Using Secondary School material to prepare my PSLE kid

[Chenonceau]

Lock:

Chenonceau:

For the story graded A1 above, I think the my son's teacher would say that crows can't write... therefore, unrealistic.

:rotflmao: Your DS will do well in sec sch. You see, trs in sec sch specialise in the subjects they teach, unlike in Pri Sch.

Trust me. I was as frustrated as you when it comes to Pri sch writing. My take is this: It really depends on the teacher marking your kids' compo. If a maths tr teaching EL is marking the compo, naturally creativity will not score high on his/her platter. The 'model' essays with 'azure blue sky', 'memories etched firmly in my mind' are the ones that will score. Perspectives from an animal or inanimate objects will be considered 'unrealistic' and hence, marked down. However, if the EL teacher is EL trained, then the 'model' essays will cease to be 'model'. In fact, there's no model, originality and creativity will score high.

So Chenonceau, you did the right thing by not confining your kid's writing to PSLE requirement. PSLE writing kills real writers! Get your ds to write beyond but help him to know the 'type' to write for PSLE that will help scores. we are afterall very practical parents

PS: No offence to Maths teachers. If I were to be marking maths papers, I will give marks for all the equal signs used as long as it means the same as and would not bother to go into the deeper meaning of what the sign really means. It's no fault of the teachers really, they have to rely heavily on rubrics as these are not their areas of expertise but they are still required to teach the subject. Unless, we can have all graduates teach in Pri sch, otherwise, things are going to continue to be the same.

Yes... I have a respect for real learning... Life is too short to just waste on exam prep. He has been so trusting and patient with me this year. It is time to reward him with REAL learning that may or may not translate into exam results.

We're gonna have some fun. :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

[PiggyLalala]

Yes. Term time = learning stuff that can be translate into good exam grade. Holidays time = real learning and real play. However, sometimes, I feel that my own life experience and exposure are quite limited and hence I do not know how to teach them real learning too.


So to my boys = holidays = time to play and read lots of books from the library. Time to rot at home.. doing nothing in particular.. resting their brain... or should I say wasting time. :shock:

[Chenonceau]

PiggyLalala:

Yes. Term time = learning stuff that can be translate into good exam grade. Holidays time = real learning and real play. However, sometimes, I feel that my own life experience and exposure are quite limited and hence I do not know how to teach them real learning too.


So to my boys = holidays = time to play and read lots of books from the library. Time to rot at home.. doing nothing in particular.. resting their brain... or should I say wasting time. :shock:

Rot is good. Some of the most delicious foods in the world were left to rot. The Swedes eat rotten fish. Cheese and yoghurt are rotten milk. There is rotten beancurd. Red wine is rotten grape juice. Beer is rotten barley or wheat. Sake is rotten rice.

And may there one day arise a PSLE top scorer who was a rotten student. :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

[Funz]

Shouldn’t composition in Primary and Secondary school be more of creative writing? And when it’s creative writing, so long as the story flows, the grammar is correct and the words applied are appropriate, why should the teacher bother if it is realistic? If all stories have to be grounded in reality, there goes Harry Porter, Gruffalo, Geronimo Stilton and a host of other beloved characters of our kids. Only thing worth reading will be the newspapers.


I remember when I was in Secondary school, I was given a bad grade on a compo by my teacher, who was a newbie in that school, citing content being out of point. How is it possible to be out of point when the compo was one of those that has a few generic sentences started and you are supposed to continue it. Not being satisfied, I did up another copy of that exact compo and showed it to my drama club teacher, who was HOD of English & Lit, on the pretext of getting her advise. She gave that piece of work an A1, citing strong creative content.

2 very different grades and feedback on that very same compo. I guess at the end of the day, it does depend on whether the story appeals to the marker. If you get a stick in the mud fella with no imagination, even the slightest bit of creativity will be deemed out of point.

[Chenonceau]

Funz:

Shouldn't composition in Primary and Secondary school be more of creative writing? And when it's creative writing, so long as the story flows, the grammar is correct and the words applied are appropriate, why should the teacher bother if it is realistic? If all stories have to be grounded in reality, there goes Harry Porter, Gruffalo, Geronimo Stilton and a host of other beloved characters of our kids. Only thing worth reading will be the newspapers.

...

If you get a stick in the mud fella with no imagination, even the slightest bit of creativity will be deemed out of point.

Might as well call it Realistic Writing instead of Creative Writing. :rotflmao:

[2ppaamm]

I am not bothered anymore by teachers and their way of marking compositions. I remember my oldest boy would bring home model essays from his classmates that were full of cliches. They teach and encourage cliches!? It shocked me.


Now what materials do I use for my kids. Anything that they want to do and progress along. I don’t really believe in learning ‘at your age’. So, when a child finishes and shows me he/she has mastered a material, I just move along. This last month, I worked on a book for adults’ English for my P2 son. That book is ‘First Aid in English’. Wonderful book. And I don’t really care if the schools are going to test these topics or not, or whether he is geared for exams or not. I wanted him to learn good grammar and great English that’s all.

Last month, I also worked on P4 Maths with my P2 boy, simply because he seems to be able to master the ideas well. Last year, he was already doing P5 work, but I was worried he did not understand the concepts, so I decided to start all over again. When I presented him with a P2 book, he was angry, and said he didn’t want to do. When I showed him a P3 book, he made me promise that if he finished all the questions, I should buy him a P4 book. Which I did. I homeschool my two primary school kids because we are overseas.

The P5 boy has finished O levels in almost all subjects so I have moved him to ‘A’ levels work. I don’t really care if he knows how to answer PSLE questions for next year’s PSLE, and I don’t really want to play the games with the teachers who mark using standard answer sheets that they themselves dare not challenge. Though he can write long 1000 word essays and score full marks at secondary level, I know he will not do well in PSLE essays because he cannot write the way the teachers want. I don’t even bother to gear him. Because it is more important to write really well then to write like a P6. I had thought about being practical and teach him to write what the teachers want. But I changed my mind because he was already so confused with school, and doing this only confuses him further. We don’t really need that. I decided we should just progress along and not back track for now.

I just educate my children according to their abilities and willingness to learn. Next year, I intend to put the P5 boy in a computer class that teaches digital media, which is a university credit class. This is a course he has been waiting to enrol in. Does it help his PSLE. Of course not. But we don’t care. We want to learn and not just study for an exam.