Ds is good at nothing

[Vevey]

Hugs…the whole world can give up on him but not u. He is only p1. Chill. If u feel frustrated coaching him, get external help. Manage your expectations too. Some sch don’t even hv exam until end p2.

[starlight1968sg]

Whether u like it or not, read, write & speak are ways to learn languages. As for maths, get him to understand the concepts thru various ways and then practise. Lower pri is the period to build the foundation. You may discuss yr concerns with his teachers.

[sharonkhoo]

starlight1968sg:

Whether u like it or not, read, write & speak are ways to learn languages. As for maths, get him to understand the concepts thru various ways and then practise. Lower pri is the period to build the foundation. You may discuss yr concerns with his teachers.

I agree. Start from what he does understand and work onwards from there. If he doesn't understand the basics, he won't be able to do the questions anyway, no matter how much he is drilled. Do ask his teachers if they can tell you where his main weaknesses are and suggest ways to help him. Maybe he needs more concrete ways to learn maths (eg. manpulatives). For language, maybe he needs more input (eg. being read to) before he can produce better output?

Also ask the teachers if they think he may have a condition such as dyslexia or ADHD which may make it hard for him to read or pay attention, and if so, whether the school may be able to help him get tested.

[Maple leaf]

xueyan:

As I write this post, my heart is heavy. I am the one coaching ds all the time. He is P1 this year in a neighbourhood school. But the results of his schoolwork is something I am very very concerned. I think most of the children in the lower primary will score in the 80-90 region for English and Maths. MT may be the weakest.

However, my ds is the opposite. His strongest subject is MT. Even though I say this is his strongest subject, his handwriting is his biggest weakness.

English
Poor in grammar, comprehension and now composition. Hates to read books.

Maths
This is his weakest subject. As the Maths test is on this coming Thursday, I have been teaching him everyday on Multiplication, Division. Oh no, I really feel like giving up.
For e.g. I told him umpteen times that 3 fours is 3 x4 (equivalent to 4+4+4). The next moment when attempting the worksheet, he can still give 3+4 as answer.
When given worksheet to do, he has this can't-be-bother attitude and doesn't check his work no matter how many times you reminded him.
After repeating and using different ways to teach, it is very easy to get impatient.
I hate to say this but I think he is stupid when comes to Maths. No number sense.

Help! I am going nuts. Very difficult to teach him. I am dead worried he will fail his P1 exams.

Hi,Xueyan,

I thought all primary schools have supplementary classes?Dd has a few classmates who are attending . They are slower at beginning of p1.By P2, many started to catch up.Maybe you can check with your DS's school?

[Porky Pig]

Stay strong, xueyan. Do not give up. Boys kinda matured later. I had issues with my DS when he was in primary school. I coached him when he was in P1 but later decided to outsource in order to retain the good relationship that we used to have. And I am not the most patient person on earth. So you are not alone. Today my DS is in Sec 2. Still not perfect but much better than before. I think mothers are here for a reason and that is to mold, shape, guide and love our children.

[K-Mum 0]

Hi XueYan

Firstly, don’t stress yourself by expecting your child to score 80-90 in P1. Some kids are slow learners and may blossom in later years.
Secondly, from my own experience with 2 boys, I find that they tend to be more playful n not interested in studies when young.
I could spend 5 hours trying to get my ds2 to learn 5 Chinese sentences in primary school.
His maths n English were also weak n he was not interested in reading at all.
But I realize the greatest problem with him was a general lack of passion for anything.
But I learn to let live and was prepared for him to fail his pale.
He managed to scrape through to express, went to a neighborhood school n found a passion in NCC.
He surpassed our expectations as well as his teachers to get into a ploy course of his choice.
He is now very passionate in what he is learning and is very active in the church ministry.
So, continue to have faith in your child n be patient.
It may take many years.

[Jennifer]

try using a different method to teach maths and to introduce reading. Most of the times, using PLAY will help increase the acceptance level of the child.


writing on paper 3 x 4 is same as 4 + 4 + 4 might not mean anything to a child who is inclined to learning with concrete objects.

go buy some marbles or M&M (most children’s favourite snacks), lay on paper plates the same number of objects, use number of paper plates and number of objects on each plate to teach multiplication, division with no remainder, with remainder.

as for reading, I believe your child has not found the genre that he is interested in. Do not give up on searching for the type of writing that will interest him.

At P1, it is not unusual for parents to be reading to the child, not expect the child to be an independent reader yet. How do you introduce reading to your boy is also another crucial consideration as to his acceptance of reading.

Next, manage your own expectations. If P1 child is unable to deal with multiplication/division, then work on strengthening the number bonds for additions and subtraction to build the confidence level of the child. Leave the more abstract topics to later part of the year, or even next year.

Learning is a journey, not to sit for a year end exam. If you want to stress over sitting for an exam, then I believe you and your boy are going to be unduly stressed out and most likely your boy will develop a dislike for maths.

As for handwriting of Chinese characters, do not underestimate the difficulty of visualing how big the characters are to sit inside the square, the inclination degree of each stroke, be it vertical, horizontal, slated, etc. Some children just do not have that spatial skills. Writing Chinese characters do not come naturally to most children. An adult must explain the size, the makeup. Slowly the child will understand.

My ah boy (sec 2 this year) has always have very ugly Chinese character writing because he is such a person. Maths geometry is his weakness. This weakness showed up when he was a toddler playing with jigsaw puzzles.

Only recently I attempted to correct him by explaining the size of each component. Now he practises writing by copying from the textbook passage and we can see that the proportions have improved greatly and the characters look more natural and most of the times, sit nicely inside the writing squares. It takes effort to do so. He can spend up to an hour to write 2 x 240 squares pages. This is a sec 2 boy who is supposed to have strong fingers and good fine motor skills.

Your boy is only P1.

Are you expecting too much too soon?

[Joy of Learning 111]

xueyan. Just how bad is his handwriting?


When is his birthday? Is it late in the year eg November?

Can he count up to 20 in two’s and then backwards?

Can he say the days of the week and then backwards?

When he talks to you, does he maintain eye-contact?

Can he tell the time?

Is he in the Learning Support Programme (or whatever they call it now) for English and maths at school?

[ChiefKiasu]

To put things in perspective, your son is only in P1. Don’t try to win the battle and lose the war. Not many parents (myself included) have the patience and stamina to teach their own kids. You might wish to outsource that to a professional who will know how to build his foundations from ground up.