Teach Less, Learn More

[corneyAmber]

buds:

Now now, ksi. Don't you go labelling on me now uh.. My girls are
the privileged ones.. her classmates are the privileged ones too! :celebrate:

Not me.

Butttt... thinking of it in another perspective, it is a privilege for i have more
time to come in here and lor li lor sor here with you all. Hee.

I do not go slam dunking all teachers in general for i have had good
experiences with a handful... great ones with a few... and also some
hits with terribly awful ones. So yes, while the idea takes shape and
ain't perfect... we gotta stop to think that humans in general ain't
that perfect, hence we are all in this discussion where the majority
thinks it may suck due to the human-variant that contributes to it...
and not the system entirely.

Let's instead band together to discuss how it CAN work or we can also
petition for ministry to go back to boring-cramming-textbook-learning,
and give due credit to those who painstakingly did make it work.

As to whether Teach Less Learn More is a success story or not at this
point cannot just be based by one person and one child. It is across
the board... across all other schools... neighbourhood and banded
ones included. It could be just one teacher we had the misfortune
of encountering with but that's not to say all the teachers in the/your
child's school is that bad, right?

I seem to also notice a trend where there seem to be more parents
from banded schools expressing this concern, at least from the cry
for help i get when i was teaching... cud it also be an expectation
level issue?

Buds, if your girls being privileged...the privilege is passed back to you...you worry less, you have less concerned, less gray hair, less wrinkles...more happy hours and more mountains and valleys... :lol:

[buds]

Chenonceau:

No need sorry lah... You have more salt and vinegar to add? Actually, it's really 'cos Buds is great fun to hang around with in a thread.

:love:

Aaaww.. :please:

[buds]

ksi:

Buds, if your girls being privileged...the privilege is passed back to you...you worry less, you have less concerned, less gray hair, less wrinkles...more happy hours and more mountains and valleys... :lol:

Yes. Yes.. i did mention that in my post.

On top of more time for myself, my children have
more time for rest.. one thing lacking in children
these days, i find.. and the rest of it, they get
time... to be a kid.

[buds]

Chenonceau:

*Gulp* :faint: :siao: Poor kid!! Yeah... I think balance is important too. Sundays are play days. Lately, with the volume and the difficulty of the syllabus, I have had to give occasional unplanned play days just for him to de-stress. Now that we are nearing exams, we're getting less and less intense. After Saturday, we prolly won't be working anymore on school stuff. Whether prepared or not prepared, the 2 days before exams are play days too.


Otherwise, I may have an academically excellent son but he may be a mental case too.

While i do not have academically excellent girls, i have hardworking girls..
Well, most times. :lol: Sundays are our play days too! :hi5: Pre-exam
days are relax days for us too... like last year.. a day before SA2.. i
brought my girls out to Swensens for ice-cream.. just us girls. We
went shopping for some baby clothes and then i rushed off to the
bookshop to surprise them with a new story book for each to
bring for the following day's silent reading time... i placed
the books on the table with a note on each..
*Hope you like it.. *

I tucked them both in bed earlier that night.
A well rested child can concentrate better in
the morning, be it exam day or non-exam day..

When i woke up the next day, i saw reply note from DD1..
\"Thanks mom, i love the book!\" :love:

[cantbearit2]

buds:

We're all pulling your leg lah darling.. :lol:

i noe. :lol:

buds:

As for the fine tuning, don't think it's MOE that's a primary agency entirely
to look into the execution for the execution had already been executed.. :lol:
.. but rather MOE should look into perhaps conducting spot checks on their
pool of teachers... speak with P's more often to follow up on this Teach Less
Learn More concept and discuss how to better it, since it's already in motion
anyway. Like how others have input, there should be a form of appraisal in
place to observe the progress put into place with this new idea and how it's
catching on with the teaching power ... discuss on the resources or plans to
improve the structure or the flow of lessons for schools that may not come
up strong on that appraisal charts. Teachers found guilty of not delivering the
idea holistically may perhaps be sent for an exchange program with another
school to see how things should be done or follow a mentorship pgrm to help
him/her see the idea in a fresh perspective so that he/she can come back to
serve his/her school with a new pair of eyes... and of course... heart.

Good point !!!

buds:

Yes, hang in there.. i like to believe that there is nothing so impossible that
cannot be resolved.. but i do agree time CAN be a major factor, unfortunately.

Parents should hopefully see constructive feedback as at least one of the
ways.. in which; how their small voices can be heard and project a need
to perhaps run some inquiries into under-performing or non-performing
staff. Everyone needs some help along the way regardless or not they
indeed know they need it. I choose to see it positively whereby some
teachers may be overwhelmed by the new idea with a relatively still
large class size that it may come across as not being receptive to
the idea as a whole and hence executing the delivery of lessons
reverse as to how it was supposed to be implemented.

Then again, in all extremes... it can also be that some teachers are indeed
way off... when it comes to delivery which directly questions their passion
for still being in this industry.. these are the bo-chaps who do spoil the
basket of good apples.. and mind you, doesn't apply to just teachers
pe se... but there are bo-chaps in all forms of occupation and not
just in the teaching profession.

Agree!!! A lot of PMET in office work, doc. in hospital/ pte practice I have personally come across, is oso doing their job only. :x

[cantbearit2]

Peony:

I realised this a decade ago, hence why I chose a neighbourhood school over a branded one - one which had a policy of helping every child.

They only stream based on result at P5 & P6.

The shortfall is... as DD is in the best class at P5... the teacher is not teaching nor helping as much as the other classes for the same reason (as what happens in branded schools). Most kids in her class have enrichment (or super stay at home mums) and are way ahead of syllabus!

I was expecting the teacher to help more in compo as I cannot help her much BUT as the rest are way ahead, she's left playing catch up. She's shared some of the super compos, full of techniques... and when I asked DD if these were taught in school she said \"no\".

So did u feedback to her Eng T?

[cantbearit2]

buds:

An example to share...
Mom brought K2 kiddie to centre and asked to recommend programmes for
the girl to prepare for P1..

Me : Is your girl already reading well?
Mom : Oh yes, she has completed her reading programme way back..

Before i could ask my next question to understand the nature of pgrm
she was looking for... mom added..
Mom : Oh, she has done compre and compo class ... oh yes, and also
creative writing class...

Me : How about Math... is she.. (i cudn finish my ?)
Mom : Yes yes.. did MPM, Kumon and abacus and now also in another
centre to help with problem sums..

Me : I see.. then may i know what kind of pgrms you are considering
for her for i think your child is definitely ready for P1.
Mom : Oh? Really? Thanks! But i think she's still not ready lar. Nowadays,
all children go primary school all know everything liao.. so must prepare
them properly.. later kenna lousy class with lousy teachers.. i dowan..
All my other friends oso send their children for lessons u know.. they
all say primary school later arh must know all this..

Suffice to say, there wasn't any pgrm that the K2 girl hasn't already done
in this case, to prepare her for P1. She was overprepared! :faint: Could
already do multiplication and division problem sums and fractions too!
Wow!

This mentality only pushes the stress level of parents and children to perform
way beyond their level and indirectly pushes the level of education to being
more challenging than it already is...

Tink IM gg to faint:faint: if i was there listening to tis conversation. She's so well prepared !!!! If my DD is oredi so well prepared. I juz do hm revision every now & then enough liao. I will enrol her in any sports / arts/ music class (muz b affordable lah) she's interested in. All work & no play makes my DD \"gong\" leh.... Of course subjected to logistics constraints oso cos need fetch/send svc leh....

[cantbearit2]

ksi:

I totally agree with you as well on this point. I, for one, is a mum who is happy to let the school do everything and I just provide the 3 meals, lodging and all the hygiene factors needs. The offer of parental support may just be moral support to the school to support the learning process, that is assuming the school is able to deliver this concept very well.

Lastly, I really cannot be expressing this better than the top 2% of English expert..you are too modest and over-rated my comments. :oops: I see myself only as a mother who is contented to be the mother like my mum was to me when I was growing up, ignorant of what went on in school but just provided the moral support and physical needs support for my growing up process. Unfortunately, this is really not possible these days....

Looks like we r fr same era. :lol: But come to tink abt it, my mom can't help me even if she wans. I dun blame her cos I had a great childhood wif her TLC coupled wif some cha kwey tiao :spank:

[cantbearit2]

buds:

I asked why she approached me over the many parents who waited there.
Her reply. \"I scared to ask. They always discuss how their children make
unnecessary careless mistakes for tests and scold them upside down. I've
also seen them personally go up to their class teacher to speak to them
abt the marks. For me, i just need help to understand how to. My son's
teacher does help him a lot but he slow lar just like the mommy so i
saw you a few times.. see you don't mix with those parents.. and i like
how you speak with your girls.. abt school things.. i hope you can teach
me.. i want to help my son more.. sorry my english not so good.. hope u
can help me out a bit.. sorry arh trouble u.. some more u pregnant.. sorry
arh.. my husband working alone, he got retrenched so now do cleaner oni..
don't earn much lar.. cannot send tuition.. my son all LSP oso i tell him just
go, it's free.. i have to jaga 3 kids oso.. if you can help me a bit with this
bit, thank you.. thank you.. only this bit..\"

I applaud her drive to help her children in what way she can.. my heart
truly went out to her. From speaking to her i realized how i was more
fortunate.. even DD1 who was there said to me later on, \"So poor
thing yah mummy.. luckily i have u.. if her boy in my class i dun
mind to help also, but his class teacher is good.. not in banded
class but good.\"

Buds, thks for sharing e two wonderful stories. My heart goes out to them. Reflection time, count our blessings. :love:

Sometimes we get too caught up in e rat race & forgot abt e true meaning in life & oso forget abt those who may b left behind/ forgotton by us.

[corneyAmber]

cantbearit2:

Looks like we r fr same era. :lol: But come to tink abt it, my mom can't help me even if she wans. I dun blame her cos I had a great childhood wif her TLC coupled wif some cha kwey tiao :spank:

:hi5: Think we are same era and the familiar cha kwey tiao.. .Mum cannot help too...can help only by scolding less.. still I think my childhood is much more enjoyable than my child's now.. :lol: