Preparing kids for P5 in 2011
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janet_lee88:
I use a lotta astragalus. It is called bei qi in Chinese. In US clinical trials, it has been shown to increase white blood cell count. Makes sure kids have immunity. Dun fall sick from stress. The other thing I do is to lighten up on exam prep 2 weeks before exams. Pace is slower. 2 days before exams, not allowed to touch books or play computer games. They can paint, conduct experiments, watch movies. We'll watch movies and go for walks and bake and swim. If you're not ready by then, you're not ready... studying more won't help.
For son's school, Maths up to Ratio...that's already 'heavy'...volume chapter included in some assessment.pixiedust:
The Chinese Oral is very jialat - I tried to do the conversation 会话 but his answers were those think-in-english, translated-to-chinese kind. Sigh ! I'll just do whatever we can.
Janet: what kind of not-so-heaty soup you boil for the kids ?
Actually, I think I am the one who needs supplements cos I feel really :imdrowning:
Must take a really good break in June.
Hang on ! Hang on ! Hang on ! Arrggggggggggg..........
From now to SA1, only 3 weeks...literally 1 chapter per week for CL.
I find myself needing oxygen tank
Soup wise, go easy on red dates.
This way, the stress levels are tempered and immunity is protected. Also, in the days before the exam, I stop criticising altogether. NO negative feedback. This manages confidence levels and positive outlook. Gets the endorphins going and brings down the levels of stress hormones. A LOT OF CUDDLES. Helps immunity too. -
Hi Chenonceau,
I second this ‘This way, the stress levels are tempered and immunity is protected. Also, in the days before the exam, I stop criticising altogether. NO negative feedback. This manages confidence levels and positive outlook. Gets the endorphins going and brings down the levels of stress hormones. A LOT OF CUDDLES’.
Any screaming which needs to be done, do it now…and do away with it b4 SA1 week…the last thing we want is the kids shutting down. Always remind myself as well as hubby. -
janet_lee88:
I agree. Actually I am quite happy with the teachers over the years. May be both DS and DD are in best class.
Hi HappyFaye,HappyFaye:
cwc
Hey, we are in the same boat for both ds n dd1
Sometime I do wander if neighbourhood schools are good choice but I can see that he gets lots of exposuse that builds his confidence.
Well, just went to popular to buy 1 assessment book for maths, chinese n science. Can't really bring myself to ignore SA1. I glanced through the Challenging Maths and was :!: both dh n I took quite a while to complete some of the questions, even though both of us from technical background. :oops:
Some neighbourhood schools have teachers who do care and go that extra mile than others in popular schools.
Maybe CA1 can ignore a little for 10%, but SA1 is 40% in some schools.
Although I try to control buying too many assessment, can't help when there is CA1, SA1 and SA2 in son's school. Those 3 alone means 3 new sets plus 1 more set for weekly revision.
Oh, I do not know the percentage of SA1 contribution and there was no CA1 for my kids. DS’s form teacher already mentally prepared them to see a drop by 20%. Worst still, DS asked me, ‘Mummy, since when my SA1 results were good for the past 4 years?’ It was always the SA2 that he did exceptionally well. So it is kind of difficult to convince him to work hard now, especially for his Chinese. -
Deleted post. Not sure why certain info was missed out
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HappyFaye:
Nice tips! Thanks for taking time to share!!I am :!: with the amount of assessments and top school papers many parents here can get your kids to do. I only managed to get my kids to complete ~50% or less of the assessment books I bought. And I only bought 1 - 2 per subjects per year. This year I bought quite a few but more for my own reference and to choose good questions for them. So how we have not started much on that, let alone top school papers.
I talked to an experienced teacher year back with regards to the amount of work we should get our child to do and I thought it makes good sense and I would like to share here.
It depends on what target your child set or you set for your child, (the target should be achievable and realistic).
If you are aiming for 250 - 260 with your child’s school results > 90%, your child should exhibit certain level of intelligence. You should focus on the higher order thinking questions for Maths and Science and encourage more reading of non-fiction materials for Eng & Chinese. Do not load them with easy questions as drilling the whole top school papers over and over again can lead to fatigue and less time to work on challenging problem.
If your child is in the range of 230 – 240, then focus on section A & B with reasonable difficulty levels of section C. Again, do not drill on full paper, just focus on the weakness and compile a few similar questions for your child to master.
If your child is in the range <220>250 students, choose 4 similar questions with increasing difficulty level, 1st question being the fundamental and 4th question the most challenging.
1st question - go through together with your child the concept of the question and guide your child.
2nd question – get your child to try on his own. Most of the time, this group of students can do after 1 explanation. If he can do it, move on to 4th question. If he can’t do it, explain the concept again and do the 3rd question.
For 230-240 students, do the above but with increased number. 1st question – you may have to explain more than 2 times with the similar difficulties before letting him do another 3 questions by himself. Once he masters the question, more on to difficult questions.
For < 220 student, you really have to focus on the basic. Doing the whole paper especially the top school papers would only demoralize the child.
To further enhance the understanding, give your child the same type of questions 2 weeks or one month later. After that, your child should be able to master the similar type of questions.
So far, I have been adopting this strategy for DS. I would look through all his returned work and check his area of weakness. He likes it very much as it is strategy called 2 challenging sums a day, though we didn’t manage to do it every day. But sometime he will be the one who told me which area he is weak in and ask me to source some questions for him to practice. This is the independence that I am looking at.
But sad to say, he won’t do it for Chinese -
Hi HappyFaye,
Thanks for uploading that...will slowly read and digest.
In the meantime, I have to logout, take shower and pick 2 fellas after school.
Have a great week ahead. :celebrate: -
Re-post
I am :!: with the amount of assessments and top school papers many parents here can get your kids to do. I only managed to get my kids to complete ~50% or less of the assessment books I bought. And I only bought 1 - 2 per subjects per year. This year I bought quite a few but more for my own reference and to choose good questions for them. So how we have not started much on that, let alone top school papers.
I talked to an experienced teacher year back with regards to the amount of work we should get our child to do and I thought it makes good sense.
It depends on what target your child set or you set for your child, (the target should be achievable and realistic).
If you are aiming for 250 - 260 with your child’s school results > 90%, your child should exhibit certain level of intelligence. You should focus on the higher order thinking questions for Maths and Science and encourage more reading of non-fiction materials for Eng & Chinese. Do not load them with easy questions as drilling the whole top school papers over and over again can lead to fatigue and less time to work on challenging problem.
However, if your child is in the range of 230 – 240, then focus on section A & B with reasonable difficulty levels of section C. Again, do not drill on full paper, just focus on the weakness and compile a few similar questions for your child to master.
If your child is in the range <220, focus on the basic concepts and drill on that with progressive difficulty level.
Careless mistakes are not something can be improved by repetitive work or nagging. It is important to know the types of questions your child is weak in, as shared by Insider, http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21333&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=10
As recommended by the experience teacher, the rule of thumb for Maths & Science -
For more than 250 target students, choose 4 similar questions with increasing difficulty level, 1st question being the fundamental and 4th question the most challenging.
-1st question - go through together with your child the concept of the question and guide your child.
- 2nd question – get your child to try on his own. Most of the time, this group of students can do after 1 explanation. If he can do it, move on to 4th question. If he can’t do it, explain the concept again and do the 3rd question.
For 230-240 students, do the above but with increased number. 1st question – you may have to explain more than 2 times with the similar difficulties before letting him do another 3 questions by himself. Once he masters the question, move on to difficult questions.
For < 220 student, you really have to focus on the basic. Doing the whole paper especially the top school papers would only demoralize the child.
To further enhance the understanding, give your child the same type of questions 2 weeks or one month later. After that, your child should be able to master the similar type of questions.
So far, I have been adopting this strategy for DS. I would look through all his returned work and check his area of weakness. He likes it very much as it is a strategy called 2-challenging sums a day, though we didn’t manage to do it every day. But sometime he will be the one who told me which area he is weak in and ask me to source some questions for him to practice. This is the independence I am looking for.
But sad to say, he won’t do it for Chinese -
HappyFaye:
But sometime he will be the one who told me which area he is weak in and ask me to source some questions for him to practice. This is the independence I am looking for.
Yup... I encourage my son to take part in devising work strategy. I often ask his opinion on whether a study process we are following works for him or not. This builds his commitment to the study process and it really makes a lot of sense because it isn't helping him, he'll be the one to know that best. -
Hi Mummies,
My hubby finally waved the white flag last night…after insisting he can coach Maths. So I’m desperately looking for an affordable Maths centre for son. Friend recommended Newtons Apple…will call and check out the place later. 临时抱佛脚. -
Janet, your general raise white flag before war ? ask him to tahan till end of SA1 la. Hope you find a solution soon.
HappyFaye, excellent tips, thanks for sharing with us.
How is your boy doing with the playChinese ?
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