Teach Less, Learn More
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honestly, I dun even know what is the sch for anymore.
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insider:
Err....dun tink we can define \"decent\" here as yur \"decent\" may not b my \"decent\" (my \"decent\" dun even need min 240) & vice versa. Confusing??? Paisay... :oops:
Think 'decent' schools require a T score of min 240 and 'good' schools min 250.
There are limited number of 'decent' and 'good' schools (real or perceived) here and most kids have to settle for 'average' schools.
When MOE said most kids can cope, I think it means most kids can make it to an average school.
It is impossible for MOE to say most kids can score min 240 to go to 'decent' schools (real or perceived).
If one can settle for 'average' schools, then the pressure will not be as great.
Tink quiteksmum is saying our expectations may not b high. To achieve tat expectations, it may even seem diff for some of us wif avg kids wif e current education sys.
Hope I din confuse anyone further....
:clubmyself: -
Funx3:
Yup, sports. Tats y read e Gymnastics thread & saw yur hectic schedule....Incredible!!! :udawoman: :udawoman:cantbearit2:
My DD is pretty gd in her motor skills but definitely not in the academic dept.
Meaning Sports? Dance? Musical Instruments?
Still tinking wat to sign her up. :? Ask her, she keeps shuddering her shoulders & say dunno. :faint: :faint: She says she loves to run, jump, basically not to stay still. :slapshead: :slapshead:
Any tips for me??? i noe IM :offtopic: Hope chief dun delete my posts.
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cantbearit2:
insider, it's not the new way of doing Maths tats putting me off. It's e whole \"teach less, learn more\" crap tats getting on my nerves. It make me feel 4d under privileged kids out there. Not being noble but as a parent, I felt frustrated 2b contributing to e no. of being a tuition nation too.insider:
My experience in teaching primary school maths.
When I first realised that primary school maths was very different from the way I learnt maths in my primary school 17 years ago, I 'grumbled' a bit about how come need to be so 'troublesome' to draw models etc to solve such simple questions, how come can't use algebra, etc. Then later I got to understand the objective is to teach mental skills via 'long cut' instead of 'short cut'. I got over the initial shock and subsequently can guide my two elder kids more 'calmly' and in a 'matter-of-factly'.
I think parents have to accept the changes and don't take it that the maths are very difficult/tough themselves first coz I think this mindset may affect their children in receiving maths in a more positive manner.
I gave my nephew tuitions on all subjects 17 years ago twice a week for about 2 hours/session. He comes from a broken family with minimal family support except me and he is an average child. He got an 'A' for his maths.
My daughter (studious) and son (ultra playful) got an A+ and an A for their PSLE maths respectively with minimal coaching from me = maths is manageable if an 'A' is an acceptable score for you and the child.
So overall maths is manageable if parents stand by to support their child (parents need to learn all about models, unit transfer, themselves first) at times of needs. All have to accept that the teaching of maths have changed and with a mindset change, the perception of it is 'difficult' will change then it will not be so difficult.
I presume this maybe a case of 'resistance to change' that makes the learning of primary school maths a chore for many (you change your mindset, maths 'suddenly' may become 'easy'...)
The yes-woman rears her head again... EXACTLY. -
Funx3:
Think Mrs Yu-Foo is in on the 3rd Week of Every Month at Toh Yi Gdn ....
Hey MOE, are you there ? If you are, please listen to our problems and do something !!!janet_lee88:
[quote=\"Brenda10\"]
Yes, we can understand. :hugs:
Can't remember if it's Wed or Thu ....[/quote]Aiyoh, she is out-going MP liao and O.R.D mood. No point asking her anything. If there is no election, you think these MPs will be out shaking hands at coffee shop and markets ? Actually I don't a damn about politics but I'm very very unhappy with the MOE system. All the crap about doing this and that in schools but at the end of the day, kids and parents suffer. -
cantbearit2:
cantbearit2, you've said it so well. 7 years ago, when schools did not assume that kids will have help from parents and tutors, neither my husband and I even learnt the unitary method, and we kinda knew the model method only because we had a workshop on it. Seriously, I've never heard of unitary method till now. I was that bo-chap and there really was no need. I left it mostly to my daughter because it really was her business. And I wanted her to take accountability. My role was that of motivator-encourager. Also, she could cope because teachers did not assume that she would know things they had not taught. I don't believe in learning my kids' work so that I can teach it. It's not my job. It's the school's job, and my kids' accountability.
If it was juz 1 or 2 questions, I would have understood their intentions but tats not the case for my P3 niece.cimman:
I can relate with you on that one. I first noticed the problem when my kid was in P3, it is more obvious in P4. The difficulty level of the exam questions and the work problems that were done in class were of a different category. I did query the form teacher of this discrepancy, and the answer was that the school needed to seperate the exceptional students from the average ones and those difficult problems were designed to do the job.
Apparently her test paper had lots of questions which can't b answered by juz studying her sch textbk or doing some math assessm books. Needless to say, she failed tat paper & it was a blow to my hardworking niece and her mom. Her mom even commented she couldn't understand how some of her classmates can get near perfect score lor. When she saw tat paper, she suddenly awaken to e fact tat more has 2b done outside of sch stipulated academic curriculum. I can't help but felt her frustration.
Last year, my son requested to be taught P5 Math because he said all his friends were being taught already. I asked \"What for? Better work on your Chinese, and find time to play. School will teach P5 math next year.\" I now regret those words because it has been a mad scramble indeed to rush through all the skills required for SA1. I can understand if up to about 8 marks of 100 are allocated to test such skills (not taught) in order to discriminate amongst students, but no... 25 out of 60 marks require these un-taught skills.
Clearly, such a marks allocation indicates that the teachers setting the paper assume that children have access to external help.
The thing is, if my kids do poorly because they have goofed off, they deserve it. And I am not above sitting there and :laugh: :laugh: But my son has been uber-conscientious. If he fails it will not be because he has goofed off, but because he is being tested on skills that teacher did not teach, but he is still expected to know. After working hard, and still failing, he will be completely demoralized and come away feeling very discouraged. I am determined to protect him from that.
Happily, with the help of Onsponge and 3 weekends of intensive coaching, we've cleared the math hurdle. He won't fail. Might actually get 80+ if he makes no careless mistakes. As for Chinese, I am mentally preparing him for less than ideal marks. I will follow Peony's advice \"Son, we will lose this battle... so we can win the war. Don't feel bad. We have time to work on it. Mustn't lose hope yeah babe? Mustn't give up. It ain't over till it's over.\"
On almost every count, I have had to intervene more now with my son, than with my daughter, 7 years ago. He needs more emotional support because he is facing tests of skills that he has never learnt in school. He needs more instructional support because he is facing tests of skills that he has never learnt in school.
Worse, these skills... so wonderfully documented in Onsponge appear nowhere in the uber-simplistic textbook.. Parents have to pay more to buy basic content schools assume children have mastered without being taught in school.
What are schools for? Why buy textbooks? -
cantbearit2:
Though my DD is only in P1, i do noe whr u R coming fr.
My P3 niece failed her Math topical test tis yr (she nv failed any of her tests or exams b4). Initially her mom (my cousin-in-law) din even noe wat happen cos she studied diligently b4 her CA & went thru all the \"relevant\" topics.
When she saw e paper, she finally understood the reason. Not tat my niece is not bright, not tat she din study but the simple fact tat e questions set was more than wat was being taught to her at sch. I even ask her if it was juz 1 or 2 exceptionally tough questions but she flatly told me NO. She said she felt helpless cos she can't even explain the reason to my niece on why she failed e paper.
We have this similar experience on dd P4 CA1 (Year 2009) when we only doing the school work without other additional test paper or assessment. She scored 66 and that gave us a big shock. We immediately get in the past year papers after advise from friend and on SA1 her result had improved to 82. At end of P4, she even moved up to 95.
As such, I would think the 'Exposure\" beyond what school work is one of the components in this situation.
Don't worry since she is only P3, there is still sufficient time to catch up. -
Chenonceau:
Clearly, such a marks allocation indicates that the teachers setting the paper assume that children have access to external help.cantbearit2:
[quote=\"cimman\"]
I can relate with you on that one. I first noticed the problem when my kid was in P3, it is more obvious in P4. The difficulty level of the exam questions and the work problems that were done in class were of a different category. I did query the form teacher of this discrepancy, and the answer was that the school needed to seperate the exceptional students from the average ones and those difficult problems were designed to do the job.
Apparently her test paper had lots of questions which can't b answered by juz studying her sch textbk or doing some math assessm books. Needless to say, she failed tat paper & it was a blow to my hardworking niece and her mom. Her mom even commented she couldn't understand how some of her classmates can get near perfect score lor. When she saw tat paper, she suddenly awaken to e fact tat more has 2b done outside of sch stipulated academic curriculum. I can't help but felt her frustration.
What are schools for? [/quote]yes, unfortunately, teachers do assume that students nowadays are getting external help. This is due mainly to several factors:
a) the affluent parents who thinks nothing of spending a few thousand dollars sending their kids to Adam Khoo's motivational classes, brain training cognitive classes, etc..
b) the rich educational eco system, ie. tuition centers, enrichment centers, personal tutors, etc...
c) MOE KPIs to the principals, who in turn, passes it on to the teachers
It is fundamentally impossible to have the child perform at the \"A Grade\" level, on exam papers with advanced difficulty questions, with a class of 40 students of varying abilities, spending only 6 hours a day on 4 to 6 subjects (including PE, Social studies, Arts classes, Computer classes etc..).
Given the above factors that I've mentioned, the teachers have no choice but to assume that when push comes to shove, parents will send their children for additional classes if the child's abilities has been shown to be deficient (ie. low grades in their exams). Heck, even without that, parents will still send their children for extra classes because of the KS (kiasu) factor inherent in all Singaporeans. Getting marks in the 90s is not good enough, above 95 is the next target.
This is especially so for the SAP schools where there is the larger population of affluent parents with deep pockets for classes in The Learning Lab, etc..
In the neighbourhood schools, the exam questions are not pitched at such a high level, because the teachers knows that they are setting themselves up for failure if the majority of students just gets a pass grade for their papers.
What are the schools dong ? well, the solution doesn't lie with the schools but with the education policies and KPIs. It is these that drives the behaviour of the schools. That leads to the next question, is it necessary for such educational policies to be in place for Singapore to succeed ? are we churning out exceptional students, and thus an exceptional workforce through such policies ? -
cimman:
What are the schools dong ? well, the solution doesn't lie with the schools but with the education policies and KPIs. It is these that drives the behaviour of the schools. That leads to the next question, is it necessary for such educational policies to be in place for Singapore to succeed ? are we churning out exceptional students, and thus an exceptional workforce through such policies ?
These are excellent questions! These matters can only be solved at policy level. -
cimman:
In the neighbourhood schools, there exists a deep well of inferiority. Students refuse to hand up essays in secondary school because the system has failed them so often and so unfairly that it is no point trying anymore.In the neighbourhood schools, the exam questions are not pitched at such a high level, because the teachers knows that they are setting themselves up for failure if the majority of students just gets a pass grade for their papers.
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