Preparing kids for P5 in 2011

[QuiteKSMum]

Brenda10:

Hi QuiteKSMum,

Thank you for sharing.

We did not do the assesment book on CL since the school has given enough coverage of practice on those paper 2 components.

I only get dd to attend the weekly CL compo. class in view of this compo. requires time to build up and the coverage by the school is definitely not sufficient.

For this SA1 Exam, we just clear all the MCQ (语文应用, 短文填空，完成对话) and go through certain open and end questions which carry good ci yu and phrases from the top school past year papers.

We also revise through those key words like 矛盾, 事与愿违,逆境 etc so as to attempt to those quesiton require to use on your own words.

I also agree that oral and listening compreh (70 marks} 35 marks of 100 marks) are important to do well so as to help the compo. .

You're welcome, Brenda10. You're right, diff sch emphasis & the unique requirement of each child mean that we have to help our kids evaluate the necc additional resources. I definitely think you're more than on the right track already. Looking forward to your sharing of PSLE 2011. :celebrate:

[QuiteKSMum]

pixiedust:

Re : 词语
Is there any particular assessment that you find good ?

For some of the SAP and EPH I have used or seen, the differences in the provided options are too obvious , hence it is easy to use elimination technique to get the correct answer. However, in the school papers or actual exam, the options are usually much more challenging. Any suggestions ?

I also hope to get some recommendations for practise of 虚词 usuage.
Understand reading widely is the long term but unable to build up quickly enough with the time we have. I find my son's grasp of 虚词 is .

Hi pixiedust,

Can't really tell wh Assmt bks are better for ci yu - our \"strategy\" was just to try as many as we can & learn from the mistakes. Plus the ci yu fm P4-6, q. a lot alrdy...Each Bk wh we used had their own share of difficult words/ tricky choices which I would flag for future reference. Personally feel that some top schs ( since they ARE the top schs) papers std may be pitched too high. As a national placement exam, I feel that the majority of the PSLE qns are not pitched at such high std ( don't forget , last yr think 82% of the cohort has A*/A). The few real difficult qns are those to test the A* fm the rest...Just my own 2 cts view.

What's xu ci anyway? Sorry, not too familliar with the proper terms of the CL Lang. :oops:

[QuiteKSMum]

jtparent:

hi, help needed. was lost n teaching ds math & science. any recommendation on which enrichment class to go to?

saw the thread on enrichment but there are so many that not sure which to choose.
any recommendation?

thanks in advance

Hi jtparent,

For Science, son attended Mind Stretcher fm 2nd half of P4 till end P5. This centre has good notes but we found the class size too big (15) to suit our needs. In P6 we switched him to a ctr nearer our place, with smaller class size ( fm 2 initially till abt 6), taught by a current sch teacher ( but not a P6 teacher) - I feel that this ctr is so-so only, so won't be recommending to u.

Maths we were fortunate that we don't need to outsource. We just did a 2 weeks Intensive PSLE Maths Preparation, weekday daily 2 hrs, for 2 weeks during the Jun hols. The ctr is The Study Solutions.

Maybe other forummers can further advise. :celebrate:

[janet88]

pixiedust:

I also hope to get some recommendations for practise of 虚词 usage.

Understand reading widely is the long term but unable to build up quickly enough with the time we have. I find my son's grasp of 虚词 is weak.

@Janet, 口试 is definitely important for us. I plan to continue using the oral practise book during June holiday but it is really a boring routine. Hopefully can find some more fun ways to beef up the oral vocabulary. This aspect, and to retain in memory, my opinion - frequent practise is needed and no quick fix.

Focusing on oral practice book can be dry and boring but really no choice as there is a lot of emphasis where marks are concerned. I will need to plan a schedule for June holidays...really need to reinforce during that 1 month. When school reopens for Term 3, more fire-fighting and BIGGER fires :imdrowning: There is no shortcut to success but frequent practice.

Son is at Newton Apple for Math. Understand the centre also teaching Science. I can't give any feedback as son started just 3 weeks ago. Was thinking of transferring him to Mindstretcher as Eng class there is $100 cheaper than Jan & Elly, but son enjoys the environment and likes his teacher very much.

Son's school literally kills students with the tough Math and Science exam. I think the PSLE exam, being nation-wide shouldn't be that tough. Really demoralizing after each exam despite 2 months of preparation.

[QuiteKSMum]

janet_lee88:

Son's school literally kills students with the tough Math and Science exam. I think the PSLE exam, being nation-wide shouldn't be that tough. Really demoralizing after each exam despite 2 months of preparation.

:siao: :? abt this too!

[Pen88n]

janet_lee88:

Son's school literally kills students with the tough Math and Science exam. I think the PSLE exam, being nation-wide shouldn't be that tough. Really demoralizing after each exam despite 2 months of preparation.

Janet,
Remember what I told you before - this is the norm in P5. Do not \"scream\" about the raw score, focus on where your DS is in comparison with other kids in his school. Check with the teacher (if not given) the mean and standard deviation of each individual subject for his whole cohort as well as his class. As long as your DS is above mean for his cohort, and within mean of his class, he should be ok. If your expectation is high, then you will probably be expecting beyond mean+standard deviation for cohort and maybe even for class then.

Good luck!

[janet88]

Pen88n:

janet_lee88:

Son's school literally kills students with the tough Math and Science exam. I think the PSLE exam, being nation-wide shouldn't be that tough. Really demoralizing after each exam despite 2 months of preparation.

Check with the teacher (if not given) the mean and standard deviation of each individual subject for his whole cohort as well as his class. As long as your DS is above mean for his cohort, and within mean of his class, he should be ok. If your expectation is high, then you will probably be expecting beyond mean+standard deviation for cohort and maybe even for class then. Good luck!

Will need to check with his teacher regarding the mean score. What I do know after the CA1 is, my son is below class average for Science and above average for Chinese...fortunately he still has a 'strong' subject. I do not dare to have high expectations from this year onwards...not that I'm putting him down.

[Peony]

Anyone’s kids has ‘dream’ secondary school yet?


Based on this 1st semester I have new thoughts on the ideal secondary school for DD.

Do not want a secondary school that attracts the BEST and then expect the BEST to produce BEST results.

Want one that attracts the average/above-average and then brings out the best in them through teaching and motivation.

If anyone knows of such secondary school, please share - am asking here and not in the secondary school selection threads coz we are all in the same boat here i.e. parents of P5-ers who will decide next year.

Have had enough of BEST. All they do is make the kids feel like losers in order to reap the best results from them.

Don’t need brand names nor the elite connections.

[QuiteKSMum]

I don’t think I’m bias but really think VS is a v.gd school - in many aspects. I struggle somewhat to post this as son is not really "in favor" of my active participation in KSP … So wanted to keep anything abt him as private as possible.


VS was and still remains our dream school - we know son’s strengths & weaknesses… Of course, our proximity to the school is also one plus point.

They are starting their IP next yr & open hse is 28th May. Do go & have a look & feel of the sch … P5 is a good time to bring our kids to the Sec schools’ Open House.

Cheers!

[pixiedust]

Peony


Good question. Ds is in la-di-da mode, no thought about secondary school. I've loosely decided which ones for which T-score range. You brought up a good point about Best Vs Above-Average. It is again the big-fish-in-small-pond vs small-fish-in-big-pond decision.

I think choices are also limited by distance from home. I am in NW so probably different options available from you.

QuiteKSMum

Thanks for sharing with us. Such information about good schools are really hard to come by and best from parents with children already in the school. Really appreciate your inputs.

TO ALL : Most of us visit this thread daily so it is quite easy to follow the discussions.Can we have a common practise not to use 'quote' ? Hence, any member who wants to come back to delete old posts with more private info can have that option and not worry about those info still left hanging in the quotes - hopefully we can get more inputs about good secondary school in this way.