2016 PSLE Discussions (Born in 2004)

[wuyansg]

somemummy:

Yes, my DD was from St Hilda's last year and she did not attend any tuition. I bought her a lot of assessment books as she didn't go for any tuition but she always complained that schoolwork was enough. It can be done so long as your child has supportive teachers who give good notes and go through papers in a meaningful manner, not just blindly copying answers. She got into NYGH this year!

My 2nd DD is taking PSLE this year too!

Your daughter is very lucky to have supportive school teacher. As i know, many teachers ( tutors) do not go through papers in a meaning ful manner, they just give answers. In this way , It is useless even if students do a lot of assessment books.

Every time when my students finish their reading comprehension, or tian kong ( cloze passage) , i always ask them: Are there any words and sentences in this reading passage you do not know? they always shake their heads and say “ No”.

Then i ask them to read this reading passage loudly. Actually there are many words they do not know how to read and there are many sentences they do not understand. so i ask them to write down the words and hanyu pinyin and english meaning to let them memoriz at home. Also i need to analyse the sentences that students do not understand.
In such a way, students would have good foundation for their future study in seconday schools or JC.

[janet88]

听写 in a way helps the child remember how characters are written for 作文. This minimizes the time spent to search e-dictionary for the 字 during compo exam. But giving 习字 also must make sense not to write quarter page. Compo/作文 is difficult to score because content is subjective to 2 markers...one likes, one doesn't.

[somemummy]

It’s important not to cram too many good phrases into an essay without really understanding what they mean. I suggest memorizing several bombastic ones which can be used in many situations (maybe 2 for each feeling eg happy, sad, angry, etc). You have to make sure you are using an appropriate phrase otherwise it’s better not to use it.

Tell your child it’s okay to use the same phrase or copy the same plot from previous compo practises because at the end of the day, the PSLE markers aren’t your school teachers, they don’t know you, nor do they know that you’ve been repeating the same phrase/plot in several essays. If it fits in with the theme given, and the plot is an interesting one, why not?

[janet88]

Planning to let go of past year exam papers for MATH.

Brand new, unopened stack.
Pls PM me if interested.

[wuyansg]

听写 is important from pri 1 to pri 5 for basic language foundation, but in pri 6, time is limited, compared to memorizing meaning , most students need much more time in memorizing spelling.Even if you miss only one stroke, you will still get marks deducted. so i would prefer using e-dictionary for the 字(unless you are very good at spelling) that would make sure the words in the essay are correct.

By the way , the weightage for paper2 is much more than composition . Knowing the meaning will be more useful for the papaer2. Focusing more on the meaning would give you more return for the time you put into it.
\"Spending the least time to achieve maximum results\" is my norm.

[janet88]

math exam papers on hold…can’t find any website which has 2015 exam papers to download.


daughter’s CA1 exam dates just out…29 feb.
most of the schools’ papers can be done since majority of topics have been taught.

[bgmum]

Yong HL:

EatNonStop:

DD school will be doing PSLE pass years papers (school will purchase) + supplement classes for all subjects (stay back after school) + Jun holidays scheduled intensive training......ALL P6 students will have to attend...


I regret getting 2015 top schools exam papers (purchased before getting to know school's program + tuitions HW)....simply no time to do!

To parents, pls access your school/tuition training programs prior deciding to get the papers else will be white elephant just taking up storage space!

School work load is so much more than P5. Spelling lists are longer. Supplementary classes for all subjects 3 days per week. Used to have the luxury for 1hr playtime before dinner. Now no more. Its all about completing the homeworks from school & tuition. Fortunately, tuition centres understand the P6 plight and homeworks are still reasonable. No time to do extra at all. Got time to relax is already a luxury. I have heard kids who do their homework right up to midnight!
无奈！

So true, so busy the P6s. Even after 2-3 days of supplementary classes and coming back late afternoon on most days, there is still a great deal of homework and assignments (both hardcopies and online ones) to complete everyday. Learning chinese spelling and long moxie weekly at the same time. Wishful thinking on my part when I thought earlier that 1st month would be less intense..

[bgmum]

janet88:

math exam papers on hold...can't find any website which has 2015 exam papers to download.


daughter's CA1 exam dates just out...29 feb.
most of the schools' papers can be done since majority of topics have been taught.

Hi Janet, looks like most schools have CA1 for P6s in wk of 29 feb. Think feb will fly past quickly too like Jan, with the CNY break.

[ilovelaksa]

janet88:

I don't blame the tutor for being frustrated. I know my daughter is also trying. She is slow...we have been revising science on other days. But I can't be scolding her because she is trying her best. Tutor and I usually discuss after each lesson what she has taught and on my part, I will let tutor know what I revised with daughter.


Thank you for your suggestions.

Hi Janet, I hvnt read thru this whole thread and not sure if this works for you.
For Sci, I usu approach o/e this way.
I will identify the topic for that question eg heat
List out the key words eg travel from hot to cold, come into contact with, gain heat, lose heat
Repeat it for every qn.
Somehow it gets remembered by all my kids.
It helps them to formulate their answers.
I did a list of key words for every topic. Threw it away bcuz I hv repeated the list for the past 7 yrs lol.
There's not many topics in pri sci so coming up with the list was v ez.
It works well for 3 of my kids so far cuz 2 of them has A* and the 3rd has one of the highest scores in Sci at sch. My 3rd child is taking PSLE this yr and she is not as academically inclined as the 2 older ones. But this works for her.
I find those guide books are too wordy so I did the key words myself to help them process their answers.
The teachers in my children's sch did not mention much about key words in Sci. And I eventually realised that key words are very impt in getting the marks.
Personally I feel a tutor shld be patient and calm. In school, our children already face alot of negativity from their overworked teachers. It is not ez handling a class of rowdy kids so they get frustrated too. It's worse if they hv to deal with unreasonable parents. When the kids come home, they will probably be even more demoralised by another frustrated teacher (tutor).
I can understand the stress PSLE presents to parents. But the child feels this even more from the exams, parents, teachers, tutors etc.
HTH

[janet88]

hi ilovelaksa,

a family doctor has advised me to spend 5 min next day to recap what has been taught the prev day. but i will try the method you mentioned. thank you.

hi bgmum,
since school started, every week seemed to zoom past and it’s almost end of january now. getting little bite sized revision done is almost impossible given the increased volume of school homework this year…like what some parents experienced as well, there is also homework on days when kids have supplementary lessons. i negotiated with tutors to reduce homework.