Q&A - P2 English

[janet88]

optimistforum:

Hi Janet


Can I please clarify the age for P2. Is it age 7-8. DS1 is a rising 8; meaning his cohort is full of DC who are 7 or 8, and that they will be 8 by 31 Aug 2011.

PS, shall I use both P2 Complete Practice and P2 Challeng 4in1 English, or just the P2 Complete Practice?

Many thanks.

SG schools start in Jan...so kids born in Jan 2 will be in P1. Children born on 1/1 will have to join the earlier cohort though.
Both the English assessment books are not bad...but Josephine Yeo's Complete Practice book is thicker. So if there is no time, this one should be sufficient.

[optimistforum]

laughingcat:

Hello optimistforum,


hehehehe.....keep seeing you having problem with the age of the child w.r.t schooling and so hopefully I can help you. :love:

Primary 1 - kids at 7yrs old in that year
Primary 2 - 8yrs old
Primary 3 - 9 yrs old
Primary 4 - 10 yrs old
Primary 5 - 11 yrs old
Primary 6 - 12 yrs old

SGP school years starts from Jan to Dec. Unlike in UK which starts in Jun/Jul of every year (unless I am wrong.....hahaha can't remember already since I used to study in UK for my uni). :lol:

Hi laughingcat

Thanks for this.

England School year starts Sep to July. Next week we break up for Easter, and summer term begins in May and end in July, along with school year.

I will map UK school years to Singapore school years:

Primary 1 - 6-7 yrs old, UK Year 2
Primary 2 - 7-8 yrs old, UK Year 3
Primary 3 - 8-9 yrs old, , UK Year 4
Primary 4 - 9-10 yrs old, UK Year 5
Primary 5 - 10-11 yrs old, , UK Year 6 (Primary school ends at end of Y6)
Primary 6 - 11-12 yrs old, UK Year 7 (Secondary school starts in Y7)

[optimistforum]

janet_lee88:

optimistforum:

Hi Janet


Can I please clarify the age for P2. Is it age 7-8. DS1 is a rising 8; meaning his cohort is full of DC who are 7 or 8, and that they will be 8 by 31 Aug 2011.

PS, shall I use both P2 Complete Practice and P2 Challeng 4in1 English, or just the P2 Complete Practice?

Many thanks.

SG schools start in Jan...so kids born in Jan 2 will be in P1. Children born on 1/1 will have to join the earlier cohort though.
Both the English assessment books are not bad...but Josephine Yeo's Complete Practice book is thicker. So if there is no time, this one should be sufficient.

Hi Janet

I notice you mentioned that Complete Practice and Challenging 4-in1 English are not bad. Does that mean that they are not thatgood. :? I ask this as I woiuld gladly purchase more appropriate titles - if you can think of better ones, then I can order online fromn POPULAR.

[janet88]

Hi optimistforum,

There is a difference in the way questions are set in both books.
For Complete practice, vocab and grammar are in MCQ format…and according to topics for eg, pronouns, articles, tenses. As for vocab, questions are according to themes like fantasy, transport, animals etc.

Challenging English is in a ‘test’ format - vocab, grammar, comprehension OE/MCQ etc. It’s appropriate for testing the child before exams, not so much for daily practice/revision.

[Callie Tan]

May I share my point?


I think it is ideal to get some assessment for individual topics and then some in "test" formats… this is what i do… do note that there are revision exercises in the individual topics too… but I normally will let my girl do the "test" without assistance, ie. like during an exam.

As to the age and which level the kids are, I guess the more important consideration is to have a good foundation. If you feel that your child is still not very familiar with P1 work, I suggest you reinforce that area first before moving on to P2 work. Like what my girl’s Math teacher said, once the foundation in P1 is good, P2 they can fly…

Just my 2 cents worth…

[janet88]

Callie Tan:

I think it is ideal to get some assessment for individual topics and then some in \"test\" formats... this is what i do... do note that there are revision exercises in the individual topics too...


As to the age and which level the kids are, I guess the more important consideration is to have a good foundation. If you feel that your child is still not very familiar with P1 work, I suggest you reinforce that area first before moving on to P2 work. Like what my girl's Math teacher said, once the foundation in P1 is good, P2 they can fly....
Just my 2 cents worth...

Hi Callie,
The foundation must be built from P1. That's very true ...also to 'reinforce' the mindset of my P1 gal that she is no longer in kindy and it's REAL school although with some fun thrown in.

Although there is no CA/SA in most schools now, it doesn't mean relax completely bcos teachers will be more 'on' in P2 and if the child has been in 'relaxed' mode for whole of P1, he/she will suffer.

[Callie Tan]

janet_lee88:

Callie Tan:

I think it is ideal to get some assessment for individual topics and then some in \"test\" formats... this is what i do... do note that there are revision exercises in the individual topics too...


As to the age and which level the kids are, I guess the more important consideration is to have a good foundation. If you feel that your child is still not very familiar with P1 work, I suggest you reinforce that area first before moving on to P2 work. Like what my girl's Math teacher said, once the foundation in P1 is good, P2 they can fly....
Just my 2 cents worth...

Hi Callie,
The foundation must be built from P1. That's very true ...also to 'reinforce' the mindset of my P1 gal that she is no longer in kindy and it's REAL school although with some fun thrown in.

Although there is no CA/SA in most schools now, it doesn't mean relax completely bcos teachers will be more 'on' in P2 and if the child has been in 'relaxed' mode for whole of P1, he/she will suffer.

Sadly, my girl's school has CA. They called it Modular Assessment, MA. Same lah, the results are going to account for the Year End total score....

[janet88]

HI Callie,

Your daughter's school really ON. :scared:
I thought my daughter's school is ON in the sense that teacher teaches synthesis, tenses etc but yours lagi more steady. Although no CA/SA, there will be Formative Assessments at the end of this term (w.e.f Term 2).

[Callie Tan]

janet_lee88:

HI Callie,

Your daughter's school really ON. :scared:
I thought my daughter's school is ON in the sense that teacher teaches synthesis, tenses etc but yours lagi more steady. Although no CA/SA, there will be Formative Assessments at the end of this term (w.e.f Term 2).

Don't know having CA is good or not leh but no choice, have to go with the flow... but actually a bit a bit also good lah. If one time have to revise 2 terms work can be quite tedious and siong!!

[janet88]

Hi Callie, my older kid had CA1, SA from young…stressful but it taught me the importance of daily revision. I am always planning what subject/topic to revise everyday. Term 3 is the ‘best’ as I can take it a little easier as there isnt CA2…so I get him to revise more intensively.