DSA 2011

[looking4Tutor]

I guessed some would literally love the ELITE title on their forheads.

[phankao]

looking4Tutor:

I guessed some would literally love the ELITE title on their forheads.

That too, may not be suitable for all.

[Mum1113]

phankao:

You also won't know what kind of kids and exactly what kind of marriage you will have. You have zero information about the kids you birth altho' some gut feel about your marriage.

I think you'll have way way way more information about the schools before you select them. Class sizes, teachers, how the student leaders and teachers and principal present themselves and information and how they interact with you, the school environment and culture. The school's programmes. How they segregate classes. Forums like these online where many share or you can ask if anyone has experience to share.

Of course, the other rather important factor is gut feel. And for some of us, there are other factors that help make the decision.

My kids have all been very happy with their choice of schools. I daresay that they have chosen wisely and that alternative choices may not have been suitable. eg. what my elder ds chose for sec school has been really great for him. He has been given lots of opportunities and blossomed lots as a result. If he'd stayed in his affiliated sec school(your son's alma mater), he wouldn't have had the same chances . However, your son's alma mater would actually suit my younger son better...so it's really all about an appropriate fit based on the child's personality and learning style. Certainly we know quite a bit of information. Altho, yes, admittedly, it's never the same as experiencing it 1st-hand. That's why gut-feel and prayers are important too.

Only you know your child best. I won't say that ANY school in Singapore would suit every single one of my 4 children!!! That would really be a bad fit. It's like saying that arranged marriages suit everyone bc the end-result is the same.

:lovesite:

[RSS]

Actually gep in Singapore is no big deal. Heard from an expat the gep STD here is low compared to other countries. So don’t treat them differently. My ds ge classmates all behaves like normal kids. They are all intelligent but when it comes to play, they are just like normal 12 years old. Yes their learning needs are diff. I would see ge kids in Singapore as high learning ability, normal kids.

[vlim]

RSS:

Actually gep in Singapore is no big deal. Heard from an expat the gep STD here is low compared to other countries. So don't treat them differently. My ds ge classmates all behaves like normal kids. They are all intelligent but when it comes to play, they are just like normal 12 years old. Yes their learning needs are diff. I would see ge kids in Singapore as high learning ability, normal kids.

I agree with u. Unlike big country like china, our population is so much smaller hence the number of extraordinary gifted children here would be relatively much lower... I remember reading from the moe gep website that there are abt 3? Such extraordinary gift kids out of 100,000?... And 100,000 is way more then a cohort.. Last yr there was one p6 gep boy in my ds school that belong to this catagory.....Skip one level yet top in all maths olympaid and so forth ...

[ngbrdad]

Still no email from RI.

Are they changing timing this year and putting GAT for GEP students last ?
So far no one under GE domain has received email on GAT from them right ?

[vlim]

ngbrdad:

Still no email from RI.

Are they changing timing this year and putting GAT for GEP students last ?
So far no one under GE domain has received email on GAT from them right ?

anxious daddy..maybe u can call them directly to check when will u be expecting the notice..

[ngbrdad]

vlim:

ngbrdad:

Still no email from RI.

Are they changing timing this year and putting GAT for GEP students last ?
So far no one under GE domain has received email on GAT from them right ?

anxious daddy..maybe u can call them directly to check when will u be expecting the notice..

Call liao but they say wait for email.
Anxious mainly becos if the GAT is the following week very hard for wife and me to take leave at such short notice.

[Edureach]

Mum1113:

phankao:

You also won't know what kind of kids and exactly what kind of marriage you will have. You have zero information about the kids you birth altho' some gut feel about your marriage.

I think you'll have way way way more information about the schools before you select them. Class sizes, teachers, how the student leaders and teachers and principal present themselves and information and how they interact with you, the school environment and culture. The school's programmes. How they segregate classes. Forums like these online where many share or you can ask if anyone has experience to share.

Of course, the other rather important factor is gut feel. And for some of us, there are other factors that help make the decision.

My kids have all been very happy with their choice of schools. I daresay that they have chosen wisely and that alternative choices may not have been suitable. eg. what my elder ds chose for sec school has been really great for him. He has been given lots of opportunities and blossomed lots as a result. If he'd stayed in his affiliated sec school(your son's alma mater), he wouldn't have had the same chances . However, your son's alma mater would actually suit my younger son better...so it's really all about an appropriate fit based on the child's personality and learning style. Certainly we know quite a bit of information. Altho, yes, admittedly, it's never the same as experiencing it 1st-hand. That's why gut-feel and prayers are important too.

Only you know your child best. I won't say that ANY school in Singapore would suit every single one of my 4 children!!! That would really be a bad fit. It's like saying that arranged marriages suit everyone bc the end-result is the same.

:lovesite:

Oh i see!

So you are convinced that your elder ds who is now doing well in another school as his current school is able to develop him as this would not have happen if he had chosen his affilation school. I congratulate you on your wisdom in excercising your choice.

But wait. There are few questions which remain unanswered.

1. If your elder son did not meet the cop of his chosen school, would he had stay put in his affilation school to capitalise on his affilation points notwithstanding his current school is more suitable for his development.?

2. For your younger ds, will you have placed him to join the elder if he is likely to meet the cop and thereby you would not apply for his intergration to sec level thru dsa notwithstanding the fact that you think his affilation school is more suited for his development or is a case of bo bian?

3.What actually made you come to the conclusion that your elder one is unlikely to develop as well if not better if he had chosen to remain in his sec school? Probably you know the sec school better than me and that's where i could pick up some pointers from you for my future reference. My point is how did u arrive an informed decision without your elder having experienced even a short stay in his affilation school. FYI, my ds could have been your elder ds' senior if not for his last hour decision not to place that particular jc as his first choice during last year jae.

4. Or is it you have made your final assesment primarily on the basis of cop, the higher the better and secondary on programmes and priestige.?

No offence just hope parents can learn from your wisdom lah.

[phankao]

Edureach:

Mum1113:

[quote=\"phankao\"]
You also won't know what kind of kids and exactly what kind of marriage you will have. You have zero information about the kids you birth altho' some gut feel about your marriage.

I think you'll have way way way more information about the schools before you select them. Class sizes, teachers, how the student leaders and teachers and principal present themselves and information and how they interact with you, the school environment and culture. The school's programmes. How they segregate classes. Forums like these online where many share or you can ask if anyone has experience to share.

Of course, the other rather important factor is gut feel. And for some of us, there are other factors that help make the decision.

My kids have all been very happy with their choice of schools. I daresay that they have chosen wisely and that alternative choices may not have been suitable. eg. what my elder ds chose for sec school has been really great for him. He has been given lots of opportunities and blossomed lots as a result. If he'd stayed in his affiliated sec school(your son's alma mater), he wouldn't have had the same chances . However, your son's alma mater would actually suit my younger son better...so it's really all about an appropriate fit based on the child's personality and learning style. Certainly we know quite a bit of information. Altho, yes, admittedly, it's never the same as experiencing it 1st-hand. That's why gut-feel and prayers are important too.

Only you know your child best. I won't say that ANY school in Singapore would suit every single one of my 4 children!!! That would really be a bad fit. It's like saying that arranged marriages suit everyone bc the end-result is the same.

:lovesite:

Oh i see!

So you are convinced that your elder ds who is now doing well in another school as his current school is able to develop him as this would not have happen if he had chosen his affilation school. I congratulate you on your wisdom in excercising your choice.

But wait. There are few questions which remain unanswered.

1. If your elder son did not meet the cop of his chosen school, would he had stay put in his affilation school to capitalise on his affilation points notwithstanding his current school is more suitable for his development.?

2. For your younger ds, will you have placed him to join the elder if he is likely to meet the cop and thereby you would not apply for his intergration to sec level thru dsa notwithstanding the fact that you think his affilation school is more suited for his development or is a case of bo bian?

3.What actually made you come to the conclusion that your elder one is unlikely to develop as well if not better if he had chosen to remain in his sec school? Probably you know the sec school better than me and that's where i could pick up some pointers from you for my future reference. My point is how did u arrive an informed decision without your elder having experienced even a short stay in his affilation school. FYI, my ds could have been your elder ds' senior if not for his last hour decision not to place that particular jc as his first choice during last year jae.

4. Or is it you have made your final assesment primarily on the basis of cop, the higher the better and secondary on programmes and priestige.?

No offence just hope parents can learn from your wisdom lah.[/quote]I learnt simply by the sharings of other parents on the similar programmes in both schools, and experience with the principal over the past 8 years. My boy is already in year 2. His psle score was not high, but his GPA is very good in his current school despite that. There were quite a few competitions and fairs that he was selected for. The very small cohort size and small teacher-student ratio allows him to shine and he's received award too. He is quite outspoken and independent and works well with the teachers there who treats them like \"little adults\". I know in CHS sec, it's similar to my girl's former sec school where the programme is just very standard. This however, would just suit my younger boy. He's happy to be left in the \"ocean\" of students. The cohort size is double that of the JC.

The reviews of similar programme from parents I know in CHS sec do not seem quite as exciting, and not so many opportunities to perform either, so I think I may not encourage my younger boy to join the same if/when he goes to CHS sec.

My younger boy is quite resolute about his school choice, so all this is really NOT fully my choice. When I spoke with the Principal earlier this year, he was quite surprised about it, as in, he wants to, no matter what his score is. My friend's son had a very high score and joined CHS too.

Even my elder girl and elder boy was also very sure about their school choice. We do not put our views down, but so far have seen that their choices are not unsuitable. I also don't ASK them to do DSA. It's them who asks to do so. I did not want them to learn music - they themselves ASK to do so when they entered pri school. So a lot of personal choices on their part, in case you think again that it's OUR (us, as in parents') choice.

I'm not sure how to explain this personality match and learning style difference. It's not just based on how they perform in school. My elder boy's only down-point is that his Chinese is not good, but forced to do HCL now.

By the way, cannot compare the Junior/Senior IP programme with the JC-only programme in the same JC. It's just not really quite the same.