Overseas Kids are better?

[SAHM_TAN]

Maybe we have become a civil servant country and change is difficult for such a big organisation.


My eldest will be in the MOE education soon, I’m still finding my way.

[2ppaamm]

Tell you another story. I have a friend whose son was selected by an Australian English teacher to say the pledge in school. He is only in P2. The family was so happy and the little boy practiced hard for that special day.

Then, the form teacher and principal found out about it and changed the pledge sayer, because my friend’s son was not the top student. My friend went to school to reason with the principal and form teacher, that this really hurts the boy, and why should only the top boy be eligible to say the pledge? She also asked that the school consider letting her son go on with this, and then implement their policy in future. Of course she didn’t manage to get her point across. What do parents understand, notwithstanding she has a post grad degree in psychology.
My friend then met with this Australian teacher at a later time and asked about the situation. The teacher just said she couldn’t do much, and she was so happy to leave the job as a teacher. She said, "I’m leaving so that I can live." Found it so funny. Good teachers leave, leaving those who are happy with status quo to stay. I pondered and concluded where all great teachers end up - better money as tutors. Intelligent individual choice. Poor kids.

[SAHM_TAN]

insider:

emmm...this forum maybe one of the worst places for you to find your way coz you are likely to 'learn' the wrong things! Hahaha....

Your eldest seems to be in good hands. When I am in mood, will meet you at Hong Wen thread to share with you more. I owe Hong Wen a great tribute for giving my two elder kids wonderful and unforgettable primary school lives for solid six years (despite also having 'bad' teachers around)...

:rotflmao:

I think this forum helps to let me work out my anxiety and then I try to be the parent I want to be, does it make sense?

I have good gut feel about the school. My DH likes the P.

I just need to tame my inner demon

[daisyt]

Its not that our kids are not better but our education system suppress their thinking and views. Our kids are quite smart though… They know what can be said and what cannot during discussion in class in order not to be marked. What types of model answers the teachers want to hear. Even you want to raise your view on issue you disagree, must do it the right way and not the left way. I love to listen to her telling me about their lesson on Singapore Studies and the type of so called model answers and how the classmates behave in this lesson. Must salute these 15 year old kids!

[verykiasu2010]

so now I am thinking whether to send the kids out from singapore after their sec 4 and sec 2 respectively …

[SAHM_TAN]

verykiasu2010:

so now I am thinking whether to send the kids out from singapore after their sec 4 and sec 2 respectively ....

seriously?

[verykiasu2010]

SAHM_TAN:

verykiasu2010:

so now I am thinking whether to send the kids out from singapore after their sec 4 and sec 2 respectively ....

seriously?

seriously!!
in order not to be \"boxed up\" in their thinking by the system

[SAHM_TAN]

verykiasu2010:

seriously!!

in order not to be \"boxed up\" in their thinking by the system

But....but....if remembered correctly from your other posts, your kids are in very very very good school, there also kena boxed?

[2ppaamm]

verykiasu2010:

SAHM_TAN:

[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]so now I am thinking whether to send the kids out from singapore after their sec 4 and sec 2 respectively ....

seriously?

seriously!!
in order not to be \"boxed up\" in their thinking by the system[/quote]Really depends on your family support structure. Don't just send the kids out and then expect miracles to happen. You are a great parent, so don't stop being one. I've also seen some parents who sent their kids overseas and left them there with relatives thinking everything will be ok. Well, most times everything can be ok, sometimes not. So I won't take chances.

In most countries, the problem with them, in my opinion is soft parenting. I am never a fan of any education system, so I believe parents play the biggest role. If the kid goes overseas and you follow along, I think it is important not to follow their soft parenting style. It is not difficult for our kids to excel in almost any country, as long as we continue to be vigilant parents and encourage our kids to work hard to achieve their dreams.

However, going overseas gives the children a chance to learn independence, even if the parents go along. Outside Singapore, children are allowed to make errors so they learn more, especially in the important life skills department. Certainly and ironically, they think more, and are more confident to speak up. I hope our Singaporean children absorb more of such a culture without losing our own specialty in studying hard. When they come back, they will really shine if we parents do our jobs well. :celebrate:

[2ppaamm]

daisyt:

Its not that our kids are not better but our education system suppress their thinking and views. Our kids are quite smart though... They know what can be said and what cannot during discussion in class in order not to be marked. What types of model answers the teachers want to hear. Even you want to raise your view on issue you disagree, must do it the right way and not the left way. I love to listen to her telling me about their lesson on Singapore Studies and the type of so called model answers and how the classmates behave in this lesson. Must salute these 15 year old kids!

I think Singapore has more than smart kids. We have the best parents in the world. That is a problem itself, leaving educators to always fall back on parents and kids, and they do not take responsibility in teaching sometimes. If the kid does not do his homework, call the parent, if his work is poor, call the parent, if he misbehaves, call the parent. Teachers seem 'impotent' these days.

Teachers, because of their KPI system, are becoming less and less influential in academic areas, afraid to make mistakes. Even if they think the child's answers are right sometimes, they hesitate to stick their heads out and mark the child correct, because the model answer is right. Of course lah, who wants to take responsibility for being different, just follow the model answer is always safe and someone else's problem.

This kind of culture than got passed on to our children. Everyone becomes kiasi and then it becomes second nature. After some time, they cannot and don't know how to unlock that creativity and thought process anymore. Takes a lot of time at tertiary to unlock that. Compared to overseas student who do not have this burden. This afraid-to-be-wrong culture was not as real in other countries, and hence they can explore a lot more.

So yes, we have students who perhaps are born smarter, but our system certainly do not allow the unlocking of this potential. Our students are not very prepared for tertiary, and certainly very ill prepared for post grad, unless that culture within them change.