Preparing kids for P5 in 2011

[Peony]

Hey Janet,

Admire your positivity!! His maths paper sounds like my DD’s school’s English paper. They want to ensure a cohort of A* and As for the subject! Good that you can see things in the right perspective!

[ASLMUM]

Ya this June holidays really need to balance between work and play. One week of hols to Bali, then the rest of the 3 weeks see if can do more Chinese/English, plus prepare for NMOS. Anyone of your kids going for the competition?


Sigh! At a loss at how to improve English and Chinese. I know it’s a slow progress and felt that even sending DD to enrichment classes will not bring much improvement. Need to think of a way…any suggestions? Hope to work towards an improvement in SA2.

[Chenonceau]

We took a break since 1st May. DS was not allowed to study since then till now.


We intend to do very intensive work during the holidays too, starting next Monday. His results have been encouraging even though he only managed one 90+ (above expectations), two 80+ (within expectations), one 70+ and one 65+ (above expectations). No prizes for guessing that the 70+ and 65+ was Chinese and Higher Chinese. He is so very pleased with his marks that I have decided not to celebrate at all. I wanna let him savour his results without adulterating the experience with other happy experiences.

I would have celebrated his hard work at Chinese, if he had failed Chinese… so as to encourage him to persist. So weird right. But he didn’t fail and he can see that his hard work has paid off… and he is happy. So, we’re not celebrating. We will just smile, hug each other and plunge into the Pit of Slavery again.

[janet88]

ASLMUM:

Sigh! At a loss at how to improve English and Chinese. I know it's a slow progress and felt that even sending DD to enrichment classes will not bring much improvement. Need to think of a way...any suggestions? Hope to work towards an improvement in SA2.

Hi ASLMUM,
Math-wise, I am waiting for tutor to arrange best timing...son definitely needs 1-to-1. We just spoke last night and she has agreed that it's critical to start asap.
For Eng, I wonder if I should start him on P6 assessment book (compre OE and Synthesis) bcos these were the killer sections in his SA paper.
He has been attending enrichment but there is no improvement and a drastic drop.

In a way, I'm glad the parents with P5 children are facing the same stress. So we definitely understand the craziness in front of us.

[Chenonceau]

janet_lee88:

For Eng, I wonder if I should start him on P6 assessment book (compre OE and Synthesis) bcos these were the killer sections in his SA paper. He has been attending enrichment but there is no improvement and a drastic drop.

This is a good idea. I did exactly this. I went straight for the P6 practices and skipped all the P5 ones. I based myself on the PSLE past year papers. I also used the book Comprehension Strategies by Learning Publishers to teach the skills.

Do you have the PSLE Past Year papers? If not, it is a good idea to buy them. I refer to them often to evaluate the appropriateness of the various practices I want to give him.

[janet88]

Chenonceau:

janet_lee88:

For Eng, I wonder if I should start him on P6 assessment book (compre OE and Synthesis) bcos these were the killer sections in his SA paper. He has been attending enrichment but there is no improvement and a drastic drop.

This is a good idea. I did exactly this. I went straight for the P6 practices and skipped all the P5 ones. I based myself on the PSLE past year papers. I also used the book Comprehension Strategies by Learning Publishers to teach the skills.

Do you have the PSLE Past Year papers? If not, it is a good idea to buy them. I refer to them often to evaluate the appropriateness of the various practices I want to give him.

Yes, I bought the PSLE 2006-2010 recently. Printed out some questions and wrote answers for son to read b4 his SA.
So it looks like I should skip his P5 assessment for Eng and go straight into P6...the synthesis and compre OE scared the hell out of me. Thanks , will put aside his P5...thought of getting him to finish up the present ones this June, but looks like it will be a waste of time since P5 syllabus for Eng is not really relevant.

[cimman]

pixiedust:

Peony, Champion - my ds reads a lot too, until his eye-sight is so bad and I had to hide his books. He reads for pleasure and the 'good effect' is really not coming out in his writing or OE comprehension. Agree, reads too fast - I think they are just captivated by the storyline and not fully digesting the grammar/spellling/writing style. My friends consoled me that it is still a better hobby and in the long run, it should still help.

I'm at a loss in this area as well. English is spoken at home, in school, amongst relatives, shows on TV, etc...DS likes reading, but..... why is the comprehension level still not improving ? It's not just the spelling/grammar/writing style, it's comprehension. I suspect comprehension at the basic level is there, but the critical thinking component needs to be cultivated. Maybe I should design a competition where he asks the critical thinking questions, I'll answer and he gets a reward if I don't get it right. Kids always have this competitive streak with their parents
Getting him to do more assessment books is not the right solution. I don't see any improvement to his comprehension skill.

[cimman]

just a little more sharing on comprehension skills here…


I think part of good comprehension skills comes from a good solid foundation of general knowledge and personal experiences.

For example, just the other day, I was reading a newspaper article to DS. The article said "Drought in Central China causes energy shortage"

The inference should be made that there is a link between a lack of water and energy production, which leads to the conclusion that Central China produces hydro electricity and that there is a dam in place.

If one does not know electricty can be produced through wind, water, nuclear, coal, gas, etc…, one would not able to draw the conclusion. One also has to know that a dam is requird to generate hydro electricity.
The article later mentioned that water in the dam was released during emergencies to alleviate the drought. If one is clueless about hydro electricity, one will be surprised at why the articlce mentioned a dam all of a sudden. Of course, the question begging to be asked is "What the heck is a dam ?"

The article also mentioned that factories were affected by the drought. One needs to know that lack of water will affect the effectiveness of the dam, which in turn will reduce energy production, which in turn affects the factories because factories needs electricity to manufacture goods.

As adults, we know this intuitively, as a child, this chain of linkages is lost to them.

Another example, this time from a comprehension passage. This is about Tan Tock Seng’s biography, how he came from a poor family, came to Singapore to start his career and became a philanthropist. There was a lot of information on how he helped the poor. The question asked was WHY he helped the poor. If the chld doesn’t know the concept of empathy, he wouldn’t know how to answer the question.

[Champion]

cimman:

just a little more sharing on comprehension skills here...


I think part of good comprehension skills comes from knowledge and personal experiences.
For example, just the other day, I was reading a newspaper article to DS. The article said \"Drought in Central China caused energy shortage\"

The inference should be made that there is a link between a lack of water and energy production, which leads to the conclusion that Central China produces hydro electricity and that there is a dam in place.

If one does not know electricty can be produced through wind, water, nuclear, coal, gas, etc...., one would not able to draw the conclusion. One also has to know that a dam is requird to generate hydro electricity.
The article later mentioned that water in the dam was released during emergencies to alleviate the drought. If one is clueless about hydro electricity, one will be surprised at why the articlce mentioned a dam all of a sudden. Of course, the question begging to be asked is \"What the heck is a dam ?\"

The article also mentioned that factories were affected by the drought. One needs to know that lack of water will affect the effectiveness of the dam, which in turn will reduce energy production, which in turn affects the factories because factories needs electricity to manufacture goods.

As adults, we know this intuitively, as a child, this chain of linkages is lost to them.

Another example, this time from a comprehension passage. This is about Tan Tock Seng's biography, how he came from a poor family, came to Singapore to start his career and became a philanthropist. There was a lot of information on how he helped the poor. The question asked was WHY he helped the poor. If the chld doesn't know the concept of empathy, he wouldn't know how to answer the question.

Hi Cimman,
Thanks for the sharing and this is definitely a very :goodpost: ! :lovesite: ! :grphug:

Though my DD1 is only in P3 - but I am also equally worried for her Compre skills. The School has also noticed that students are very weak in this area and thus has been giving them a lot of reading notes and practices to help.

I am thankful that I can learn from all you parents here especially in the P5s where you all have gone thru much than I do! Appreciate very much :hugs:

[cimman]

You’re welcome, Champion.


I just want to add that reading newspaper articles has it’s drawbacks as well.

There is this article about the Olympic Marathoner from Africa who died, presumably from suicide. He was caught by his wife in bed with another woman, possible cause of suicide.
Another article on the dead body of a maid disposed off in a HDB water tank.
There is this article on the IMF French chap who was charged with sexual assualt on a chamber maid.
I wouldn’t want to go into details on these articles with my child.
Newspaper reading has to be managed.