Teach Less, Learn More

[janet88]

smurf:

Your suggestion is very good, Chenonceau. But to decrease the teacher student ratio will be very expensive and I dun think the garmen will adopt that idea.they are ONLY looking at $$$.


That's why, now if both parents dun work, simply cannot cope with the high living standards. Unless one parent earn decent amount to sustain. And they still want to make the syllabus more difficult??? What the hell are they thinking??
They make the syllabus more difficult so that one parent can coach the child at home or they want more people to go into tuition business??? They are contradicting themselves, I would say.

Reducing teacher student ratio is a good idea, but it won't work in mid-primary as there are not enough teachers.
IF both parents work, they are too tired at the end of the day to coach kids and that's why tuition/enrichment centres are making $$$. The money made by parents goes to them :moneyflies:
Actually nobody knows what the hell MOE is thinking. With so much teenage violence going on and both parents working, how to make sure they don't join wrong company ???
The syllabus is so difficult now that even parents have to study in order to coach the kids. Honestly, I'm so scared of CA/SA bcos I have to download and print out past year papers and plan revision time-table.

[pixiedust]

MOE did hire 3000 new teachers 2 years ago. To sustain a quality teaching force and reduce teacher:student ratio, they will need to offer competitive reward packages to the teachers. I guess cost will increase and may need to pass on to tax payers and parents.


Just curious, are there any other country with more balanced education models ? and churning out quality workforce ? What IS our problem ?

[janet88]

pixiedust:

MOE did hire 3000 new teachers 2 years ago. To sustain a quality teaching force and reduce teacher:student ratio, they will need to offer competitive reward packages to the teachers. I guess cost will increase and may need to pass on to tax payers and parents.


Just curious, are there any other country with more balanced education models ? and churning out quality workforce ? What IS our problem ?

The PROBLEM is having ministers who are not educators. Education minister is a doctor...what does he know ? MOE can hire and give good salaries to teachers, but these people may not have the compassion.
Primary school teachers are like University lecturers...they go to class blah blah blah, without giving a care if the students understand.

[Funx3]

pixiedust:

MOE did hire 3000 new teachers 2 years ago. To sustain a quality teaching force and reduce teacher:student ratio, they will need to offer competitive reward packages to the teachers. I guess cost will increase and may need to pass on to tax payers and parents.


Just curious, are there any other country with more balanced education models ? and churning out quality workforce ? What IS our problem ?

Don't See the Reduced Class Size -le!
Since P1, (Now My Gal in P6), Class Size Remains ~42 to 39 ....
39 Now Becoz Some of My Gal's Fren Emigrated, or Transfer out to International Sch .... :roll: :roll:

[Chenonceau]

sleepy:

Chenonceau:

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.

Where to learn unitary method?

:faint:
Never heard of this too. Need to know by P5?

Yeah man Sleepy... better know it. Also, better self-teach the basic P5 topics at home by end P4, so that you can self-teach the P5 complex skills from Jan-March. Else, your kid will BARELY pass the P5 Math CA1 and SA1, if at all.

There is a good resource from MathHeuristics (at united Square) on Unitary Transfer. It's priced at $40/= a book. How many parents can afford this kind of money for a thin A4-sized book? Isn't that the job of the textbook? Why should we have to buy these resources to help our children PASS? Janet's kid worked so hard (so did Janet) and her child FAILED. Janet, I do hope you managed to help your child recover his confidence, and maintain interest in his work.

My son's teacher is still teaching the basics for volume. They haven't touched the complex skills for fractions nor ratio yet. BUT, the exams in 2 weeks will need these skills. One quarter of his class was pre-taught at home. Estimated marks in 90s So they're happy. One quarter of the class is about there - catching up with their Moms at home. My son has caught up. So he is okay... estimated marks in 80s.

HALF the class is clueless. The poor kids. They will get a shock and if parents are not understanding, some kids will get heavily punished. It's NOT their fault. The school sets questions that appear nowhere in homework sheets.

[janet88]

Hi Chenonceau,

$40 for that book on unitary transfer ? :shock:
I'm following Brenda's advice...print out Section A Maths to get son to practice on accuracy first, closer to exam will time him on speed and accuracy. Really hope :celebrate: he will pass Maths this time.

When son failed his Maths, hubby was very angry. Quietly, I told him he shouldn't scold son bcos it's not his fault. P5 is known to be very different from P4 and poor boy has absolutely no idea what 'speed and accuracy' is. Told him I am not siding him.

[Funx3]

Chenonceau:

sleepy:

[quote=\"Chenonceau\"]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.

Where to learn unitary method?

:faint:
Never heard of this too. Need to know by P5?

Yeah man Sleepy... better know it. Also, better self-teach the basic P5 topics at home by end P4, so that you can self-teach the P5 complex skills from Jan-March. Else, your kid will BARELY pass the P5 Math CA1 and SA1, if at all.

There is a good resource from MathHeuristics (at united Square) on Unitary Transfer. It's priced at $40/= a book. How many parents can afford this kind of money for a thin A4-sized book? Isn't that the job of the textbook? Why should we have to buy these resources to help our children PASS? Janet's kid worked so hard (so did Janet) and her child FAILED. Janet, I do hope you managed to help your child recover his confidence, and maintain interest in his work.

My son's teacher is still teaching the basics for volume. They haven't touched the complex skills for fractions nor ratio yet. BUT, the past year exams all have a large component of such questions, and exams are in 2 weeks. One quarter of his class was pre-taught. Estimated marks in 90s So they're happy. My son has caught up. So he is okay... estimated marks in 80s.

HALF the class is clueless. The poor kids. They will get a shock and if parents are not understanding, some kids will get heavily punished. It's NOT their fault. The school sets questions that appear nowhere in homework sheets.[/quote]Actually I'm Surprise at the Sch T.
Don't they Let the Kids try out Past year Papers? Or the Prev year Sch's Exam Papers before the Exam? Unless Current year's paper is of Exceptionally High std than the Prev One or Two year's, the T Would know where the Students' Weak Areas R while going thru the Trial Papers, Right?

Unless this is Camouflaged by the Large Proportion of Self-Taught or Tuition Taught Exam-paper oriented Kids in the Class who score exceptionally well ....
And those Kids without Tuition or External Help becomes the Sacrificial Lambs ....
Dismissed as Minor Percentage of Failure in the Sch Cohort? :roll: :roll:

[Brenda10]

janet_lee88:

I'm following Brenda's advice...print out Section A Maths to get son to practice on accuracy first, closer to exam will time him on speed and accuracy. Really hope :celebrate: he will pass Maths this time.


When son failed his Maths, hubby was very angry. Quietly, I told him he shouldn't scold son bcos it's not his fault. P5 is known to be very different from P4 and poor boy has absolutely no idea what 'speed and accuracy' is. Told him I am not siding him.

Hi Janet

Section A and B are the safety base to secure the marks of 36 to 40.

As for Section C, you can also break the question into 8, 6, 4 (5 marks) and move on so as to have sufficient time before SA1.

[smurf]

They hired more teachers, but they also build more schools!! These teachers go to new sch to teach! Where got reduce ratio? :lol:


The garmen only looked at result lah, you think they care about the welfare meh???

[Chenonceau]

Funx3:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"sleepy\"]
Where to learn unitary method?

:faint:
Never heard of this too. Need to know by P5?

Yeah man Sleepy... better know it. Also, better self-teach the basic P5 topics at home by end P4, so that you can self-teach the P5 complex skills from Jan-March. Else, your kid will BARELY pass the P5 Math CA1 and SA1, if at all.

There is a good resource from MathHeuristics (at united Square) on Unitary Transfer. It's priced at $40/= a book. How many parents can afford this kind of money for a thin A4-sized book? Isn't that the job of the textbook? Why should we have to buy these resources to help our children PASS? Janet's kid worked so hard (so did Janet) and her child FAILED. Janet, I do hope you managed to help your child recover his confidence, and maintain interest in his work.

My son's teacher is still teaching the basics for volume. They haven't touched the complex skills for fractions nor ratio yet. BUT, the past year exams all have a large component of such questions, and exams are in 2 weeks. One quarter of his class was pre-taught. Estimated marks in 90s So they're happy. My son has caught up. So he is okay... estimated marks in 80s.

HALF the class is clueless. The poor kids. They will get a shock and if parents are not understanding, some kids will get heavily punished. It's NOT their fault. The school sets questions that appear nowhere in homework sheets.

Actually I'm Surprise at the Sch T.
Don't they Let the Kids try out Past year Papers? Or the Prev year Sch's Exam Papers before the Exam? Unless Current year's paper is of Exceptionally High std than the Prev One or Two year's, the T Would know where the Students' Weak Areas R while going thru the Trial Papers, Right?

Unless this is Camouflaged by the Large Proportion of Self-Taught or Tuition Taught Exam-paper oriented Kids in the Class who score exceptionally well ....
And those Kids without Tuition or External Help becomes the Sacrificial Lambs ....
Dismissed as Minor Percentage of Failure in the Sch Cohort? :roll: :roll:[/quote]Till now... 2 weeks before exams, still no past year papers leh... Last year have. This year, the teacher is rushing to cover basic syllabus... where got time to do complex skills practice?

Teachers are stressed. Kids are demoralized. Parents have to learn to teach. What price success?