All Parents of 2009 PSLE kid: Preparing from Sec2 Streaming

[jtoh]

zeemimi:

jtoh:

If an IP student is equally good at History and Geography, and is equally interested in both, which subject should he/she take? Are there any considerations in terms of future subject combinations in JC/Uni, scholarship considerations etc he/she should take into account between the two? I quite frequently hear that it's easier to score in Geog. Is that really the case? Would like to hear your views on this. Thanks.

that's a hard decision to make. happening to my DD also. In fact, she loves history. but everyone is saying geog is easier to score, which may have some truth. but history gives a greater advantage over geog in that it gives a student better perspective of what is happening around the world. this may help in the GP paper and also future interviews for scholarships.

that's why i would like to hear the views of others regarding hist vs geog.

If you go to Arts Faculty in NUS, history is definitely more valued than geog.

but if you have a passion in the subject, i suppose it will not be difficult to do well either.

Thanks zeemimi.

[S-H]

HeSheMe:

S-H:

My ds is into subject combination exercise these two days. He is opting 8 subjects combination and the subjects are :

English
HMT
Math
A.Math
Physics
Chemistry
Combined Humanities
2nd Humanities (Pure Geog)

He's not sure whether to take Combined Humanities(Social Studies+History) or (Social Studies + Eng Lit) in which he finds that neither History nor Eng Lit are his powerful subjects. However the option is either this or that which he has to choose one. Can anyone advise. Thank you.

Hi. Is this the best combination he can take among the others? If that is the case, you should compare the results between his History and Literature. If for the whole year his History has been doing relatively well, then I advise to go with History. Literature is hard to say. If he has a 'that-kind-of' brain that is matured enough to see hidden messages and think not one-way but looking at the poem/prose from other ways too. Then that he should go for Literature.

The best is still to ASK him what is his interest between the two. Sustaining interest is still very important because these will be the Ordinary Level subjects he is gonna take - and once chosen, there's no rewind, so it's very critical. Take his CA, SA and other test results as a gauge. If he can at least maintain a pass in History or Literature, then choose the subject.

Whereas if he gets for example 46, 67, 56, 54 for the subject, I still advise not to pick it as you know that this is very unstable - esp for Literature.

Literature is not about writing a lot or what. As long as you have the points even half the page can score you 20 marks upon 25.

History is a subject that requires you to memorize while for Literature there's no need to study but you have to know the devices.

Anyway, the choice is still up to him.

:thankyou:

[prancingpony]

Hi thank you for reviving this thread! I am in a dilemma. My ds is offered this 8 subject combi:


Eng/Hmt/physics/chemistry/A.maths/E.maths/combined humanities - ss/geog (all compulsory) AND Biology

OR 7 subject combi

Eng/Hmt/ physics/ chemistry/A.maths/E. Maths/combined humanities - ss/ hist .



I’ve asked whether taking 7 subjects is risky. My ds prefers and did better in history than geog but at the same time he wants to appeal for the 8 subject with bio and ch history. He scored 71 for history, 61 for geography and 74 for science. Is the science mark good enough for him to take biology? I am very worried if he will not be able to cope as i do not even have an inkling as to how tough the pure sciences can be. Are they? I really do feel 7 subjects would be good but is the combination ideal? Please help as i honestly have no clue! Thank you!

[DadOfGirl]

prancingpony:

Hi thank you for reviving this thread! I am in a dilemma. My ds is offered this 8 subject combi:


Eng/Hmt/physics/chemistry/A.maths/E.maths/combined humanities - ss/geog (all compulsory) AND Biology

OR 7 subject combi

Eng/Hmt/ physics/ chemistry/A.maths/E. Maths/combined humanities - ss/ hist .



I've asked whether taking 7 subjects is risky. My ds prefers and did better in history than geog but at the same time he wants to appeal for the 8 subject with bio and ch history. He scored 71 for history, 61 for geography and 74 for science. Is the science mark good enough for him to take biology? I am very worried if he will not be able to cope as i do not even have an inkling as to how tough the pure sciences can be. Are they? I really do feel 7 subjects would be good but is the combination ideal? Please help as i honestly have no clue! Thank you!

8 subject must have. In my DD school there are many students taking 9 subjects.

So my take on your situation is first alocation(triple science) is good , but if you want to drop biology , appeal to get SS+Geo & pure history.

[prancingpony]

Thank you DadOfGirl, this year his school is not offering core history as apparently the students preferred geography. And my ds was not offered literature. Most likely cos his english marks not good enough.

[DadOfGirl]

How about SS+History & pur Geo. Bio has minimum value( only of you want

to do pharmacy)

Student not opting for literture should keep physics. All engg options including new SUDT( 4 courses) needs physics

[zeemimi]

Much as we want our kids to take courses that give them the best / most number of choices in the future, courses which are the most marketable, with the maximum value, at the end of the day, let them choose what they like to study.


With passion, they can get to their fullest potential in any subjects they take.

At the end, even though she could qualify for triple science, my DD chose pure Chem, pure Bio, 2 maths, ss/hist and Geog. Because her interest lies in Chem, Bio and she fell in love with the topics after looking thru the Geog textbooks.

[phankao]

zeemimi:

Much as we want our kids to take courses that give them the best / most number of choices in the future, courses which are the most marketable, with the maximum value, at the end of the day, let them choose what they like to study.


With passion, they can get to their fullest potential in any subjects they take.

At the end, even though she could qualify for triple science, my DD chose pure Chem, pure Bio, 2 maths, ss/hist and Geog. Because her interest lies in Chem, Bio and she fell in love with the topics after looking thru the Geog textbooks.

Yes, just study according to their interests, and importantly - strengths. If it were up to my DD, she would have taken all sciences and no humanities - literature was compulsory, and ss-geog(or hist) but she's poor in humanities. It showed so distinctly in her O-level results.

[DadOfGirl]

zeemimi:

Much as we want our kids to take courses that give them the best / most number of choices in the future, courses which are the most marketable, with the maximum value, at the end of the day, let them choose what they like to study.


With passion, they can get to their fullest potential in any subjects they take.

At the end, even though she could qualify for triple science, my DD chose pure Chem, pure Bio, 2 maths, ss/hist and Geog. Because her interest lies in Chem, Bio and she fell in love with the topics after looking thru the Geog textbooks.

There is alwasy temptation to choose \"Easy\" option. It is human to take option that causes least pain for now without foreseeing \"Gates\" closing on them for future. We are talking about \"Teen\" humans here. That's why My DD's school asked Parent's signature on the forms submitted on-line

If you have \"found\" yourself , by all means go for \"humanities\" , there are range of Social science careers on offer later at Uni. But if you are taking 7 subjects with one humanities , shouldn't science subject be Physics over biology?

[Augmum]

zeemimi:

With passion, they can get to their fullest potential in any subjects they take.

though i agree with this saying....but on the otherhand,
the ultimate marks which the pupil gets, can kill or weaken the passion of the subj....
take history for example....
gal has much passion in this subj and had put in much effort but
it is the subjective marking of the EOY papers,
which deters her from choosing history......