Preparing kids for P5 in 2011

[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.

[BeContented]

Hi,

On the newspaper, I believe there is this Little Red Dot targetted for Pri kids. Think gotta order thru' schools. IRD has a few levels of difficulty, so good for both lower & upper pri.

Personally, I thought it is good.....now my job is to try inculcate the habit of reading news :oops: and hopefully, upgrade to ST next time. Also planning to 'blanko' some of the words so that can use as both informational news reading + assessment for Comprehension Cloze

Just fyi, think there should be another more chiem version for sec - What's Up / IN......not too sure.

[QuiteKSMum]

Hi Parents,


Do you have the marking scheme for Comprehension? IMHO, it's a useful pc of info to know.

Eg. for a 2 marks qn :

1) If both fact & language is correct, 2mks
2) If fact is correct but minor grammatical/spelling mistakes wh do not interfere with the meaning ( think up to 3 mistakes ) , 1.5 mks
3) Fact correct but major language error ( wh interferes with meaning), 1 mk
4) Fact correct but lifting word for word , 1mk
& so on ....

Think every school would have this, definitely by P6 the sch would have disseminate the info.
:celebrate:

[linden2000]

Glad to chance upon this thread becos ds is in p5 too n has just flung maths n Chinese. Failing Chinese or borderline pass was a regular feature but now even maths :roll: Sigh.


Haven't seen the paper but think should be the usual load of careless mistakes for Maths. DS says the paper seemed difficult when he was doing it but now that teacher has gone through, he found the questions doable. I am actually at a loss how to help him. I did make him practise past year SA1 exam papers n gone through them after marking but that didn't seem to have helped. So during the hols, should we be practising more papers to work on speed and accuracy or is doing these papers killing his interest in maths n hence the deterioration in marks? :?

DS is also a voracious reader but similarly the reading has not translated into good marks for compre n compo. Maybe he also reads too fast.

Yes I definitely agree that the reading of ST has to be managed due to the nature of the sometimes explicit details. Not so suitable for pri school children in my opinion. Just my 2 cents worth.

[2DMommy]

Still anixously waiting for my DS’s results. He was sick the last two days and just return to school today. He missed his Higher Chinese SA1 exam, any idea how the school compute the results?

[janet88]

linden2000:

Glad to chance upon this thread becos ds is in p5 too n has just flung maths n Chinese. Failing Chinese or borderline pass was a regular feature but now even maths :roll: Sigh.


DS says the paper seemed difficult when he was doing it but now that teacher has gone through, he found the questions doable. I am actually at a loss how to help him. I did make him practise past year SA1 exam papers n gone through them after marking but that didn't seem to have helped. So during the hols, should we be practising more papers to work on speed and accuracy or is doing these papers killing his interest in maths n hence the deterioration in marks? :?

Son brought back his written papers yesterday for verification.
For Chinese, killer section is compre OE, 'wan2 cheng2 dui4 hua', 'duan3 wen2 tian2 kong1'.
As for Math...hubby can't do...waiting for teacher to go through mistakes and copy answer to re-work on them. The Section A on speed & accuracy just passed at 23/40.
English...synthesis and compre OE...Need to take out P6 Eng to start working on them.

:imdrowning: :?:

[HappyFaye]

I have been an ‘ostrich’ since the fever of SA1 started 3 weeks ago.


Before this fever, I was anxiously looking through the different threads especially for the P5 related threads. I realised that the more I read, the more I got worried and felt that I had not done enough to push my DS to his full potential. I should give him other school papers to practice. I should make sure that he revised at least 3 hours a day. I should …. Thousand of ‘should’ running through my mind. Finally, I told myself - Enough is enough, I am quiting this ‘system’ and let MY nature takes its cause. Had been avoiding this forum since 3 weeks ago and only started to visit yesterday…

I admire Chenonceau for having no study since the beginning of May. I am the last-minute mummy but still punctured 2 days before the final paper. I tried very hard to push but don’t seem to be very successful. DS still got to do his routine of TV, computer play and soccer time, with the mere addition of an hour of revision/study before SA1. The results have been released except for Chinese and as expected, there was general drop by 10+ marks for all subjects, except Maths. But DS was very happy with his results, as comparatively, his results were good as compared to the whole level. This is my biggest concern as being in a neighbourhood school, I am not sure how his school papers faired as compared to other schools as we have not tried any other school papers since P1. I have yet to see any of his papers and am meeting his form teacher only end next week when she is back from her medical leave since term 3.

Frankly, I am anxious about his performance because DS wants to score well in PSLE.

Everyday, there were 2 contradicting voices in my mind.
The kiasu me - ‘Today he should do 10 pages of work for 2 subjects’.
The care-free me - ‘No, let him rest and relax…’
The kiasu me - ‘No, he can do much better. If he does not work hard now, he would miss the glory of having excellent PSLE results and the chance of going to top 4 schools’.
The care-free me - ‘What so big deal about the top 4 schools? Aren’t your boy in neighbourhood school now and he is doing well?
The kiasu me - ‘But he can score 260 and above if he works hard…’
The care-free me - “At the expense of his soccer time, computer time, reading, playing with the sisters/neighbours/friends, CCA? Is that worth it?’
The kiasu me - “Yeah, he can then go to top school and skip the ‘O’ Level…”
The care-free me - ‘If he is going to the top school, he may be the bottom of 10% of the cohort in view of those 270 and above and those with GEP training. He might be worst of in terms of confidence and self esteem’.
The kiasu me - ‘But all other parents are pushing their kid to do their best…their kids are doing hours of revision and worksheets. His friends are going for tuition. It would be a disadvantage for him for not having the exposure’.
The care-free me – ‘do you want to have a happy child or academicallly smart by stressful child?’
‘but…’
‘then….’
:
:
Finally, the care-free me asked, ‘What if you were going to lose your kid tomorrow due to some mishap? Would you regret for not giving him a quality childhood ?’
There is when the kiasu-me give in…

Even till today, I still struggle in between – to be kiasu or to be care-free.

Whenever I came to this forum, my kiasuism kicked in and I would push DS to do a lot more revision. I found myself comparing more and more and could not stop feeling that I did not do enough to push DS.

Just curious, do any of you feel the same?