What To Do After the PSLE?
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I’ll contribute an idea first. How about discovering world history? I used to read A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich with my kids, and along the way I started compiling video links that go with each chapter, mostly documentaries that make the history a bit more vivid. Sharing what I have so far below, organised by chapter.
Reference Educators’ Guide Audiobook Chapter 4: Sunday, Monday Ancient Mesopotamia 101 (National Geographic) The Kings: From Babylon To Baghdad Chapter 5: The One And Only God The Rise & Fall Of The Assyrian Empire (TED-Ed) Chapter 8: An Unequal Struggle Crucible Of Civilization (documentary on ancient Greece, narrated by Liam Neeson) Chapter 9: Two Small Cities In One Land Crucible Of Civilization (documentary on ancient Greece, narrated by Liam Neeson) Chapter 12: The Greatest Adventure Of All In The Footsteps Of Alexander The Great (BBC) Chapter 14: An Enemy Of History The First Emperor Of China: Qin Shi Huang Chapter 16: The Good News What Archaeology Is Telling Us About the Real Jesus Chapter 17: Life In The Empire And At Its Frontiers The Collapse of the Roman Empire Chapter 20: There Is No God But Allah The Life Of Muhammad (BBC Documentary) Chapter 28: A New Faith Martin Luther (PBS) Martin Luther: The Reformation And The Nation (DW) Chapter 31: An Unlucky King And A Lucky King Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658): The King Killer Louis XIV: The Sun King Documentary Rise & Fall of Versailles (Real Royalty) Chapter 32: Meanwhile, Looking Eastwards The History of the Ottoman Empire (All Parts) – 1299 to 1922 Chapters not listed here are ones I haven’t found good videos for yet — if you’ve got recommendations, drop them below! -
@thebottomsupblog Great idea if you have a kid who likes to read. I have crafted other booklists for my kids when they were school-age (long ago now) for their long vacations - I tried to put in subjects and genres that they would probably like, as well as a few classics or history or whatever for variety. Possible spin-offs they could explore is to draw, write a story, create a puppet show etc. based on something in a story they read.
Other things for the vacation period (though supervision may be needed for some of these, especially when starting):
- arts and crafts of some kind
- music
- sports, walks
- house chores (I’m serious! Learning to do some of these is really valuable to them for independence and self-esteem, even if they grumble)
- cooking/baking
- something related to Christmas/year-end festivities (making cards, gifts, organising a party?)
Enjoy!
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@sharonkhoo I used to love doing booklists too, with themes like “Read Around the World!” I still have those lists on my blog, so I’ll post them over here soon!
Miss those days

Thanks for sharing all these ideas! I’ve also refreshed our list of post-PSLE activity suggestions:
https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/what-to-do-after-the-psle-30-activities-projects-to-try
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@thebottomsupblog You still have the lists? I never kept mine. Can’t remember what I put on them now. And there’ll be a lot of new stuff available now.
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@sharonkhoo Yes I do! Also there is a very cute little bookstore in Chinatown that specialises in picturebooks. It’s called Eliko. The owner has a very cool collection, with some familiar names and titles!
This is a fun place to check out, after the PSLE:
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