Networking Group - JCs General

[ParkYuni]

DD will start her JC journey next month. Experienced parents here please share:


1. Average no. of hours your DC sleep in a typical school day.
2. Does it help (a lot) to read up lecture notes before lessons?
3. Performing very well in O levels does not imply yielding good A level results even if work very hard?
4. Is 10-years-series or other JCs papers a better guide?
5. When do you start your DCs on tuition, if any?

Any advice are welcome. TIA!!

[blok]

Hello! Sorry if I’ve posted in the wrong forum but I would just like to know if anybody can recommend any textbooks/ref books for biology, chem and math to get ahead of lessons? Thanks!

[sharonkhoo]

ParkYuni:

DD will start her JC journey next month. Experienced parents here please share:


1. Average no. of hours your DC sleep in a typical school day.
6.5hrs (roughly 11+pm to 5.50am)

2. Does it help (a lot) to read up lecture notes before lessons?
It probably helps, but I doubt many kids bother (or have time). Of course, if the teacher has specifically told the students to do preliminary reading or problems etc, then they should or they will be quite lost. What is more important is to read the notes etc AFTER the lectures, and clarify any issues as soon as possible by reading other stuff or asking someone.

3. Performing very well in O levels does not imply yielding good A level results even if work very hard?
Can't answer this.

4. Is 10-years-series or other JCs papers a better guide?
Or this. My daughter uses both when she revises, as far as I know.

5. When do you start your DCs on tuition, if any?
None for my daughter as she's coping fine. Since time is always short, I would say that you should encourage your child to try to do without as far as possible. Reading up, asking teachers and friends, paying attention in class etc will go a long way. And maybe explore the ad hoc type (ask only when help is needed) or the intensive type during vacations?

Any advice are welcome. TIA!!

[jtoh]

ParkYuni:

DD will start her JC journey next month. Experienced parents here please share:


1. Average no. of hours your DC sleep in a typical school day.
2. Does it help (a lot) to read up lecture notes before lessons?
3. Performing very well in O levels does not imply yielding good A level results even if work very hard?
4. Is 10-years-series or other JCs papers a better guide?
5. When do you start your DCs on tuition, if any?

Any advice are welcome. TIA!!

1. About 6 hours.
2. Yes. But there are so many other activities going on it's not easy to keep up.
3. Performing very well in O levels does not mean you'll do well in A levels. But if you work very hard, I don't see why not?
4. If your child is entering JC this year, the ten year series may not be so relevant because of the change in syllabus?
5. Take the cue from your child. Tuition isn't necessary. Depending on the JC, some do have pull out classes for those who aren't performing that well and need the extra coaching. Those are useful.

[zbear]

ParkYuni:

3. Performing very well in O levels does not imply yielding good A level results even if work very hard?

5. When do you start your DCs on tuition, if any?!

ParkYuni, I will answer questions 3 n 5 only -

My DS is doing his A levels this year. Let me come back to you in 1 year's time (2018) when he gets his results. I also would like to know if yr statement is correct or not.

Tuition - don't wait too long to have tuition if your DD is struggling with the subject and is failing school exams. Don't depend too much on school teachers. JC life is totally different from Secondary school life n the subjects level of difficulty is definitely much higher than O levels so be prepared for the big jump.

JC life is a big challenge but I feel it's rewarding in the long term.

Good luck to your DD in her JC journey!!!

[mathtuition88]

ParkYuni:

DD will start her JC journey next month. Experienced parents here please share:


1. Average no. of hours your DC sleep in a typical school day.
2. Does it help (a lot) to read up lecture notes before lessons?
3. Performing very well in O levels does not imply yielding good A level results even if work very hard?
4. Is 10-years-series or other JCs papers a better guide?
5. When do you start your DCs on tuition, if any?

Any advice are welcome. TIA!!

1. Average no. of hours your DC sleep in a typical school day.

Should depend on each individual. Recommended for 90% of students should be 8 hours, or at least 7 hours. No point studying till midnight and then sleep in lecture the next day. (Only a few lucky people can thrive on less than 6 hours of sleep a day, it is genetic.) Possible solution is to utilise power naps, and even sacrifice CCA if necessary.

2. Does it help (a lot) to read up lecture notes before lessons?

Yes it helps to understand what the teacher is saying. Seeing the material a second time makes it easier to understand.

3. Performing very well in O levels does not imply yielding good A level results even if work very hard?

I can advice on H2 mathematics:
B4 or below for A Maths (Additional Mathematics in O Level)/ Never take A Maths: This is considered very weak background. Need to work extremely hard for H2 mathematics, even then it will be a challenge, but not impossible, to get A or B. Perhaps H1 math can be considered, if student does not consider engineering/science courses in university.

B3 to A2 for A Maths: Slightly weak background compared to cohort. Getting B is definitely possible, but getting the A needs a lot of hard work.

A1 for A Maths: Good background. You can aim for getting 'A' for H2 Maths, but need hard work to fully secure it otherwise a borderline 'A' can easily become a 'B'.

4. Is 10-years-series or other JCs papers a better guide?

If you are aiming for 'B' or borderline 'A' (70+/100), just doing 10-years-series is enough, you can literally do zero JC papers.
To secure a high 'A' (i.e. far above the minimum requirement of 70/100), you will need exposure to challenging questions, which are found in JC prelim papers.

5. When do you start your DCs on tuition, if any?
Up to individual. Since internal JC school exams are very difficult, if your child is getting Bs or even high Cs, actually he/she is still doing ok. A 'U' or 'S' grade is a warning sign though, it signifies that the student is falling behind quite significantly and something needs to be done before it is too late.

[ParkYuni]

:thankyou: so much for sharing, slmkhoo, jtoh, zbear ( ) & mathtuition88!

[iwork]

ParkYuni:

DD will start her JC journey next month. Experienced parents here please share:


2. Does it help (a lot) to read up lecture notes before lessons?
3. Performing very well in O levels does not imply yielding good A level results even if work very hard?
4. Is 10-years-series or other JCs papers a better guide?
5. When do you start your DCs on tuition, if any?

Any advice are welcome. TIA!!

Hi, let me share my experience as a Private tutor.

2. Reading before lessons will always help. Well, the JC lecture notes are quite comprehensive, and covers all the topics required. However, some examples are purposely left out, so that the students will listen and copy during the class. I have students from HCI, SRJC, IJC, TPJC, JJC, and the notes have a lot of past year questions taken from other JCs and also from A-Level.

4. So you actually don't need past papers from other JCs, as for TYS, get it during JC2. Don't need now.

3. As I have mentioned before, if you have good A1 in O-Level A-Math, then you should be able to pass and probably get a good grade for H2 math. I have student who got A2 in O-Level A-Math, and struggled for H2 math, got a D in JC1, before approach me for tuition. Another student got A1 in O-Level A-Math, and managed to B for H2 math in JC1.

5. You should start the tuition probably after the first test, or earlier if you think necessary. It is really meaningless to start after year end, when the result is a U. Because, you have so much to catch up beside your year 2 statistics, nearly impossible to get a good grade. May still pass with considerable effort put in by the student.

Just to add on, it is not easy for JC1 student to get individual support from the teachers, as they will be busily providing consultation to those JC2 students who had failed the subject badly, in order to push them thru the A-Level. No time to handle the students who can still pass.

Mr Quek

[zbear]

With all the discussions about IP JCs/MI, IP students vs JAE students make me wonder


- how do the non IP JCs fare in their A level results?

- Will JAE students be better off in non IP JCs?

- Can JAE students perform equally well as IP students in IP JCs?

:?

[sharonkhoo]

zbear:

With all the discussions about IP JCs/MI, IP students vs JAE students make me wonder


- how do the non IP JCs fare in their A level results?

- Will JAE students be better off in non IP JCs?

- Can JAE students perform equally well as IP students in IP JCs?

:?

When students go to JC, it's pretty much starting on a clean slate. I don't think the \"IP or JAE\" distinction makes much difference between students when they face the A level curriculum - the main differences are the innate ones, eg. ability, motivation, diligence, etc. Not all IP students are the same, and not all JAE students are uniform either. What school they were in in the past 4 yrs is not really significant. Whether a student is better off in one JC vs another really depends on the \"fit\" between their learning styles, school culture, need for (or aversion to) competition etc. Some JCs may be very competitive, and not all will thrive in that culture; others may be more relaxed, and some may not do well in that culture. There are many students from non-IP JCs who get straight As, but since there is a general preference of higher-achieving students to flock to certain IP JCs, you would expect a higher proportion to get high grades in those JCs. My daughter's JAE classmates are doing better than many IP students in her IP JC, but I expect that there are also other JAE students who are doing worse than some of the IP students. What does that say about anything? The important thing is to find the best fit for each student rather than make choices based on over-broad classifications like IP/JAE (students) or IP/non-IP (JCs).