2023 PSLE Discussions and Strategies (Children born in 2011)

[floppy]

coast\" post_id=\"1914475\" time=\"1560497805\" user_id=\"38933:

sky minecrafter\" post_id=\"1914460\" time=\"1560493700\" user_id=\"130531:[quote=\"sky minecrafter\" post_id=1914460 time=1560493700 user_id=130531]Some observations...
(1) EL comprehension, composition, grammar, & vocabulary remain at the same pace as previous batches. Composition assignments (minimal guidance) are totally completed in school, yet children do not seem to have a problem meeting the minimum word count, to writing as much as 270words (P2, topics like A Fire, Lost & Found).
(2) MA worksheets have been greatly cut & my P2 dd is only doing ~30% of previous batches. Teacher explains that this reduction has nothing to do with the AL system, rather, moving to a more hands-on (use of manipulatives) approach. Of course, this means that the teacher has to utilise her experience & alert me whenever my child is not applying the chapter's concepts properly.
(3) HCL is even more curious. At the end of semester 1, we are still writing guided sentences to mimic a 作文 paragraph... Also, vocabulary worksheets are absent; so if there is no awareness/other exposure, children may encounter difficulties telling apart a natural Chinese sentence from one with 语病。

Thanks for sharing. Quite a number of parents have shared with me that their schools have also reduced Maths and Science work as compared to their elder siblings in the same schools. But 30% seems .... :scared:[/quote]

I guess it varies from school to school.

My P2 workload hasn’t been reduced nor has it been increased (at least, according to those parents in the know). Personally, I think it’s comfortably manageable. There isn’t a lot of homework as well and I was told it has been like that since 2010s. From my understanding, one of the underlying principle adopted was if you already understand / know the work, there isn't a need to repeatedly test the same thing. Hence, many worksheets don't mean that it is quality work done. For this holiday, their homework is \"to have fun\" and they were only given were 2 SLS exercises to complete (which can be done in a night :shock: ) I was also told that the load will only gradually pick up from P3 / P4. For now, the school seems to place more emphasis and time learning about the school’s core values and 美德.

While there isn’t any science for P2, I can see that they have ‘sneaked’ in some science lessons / concepts via the EL worksheets / lessons. Not sure whether that was deliberate or just happen to be a coincidence. As for the use of manipluatives, it had been around and on-going in my kid's school. It was meant to enhance their learning of mathematical ideas. I don’t think it has any significance in reducing load but it definitely made learning more hands-on and fun.

My guess for schools that never had a heavy load or had already started reducing since some time ago, there isn’t much meat left to cut The only things that are definitely missing are the mid year exams (P1 to P3) and end of year exams (P1 to P2).

[coast]

floppy\" post_id=\"1914496\" time=\"1560504141\" user_id=\"97579:

I guess it varies from school to school.

My P2 workload hasn’t been reduced nor has it been increased (at least, according to those parents in the know). Personally, I think it’s comfortably manageable. There isn’t a lot of homework as well and I was told it has been like that since 2010s. From my understanding, one of the underlying principle adopted was if you already understand / know the work, there isn't a need to repeatedly test the same thing. Hence, many worksheets don't mean that it is quality work done. For this holiday, their homework is \"to have fun\" and they were only given were 2 SLS exercises to complete (which can be done in a night :shock: ) I was also told that the load will only gradually pick up from P3 / P4. For now, the school seems to place more emphasis and time learning about the school’s core values and 美德.

While there isn’t any science for P2, I can see that they have ‘sneaked’ in some science lessons / concepts via the EL worksheets / lessons. Not sure whether that was deliberate or just happen to be a coincidence. As for the use of manipluatives, it had been around and on-going in my kid's school. It was meant to enhance their learning of mathematical ideas. I don’t think it has any significance in reducing load but it definitely made learning more hands-on and fun.

My guess for schools that never had a heavy load or had already started reducing since some time ago, there isn’t much meat left to cut The only things that are definitely missing are the mid year exams (P1 to P3) and end of year exams (P1 to P2).

It is ironic as DS and many of his peers did very well in Maths without tuition in his school (% of A* for each subject was disclosed). Parents with younger siblings told me that many parents have since “outsourced” to tuition teachers after the school reduced its Maths and Science work.

Yes, many schools started teaching Science in P2, usually in a fun and engaging manner. I still remember when teachers asked the P2s for their favourite subject, almost everyone said it’s Science. I was really surprised when majority in class handed in an optional Science write-up in the midst of SA2 week.

[zac's mum]

All kids are naturally keen on Science. It’s all around them and curiosity is inbuilt into young kids. It’s only later on when adults start droning on & drilling them about keywords keywords and keywords…study it for the sake of exams and more exams…that quenches & murders this interest in Science.

[MrsKiasu]

:rotflmao:


YS seems good for kiddos..

[zac's mum]

MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"1914546\" time=\"1560549978\" user_id=\"43981:

:rotflmao:

YS seems good for kiddos..

I agree. Young Scientist magazines are fun to read, and they also slip in some lower block and upper block Science material in their stories. My DS has told me several occasions that “oh this Science topic/this scientific fact/general knowledge fact that we’re covering in school...I’ve read it in my YS mag before!”

Another good comic series for Math/Science/general knowledge is the X-Venture series by a Malaysian publisher (Gempark Stars). Initially I was very reluctant to buy comics for my kid. Then when I opened up to take a look, it’s actually specifically written to be educational. The kids learn Geography and History from following the characters all over the world. Trust me, it’s way more educational than Geronimo Stilton. I still detest the deliberate spelling errors of that Geronimo series :roll: They even try to slip in Math and GEP general ability logic questions in the “puzzles” that the adventurers have to solve.

[coast]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"1914530\" time=\"1560522886\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=1914530 time=1560522886 user_id=53606]
All kids are naturally keen on Science. It’s all around them and curiosity is inbuilt into young kids. It’s only later on when adults start droning on & drilling them about keywords keywords and keywords...study it for the sake of exams and more exams...that quenches & murders this interest in Science.[/quote]

:goodpost:

Drilling will kill the interests in any subject, especially for young learners. Unfortunately, parents and even some teachers over rely on \"Practice makes perfect\". The level of practice required varies for each child (even for the same child, it varies depending on topic, component, ...).

It will be interesting to see how schools make use of the three weeks (after removal of MYEs for certain levels) for quality teaching and learning. For Science, perhaps more experiments, videos, field trips, mini projects, ... will result in a more enriching learning experience than mainly texts and worksheets.

[coast]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"1914551\" time=\"1560559947\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=1914551 time=1560559947 user_id=53606]
Another good comic series for Math/Science/general knowledge is the X-Venture series by a Malaysian publisher (Gempark Stars). Initially I was very reluctant to buy comics for my kid. Then when I opened up to take a look, it’s actually specifically written to be educational. The kids learn Geography and History from following the characters all over the world. Trust me, it’s way more educational than Geronimo Stilton. I still detest the deliberate spelling errors of that Geronimo series :roll: They even try to slip in Math and GEP general ability logic questions in the “puzzles” that the adventurers have to solve.[/quote]

Thanks for sharing.

Is this available in Popular bookstores?

[floppy]

coast\" post_id=\"1914569\" time=\"1560572120\" user_id=\"38933:

zac's mum\" post_id=\"1914530\" time=\"1560522886\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=1914530 time=1560522886 user_id=53606]All kids are naturally keen on Science. It’s all around them and curiosity is inbuilt into young kids. It’s only later on when adults start droning on & drilling them about keywords keywords and keywords...study it for the sake of exams and more exams...that quenches & murders this interest in Science.

:goodpost:

Drilling will kill the interests in any subject, especially for young learners. Unfortunately, parents and even some teachers over rely on \"Practice makes perfect\". The level of practice required varies for each child (even for the same child, it varies depending on topic, component, ...).

It will be interesting to see how schools make use of the three weeks (after removal of MYEs for certain levels) for quality teaching and learning. For Science, perhaps more experiments, videos, field trips, mini projects, ... will result in a more enriching learning experience than mainly texts and worksheets.[/quote]

Drilling takes away the fun in any subjects. Yet, when schools start reducing the amount of worksheets and practices, parents get uncomfortable and outsource it to external vendors or purchase more assessments for them to try IMHO, less is more. If a child is weak in a specific topic / area, it’s better to plug the leak than to try and lift the whole boat.

[zac's mum]

coast\" post_id=\"1914570\" time=\"1560572241\" user_id=\"38933:

zac's mum\" post_id=\"1914551\" time=\"1560559947\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=1914551 time=1560559947 user_id=53606]Another good comic series for Math/Science/general knowledge is the X-Venture series by a Malaysian publisher (Gempark Stars). Initially I was very reluctant to buy comics for my kid. Then when I opened up to take a look, it’s actually specifically written to be educational. The kids learn Geography and History from following the characters all over the world. Trust me, it’s way more educational than Geronimo Stilton. I still detest the deliberate spelling errors of that Geronimo series :roll: They even try to slip in Math and GEP general ability logic questions in the “puzzles” that the adventurers have to solve.

Thanks for sharing.

Is this available in Popular bookstores?[/quote]

Yup! These take up 2 entire rows on their own (United Square branch). Under the “age 7-12” section. Their writers/artists come up with a new book every few weeks, that’s pretty fast work IMO, and always fresh material.

There are also related series by the same publisher. You can view the covers online, they even sell Mandarin versions in Malaysia.

https://shop.gempakstarz.com/learnmore/x-venture-the-golden-age-of-adventures

[MrsKiasu]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"1914551\" time=\"1560559947\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=1914551 time=1560559947 user_id=53606]

MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"1914546\" time=\"1560549978\" user_id=\"43981:

I agree. Young Scientist magazines are fun to read, and they also slip in some lower block and upper block Science material in their stories. My DS has told me several occasions that “oh this Science topic/this scientific fact/general knowledge fact that we’re covering in school...I’ve read it in my YS mag before!”

Another good comic series for Math/Science/general knowledge is the X-Venture series by a Malaysian publisher (Gempark Stars). Initially I was very reluctant to buy comics for my kid. Then when I opened up to take a look, it’s actually specifically written to be educational. The kids learn Geography and History from following the characters all over the world. Trust me, it’s way more educational than Geronimo Stilton. I still detest the deliberate spelling errors of that Geronimo series :roll: They even try to slip in Math and GEP general ability logic questions in the “puzzles” that the adventurers have to solve.

x venture..ok thanks..can take note next time..Bought quite many YS from some ksp parents here some time ago..dd2 been reading them..not much new addition now though so dd will read jiejie's compo books when really has nothing much to do