GEP 2010 - Screening & Selection

[Faun]

AppleCrumble:

As a parent of a kid who has gone through the primary GEP, I am fully aware of the rigorous demands of the program. Hence, I would suggest that parents of P2 kids and below do NOT train their kids for the GEP screening and selection tests.


Every kid is gifted differently. As parents, let's celebrate the child's uniqueness in his/her strengths and weaknesses and help him/her find her 'purpose' in life.

GEP is catered to kids who are intellectually gifted (as per MOE's website). Let's recognise that not all kids are intellectually gifted; some are gifted in sports whilst others are gifted in the arts. I suppose this is the reason that MOE has set up other specialised schools like Sports School and SOTA. The world needs all type of talents to make it a better place.

If your kid has IT in him/her, he/she will be invited to join the GEP without any training or preparation. If the kid is 'hothoused', he/she may not enjoy the next 3 years of her education. Worst still, it may just 'kill' the joy of learning due to the demanding curriculum and the kid is not ready to take on the challenge. Do bear in mind that this is only primary school, the child still has a long way to go in the learning journey.

:celebrate: I agree with Applecrumble.

Too much fertilizer kills the seedling. Let the plant matures naturally.

If we keep 'Doing It' to the children, in a long run, they never know how to listen to their inner voice. They feel they are not 'Doing' but being 'Done
To'. They need to explore, try what they like and make some mistakes( which we fear greatly) and learn from consequences.

As a society, I think we are still not mature enough to embrace diversity. You can see when parents wince when they hear of kids going to SOTA or
Sports School. We need all kinds to make the world so why let our kids be cut by a cookie cutter.

We now have kids getting 240 to 265 or more going to Sports school or SOTA. Even the GEP kids are going there.

Study is not everything. To pursue ones passion and find ones purpose
here is also important and meaningful. The governent is encouraging 21st century competency in the education system but the hardest thing to do about this change is the parents mindset on what is of value.
I think the GEP is very good program n it's sad they only take 1% of the cohort. There are many more deserving ones. The exploratory learning style cannot be used in the mainstream perhaps because the syllabus is too much to slow things down for more discovery work. The need to drill and compete for exam and PSLE also takes up a lot of time. You can see this in the UNSW assessment test. Our kids here do one level higher than the kids in the other countries, ie our p4 do papers that their p5 do. All these escalation makes us looks good but is it really good? :?

[comfy]

aqeqiq:

IIf I may use my child as an eg, she is an advanced reader and good at math but not an out of the box thinker for math due to lack of interest. I think she could have gotten in if she had been sent for tuition (currently none except Chinese) but if she struggles with gep math after getting in, will it be worth it? It is up to each individual parent to decide.

Hi, aqeqiq, your dd able to pass round1, consider very good already. When my dd passed round1, I was very pleased and happy for her. To me, that is already an achievement. Like you said your dd show a lack of interest in math, so she might not enjoy the tuition if you sent her. But on the other hand, if she want to go for it and determine to do well then it will be a different story. Yes, it is important that the child know what she/he is getting into (GEP prog). I have told my dd that she has to prepare for perhaps a more challenging Math. So I will wait and see what is this GEP programme about and experience for myself whether it is worth or not for my dd to attend.

[comfy]

Faun:

Study is not everything. To pursue ones passion and find ones purpose

here is also important and meaningful. The governent is encouraging 21st century competency in the education system but the hardest thing to do about this change is the parents mindset on what is of value.
I think the GEP is very good program n it's sad they only take 1% of the cohort. There are many more deserving ones. The exploratory learning style cannot be used in the mainstream perhaps because the syllabus is too much to slow things down for more discovery work. The need to drill and compete for exam and PSLE also takes up a lot of time. You can see this in the UNSW assessment test. Our kids here do one level higher than the kids in the other countries, ie our p4 do papers that their p5 do. All these escalation makes us looks good but is it really good? :?

When I start getting involve with the education system, I also start asking such question. Parents send their kids for pre-pri course for their kids besides kindergarten and when they do well in P1, teachers or schools will set a higher standards for future P1 then parents will demands more higher standard pre-pri courses and the a \"vicious \"cysle is started. Poor kids, don't easy to study in this century.

[jtoh]

I was talking to someone who’s child cried and cried for days when she found out she didn’t get into GEP. I feel sad for the child because obviously the parent must have impressed upon the child that GEP was very important and that she had to get in. It didn’t help that the parent was telling everyone before the results that her child was top of the class and was sure to get in. Imagine the pressure on the poor child. So parents, remember, please don’t transmit your desires onto your child. Let them take things naturally.

[aqeqiq]

phankao:

In all likelihood, a child that has been prepared for the GEP tests would just have been exposed to the concepts. The instructor cannot take the tests for them. If they get in, it just means they did have the aptitude to understand and assimilate! So I think they would have no problems adapting to GEP courses. In fact, there are GEP kids who got thru to GEP on their own accord that struggle too! I know from experience from my elder boy's time - his classes were combined with GEP bc he was in one such class from p4.

Yup, that aligns with my thoughts that exposure could increase the child's chance of getting into gep but actually getting in (with exposure) depends on the ability among other factors. Yup, some who got in without training could still struggle with certain aspects of the programme. Gep programme is not a \"one size fits all\" one. My remarks were reflections on myself, ie whether I should have done something.

[aqeqiq]

comfy:

Hi, aqeqiq, your dd able to pass round1, consider very good already. When my dd passed round1, I was very pleased and happy for her. To me, that is already an achievement. Like you said your dd show a lack of interest in math, so she might not enjoy the tuition if you sent her. But on the other hand, if she want to go for it and determine to do well then it will be a different story. Yes, it is important that the child know what she/he is getting into (GEP prog). I have told my dd that she has to prepare for perhaps a more challenging Math. So I will wait and see what is this GEP programme about and experience for myself whether it is worth or not for my dd to attend.

Thank you, Comfy, you are very \"comforting\". :lol:

All the best to your dd and if she and you decide to go ahead with gep, hope she will enjoy it!

[aqeqiq]

jtoh:

I was talking to someone who's child cried and cried for days when she found out she didn't get into GEP. I feel sad for the child because obviously the parent must have impressed upon the child that GEP was very important and that she had to get in. It didn't help that the parent was telling everyone before the results that her child was top of the class and was sure to get in. Imagine the pressure on the poor child. So parents, remember, please don't transmit your desires onto your child. Let them take things naturally.

Hello jtoh, my daughter was sad for about 2 days and then back to normal. Thank goodness for my hubby who has a balanced attitude towards education. Hope that little girl can get over it without hurting her self confidence.

[AppleCrumble]

aqeqiq:

AppleCrumble, I agree with you as to the above but \"what if's\" and \"maybe\" questions do sometimes crop up in my mind especially when I know people who prepared their children who got in. My child is in a highly competitive school

Hi, aqeqiq.

Can understand your 'wondering'. Every parent understandably wants the best for his child. Since you mentioned that your child is in a highly competitive school, I suppose that she is facing quite a fair bit of pressure everyday from school. This is a common scenario for kids who are in such kind of environment.

As parents, I feel that we can help 'ease' the school pressure by being our kids' cheerleaders and encouragers. Think it will make a world of difference to our children if we parents are able to send them a message that they are loved as they are rather than what they can do or achieve.

My DH and I have often shared with our kids that they don't have to be the best but they must do their best in whatever task they have been given. Once it is established that their best effort has been put in, we will accept whatever result is, good or bad. Parent's acceptance and approval has significant impact in our kids' lives.

[comfy]

aqeqiq:

comfy:

Hi, aqeqiq, your dd able to pass round1, consider very good already. When my dd passed round1, I was very pleased and happy for her. To me, that is already an achievement. Like you said your dd show a lack of interest in math, so she might not enjoy the tuition if you sent her. But on the other hand, if she want to go for it and determine to do well then it will be a different story. Yes, it is important that the child know what she/he is getting into (GEP prog). I have told my dd that she has to prepare for perhaps a more challenging Math. So I will wait and see what is this GEP programme about and experience for myself whether it is worth or not for my dd to attend.

Thank you, Comfy, you are very \"comforting\". :lol:

All the best to your dd and if she and you decide to go ahead with gep, hope she will enjoy it!

:thankyou:

[AppleCrumble]

comfy:

AppleCrumble, your little chick dancing away is very distracting to me. Eyes keep on wandering to it. Oh, finally manage to concentrate and finish reading your reply, YES, I agree absolutely. I don't know what Phankao mean by training, is it exposing them is same as training them? Give the child all sort of books like IQ, puzzles etc to read or play, does that consider as \"training\".

Hi, comfy.

Sorry that my 'a-go-go' chick is distracting you. But I find it rather cute and thus decide to use it as my avatar. The 'seeking' mode is also a reminder to me to be 'ever seeking and learning about life'.

Allow me to share a bit about my kid who is in GEP. From as young as 2, my DD showed a keen love for puzzles and Lego. She would also choose books that have mazes, puzzles or mysteries that have clues to solve. DH would often bring DD to the library or bookshops and allowed her to have a free rein to choose whatever books that she would like to read or explore further. Very often than not, DD would be bringing back home books of the same nature. When she was older and started on computer and handheld games, she would again be choosing games of the same genre.

As shown, the 'training' and 'exposure' came from DD herself. Think if a kid is interested in something, he/she will find a way to learn more about it. Guess some kids are just more into a subject than others.