2010 DSA(Direct School Admission)

[ruyu]

inally back from the Adam Khoo I am gifted three day camp. And did well for the GAT could complete all the questions in 18 min and had 2 min left but could only check 2 sets (24 questions)

[Pen88n]

ruyu:

inally back from the Adam Khoo I am gifted three day camp. And did well for the GAT could complete all the questions in 18 min and had 2 min left but could only check 2 sets (24 questions)

Hi Ruyu,

Glad to hear you did well for GAT. Can you please advise how is the GAT format:
- how long the time? 20 mins for whole paper or any different section different amount of time given?
- how many questions?
- give some examples of type and format of questions
Thanks

[ruyu]

Pen88n:

Hi Ruyu,


Glad to hear you did well for GAT. Can you please advise how is the GAT format...

60 q 20 min but the format quite hard explain :? but the first part was easy and it gets harder and harder

[Pen88n]

ruyu:

60 q 20 min but the format quite hard explain :? but the first part was easy and it gets harder and harder

Thanks, Ruyu. So it works out to be about 3 questions per min :roll:

I believe non-verbal reasoning means no need for language interpretation.

Can you help by just giving some examples of questions that appear - the easy vs the hard ones? That will give an idea of what it is like.

Thanks so much for your sharing.

[MOE Hater]

ruyu:

There is nothing you can do to prepare it is based on your child IQ.

I know this is kiasupaents.com, in other words it’s filled with a horde of Singaporean parents who would do anything to get their child ahead of the competition for good schools. I also notice that the tagline of this website is ' .....because we not stupid too'. But it is utter stupidity to try and make your poor child cram everything he or she has done so far and make him burn the midnight oil for a DSA test and the end result: No difference from a child of equal ability but who like me, is spending the last few days of the holidays watching TV, reading, whiling my time away without studying. That's what holidays are supposed to be, right? A little R&R.

I am not saying there is nothing you can do. However, i am trying to get across is that there is no last-minute quick-fix to boost your child's chances of getting selected for the half-day camp. From what I have gathered, it has a great deal of logic questions and there is no cookie-cutter solution to solve these problems. Such problems judge your way of thinking, ability to reason etc. did you ever realise there has to be a reason why it is a 60 minute paper but the examinees are given only 20 minutes? Even if the child has done a wide variety of logic questions in the week preceding the GAT or other exams, it won't be habit, and it won't be second nature. The child is given 20 seconds per question so that to complete at least 90% of the questions, they would have to do what comes instinctively and a method they are comfortable with. If they try to regurgitate what they memorised, they would not be sure of themselves and hesitate, thus losing time and lowering their performance.

The only way to get an edge over the others is to start early. P1 is probably the ideal age but P2 is also fine. Parents should instil a sense of inquisitiveness in their child so that they have a love for the world around them. When they are in P2 or P3, you could buy them simple AGE-APPROPRIATE logic books for them to read as a pastime. Perhaps they could discuss what they think is the solution for a certain problem and especially their REASONING with you, and if you find that it is not correct, explain your point of view. Sometimes, you could start first and tell them your idea and let them judge if it is plausible. Once in a while, give them wrong ideas as well and there are two reasons for this. Firstly, they know it is right so they won't even bother to think and secondly, they may be put off if they are not good at it and you constantly get it right. 'Beating' you occasionally boosts their confidence and it would be more productive bonding time and relaxing instead of a trivial competition that could make the child resent you. Starting early is essential as the child needs to be exposed to such questions for maybe 2-3 years for it to work and by practising for this long they would definitely be familiar with a variety of logic questions. When you start later, your child would already have a different approach embedded and getting rid of it would require a lot of patience, stamina and sheer hard work.


This just my 2 cents worth. I know that I might have angered quite a few forummers and hope that if you guys think that I have gotten some things wrong please reply and I will change accordingly. I am just sick and tired of reading the same question about preparation for the GAT over and over again.

Look forward to reading replies.

[Augmum]

MOE Hater:

I know that I might have angered quite a few forummers and hope that if you guys think that I have gotten some things wrong please reply and I will change accordingly. I am just sick and tired of reading the same question about preparation for the GAT over and over again.

moe hater, i dun know how many parents u have angered by this posting of yrs, but definitely not me.

Precisely, u have put some of my thoughts into words.
by reading this thread and some of the psle threads,
it makes me wonder why there are so many parents who always have this thot that their child must \"squeeze\" into RX or RXX,
no matter what and how........ ( dun get me wrong, i am not sour grapes, my gal certainly eligible for it)

a mummy whose daughter is in RXX ( prob sec 3/4) mentioned that
it can be visualised as a thick tall wall,
outsiders want to climb in while some of the insiders want to climb out.......(some which includes her gal but din really elaborated on it)

now, i wonder how many parents will be angered by me........

[Pen88n]

Augmum:

moe hater, i dun know how many parents u have angered by this posting of yrs, but definitely not me...

I don't think it is only RX or RXX, there is a whole lot of IP and other schools (such as NUSH, SST, etc.) that is using GAT to assess students for entrance. I think reasonable KS parents would also know that there is no quick-fix to get kids to \"excel\" in GAT in short time, and there is no point in pushing kids to practise for GAT.

What would help KS parents (or kids) is to know, for instance, some format of GAT and examples of questions so as to get kids mentally prepared to tackle such questions so that they are also more confident before the GAT. I'm sure those with elder kids / siblings who have gone thru' GAT would be able to tell you that they know what to expect better and do not go to GAT with no idea at all of what they are going to face.

It is the spirit of sharing that KS parents forum is useful to parents / kids not fully aware of the MOE system and not having people to turn to. It's thru' this that parents contribute and learn from one another. :grphug:

Just to clarify: I'm not one fo those parents with kids in P6 looking into DSA. Just kay-poh around :lol:

[mathsparks]

MOE Hater:

I know this is kiasupaents.com, in other words it’s filled with a horde of Singaporean parents who would do anything to get their child ahead of the competition for good schools. I also notice that the tagline of this website is ' .....because we not stupid too'. But it is utter stupidity to try and make your poor child cram everything he or she has done so far and make him burn the midnight oil for a DSA test and the end result: No difference from a child of equal ability but who like me, is spending the last few days of the holidays watching TV, reading, whiling my time away without studying. That's what holidays are supposed to be, right? A little R&R.

Let me correct your misconception a bit. This forum is NOT full of parents who would do anything to get their child ahead of competition for good schools. You've only joined us recently, so may not be aware that the majority of us AREN'T as you described us to be.

MOE Hater:

The only way to get an edge over the others is to start early. P1 is probably the ideal age but P2 is also fine. Parents should instil a sense of inquisitiveness in their child so that they have a love for the world around them.

This, I totally agree, but there isn't any ideal age to start. An inquisitive child will start exploring and questioning if there're available materials for them to start with.

MOE Hater:

I know that I might have angered quite a few forummers and hope that if you guys think that I have gotten some things wrong please reply and I will change accordingly.

Yes, I'm offended by your misconception. See my explanation above. But since you're a child, I'm not angry la.

MOE Hater:

I am just sick and tired of reading the same question about preparation for the GAT over and over again.

Look forward to reading replies.

You'll be sure to read about this again same time next year...from another new set of parents seeking help and/or reassurances..in short, doing their best as parents trying to give their children an edge.

Oh and btw, your nick MOE Hater is kinda :slapshead:. You heard of yin shui si yuan..rembering the source of water when you're drinking it? It's like you're studying in a school run by the MOE and you call yourself MOE Hater. Why arh? :?

[verykiasu2010]

MOE Hater,


parents and children are merely adapting to the changing education progress landscape of Singapore

i can assure you that in every country, parents are kiasu to the extreme to get their kids into choice school / uni, whatever is their unique situation and criteria

do you know, for eg, that people in Shnaghai even move to Xinjiang in order to increase the chance of their kid getting into the top uni in China (if u know the China system, too cumbersome for me to explain here) ?

[verykiasu2010]

Hwa Chong’s DSA phase 1 shortlist is out since Friday evening