Secondary School Assessment Books

[kuzco]

I know what I am going to ask sounds kiasu :oops: but I was browsing along the shelves of the Sec 1 assessment books in Popular bookstore over the weekend and saw Geography and History assessment books, on top of the many other assessment books and guide books. Currently I do buy some assessment books for my son to practice on. When he goes to Sec 1 next year, I am wondering whether are there parents here who buy these Geography/History assessment books for their children? Will they have the time to do them considering the heavier workload and many other activities in sec school?

[schellen]

I think that instead of getting "pure" assessment books for History and Geography, you should get those that impart skills on how to identify what the questions are looking for and the skills needed to answer them. The questions are, of course, very varied but the skills are fairly straight-forward. Just choose those books that have such tips and some practice questions per skill. With these two subjects, memory work can only take you so far; you’ll need practice with the skills to become proficient. Perhaps that is why many students (and parents) complain that these are tough subjects in Sec 1. (Probably because they relied too much on mugging and regurgitating.)

[mrswongtuition]

If you want your child to have a headstart in Sec sch instead of bum around the whole of this holidays, try getting magazines instead of assessments/textbooks.


National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Time, etc are good reads and alot of articles are relevant to their subjects (geography, science and history) as well.

If I’m a kid, I don’t want to see any assessment books after PSLE!

I agree with Schellen on techniques to answering questions. Teach your child to identify the different question words and what they mean.

For example, when the question says ‘describe’ it is different from ‘state’. Describe requires explanations and examples, state simple means you write down the fact without any explanations or examples. Alot of kids lose marks not because they do not know their facts but due to the fact that they do not know what type of answers are expected from them.

[kuzco]

Thank you for your advice, schellen and mrswongtuition.


I agree that I myself would definitely not want to face another assessment book after PSLE :siam:

[gonzo]

Could someone pls advise good assessment books and guide books for Sec 1 Express subjects like Eng, Science, History and Geog?


Where can I purchase Sec 1 past year exam papers?

[zbear]

gonzo:

Could someone pls advise good assessment books and guide books for Sec 1 Express subjects like Eng, Science, History and Geog?


Where can I purchase Sec 1 past year exam papers?

Sec school is very different from Primary school.

There is no need to buy assessment books as child will not have the time to do. School work should be sufficient to clear exams.

[janet88]

You can take a look at history and geography assessment titles to have a feel of what questions could be tested.

For history, you can check out these publishers ‘Wisemann’ and ‘GLM’.
After buying secondary textbooks, it is advisable to read up before school starts. Not too sure about other subjects. For literature, there may be study guides.

[jenleemum]

Yea, I think the Wisemann and GLM series are pretty good. Very organized and concise. Most of my DS and DD’s tutors all use books from these series.

[janet88]

jenleemum:

Yea, I think the Wisemann and GLM series are pretty good. Very organized and concise. Most of my DS and DD's tutors all use books from these series.

i'm still waiting for GLM to release O level history & social studies.

[yuenyuen]

For Sec 3 do we get O level assessment books and use it for 2 years?