2023 PSLE Discussions and Strategies (Children born in 2011)

[jewel25]

Thank you mystique_j


Can i ask for reverse checking..do u recommend to do it with every working? Just thinking how much more time will b needed for this..

For the 2nd suggestion, previously i has asked mine to annotate what she is supposed to find at the start of the qns..good idea, i should call her to do the annotate when doing the final answer. (I am afraid if i call her to do before she will forget to write the answer on the line provided *cry* )

I had done a tabulation for her to see as well. Conceptualization errors vs computation. Hope it will spur her to work on her carelessness.

Thanks v much for the sharing

[mystique_j]

jewel25\" post_id=\"2103502\" time=\"1680228055\" user_id=\"111477:

Thank you mystique_j

Can i ask for reverse checking..do u recommend to do it with every working? Just thinking how much more time will b needed for this..

For the 2nd suggestion, previously i has asked mine to annotate what she is supposed to find at the start of the qns..good idea, i should call her to do the annotate when doing the final answer. (I am afraid if i call her to do before she will forget to write the answer on the line provided *cry* )

I had done a tabulation for her to see as well. Conceptualization errors vs computation. Hope it will spur her to work on her carelessness.

Thanks v much for the sharing

The reverse checking is something that if they do it often enough, it should be relatively quick, don’t need to write down but just do mentally. Same thing for trf errors, quick check that they wrote down the right numbers. And after the test papers, do another round of check, if there’s time. Although for me, I feel they shd prioritize checking the ones they did than trying to solve that 1 or 2 tough qns.

If stuck on any qn, circle it, move on first and go back to that qn later. I know a lot of kids tend to keep working out that one qn and they start to panic, then brain fog and they are unable do well on the rest of the paper or not enough time. My DS told me that there were afew instances when he skipped a qn and when he went back, he was able to understand and do the qn.

[phtthp]

jewel25\" post_id=\"2103481\" time=\"1680189529\" user_id=\"111477:

Hi everyone! Can i check if anyone has tips on reducing amt of carelessness in Maths..sigh. my kid sometimes has the tendency to answer weird answers..like
18/2 = 8 (??? Is not she doesnt know..she does just that she will have an error here there sometimes which will cost lost of 2 marks)

18/2 = 8

Do reverse checking.
Will 8 x2, give u back 18 ?

If No, means careless mistake detected, because 8 x2, should give u 16, not 18.

[Marina Collection]

jewel25\" post_id=\"2103481\" time=\"1680189529\" user_id=\"111477:

Hi everyone! Can i check if anyone has tips on reducing amt of carelessness in Maths..sigh. my kid sometimes has the tendency to answer weird answers..like
18/2 = 8 (??? Is not she doesnt know..she does just that she will have an error here there sometimes which will cost lost of 2 marks)

Or maybe question is looking for how much did A has...she will find B..because she miss out one addtional step to find A

Here and there she can lost like 5 to 6 marks on carelessness which is easily a AL tier...appreciate if anyone has any technique to share to eliminate this...i have seen before some tuition centres they have methods to eliminate this..hope anyone can shed some light

Boys are especially prone to carelessness .

When I mark my kids work , I note down the errors on a separate piece of paper .

Then I tell him that there are xx careless mistakes (ie transfer errors or finding A instead of B etc) .

He has to go back to “spot the error”. It’s like playing a little game . He gets little prizes if he spots all mistakes . This is to sharpen their “eye power”.

Then as he improves , I tell him that after he has worked out the answers , go back to question and underline the key words like “A” “at the end”.

All these actions wouldn’t take much additional time . They’re certainly worth the effort if it can save a few marks . Afterall , what’s the point of spending 5min doing the entire question only to get the answer wrong due to carelessness ? Might as well don’t do right (that’s what I tell my son) ?!

[Zeal mummy]

jewel25\" post_id=\"2103481\" time=\"1680189529\" user_id=\"111477:

Hi everyone! Can i check if anyone has tips on reducing amt of carelessness in Maths..sigh. my kid sometimes has the tendency to answer weird answers..like
18/2 = 8 (??? Is not she doesnt know..she does just that she will have an error here there sometimes which will cost lost of 2 marks)

Or maybe question is looking for how much did A has...she will find B..because she miss out one addtional step to find A

Here and there she can lost like 5 to 6 marks on carelessness which is easily a AL tier...appreciate if anyone has any technique to share to eliminate this...i have seen before some tuition centres they have methods to eliminate this..hope anyone can shed some light

Hi Jewel25,
My suggestions..

Let her identify the kind of mistake by herself and ask her to come up with her proposal/solution on how she can avoid such mistakes. Eg. Calculation error (I can work backwards), transfer error (I can circle, underline and highlight key numbers), not answering the question (I can highlight the final question/ answer to see if it was actually answered), no units (highlight the key words like money, length, water, weight to check if units are written down) etc.

For educators/parents.. Avoid using the word “careless”, always try to identify it as one of these.. Calculation error, transfer error, answering the wrong question, no units written etc. Tell her she has to be careful and mindful of these pitfalls and each time she is careful, praise and encourage her.

She needs to practice more so she can be faster , working faster means she has more time to check. And checking is an essential exam technique.

Some of the activities/games that are useful are, spot-the-difference, mental sums, memory games. Having fun is important as it builds interests and passion for the subject and it will in turn motivate her to focus and to want to do well.

Hope it’s helps! All the best!

[radiant00]

jewel25\" post_id=\"2103481\" time=\"1680189529\" user_id=\"111477:

Hi everyone! Can i check if anyone has tips on reducing amt of carelessness in Maths..sigh. my kid sometimes has the tendency to answer weird answers..like
18/2 = 8 (??? Is not she doesnt know..she does just that she will have an error here there sometimes which will cost lost of 2 marks)

Or maybe question is looking for how much did A has...she will find B..because she miss out one addtional step to find A

Here and there she can lost like 5 to 6 marks on carelessness which is easily a AL tier...appreciate if anyone has any technique to share to eliminate this...i have seen before some tuition centres they have methods to eliminate this..hope anyone can shed some light

My son also had this problem last year when he was preparing for his PSLE, I didn't know I should laugh or frown when I saw 7X8=54 or 4X9=27. I believe it's not related to kid's ability but rather focus. Maybe those calculations are a bit too simple for the kid or maybe he is just bored. I used a \"traditional way\" to tackle it (perhaps not a good one but effective for my son): when I reviewed his homework/exercise, if we identify more than 1 (1 is allowed) such careless/unnecessary mistakes, he need to redo another exercise (mistakes due to difficulty did not count) . As we usually know, kids don't like doing papers and in order not to suffer again, my son increased his concentration level by quite a bit and we saw the result within 1 month. And eventually I believe it also changed him a bit psychologically as I could see that he started to show ability to be concentrated within a short time.

[Zeal mummy]

There’s the stick and there’s the carrot, both methods will work if used appropriately. All good.

[MrsKiasu]

I am quite happy to see an improvement in myself…can talk/give frequent reminders that they are having exam this year.

[00skyblue00]

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-insider/psle-tuition-singapore-education-schools-parent-guilt-3414966

[Happybee1114]

Hi, anyone knows if there are any upcoming open house?