Are Our Children's Future Predicated on Good Primary Schools

[24hr-mum]

it depends on which child has a stronger motivation to succeed on his own.

i wld envy child b’s self confidence which i hope wld not translate into complacency (my #1, becos i prepare her well, i think get too complacent n hence careless becos she thinks she knows all, until she got scolded by me)

child A feels ordinary but hopefully that can spur him to work harder?
of cos he may feel the opposite - defeatist…

[24hr-mum]

the other reason why mos parents including me aim for top sch is becos if we fail to get in at earlier phases eg 2b and 2c, what are we left wif is really those very unpopular sch by the time we reach supplementary or even 3c.


they may be unpopular due to academic results or sometimes the general culture of the student population, i dont know.

but of cos, getting into top sch, doesnt mean all teachers r gd.
its just about probability…

[peterch]

art_n_i:

I have an interesting scenario to share of 2 children and perhaps the parents can share your views on which would be better to develop a child...

I myself prefer child's A option, as he will be facing the same situation in the real life. Competitions are very tight..... So he would not take easy on things as you said, always on cloud 9

[csc]

We need to extend the scenerio a little further. How about this? Cases I have come across.


Child A : Elite primary school (no feeder secondary sch)
Neighbourhood secondary
Mostly polytechnic or neighbourhood JCs (if there's such a thing)

Child B : Elite Primary (with feeder Sec)
Elite SEc school
Neighbourhood JCs/ Polytechnic

Child C : Neighbourhood Pri
Elite Sec (usually with IP program)
Elite JCs
Most probably ending in the University

To answer the forum thread's main question and my humble opinion.

Primary schools have very little influence as compared with secondary schools. :lol:

[jesschan]

art_n_i:

Child A in elite school
Child B in neighbourhood school

I think Child B is in a better position if he has good parental guidance. He will get more opportunities from school and his parents can supplement in areas where the school cannot provide, so he will get the best of both worlds.

The situation is like some of the foreign sports persons who leave their countries to join our Singapore team. In their own countries where competition is very stiff, they are considered \"not good enough\". But when they come to Singapore, they are trained as \"talents\" and given more opportunities, thus enhancing their chances of success.

[Freesia]

Academics is not the determinant to success. They are other things in life that help one to succeed; I have seen many cases whereby the individual is elite all the way to NUS/NTU but still they did not make it in the corporate world. I have also seen individual from neighbourhood school who sail thru to elite secondary school and JC and then to NUS/NTU. The latter has huge ego as they think that they made it from neighbourhood to elite and they must be good. As such; they turn up as failure in the corporate world.


Of course; human nature like to associate with the popular. As such; the thirst to grab hold of branded schools, bags, cars, residences etc… Would you give a second thought given an invitation to join the elite or would you try first?

The determinant of success is humility, responsibilty, openess and kindness. Only then; can you survive in a corporate world where it requires teamwork to achieve the corporate vision. Able to get along with people from all walks of life is the key to success. As such; a child’s key to success rest a lot on the parent’s values.

There is no right no wrong; it is what you want and think is correct and what you choose cos any consequences is borne by yourself, isn’t it?

[csc]

Freesia:

Academics is not the determinant to success. They are other things in life that help one to succeed; I have seen many cases whereby the individual is elite all the way to NUS/NTU but still they did not make it in the corporate world. I have also seen individual from neighbourhood school who sail thru to elite secondary school and JC and then to NUS/NTU. The latter has huge ego as they think that they made it from neighbourhood to elite and they must be good. As such; they turn up as failure in the corporate world.


Of course; human nature like to associate with the popular. As such; the thirst to grab hold of branded schools, bags, cars, residences etc.. Would you give a second thought given an invitation to join the elite or would you try first?

The determinant of success is humility, responsibilty, openess and kindness. Only then; can you survive in a corporate world where it requires teamwork to achieve the corporate vision. Able to get along with people from all walks of life is the key to success. As such; a child's key to success rest a lot on the parent's values.

There is no right no wrong; it is what you want and think is correct and what you choose cos any consequences is borne by yourself, isn't it?

indeed. agree

[jedamum]

art_n_i:

I have an interesting scenario to share of 2 children and perhaps the parents can share your views on which would be better to develop a child.


Child A in elite school
Child B in neighbourhood school

my views....

There can be a lot of average Child As in an elite school, but there can only be a handful or maybe 1-2 Child Bs in neighbourhood school to have the opportunity to represent sch or receive awards. While we have no control on how well our children can perform to be the Child B in their neighbourhood school, but there is much certainty to be an average Child A in an elite school.

I do know of a Child B in a neighbourhood pri sch. He was given much opportunities and exposure in P1 to assist teachers, cos of his outspoken nature and well balanced academic performance. But then came P2, a 'better' student was transferred into that neighbourhood school and the limelight was shifted to the transferred student. Child B was told to give up the limited opportunity to give the transferred student a chance. Can you imagine how Child B felt? Did someone said Ego crushing?

[Freesia]

Again; does it matter which school gives you more opportunity to win award you get or what are the chances get represented; these are all parent’s want and expectation.

My sister’s friend who used to represent school for competition in neighbourhood school and went on to elite sec to be the captain of the school sports team today is but a teacher teaching in a neighbourhood school. Of course; this is also an honourable profession. On the other hand; grew up from a neighbouhood school; who is an average performer with teacher not even bothered to loook at her; did not manage to represent school for anything thoughout her life and always felt sore for not making it; made it in life going thru tough interviews and now work as aprofessional with colleagues from Oxon and Cambridge making more than SGD250k a year in her mid twenties.
It is how a parent teach a child to face, accept failure and move on in life that matters; not how to enhance the child chance of representing school and winning awards. Afterall, life is full of ups and downs and competition is getting more and more intense.

[art_n_i]

citygirl:

It's hard to say as there are many, many other factors in play...

Yes the building up of that ego that is not quite there can be a future issue.

It is a fine line to balance between \"standing on one's firm foot and knowing one's self-worth\" versus being cocky. I suppose most have taken the easy way out to appear cocky at the risk of being bullied if they are too humble. In other words, we have not progressed well even though we appear to be progressing.