Preparing kids for P5 in 2011

[pixiedust]

jesschan, it’s a nice idea but I think logistically plus finding the right tutor will be a big challenge. If you are game, I am sure getting 4-5 students is not a problem.


I am more interested in Chinese Oral - will be more beneficial if there are more children interacting with each other, rather than tutor-1 child only.

[KoalaMummy]

pixiedust:

jesschan, it's a nice idea but I think logistically plus finding the right tutor will be a big challenge. If you are game, I am sure getting 4-5 students is not a problem.


I am more interested in Chinese Oral - will be more beneficial if there are more children interacting with each other, rather than tutor-1 child only.

wow, Pixiedust, you speak my mind. :hi5:

I was thinking more of this too, when jesschan suggested Science, which is also quite interesting.

I was actually thinking of making 'chinese' a more 'fun' learning by introducing some chinese songs and substituting the lyrics to those words that they are now learning.

Anybody game for this? to meet somewhere near Hougang (if possible).

[jesschan]

Glad to receive some positive comments. I think the location is not very big issue because since this is meant as a short term thingy. It can be held in my house or the tutor’s or the kids can take turns to host. The bigger issue is where to find the experienced tutor who can engage and motivate the kids. So now we have Koalamummy and who else is interested?


As for oral, I think that will be more difficult if the group is too small. And it will probably be more effective to attend ongoing oral classes held by enrichment centres because it is not easy to acquire language efficiency in short periods.

[Chenonceau]

JRLam:

janet_lee88:

Hi JRLam,

He is aiming for a Lego toy, so I told him firstly I must see all passes.

What happen if he achieve the goals set partially, eg meet the goal for 2 subjects but not for the other 2?

The goals are set challenging... bordering on impossible. If I assess that he can get 80+, then I set them at 90+. If he hits the goals, that is reward already. I don't reward goal achievement. If he doesn't achieve the goal, a tension is created and he wants to hit it next time in order to feel the sense of achievement. However, I can do this because my child has been pre-developed in self-efficacy and achievement motivation in P1 to P3... and further enhanced in P3 and P4.

It is not in every situation that you can risk setting quasi-impossible goals. This can be dangerous if parent dunno how to use... and when to use impossible goals. it is safer to set challenging but achievable goals to be safe lah...

Whilst I don't reward goal achievement, I do celebrate effort... and when I see great effort, I will celebrate no matter what the grade. If I see little effort and there is a high mark, there is no celebration. The high mark itself makes him happy, so why bother? I will also warn that the PSLE won't be that easy. However, given the difficulty of the syllabus in primary school, that has yet to happen. Hee!

[Chenonceau]

Brenda10:

Chenonceau:

Of course, I'm still expecting 90+ in general... but in the specific, every situation requires a different solution - different exams/subjects/time period... and so I am flexible. EVEN THOUGH I make it very clear that 90+ is where he should end up by end-P6.

Hi Chenonceau

I'm sure your ds has no problem to achieve this in end of P6 lah.

In fact, the syllabus for P6 has almost all completed now and understands from her form teacher after SA1 they would just focus on working a lot on oral, compo. practice and pass year paper on class or during supplementary class time.

Aiyo... dunno leh... but I take your advice seriously. We now work on oral and compo practice. To save him time, I actually do the easy Math worksheets for him so he has time to practise the challenging sums and also to do Chinese.

[Pen88n]

Chenonceau:

Brenda10:

[quote=\"Chenonceau\"]Of course, I'm still expecting 90+ in general... but in the specific, every situation requires a different solution - different exams/subjects/time period... and so I am flexible. EVEN THOUGH I make it very clear that 90+ is where he should end up by end-P6.

Hi Chenonceau

I'm sure your ds has no problem to achieve this in end of P6 lah.

In fact, the syllabus for P6 has almost all completed now and understands from her form teacher after SA1 they would just focus on working a lot on oral, compo. practice and pass year paper on class or during supplementary class time.

Aiyo... dunno leh... but I take your advice seriously. We now work on oral and compo practice. To save him time, I actually do the easy Math worksheets for him so he has time to practise the challenging sums and also to do Chinese.[/quote]I do not have the answer but I question parents doing easy Maths worksheets for the kid to save the kid time to do revision / other more challenging questions. Should that be the solution? I am not trying to argue, but can you imagine what chaos it will be if Singapore parents are all doing easy worksheets for the kids just to ensure kids with their limited time can spend time doing more and more challenging questions. What is this education system becoming? Isn't there another solution?

[Chenonceau]

Pen88n:

What is this education system becoming? Isn't there another solution?

I had just started to get on with life by finding my own workaround and now you've gone and reminded me how unfair this system is to kids without such family support. Waaaaaaaaah! Sob! We can vote wisely I suppose... except that no Opposition Party has even picked up this issue.

What happens is that even without national streaming, the schools stream. I got a shock when I read that some P1s are doing P3 Math in some classes in another thread. I got another shock when I read about Higher English classes. These special classes are given enhanced teaching meant to help the children cope with the most difficult questions in the respective exams. The 2 best classes (HCL and non-HCL) in DS' school skip all the Math Workbook exercises and go straight into practising the challenging sums. These children are exempted from the easy worksheets. They receive specific coaching to cope with the ultra difficult questions, and don't waste time with the workbook. They have more time to play even whilst preparing to excel because they are not bogged down with easy and repetitive drills.

If a child has the potential to tackle the difficult math questions, but spends all his time doing the easy ones, his full potential is not realized. And there is SO MUCH homework!! My son was a 90+ in Math, Science and English. He was a 75+ ONLY in Chinese. For Math Science and English, he did better than many students currently in the best HCL class. However, he is now being taught as if he were only capable of 80+ in all four subjects.

Maybe this isn't a system problem though... I think he is just in the wrong class... and there are so many students in one class that teachers cannot customise the approach to the individual child.

[janet88]

Chenonceau:

Brenda10:

[quote=\"Chenonceau\"]Of course, I'm still expecting 90+ in general... but in the specific, every situation requires a different solution - different exams/subjects/time period... and so I am flexible. EVEN THOUGH I make it very clear that 90+ is where he should end up by end-P6.

In fact, the syllabus for P6 has almost all completed now and understands from her form teacher after SA1 they would just focus on working a lot on oral, compo. practice and pass year paper on class or during supplementary class time.

Aiyo... dunno leh... but I take your advice seriously. We now work on oral and compo practice. To save him time, I actually do the easy Math worksheets for him so he has time to practise the challenging sums and also to do Chinese.[/quote]For my son's Maths, I believe he has not mastered the fundamentals...so he really needs to master those concepts well.
I take all advice given by parents here seriously...bcos they have gone through and understand what is going on.

On my side, I download Science OE questions so that he can read the answers and learn from them.

[jesschan]

Chenonceau:

We can vote wisely I suppose... except that no Opposition Party has even picked up this issue.

Well, I suppose this is not something that an Opposition Party or any Party can solve easily. I think the system in itself is good but along the way, it is being executed badly by some schools .....Most of us, including myself, are simply kiasu. We do not want our kids to be at the bottom of any cohort. But if we look at the streaming system objectively, isn't it good if the academically stronger kids being given an opportunity to go at a faster teaching pace and the weaker ones be given more time to catch up? I think the issue is most parents do not want their kids to be deeemed \"the weaker ones\". So some parents will try to let their children attend extra classes, etc... it is a vicious cycle....

[janet88]

Education is something which needs to be addressed SERIOUSLY.

We are kiasu because the system made us so. Which parent wants their kids to do badly and be at bottom of cohort ? That said, my son is not at the top…struggling hard this year just to maintain. But in his class, the competition is so intense based on CA1 results.

Hubby & I try not to give him tuition unless both of us cannot teach…just started him on Math classes yesterday & creative writing last mth…very last minute indeed.