P5 Science & Maths a big change

[janet88]

janet_lee88:

lizawa:

[quote=\"kyp71\"] For Maths I m not so worry cos I can coach myself but for Science I have lost my knowledge and I do not know how to answer most of the question myself when I glance thru the paper.

For science, i think it's important to know what are the keywords to use in answering the open ended questions. When you look at a question, you must roughly know what concept this question is testing you on.
The MCQs carry a lot of weightage, so must also try to get as few of the MCQs wrong as possible. These are my \"strategies\" for my daughter last year. She was scoring low to mid 80s in school tests and exams but manage A* in PSLE.

Can you pls advise me how you taught your daughter to score high marks for Science ? It's my son's 'strongest' subject. His class is very strong in Science. For SA1, he did above average for P5 level, but below average for his class. [/quote]Hi Janet,

I made my DD go through alot of MCQs, from assessment books and past year papers. So that she has the \"exposure\" for all kinds of possible questions. After a while, I could tell which area she was weaker in, like interpreting graphs, or adaptaions. We then drilled into those areas more in depth. Always target not more than 3 mistakes for MCQs. If you can consistently do that for all the past year papers, i think the marks shouldn't deviate much in the actual PSLE.

For OE, we tried to link the questions to the topics / concepts tested and identify the key words to use. It's really the answering techniques for OE questions once you know what concepts the questions are testing on. The school teacher did a good job helping them with the answering technique. So after a while, she knew exactly what was needed to get those 1 or 2 points.

Although I didn't agree that the answers must be that \"standardise\" but she had to do it that way to score those points. This is the sad part, marking scheme is not that flexible.[/quote]
Thank you...really appreciate your advice :snuggles: . Will work on those MCQs for exposure. It's not possible to use 'elimination' method as options are very close Learning the answer techniques for OE is impt bcos of the 2-3 marks for each question. Headache :nailbite: Son's Science teacher doesn't teach class any technique...she has an attitude and other parents are facing same prob.

[shurley197323]

Hi.just to share something about the situational writing(P5). The topic is about complain of the meat uncooked in a resaurant.

My DD had been deducted 4 points from the following:
(1) Missed out Capital Letter M
(2) She mentioned "realize" but have to indicate whether "TASTE" or "SAW" the meat
(3) She didnot mention about what the manager had comment.
(4) She didnot mention about the dining experience.

(I had ask her to note down the mistakes when she had a chance to go through the paper, so I think 1 point deduct for each)

[janet88]

Hi Mummies,

At P5, the difficulty level is like moving from shallow end of the swimming pool (0.9m) to 1.4m suddenly :faint: My son is finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel for Math after 8 months. For Science, he is still ok so far...whew ! Learning 'electrical circuits' now...the last topic for P5 and hubby's specialty. So I get to :siam:

[Champion]

janet_lee88:

Hi Mummies,

At P5, the difficulty level is like moving from shallow end of the swimming pool (0.9m) to 1.4m suddenly :faint: My son is finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel for Math after 8 months. For Science, he is still ok so far...whew ! Learning 'electrical circuits' now...the last topic for P5 and hubby's specialty. So I get to :siam:

Hi Janet,
Even at P3, I m feeling the - is like moving from baby pool to the big adult pool!

:imsorry: if I \"intrude\" into this thread & :offtopic: but seriously I am feeling the stress level & tension building up! :sad:

[janet88]

Champion:

janet_lee88:

Hi Mummies,

At P5, the difficulty level is like moving from shallow end of the swimming pool (0.9m) to 1.4m suddenly :faint: My son is finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel for Math after 8 months. For Science, he is still ok so far...whew ! Learning 'electrical circuits' now...the last topic for P5 and hubby's specialty. So I get to :siam:

but seriously I am feeling the stress level & tension building up! :sad:

It's ok...the first dip is at P3...my son's results dipped at P3 and he was very shocked !!! Fortunately he managed to surface at P4...then dipped again in the first 6 months of this year :imdrowning:
Very scary :nailbite:

[Kekwa]

Some schools don't know why purposely set very difficult and extreme questions and ended up kids get so demoralised when they get much lower than expected results despite having worked so hard in their revisions and tuition. My son's CA2 kena such a paper for Maths. He told me even the best student in Maths in his class looked very disppointed and 'green face' after the problem solving paper..... :siao:

[cimman]

Kekwa:

Some schools don't know why purposely set very difficult and extreme questions and ended up kids get so demoralised when they get much lower than expected results despite having worked so hard in their revisions and tuition. My son's CA2 kena such a paper for Maths. He told me even the best student in Maths in his class looked very disppointed and 'green face' after the problem solving paper..... :siao:

this is due mainly to a flawed KPI system in schools. Teacher's performance and grades are not linked. If the teacher's performance appriasal is linked to the class's performance, you can bet the unreasonable tough questions will not surface, either that or the teacher will have to put in more effort to teach the necessary concepts. I don't think it is about a lack of revision or hardwork on the student's part if they do badly, rather it is because the necessary advance concepts were not taught in the first place.

I'm sure the basic concepts were taught, but they really need to move beyond that if they want to set tough questions. There really should be a sense of responsibility when tough exam questions are set. There is currently a disconnect in responsibility and it seems that the system is placing this responsibility squarely on the parent's shoulders. It's like the school is saying to the parent \" look, I'm showing you that your child still has a long way to go to meet the standards of this school, now go and fix it.\"

[janet88]

cimman:

Kekwa:

Some schools don't know why purposely set very difficult and extreme questions and ended up kids get so demoralised when they get much lower than expected results despite having worked so hard in their revisions and tuition.

If the teacher's performance appriasal is linked to the class's performance, you can bet the unreasonable tough questions will not surface, either that or the teacher will have to put in more effort to teach the necessary concepts. I don't think it is about a lack of revision or hardwork on the student's part if they do badly, rather it is because the necessary advance concepts were not taught in the first place.

I'm sure the basic concepts were taught, but they really need to move beyond that if they want to set tough questions. There really should be a sense of responsibility when tough exam questions are set. There is currently a disconnect in responsibility and it seems that the system is placing this responsibility squarely on the parent's shoulders. It's like the school is saying to the parent \" look, I'm showing you that your child still has a long way to go to meet the standards of this school, now go and fix it.\"

:goodpost:
By setting tough exam questions and making the kids demoralized after CA/SA, it implies to we parents that we are not doing enough to help school meet high standards :siao:
Hubby told me for problem sums which carry 5 marks, it is necessary to use at least 2 methods to get part of the marks...this M1, M2 thing. If schools want to be recognized for high standards, shouldn't this be the responsibilty of the school and not parents ?

[S_Mummy]

Hi,

Anyone likes to join Science P5 Group tuition. I’m planning to start my son at Learning Spree Tampines but i need at least another 2 students for the centre to open a class. At this moment, i’m not sure of day/time yet. Please PM me if you are keen. Thank you.

[pineapple tarts]

Hi there, my DD will be in P5 next year (2012) I hope by preparing early will not let her struggle too badly when the new term starts. She is still doing her maths ass. books everyday. Plus reading science (her weakest subject) at leisure.