that average mark is not medium or high+low/no. but the mark obtained by the majority.

To me, sch with CA are indeed stressing the parents and kids. It is like every 2 mths or so, there are formal tests/exams. There is no time to cover others that are outside text (ie text’s content/syllabus are not enough to tackle exams) and slowly digest/practise weak topics.

[SMILEY]

Luanee:

BTW how do u ppl know whether ur kids school having CA or SA? I dont even know whether mine has or not!

Were informed thru school's announcement letter.

[cheerysun]

SMILEY:

Luanee:

BTW how do u ppl know whether ur kids school having CA or SA? I dont even know whether mine has or not!

Were informed thru school's announcement letter.

Got to know during P1 Parents' Orientation.

[winth]

Hi caroline,


Sorry that I might be generalising on my previous statement. I hope you don’t feel offended.

It’s true that schools replace CAs with Topical tests but maybe it’s because it’s not taking into account into their final year score that parents/children don’t really prepare for them or might not feel that it’s very important?

The trend seemed true with the students that I’ve taught in the past for various levels and various schools. Even for my girlfriend, she felt the same way with her DD and said that CA could have better prepared her daughter as compared to small class tests or project work. For her DD’s school, even daily class assignments’ are regarded as part of the topical tests.

So, what happened was in her P1, she was too shocked in her SA that she left her problems sums blank. When it was time’s up, she was only halfway into her paper. Now, my friend is trying to create a stressful environment for her so that she can complete her ‘exam’ within x mins. But still… Sometimes, she still curse and swear why she went through so much to get her into a good school…

Like what buds commented, even without CA, parents can still reinforce with daily assignments to their children. It’s important to give children this responsibility of getting their daily assignments completed and knowing that they are studying for themselves, not for their parents.