Preparing kids for P5 in 2011

[HappyFaye]

rocklee:

I gather from this forum that it seems impossible for a child in the upper primary or even lower primary to cope on his or her own without some form of help, whether coaching from parents or external tutors. If one day, all parents stop coaching their children and all tutions terminated, can our children still survive the PSLE?

If one day, ALL parents stop coaching their children and all tutions terminated, I am sure our kids can survive better.

Ironically, I have been running a tuition centre for many years and I don't send my kids for tuition, (yet, who knows :oops: ) I didn't go through Singapore education system and I am not a trained teacher. I also have great difficulties in coaching Eng, Math & Sci, even though I have a technical degree.

We parents find those Maths questions tough because we do not do the practice ourselves everyday, we are not familar with the methodologies, unlike the kids who do those questions day in day out.

As what Brenda10 mentioned, most of the syllabus will be covered by term 2 of P6. If your kid have been > 80% for P1 - P4 with minimal coaching, your kid's foundation is already there. By the time term 3 of P6 comes, the intensive revision will be good enough for majority of the kids here (unless you are aiming for >260), as we are the kiasu parents who will be guiding our kids with love and encouragement.

Believe in yourself and your child so long as you set a realistic target and given enough attention and love!

[janet88]

mistychances:

well, i must say i used to be very good & like maths when i was little but after looking thru ds p5 sa1 paper, i don't even feel like reading it Trying to understand the questions already give me headache Same goes to Science

I never liked Maths from primary school...so it's even worse now...all those 'M1, M2' thing is greek to me :siam:

[mistychances]

One thing i can take consolation even with ds results slipping for p5, is his change of attitude. He seemed to be more concerned about his exams (at least one month before). This is important to me coz it means it's easier to prepare him for the next exam SA2. Main task now is to identify his weak points by going thru his papers (very hard work indeed for me ). I'm confident with his new attitude, we should be able to do better going forward (now, pray hard his attitude doesn't change back )

[cimman]

janet_lee88:

mistychances:

well, i must say i used to be very good & like maths when i was little but after looking thru ds p5 sa1 paper, i don't even feel like reading it Trying to understand the questions already give me headache Same goes to Science

I never liked Maths from primary school...so it's even worse now...all those 'M1, M2' thing is greek to me :siam:

as one gets older, one gets into second childhood. Looks like we're in the age where we get into our second \"education hood\". We're back in school mugging for exams.

[Pen88n]

cimman:

janet_lee88:

[quote=\"mistychances\"]well, i must say i used to be very good & like maths when i was little but after looking thru ds p5 sa1 paper, i don't even feel like reading it Trying to understand the questions already give me headache Same goes to Science

I never liked Maths from primary school...so it's even worse now...all those 'M1, M2' thing is greek to me :siam:

as one gets older, one gets into second childhood. Looks like we're in the age where we get into our second \"education hood\". We're back in school mugging for exams. :)[/quote]Sometimes parents are more kan cheong about the exams than kids. Based on past experience, I find that the \"jump\" :imdrowning: will occur twice - once in P3 with the introduction of Science, and once in P5 with the sudden \"deepening\" of the syllabus.

[Brenda10]

Pen88n:

Sometimes parents are more kan cheong about the exams than kids. Based on past experience, I find that the \"jump\" :imdrowning: will occur twice - once in P3 with the introduction of Science, and once in P5 with the sudden \"deepening\" of the syllabus.

May be this is the odd number effect. The turning point is P1, P3 and P5.

[janet88]

janet_lee88:

mistychances:

I never liked Maths from primary school...so it's even worse now...all those 'M1, M2' thing is greek to me :siam:

as one gets older, one gets into second childhood. Looks like we're in the age where we get into our second \"education hood\". We're back in school mugging for exams.

Based on past experience, I find that the \"jump\" :imdrowning: will occur twice - once in P3 with the introduction of Science, and once in P5 with the sudden \"deepening\" of the syllabus.[/quote]
We get kancheong :nailbite: now bcos we are involved with our children's education. But I do agree that I'm definitely MORE hardworking than my time in school.
The first jump is at P3 with introduction of Science and 'real' introduction to school. But P1 now is not easy either now. Though daughter's school didn't call it SA, but she was tested the same way...English oral, pic discussion, CL show & tell, all the components for the 3 subjects.

P1 Maths now involves introduction to heuristics...like counting number of legs of chickens and dogs.

[Champion]

janet_lee88:

The first jump is at P3 with introduction of Science and 'real' introduction to school. But P1 now is not easy either now. Though daughter's school didn't call it SA, but she was tested the same way...English oral, pic discussion, CL show & tell, all the components for the 3 subjects.

P1 Maths now involves introduction to heuristics...like counting number of legs of chickens and dogs.

Hi Janet,
I definitely \"hands up & legs up\" in total agreement with your above statements! :hi5: :hugs:

One will never feel the impact esp for P3 unless one goes thru it - This is definitely a real sentiment for me :lol: ...While in P1 & P2, DD1 has no formal exam but \"bite-size\" assessments, we still can be in honeymoon period :love: . But this year, I feel suddenly I become very hardworking - reading more of her Science notes than my favorite magazines! :imcool: .

Then next year I will have DD2 going to P1 and I think I have to start my little steps of preparation soon ...Yes, the term \"heuristics\" really :scared: me out of the wit :nailbite:

[Lynn2]

There are many centre offer compo class.


I know in bishan, there is one popular one, intitial hmt.You may check it out.

Hi Brenda, do u have good recommendation for those who really need to go for eng and compo writing?How are the two centre that you attending, care to share?


Cheers
Lynn

fussyMummy:

Hi Brenda10,

Mind to share where/which tution centre for compo?

[janet88]

Champion:

janet_lee88:

The first jump is at P3 with introduction of Science and 'real' introduction to school. But P1 now is not easy either now. Though daughter's school didn't call it SA, but she was tested the same way...English oral, pic discussion, CL show & tell, all the components for the 3 subjects.

Hi Janet,
I definitely \"hands up & legs up\" in total agreement with your above statements! :hi5: :hugs:

One will never feel the impact esp for P3 unless one goes thru it - This is definitely a real sentiment for me. While in P1 & P2, DD1 has no formal exam but \"bite-size\" assessments, we still can be in honeymoon period :love: .

Even for P5, unless one is going through it, you will not understand that level of difficulty. My friend has pre-warned me about difficulty of Eng at P6...I can feel it after seeing the SA1 paper.

For P1, I'm afraid there is no honeymoon for my gal, but I don't want to pressure her this year...but, we do consistent revision everyday.