All About GEP

[INNOVATE]

zeemimi


Congratulations for having such a bright boy. Agreed with you that as far as GEP , it should be natural.

[naggo-nitemare]

INNOVATE:

In recent years, students with PSLE T-score of only 250-269 were crowned as President Scholars and SAF Overseas Merit Scholars. They were not chosen for the GEP.

Pls understand tt the President scholarship and the SAF overseas merit scholarship may not be a goal for many intellectually gifted people. These scholarships appeal to those who want to serve in govt. Many gifted scholars prefer a narrow path of research or a career in academia or a scholarship tt does not require a service bond so tt they can do further studies w/o having to seek the approval of the respective govt organisations. There are countless scholarships out there, offered by not only the s'pore govt, but also by big corps, esteemed universities, foundations...If a gifted individual has no interest in serving in govt, it is not right to apply for it just so tt people like urself can say tt 'oh, money is not wasted after all in the P4-P6 GEP'.

A close friend of mine who teaches in a top IP sch was informed by her principal tt through these yrs of GEP, the statistics hv shown tt GEP pupils perform v well in general at the 'a' levels.

My DS hv benefited alot in the past 3 yrs in this prog. It stretches his mind, he learns to qn psle std answers, he develops his own writing style but he switches to psle compo modes when required. it will be simply cruel to let gifted children remain being bored in the upper pri yrs when they hv had 3 torturous yrs in lower primary. so pl dont begrudge the amt spent on these group of kids. And stop mixing up the issue of IP n GEP for upper pri level.

[ngbrdad]

INNOVATE:

In recent years, students with PSLE T-score of only 250-269 were crowned as President Scholars and SAF Overseas Merit Scholars. They were not chosen for the GEP.


How on earth they managed to pawn many GEP students? An obvious answer must be their enlighted parents who doubled as motivators, councellors and above all, they always seek favors from above.

Wise parents do the above and not spend a small fortune on programmes to train their kids to be gifted. Gifted is a gift from GOD not thru any training programme.

If you look at the stuff the GEP kids are learning compared to the mainstream kids, a lot of things may not come out in PSLE at all. Similarly they don't learn quite a lot of stuff learnt by their peers.
I'm comparing what my son who is in P5 now to the mainstream P5. Certainly they don't learn follow the same lesson progress in math and Science.

A lot of time is spend on social studies/project work/investigative work etc as well.

For Chinese basically there is no difference between GEP and non GEP.

Only subject GEP students should have an advangate in PSLE is English.

So not surprise at all if GEP kids don't do as well as mainstream kids.

[aqeqiq]

Perhaps the success of the gep for any child lies in the attitude of the parents. Don’t pressurize, don’t send for gep enrichment, if your child gets in it means he/she is grounded in the basics and will be able to enjoy and benefit from the enriched gep program. From what I have read in the 175 pages of this thread,the gep program seems to be rigorous so for the sake of my dd’s mental health, this is the approach I am taking. All the best to the 4000+ children including mine taking the papers next tue and wed.

[jtoh]

aqeqiq:

Perhaps the success of the gep for any child lies in the attitude of the parents. Don't pressurize, don't send for gep enrichment, if your child gets in it means he/she is grounded in the basics and will be able to enjoy and benefit from the enriched gep program. From what I have read in the 175 pages of this thread,the gep program seems to be rigorous so for the sake of my dd's mental health, this is the approach I am taking. All the best to the 4000+ children including mine taking the papers next tue and wed.

I'm impressed. You actually read through all 175 pages. :lol: Just a minor note, getting into GEP doesn't mean that you're grounded in the basics. It means that you have the intellectual capability to take the rigours of the demanding programme. The programme is demanding but very interesting and enjoyable for the ones who made it in on their own two feet. For those who hot-housed their way in, it is a terrible struggle. Great that you've got the right attitude.

[kiasiparent]

Anyone knows when the gep second round test? the date? Thanks…Cant find it.

[ngbrdad]

kiasiparent:

Anyone knows when the gep second round test? the date? Thanks...Cant find it.

If you kid has the letter it's stated on it.
19 and 20 Oct

[vlim]

naggo-nitemare:

INNOVATE:

In recent years, students with PSLE T-score of only 250-269 were crowned as President Scholars and SAF Overseas Merit Scholars. They were not chosen for the GEP.

Pls understand tt the President scholarship and the SAF overseas merit scholarship may not be a goal for many intellectually gifted people. These scholarships appeal to those who want to serve in govt. Many gifted scholars prefer a narrow path of research or a career in academia or a scholarship tt does not require a service bond so tt they can do further studies w/o having to seek the approval of the respective govt organisations. There are countless scholarships out there, offered by not only the s'pore govt, but also by big corps, esteemed universities, foundations...If a gifted individual has no interest in serving in govt, it is not right to apply for it just so tt people like urself can say tt 'oh, money is not wasted after all in the P4-P6 GEP'.

A close friend of mine who teaches in a top IP sch was informed by her principal tt through these yrs of GEP, the statistics hv shown tt GEP pupils perform v well in general at the 'a' levels.

My DS hv benefited alot in the past 3 yrs in this prog. It stretches his mind, he learns to qn psle std answers, he develops his own writing style but he switches to psle compo modes when required. it will be simply cruel to let gifted children remain being bored in the upper pri yrs when they hv had 3 torturous yrs in lower primary. so pl dont begrudge the amt spent on these group of kids. And stop mixing up the issue of IP n GEP for upper pri level.

I was talking to my p5 boy just now ..something about 'getting the desire results'... he replied me: ' Result is not the most important thing. The most important thing is the 'process'.....' and I was

[TwaTau]

vlim:

I was talking to my p5 boy just now ..something about 'getting the desire results'... he replied me: ' Result is not the most important thing. The most important thing is the 'process'.....' and I was

Sometimes we adults are so engrossed in the final result that we lost track of the importance of the process leading to the results. Well say! :celebrate:

[Nebbermind]

INNOVATE:

Nebbermind


Share the same sentiment as yours.


To me, kids should spend their elementery school with the minimum stress. Progress in education should be based on running a marathon not a sprinting event. The parents with the last laughs may be the ones without kids in GEP.

I'm not sure what they do in those GEP preparatory schools but I believe that they, like any other premium enrichment schools, will do the screening before admitting anyone into their courses. So perhaps it's safe to say that those who are in it is among the top 20% of the cohort?

That being said, if they are trainable to understand higher level concepts, it only goes to show that they NO STUPID. So it's still quite fair if they eventually qualify for GEP.

Another possibility is that the kid is already topping the school (neighbourhood or otherwise) every yr and the parents are not leaving it to chance. I have personally know someone whose kid was academic award winner every year but did not even make it pass Rd 1. A big blow to the kid and also invited alot of bitching by both parents and fellow students behind the kid's back. very sad situation.

I used to be against such training but now more opened. For me, it you are trainable, then WHY NOT?