Using Secondary School material to prepare my PSLE kid

[metz]

Lock:

C'mon, who are we trying to kid. Once words get around that who and who are reading sec 3 compo or who and who are doing Sec 1 Sci assessment, all kiasu parents will go into a frenzy and decide for themselves that their kids belong to the category of kids who want to be stretched and who can be stretched. Most parents will hide their true intention of pushing their kids beyond their potential. Nobody would admit that they are getting the kids to do sec sch stuff in hope that they can have a better edge over their peers. It's not uncommon to hear parents say things like, \"but he enjoys it\", \"she asks me to buy these sec assessments for her\", \"he's bored with his sch work\". \"he finds PSLE qns unchallenging\"...

I hope parents can be true to yourself and be fair to your kids. Give them a childhood and REAL education, not a piece of certificate or entry to top schs.

Your post reminds me of this ...

This Rosyth School pupil, who sat for the international equivalent of the O-level mathematics exam and scored an A* when he was just nine years old, was also allowed to skip a year in school.


The following year, he sat for the additional mathematics paper and took home an A.

And he is not the only one.

There is a growing group of children in Singapore who are sitting for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), an internationally recognised qualification equivalent to the O levels, and the British equivalent of the GCE A-level examinations before the ages of 16 and 18 respectively.

And, contrary to popular belief that parents are pushing these kids, the children say that they are the ones asking to test themselves at higher levels.

Source : http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20100214-198663.html

Recently, my hubby heard a parent share on the Sg rat race during a gathering for Singaporeans in Paris. She can't help but feel worried for her children being left behind when they are due to return to Sg. Apparently, her friend's P4/5 child (in Sg) is already tackling Sec 3 & 4 Maths.

For whatever reasons there are, students doing more advanced syllabus is no longer something new or unheard of. I am neither for nor against it. But to what ends, that's what I'm wondering...

[Chenonceau]

Lock and Chamonix... it's good to see you both here.


Oh boy Chamonix... I think need to buck up. We thought we had pretty much got where we need to be for PSLE so we've been playing every day since 4 weeks ago. Why is my son wasting time next door playing Singapore Airlines with the 15 grandkids next door? It's so UN-intellectual!! All they do is line up chairs and play pilot and air stewardesses, and pretend to parachute out the plane to save other pretend exploding planes.

As I wrote the above para, my son looked over my shoulders and into my face and said \" Really ah? We need to buck up? What work shall I do tomorrow?\" Poor boy. So earnest. So eager to do well at PSLE. So patient.


Seriously though... I agree with Lock there is more to life than stretching children further and further academically. Other lessons in life are as important. I am sure my son can tackle 'O' level math too if I push him but why do so? So I said \"You're kidding? Tomorrow is public holiday. You're ok for PSLE, who cares about 'O' levels?\" My DS is not at that level of interest as the little Rosyth fellow... and I feel assured that that one is really an outlier so my DS should still be safe. I hope!!

Now for some venting of my own...

There needs to be a limit somewhere. I used a Sec 3 English book for my son because it happened to document in greater detail and with better clarity what the school documented on Powerpoint (and in a Compo manual) and gave out to us with PSLE in mind. I find it COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS that to do well in compo at PSLE, DS needs to use his older sister's Sec 3 assessment book... BUT the school textbooks give NO HINT of the kind of standard the kids need to produce. After training him with a Sec 3 textbook, he was predictably top in class for SA2 English compo BUT the mark is only 32/40. If this is it, I don't think I can score more than 30/40 at PSLE compo even though I am in the 98 percentile of GMAT verbal scores!!

What kind of stratospheric standard is the school looking for?

At least the system should be UPFRONT if it is testing 'O' level stuff at PSLE just because there are kids who keep on pushing ahead and can do more and more and more... and the bell curve keeps moving ahead.

[Pen88n]

I personally do not think the system is testing "O" Level stuff at PSLE, I think it is the enrichment centres and parents who are stuffing the kids with beyond P6 materials in the hope that they have an edge over other kids in PSLE.


The Rosyth kid (Sheldon, I think) is more an exception than a norm. He is very very bright, gifted and motivated to want to do more. Not every kid is like that, and I’m sure some kids are being pushed by their parents. There is no end to this, where to draw the line on when to stop pushing the kid? What achievement do you expect the kid to reach before parents are satisfied? There is always a higher mountain out there - what do parents want to compare with?

As a parent, I just want my kid to reach his potential and be happy. It’s ok to be normal, in fact, it is a blessing to have just a simple normal life. Being the exception may not be that great esp. when all pressure is on you.

[verykiasu2010]

Pen88n:

I personally do not think the system is testing \"O\" Level stuff at PSLE, I think it is the enrichment centres and parents who are stuffing the kids with beyond P6 materials in the hope that they have an edge over other kids in PSLE.


The Rosyth kid (Sheldon, I think) is more an exception than a norm. He is very very bright, gifted and motivated to want to do more. Not every kid is like that, and I'm sure some kids are being pushed by their parents. There is no end to this, where to draw the line on when to stop pushing the kid? What achievement do you expect the kid to reach before parents are satisfied? There is always a higher mountain out there - what do parents want to compare with?

As a parent, I just want my kid to reach his potential and be happy. It's ok to be normal, in fact, it is a blessing to have just a simple normal life. Being the exception may not be that great esp. when all pressure is on you.

Don't think many parents are pushing their kids beyond their level without the kids having ability to go way beyond. if it is a recognised talent or giftedness, naturally the parents will let them go beyond

for PSLE, it should be quite common that parents are pushing their kids to excel at the present level even if the kids are already doing well academically in the school. they just want to be very sure that come what may, the kids will still be ranked ahead of others

[Chenonceau]

Pen88n:

I personally do not think the system is testing \"O\" Level stuff at PSLE...

This is cold comfort but you are so kind to offer this comfort. I am still scared...

[alng]

Lock:

I hope parents can be true to yourself and be fair to your kids. Give them a childhood and REAL education, not a piece of certificate or entry to top schs.

I totally agree but it takes a lot of encourage for parents not to follow the norm. I am a strong believer that kids need time to DO NOTHING but \"rot\". My dd is doing PSLE next year. My plans for this year end holidays is just to work on some of her weaknesses in English and Maths. Even the usual English tuition will be stopped. No extra tuition or enrichment classes. I promise her not more than 3 hours of work on a daily basis. And we will not start work till last week of Nov. We are also going away for 8 days in Dec. She has plenty of time to do nothing or whatever she wants.

We have also learnt that the less stress we give her, the better she performs. Her lowest grade for P5 SA2 is 90 and we are really surprised with her grades. We told her we expect a 80% only since P5 is quite different from P4. From P1 to P5, she has maintained an average of more than 90%. We are blessed as parents. So our strategies for PSLE year are to support her in her weaknesses and to reduce her stress. I am even prepared to intervene if the school gives her too much stress.

[Chenonceau]

alng:

Lock:

I hope parents can be true to yourself and be fair to your kids. Give them a childhood and REAL education, not a piece of certificate or entry to top schs.

I totally agree but it takes a lot of encourage for parents not to follow the norm. I am a strong believer that kids need time to DO NOTHING but \"rot\". My dd is doing PSLE next year. My plans for this year end holidays is just to work on some of her weaknesses in English and Maths. Even the usual English tuition will be stopped. No extra tuition or enrichment classes. I promise her not more than 3 hours of work on a daily basis. And we will not start work till last week of Nov. We are also going away for 8 days in Dec. She has plenty of time to do nothing or whatever she wants.

We have also learnt that the less stress we give her, the better she performs. Her lowest grade for P5 SA2 is 90 and we are really surprised with her grades. We told her we expect a 80% only since P5 is quite different from P4. From P1 to P5, she has maintained an average of more than 90%. We are blessed as parents. So our strategies for PSLE year are to support her in her weaknesses and to reduce her stress. I am even prepared to intervene if the school gives her too much stress.

Rot? :goodpost:

[alng]

There is a difference between learning and studying for exam. As parents, when we push our kids to do more so that they excel in exam, our actions are saying that studying for exam is very important. Do parents know what kind of damages have been done to the kids? The kids do not value learning. They only study for whatever that will come out in the exams. By studying, they only keep whatever they study in their temporary memory. They do not learn at all. All these "traits" are very obvious in the current undergraduates.

[alng]

Chenonceau:

Rot? :goodpost:

Currently, the common belief is that we need to occupy our kids with lots of activities so as to keep their minds active. The kids must not waste time doing other \"useless\" stuff. So by allowing my girl to DO NOTHING, this is amounting to weakening her brain cells...thus ROTTING. Haha!

[Chenonceau]

alng:

There is a difference between learning and studying for exam. As parents, when we push our kids to do more so that they excel in exam, our actions are saying that studying for exam is very important. Do parents know what kind of damages have been done to the kids? The kids do not value learning. They only study for whatever that will come out in the exams. By studying, they only keep whatever they study in their temporary memory. They do not learn at all. All these \"traits\" are very obvious in the current undergraduates.

This exactly right. My son is bored with the PSLE. There is only so much drilling we can do. So, we're gonna do plenty other things from now till June because I dun wanna burn him out with drilling. We'll be constructing a shares portfolio... he is teaching himself to draw medieval knights and dragons... He needs to do well at PSLE. To do well, I need to keep his brain awake. This means I need to keep it WANTING to LEARN.

I am now letting his brain CHOOSE its passion because come June 2012, it's back to drilling.