Experiences with Home Based Learning

[zac's mum]

Diana Ser has already covered the parents’ point of view in this Talking Point episode:


https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/video-on-demand/talking-point-fy2021/can-my-child-really-learn-from-home-12721048

[MrsCKS]

thank you Zac’s mum for sharing. It is entertaining. Naturally she can interview only a few families as a sampling. I do believe like me, there are parents perhaps of older kids, who may have their own experiences too, whether with schools or enrichment centres. My child is in Secondary school. For me, HBL unravels to me a better perspective on the motivations of my child as i took a step back and watched - how independently she learns, or is she reliant on the school system and structure to learn? There is some good coming out of this disruption! Of course there was chaos in the house when we wrestled for space haha…


Some of my friends who have kids attending online enrichment /tuition are asking if zoom lessons for eg are worth the same prices as classroom lessons. Personally i think they should be cheaper. Are your centres charging cheaper rates or not charging at all during CB?

[Mabby]

With HBL, I work extra 2-3 hours daily to clear up my task as I need to ensure my kids are on the right track and progress of learning in the midst of my jobs and meetings.

While it took time, I’m glad to have a chance to be with my kids throughout their learning journey.
I do not mind to have a short semester of HBL to be implemented in the future and parents have the flexibility of working from home during that short term. Anyway, good job to all the parents out there!

[Cyrus C.024642]

The video Zac’s mum shared is really interesting! Guess it just speaks the mind of many parents.


I somehow agree to MrsCKS that online enrichment courses might have some spaces to cut down a bit its price. but on the other hand, for the service providers shifting to online platform, I also understand that they might actually be making more effort and spending more resources than usual. Contradicting!

[myron]

I've heard some centres continue to host online boardgame days with their students so they can continue to interact with each other during the holidays and many have created materials for the parents to use with their kids -


Not sure if all these will be obsolete once school is back in session. I know HBL for kids is big in China even before the pandemic but will be nice to know our local parents view on this. 🧐

I'll also try to invite some centres to share what they've done and what they'll continue doing if you guys are keen.

[zac's mum]

Actually, I don’t understand why MOE and tuition centres seem to think that our kids’ brains will rot or rust if they don’t go to school/tuition for a while.


There is value in having some down-time, all the more so in a national crisis situation like this when not a small number are actually scared for their health, their lives, their loved ones…the security of their jobs (if they still have them)…I think somebody forgot to consider that parents are also having to bear the stress of all this, on top of the usual parenting duties.

I don’t wish to have more unnecessary duties like supervising HBL shoved onto me, on top of having to WFH and settle meals for the entire family.

Perhaps we should take a leaf out of the books of other countries’ parents, who are opting out of ridiculous HBL lessons like Zoom sessions for toddlers (where they can’t even sit still for 5 min). They are instead choosing to have a ball of a time letting the kids get bored, do their own home experiments, cook together as a family, treasure their time together in fun ways. Unschooling in a way. My kid hasn’t complained about the extra free time to play these May holidays.

We can go back to the grind when Term 3 starts.

[MrsKiasu]

from the video, I do see the difference between boys and gals, boys are so lively! seeing the mom need to be by kid side looks need quite alot of work… for us, one will be in each room (luckily I have 2 only) with door shut and I stay outside… not too much from school for the p3 so far, so quite a manageable hbl… think kids should be able to learn more from school ba as I guess the intro of new topics should be minimal as the zoom is not that frequent lor.

[zac's mum]

A SAHM friend of mine who used to be a PA (personal assistant) to a big boss before she “retired” to have kids, commented to me that when HBL kicked in for her P3, she felt as if she was suddenly back to being a PA again. But unpaid. And having to serve 2 bosses this time, because even the hubby also wants his coffee, snacks, lunch da bao or home cooked & served to him during his work Zoom meetings.


Now when I finally have the time to look back & reflect properly (out from the thick of “firefighting”), my personal opinion is this:

HBL, remote learning, distance learning…all these computer-enabled tools for learning…will only work well & be effective for Sec One and older. You need the students to be fully independent learners, with their own email accounts & smart phones, able to receive all the timetables, correspondence & notifications from the teachers/tutors.

Younger kids (primary school and younger) will not be able to do this on their own. Even if they can, parents do not want to expose their kids to premature handphone addiction just because HBL requires it. There are also diminishing returns in terms of retention of information because this age group of kids simply need more real-life interaction to learn most effectively. Attention span is an issue. Distractions are an issue. Inability of the teachers/tutors to convey the required classroom discipline thru a computer screen is another BIG problem.

So for P6 and below, I’d say just furgeddaboudit. Totally.

Priority may be given to the PSLE cohort, if the schools really need to continue with the syllabus & exam preps. This group, i believe, has some justification to push for HBL. Younger than that, nope.

[sharonkhoo]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"1975557\" time=\"1589330573\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=1975557 time=1589330573 user_id=53606]
Now when I finally have the time to look back & reflect properly (out from the thick of “firefighting”), my personal opinion is this:

HBL, remote learning, distance learning...all these computer-enabled tools for learning...will only work well & be effective for Sec One and older. You need the students to be fully independent learners, with their own email accounts & smart phones, able to receive all the timetables, correspondence & notifications from the teachers/tutors.

Younger kids (primary school and younger) will not be able to do this on their own...
So for P6 and below, I’d say just furgeddaboudit. Totally.[/quote]

I agree! I wasn't involved in this HBL experience in Singapore since my daughters are now adults, but they both did \"internet school\" while we lived overseas. My older girl for Grade 7-10, and the younger one for Grade 7-8. The child's maturity, motivation and organisational skills makes a lot of difference - I had no problems with my younger one, but the older one gave me headaches all the way and had to be closely supervised. Luckily, I could do my (low quantity) freelance work while sitting between them daily, making sure they completed what they needed to, and being general help. For parents who have had to handle a full workload while having younger kids doing HBL - I take my hat off to all of them!