P1 Tution -- Necessary?

[kylene]

Depends on circumstances?


I sent my DS for tuition in P1 as we had just returned from Australia and I was afraid what he did in kindergarten over there was insufficient for him to cope with the rigors of sg curriculum.

Continued till P3. We stopped in P4 when I saw that he was coping ok (but never top in school or class 😆). But I had to admit I was quite afraid after he stopped the tuition as I hear there’s a big jump from lower to upper primary . Will know the if we made the correct decision next week 🤪

[floppy]

MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"2002869\" time=\"1605598508\" user_id=\"43981:

opinion from (almost) the other end of the spectrum..imho.. don't need tuition at P1. It is not difficult for at least my child's school. My thinking then was so long as the child did not display any issue in learning, they understand the language & can follow instructions.. just let them be. they can learn from school. only step in when child tell me I need help in my homework etc..but must have lower expectation lor.

I don’t see the need in tuition at P1. The (academic) demands at P1 is, frankly, relatively low - at least in my kid’s school. Unless the child needs help because of learning disabilities, parents should just relax and let them try. They probably won’t get everything right, but mistakes and (controlled) failures are part of the learning process.

Also, there isn’t a need to set a “lower expectation”. One can continue to have a high expectation but it must be the “right expectation”. There’s nothing wrong in expecting work to be done on time, to be done nearly and appropriately, to be prepared for lessons (ie making sure the bag is packed, learning materials are brought along), etc.

[chickaboom8888]

Not necessarily for p1 as most parents should be able coach. School will have supplementary class for kids who are weak in reading. For English it is good enough to encourage kids to read widely and build good foundation on grammar. For maths, tropical assessment book, just ensure the kids grasp the basic concept well including problem sum. For chinese, ensure the kids diligently revise the word and read textbook passage several time to gain fluency. You can probably save the bullet first and decide if tuition necessarily as they progress to upper primary where question are getting more complex and answering technique/strategy needs to be polished.

[sky minecrafter]

manorway\" post_id=\"2002872\" time=\"1605599031\" user_id=\"9303:

If you don't expect all stars and praises in P1 or P2 or even P3, then no need tuition at all.

But if you expect amazing results in P3, and kids are slow learners, then it is also challenging to just do nothing and wait until P3 exam period to catch up. May be too stressful for kids.

In my neighbourhood, we knew some kids who just passed their all class tests since P1. Parents did not do anything until P3 exams. In the end, still failed P3 or borderline passes, though parents sent to tuition for all subjects in Feb of P3.

👍 Yes, I'd agree that it's a mix of student's ability+ motivation, parents' expectations...

[floppy]

Imp75\" post_id=\"2002855\" time=\"1605593800\" user_id=\"2358:

I only started sending my younger girls to chinese tuition from P4 onwards to pick up certain skillsets eg compo and compre skills that I can't teach.

There are a number of skill sets and techniques that are important to scoring well in exams but not emphasize enough in class eg usage of 好词好句 in CL, good words and phrases in EL, answering techniques for science section B, etc. These are some instances where I think tuition can be especially helpful to coach the kid if the parents can’t teach or help.

[Imp75]

floppy\" post_id=\"2002905\" time=\"1605660341\" user_id=\"97579:

Imp75\" post_id=\"2002855\" time=\"1605593800\" user_id=\"2358:

I only started sending my younger girls to chinese tuition from P4 onwards to pick up certain skillsets eg compo and compre skills that I can't teach.

There are a number of skill sets and techniques that are important to scoring well in exams but not emphasize enough in class eg usage of 好词好句 in CL, good words and phrases in EL, answering techniques for science section B, etc. These are some instances where I think tuition can be especially helpful to coach the kid if the parents can’t teach or help.

Yes to give my girls a balanced childhood, we try not to inundate them with tuition if they do not struggle in the subjects as they also had enrichments outside of sch as well. Chinese for my younger girls seemed more pressing as they were borderline pass in compo only and overall less than 85 at P3. My eldest was in the bicultural class so naturally her chinese was a bit better with more chinese classes or exposure plus she's had 5 days commitment in sports so no tuition for her. In the end we think the arrangement worked out fine. They did not do extremely well neither were they burnt out by PSLE.

[zac's mum]

floppy\" post_id=\"2002905\" time=\"1605660341\" user_id=\"97579:

Imp75\" post_id=\"2002855\" time=\"1605593800\" user_id=\"2358:

I only started sending my younger girls to chinese tuition from P4 onwards to pick up certain skillsets eg compo and compre skills that I can't teach.

There are a number of skill sets and techniques that are important to scoring well in exams but not emphasize enough in class eg usage of 好词好句 in CL, good words and phrases in EL, answering techniques for science section B, etc. These are some instances where I think tuition can be especially helpful to coach the kid if the parents can’t teach or help.

Ya I agree. These are the so-called exam-smart skills that the PSLE awards marks for. Never mind that this KPI system is so artificial and narrow in assessing what the kids have learnt in their 6 years of primary school education. The tuition centres and private tutors are all still raking in good money because they know exactly what kind of technique will produce high scores.

Those parents who want their kids to have high marks right from P1, so as to have a stellar track record of high marks for 6 years (dunno what for actually), can start paying for tuition as early as 3 years old. Otherwise, just save your $$ and wait till upper primary for the last burst chiong to the end point.

I can't wait to finish this darned PSLE farce and be done with it.

[sharonkhoo]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"2002907\" time=\"1605662813\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=2002907 time=1605662813 user_id=53606]
I can't wait to finish this darned PSLE farce and be done with it.[/quote]

I sympathise - I felt the same! But I hate to burst your bubble - it might just continue (with some change of form) as your child moves up the grades! It all depends on the child - if he/she can take charge and cope well, then the parent can \"retire\" earlier. If not, it goes on, and on, and on...

My younger girl pretty much took over once she got into sec school and I've just been on the sidelines. My older girl (with some learning needs) has needed watching and occasional bailing out all the way, up till now in her final year in university! Not exactly in the same way or at the same intensity as in Pr school, but she still runs into problems with group work, structuring her work, planning her time... She submits her final assignments for this semester today (with some pushing and nagging from me). Then she just has 1 more semester to go before she faces trying to get a job... It never ends for some, I think.

To drag this back on topic - my advice to parents of P1s is to focus more on study skills and study habits than the actual content of what they study. They actually learn very little in content in the early years, just spread out and made to look like a lot. These years are more profitably spent making sure they know how to be responsible for daily homework, keep to a schedule, focus and not be distracted, pack their own bags, remember instructions, etc. These habits and skills will pay dividends as they go up the grades and are much harder to inculcate once bad habits have been formed. A child struggling with content may need tuition if the parents can't help, but unnecessary tuition when not needed can breed dependency and deprive a child of the opportunity to learn independence.

[floppy]

Imp75\" post_id=\"2002906\" time=\"1605662556\" user_id=\"2358:

floppy\" post_id=\"2002905\" time=\"1605660341\" user_id=\"97579:

[quote=Imp75 post_id=2002855 time=1605593800 user_id=2358]I only started sending my younger girls to chinese tuition from P4 onwards to pick up certain skillsets eg compo and compre skills that I can't teach.

There are a number of skill sets and techniques that are important to scoring well in exams but not emphasize enough in class eg usage of 好词好句 in CL, good words and phrases in EL, answering techniques for science section B, etc. These are some instances where I think tuition can be especially helpful to coach the kid if the parents can’t teach or help.

Yes to give my girls a balanced childhood, we try not to inundate them with tuition if they do not struggle in the subjects as they also had enrichments outside of sch as well. Chinese for my younger girls seemed more pressing as they were borderline pass in compo only and overall less than 85 at P3. My eldest was in the bicultural class so naturally her chinese was a bit better with more chinese classes or exposure plus she's had 5 days commitment in sports so no tuition for her. In the end we think the arrangement worked out fine. They did not do extremely well neither were they burnt out by PSLE.[/quote]I started my kid on Chinese tuition about 2 months ago, just prior to her first exam in P3. While she wasn’t struggling with the subject, I realise her compo was quite bad Shared her compo with some very senior teachers and their feedback were:
文笔不通，错字很多是现在孩子的通病。太多选择题，书写机会很少是教育部的问题。

No choice lor, can only send her to a tuition teacher to coach her on the structure, phrasing, usage of key words, etc. So far so good ~low 80s but with plenty of scope for improvement. l

[Imp75]

I have to add. After chinese tuition, my younger girls obtained A* in Chinese plus distinction in hcl. Money most well-spent lol cos yield results and it was a combined tuition for both cl/hcl…