2022 PSLE Discussions & Strategies (born in 2010)

[doveymum]

Another qn,how many years of past psle abd prelims paper wld one expect to complete to be well prepared for a subject and do well? Do most p6 complete past year psle papers during June holidays?

[floppy]

doveymum\" post_id=\"2067481\" time=\"1652512649\" user_id=\"43768:

Hi, can anyone enlighten and share if it is necessary to train MO to do well in PSLE math? My child has not been trained in MO as he is not really interested nor has aptitude for math. SA1 was a challenge for him...alot of high order qn..I m panic, .school worksheets generally ok but high order is a problem .
... Is it due to no MO training? His friends with MO can do the papers! .... Is it in time to train? What to do to catch up on MO trg so short time to psle? ;(

I think you are getting the sequence wrong.

Those with interest and aptitude for math will find higher order questions challenging and fun.
Those without interest or aptitude for math will likely find higher order questions a waste of time.

Hence, the question isn't about MO or no MO training, it's about whether he has the aptitude for math. If he doesn't, no amount of training will help.

To address your first question, it isn't necessary to have MO training to do well in PSLE math.
To do well in PSLE math (or any subjects), is to score well in the areas that you need to score well, and to try and score some points in the areas that you probably aren't expected to do well. Unless your name is God Wei, it's ok not to score 100% for the paper and still get a AL1 or 2 grade (which is one of the most welcome change to the PSLE AL system).

[floppy]

doveymum\" post_id=\"2067482\" time=\"1652512772\" user_id=\"43768:

Another qn,how many years of past psle abd prelims paper wld one expect to complete to be well prepared for a subject and do well? Do most p6 complete past year psle papers during June holidays?

I feel that the sequence is again wrong here.

You prepare well for a subject in order to do the papers.
You don't do the papers in order to prepare well for the subject.

Bad preparation / bad understanding of the topic + many papers = poor outcome
Good preparation / good understanding of the topic + few papers = good outcome

The reason why one should be trying a few papers is to get familiarised with the different ways that the same question can be asked. Also, it can train one to recognise that even though the questions are different, the methods used (esp. in math) or the answers (esp. in science) are essentially the same.

[doveymum]

@floppy-- many thanks for your sharing,appreciate the insights 🙏👍

[doveymum]

@floppy-- many thanks for your sharing,appreciate the insights 🙏👍

[doveymum]

@floppy-- many thanks for your sharing,appreciate the insights 🙏👍

[zac's mum]

If I may chip in a little bit here…The PSLE exam papers (with EPH answers) were useful for us, not for doing whole paper blindly, but:


- for Maths, I used it to build back the damaged confidence from facing too many tough qns in exams. Similar to what floppy shared, the strategy for kids who are not MO or Math-inclined is to master the easy Paper 1 qns first. Start from the MCQ, be able to do them quick and well. You will find the actual PSLE papers are much easier than school exam papers (forget about prelim papers, they are not for struggling students to train on) - show the child that PSLE is not so scary. Get whatever marks you can in Paper 1; as for Paper 2 last few qns, I have learnt to let go & tell child dont worry about them. We are not aiming for AL1-2 as that’s beyond his capacity.

- for English (his best subject), I used the PSLE exam papers (as far back as 10 years ago) to expose child to all the various permutations that have come out in the past. Better than using assessment books or school exam papers, whose answer keys are riddled with errors and provide zero explanations.

- i think later on in P6 (probably term 3) the school teachers will make them do the PSLE papers 3-year series in a timed fashion, so there’s no need to do that at home beforehand.

[Zeal mummy]

doveymum\" post_id=\"2067481\" time=\"1652512649\" user_id=\"43768:

Hi, can anyone enlighten and share if it is necessary to train MO to do well in PSLE math? My child has not been trained in MO as he is not really interested nor has aptitude for math. SA1 was a challenge for him...alot of high order qn..I m panic, .school worksheets generally ok but high order is a problem .
... Is it due to no MO training? His friends with MO can do the papers! .... Is it in time to train? What to do to catch up on MO trg so short time to psle? ;(

No, you don’t need MO to do well for psle math. Working on those questions that he can’t do, will. Practice the same type of questions over and over, till he can go it well even with his eyes closed.

Exposure to MO is beneficial, but not needed, hmm because it’s too close to psle, I’m afraid it will further demoralise him.. I will advise him to work on those higher order questions specifically, till he understands how to do it. Practice!

[Zeal mummy]

doveymum\" post_id=\"2067482\" time=\"1652512772\" user_id=\"43768:

Another qn,how many years of past psle abd prelims paper wld one expect to complete to be well prepared for a subject and do well? Do most p6 complete past year psle papers during June holidays?

About 3-5 years worth of past year psle papers. I recall they did those papers after the June holidays.

Doing full exam papers will help time management, but doing topical papers will help to identify areas that he doesn’t understand well. For weaker students, I would recommend topical first, correct the problem areas, before moving on to the timed environment to work on exams techniques.

[SG_KP1]

floppy\" post_id=\"2067484\" time=\"1652514484\" user_id=\"97579:

.....
To address your first question, it isn't necessary to have MO training to do well in PSLE math.
To do well in PSLE math (or any subjects), is to score well in the areas that you need to score well, and to try and score some points in the areas that you probably aren't expected to do well. Unless your name is God Wei, it's ok not to score 100% for the paper and still get a AL1 or 2 grade (which is one of the most welcome change to the PSLE AL system).

Wow, this guy is a real life Will Hunting.

I do agree that the calculus of the math paper has changed dramatically under AL system. Be efficient, get what you can get, and you should be OK. Perhaps you will even be on equal footing as God Wei...