Preparing kids for P5 in 2011
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linden2000:
Thanks for the inforPiggyLalala:
We do not have ipad but we have iphone. Can these Chinese comics audiobooks 漫画西游 (ie 西游记）and 漫画三国 (ie 三国演义) be downloaded onto a iphone? Anyone know whether iphone has free app like 成语故事 or anything to do with chinese that we can download? TIA.
Hi. Unfortunately think these audiobooks are for ipad only.
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Quote \"The longer hours of remedial and supplementary are inefficient and ineffective. It is more of the same thing - big group teaching. When my DS works at home with me, he has to practise. He needs to write one compo a day... compared to 2 compos in 3 months. When I mark his compo, I comment on every line (green for good things and red for points of improvement). Every hour of compo practice he does (and which I correct in detail), teaches more than 10 hours of talking by teacher\"
I totally agree, how I wish I can convince my elder dd (P5) that it does not help her by staying back in school from Mon - Fri for sub this and that & occupy her time doing tons of hw from the school which will never be tested in the exam anyway.... she just need to follow and cooperate with me instead (I have been leaving her alone & secretly wishing that her teachers will adequently prepare her :oops: )... I have a younger dd in P4, her school is total opposite ... no sub, bare min hw ... so I take over after school hours and she need only study with me 10 ~ 15 min here and there when I have time then she is on her own most of her time with our own resource and her result so far has been exceeding expectation .... :xedfingers: -
Chenonceau:
Yes, I'm also puzzled why they do so few compo per term. Think last term was 2. At least his teacher does give a mark and write some comments though.
You're welcome!!linden2000:
I am also very impressed with the pontangs.
Thanks to Chenonceau for sharing your strategies. Always learn a lot from you.
The schools do more of what does not work. More classes and more hours of big group teaching. The new PSLE testing format is heavy on thinking skills across all subjects...
(1) Science thinking skills and heuristics
(2) Math thinking skills and heuristics
(3) English compo skills (standards for creative writing have risen amazingly)
(4) Chinese compo skills (idem above)
Skills can only be mastered with practice and individualized feedback. This can't be done in big groups of 40 students.
If teachers teach less, students must DO more and teachers must MARK more.
The longer hours of remedial and supplementary are inefficient and ineffective. It is more of the same thing - big group teaching. When my DS works at home with me, he has to practise. He needs to write one compo a day... compared to 2 compos in 3 months. When I mark his compo, I comment on every line (green for good things and red for points of improvement). Every hour of compo practice he does (and which I correct in detail), teaches more than 10 hours of talking by teacher. Remedial classes are a waste of time. It makes sense to swap 10 hours' remedial for 1 hour of work... and play an extra 9 hours. When I correct his compo, I comment on EVERY line (good things are commented in green and improvement points are commented in red). He scored 24/40 for SA2 in English compo because he wrote like he did in P4. Over June, we ratcheted up the quality of his writing by A LOT. Later, if got time, I will key into his blog and link here. You can compare with his P4 work.
In addition, when we work at home, my DS gets to pick the practices that are most useful to him. My brief to him is simple - \"I want you to be lazy. Get the best results in the least time. So, you don't be goondu goondu, complete everything in the book. Do enough that you understand, and then move on. And skip all the easy questions because those waste time.
In the past, when standards were lower, there is less of a crunch on time resources. Nowadays, the PSLE standards are so high that I use Sec 3 assessment books to teach PSLE creative writing because if I stick with the PSLE books, he can score only 24/40. I need to teach him techniques of bathos, irony, energy plotting... If I rely on teacher, compos come back with a tick... no mark... no comments.
It's NUTS!! :scratchhead: :siao:
With PSLE hitting such high standards (across every subject), the crunch on resources is considerable. Something must go... and I am certainly not retrenching Play Time because that is key to children's well-being. Regular school (ineffective and inefficient) has to be retrenched instead.
Maybe there are the 0.02% of students who are so smart that 2 compos a term can bring them up to the standards required. My son is not gifted. The only solution is to practise more, and for that we need TIME. -
PiggyLalala:
Thanks for the inforlinden2000:
[quote=\"PiggyLalala\"]
We do not have ipad but we have iphone. Can these Chinese comics audiobooks 漫画西游 (ie 西游记）and 漫画三国 (ie 三国演义) be downloaded onto a iphone? Anyone know whether iphone has free app like 成语故事 or anything to do with chinese that we can download? TIA.
Hi. Unfortunately think these audiobooks are for ipad only.[/quote]You are welcome.
Actually for iphone, i didnt manage to find suitable apps.
Btw, forgot to mention that these ipad comic audiobooks cost US$1.99 per part. There are 4 parts to a complete set but one part was free when i made the purchase. Didn't manage to find free apps. Usually they only have lite versions which are incomplete. -
allcc6:
He spends a lot of time in the garden tending to his moss garden. He tried to build a tesla coil with an old lamp. Recently, he's looking at how to construct a Van de Graaf machine. He used to like to play Shithead (card game), then Monopoly Deal... and now, he's hooked on Quoridor. He messes with his chemistry set and Mindstorm lego. He likes to cycle and trek. He reads. And he loves computer games where he shoots stuff. His Dad and he will plug the computer onto the projector and compete.
1. Juz curious, what does your son 'play' in his play time?
2. Also, I remembered you mentioning about your son's big leap in chinese compo after getting your son to memorise chinese essays (from books bought fm China). How do you select the pieces? Based on themes? What about his retention rate?
He also likes to make stuff from odds and ends. Floating devices. Once, he dismantled a table, took downstairs and used it as a raft in the swimming pool.
I don't select his compos 'cos I can't read Chinese. I get someone to record in chronological sequence and he reads whatever is published in the book in that order. We've stopped doing it however because he can now read stories independently. I let him choose what he wants to read in Chinese. -
HappyFaye:
But what I am irritated is that he will only wait for me to tell him what to do, which page, which question. If I do not give instruction, he would not do. The bad thing is because he has been on this mode, asking him to do a bit more on compo is an uphill task. How should I put that across to him :scratchhead:
HappyFaye, my ds's routine is almost same as your ds. I also have the above issue. My worry is when he goes to Secondary school, will it still be the same ? :stupid: Reading Chenonceau's posts, I think it is the motivation issue but it is hard to get it right....I am still threading around.
re: ipad Chinese apps
linden2000, thanks for the inputs. I am just looking for general interesting chinese apps. I searched free apps and saw some 成语 ones but not particularly impressed. Do update us if you come across more - I will have a look at the comics audiobooks - thanks again for your sharing.
Leanne & Brenda
So glad to hear the +ve Term 3 situations of your P6s ! Hopefully it will be the same for all of us. -
Hello pixiedust,
Am sure it will be quite the same.Meantime, just keep up the pace,learn whatever new topics that needed to be covered and be consistent.
In pri six, just maintain the stamina, esp last three months, (not over stressed),things will be fine.
Cheerspixiedust:
HappyFaye, my ds's routine is almost same as your ds. I also have the above issue. My worry is when he goes to Secondary school, will it still be the same ? :stupid: Reading Chenonceau's posts, I think it is the motivation issue but it is hard to get it right....I am still threading around.HappyFaye:
But what I am irritated is that he will only wait for me to tell him what to do, which page, which question. If I do not give instruction, he would not do. The bad thing is because he has been on this mode, asking him to do a bit more on compo is an uphill task. How should I put that across to him :scratchhead:
re: ipad Chinese apps
linden2000, thanks for the inputs. I am just looking for general interesting chinese apps. I searched free apps and saw some 成语 ones but not particularly impressed. Do update us if you come across more - I will have a look at the comics audiobooks - thanks again for your sharing.
Leanne & Brenda
So glad to hear the +ve Term 3 situations of your P6s ! Hopefully it will be the same for all of us. -
pixiedust:
Hi pixiedustLeanne & Brenda
So glad to hear the +ve Term 3 situations of your P6s ! Hopefully it will be the same for all of us.
Think all the school in term 3 should be doing the same or even more for P6 students.
The teacher had started run through with them the PSLE Booklet that had completd during June Holiday and dd also brought back another set of other school Math prelim paper as homework! -
Thanks mommies for the P6 updates. It’s reassuring to hear that they are helping children to prepare for the psle instead of leaving it all to parents.
I just wish they will start earlier from P5 though. Scrap all the unnecessary homework which are simple yet time consuming to do. If children are expected to have maths knowledge on par with onsponge level at the exams, then help them with that kind of questions instead of drilling them with the simple questions in Shaping Maths which are useless for exams. Then children will not have to sacrifice own play time to further work on Onsponge n past year questions. -
pixiedust:
You are welcome. Do share also if you come across any.
re: ipad Chinese apps
linden2000, thanks for the inputs. I am just looking for general interesting chinese apps. I searched free apps and saw some 成语 ones but not particularly impressed. Do update us if you come across more - I will have a look at the comics audiobooks - thanks again for your sharing.
Leanne & Brenda
So glad to hear the +ve Term 3 situations of your P6s ! Hopefully it will be the same for all of us. Always looking around for material to interest DS in chinese but it has been an uphill task.
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