2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[Holychild72]

My child scored a percentage of 82.5 overall for p5, he does not represent sch for any cca. What’s his chances of applying for DSA. Trying for ACSI… any advice

[psle2011mum]

Hi I am "new" here. I have finally finished 2 psle journeys [2009 and 2011] and have benefitted greatly from being a previously silent reader of this forum. I am back now to share what I learnt.


I took my DD out of all the school’s supp classes [ wrote polite letters declining participation] and took charge [ and therefore full responsibility] of DD’s revision. I think the critical issue is to find out if your child is benefitting from the Supp classes and if not [ as was in our case], just say thank you but no thank you and do something that does benefit your child.

I can’t comment too much about hiring a tutor since I was the tutor and DD only had one weekly 3 hour session for Chinese at an enrichment centre, but I think the analysis is the same - what works best for your particular child.

All the best in your PSLE journey.

[Leanne]

Hi Apricot,


:goodpost:

Maybe u can also share with us the next phase, as in secondary school, how to encourage and plan ahead?Thaks,

Cheers,
Leanne

Apricot:

Dear All,

I am a parent with a child that has just completed PSLE 2011. My dd scored above 260 and is from mainstream, so has to work hard like most students. She has tuition only for Chinese. Would like to share some tips which I hope may help your child achieve better results. I am no guru and what I share is mostly from my own experience/ insights. Hope the following will be useful :

1) MOTIVATE YOUR CHILD

- Let your child know the reasons why she would want to study hard .... namely good results give her CHOICES in life. N
ot just choosing the secondary schools but in the long-term, a career path that she likes.
- Discuss with your child which secondary school she likes, the pros & cons. Bring her to some good schools (esp open house) to entice and motivate her towards that goal.
- Talk to her about the reality of life and cost of living. Haha! This method used by my brother, a tutor, never fails to `frighten' his students to work harder. Basically, my brother would discuss with his students the cost of living when they start working in the future and the estimated salaries of jobs. The itemised figures would include cost of transport, food & groceries, handphone, insurance, utilities, etc, excluding luxury items like car, branded goods, visiting restuarants/pubs. The total bill usually give the students a shock. They realised that if they don't study hard now, they may not be able to afford the lifestyle they want in the future.

3) ATTITUDE & DISCIPLINE

- In life, there is no such thing as wanting something but not willing to work at it (bu lao er huo). Your child need to know that there is a price to pay to achieve good results. It involves hard work and discipline. So when they start complaining, remind them of this and encourage them to focus on the worthwhile end result.

3) PLAN A SCHEDULE/TIMETABLE TOGETHER

- Let the child have input in the schedule. In doing so, the child is more likely to commit to the schedule since she has agreed to it.
- The schedule should include timeline to finish certain tasks. In general, it is good to revise P3 to P5 work during december holidays because once the school re-opens, it will be a mad rush. Also, target to finish all P6 work before June holidays if possible (usually means that the child need to study ahead). She can then use the June holidays to do various school prelim papers. As for September holidays, revise all work P3 to P6, review mistakes in assessment papers. Repetition will help re-inforce their memory.
- Praise and reward your child if she sticks to the schedule. I usually leave a portion of time free of any activity during the weekend. That slot is either for my dd to complete what was not done during weekdays or free time for her if nothing is required.

4) DO THE TOP SCHOOLS PRELIM PAPERS

- This is essential as it helps your child practise for PSLE. TOP schools papers have been set by experienced teachers who knows the PSLE format well and may be able to anticipate questions (that is probably why their students do well). With practice, your child will be better prepared. Do circle the questions that she has got them wrong and review before PSLE so that similar mistakes will not be made. If possible, do at least past 2 years prelim papers. You may also want to try their latest prelim papers (usually printed around Sep holidays) if you have the time.

5) SUPPORT AND CONCERN FOR YOUR CHILD

- PSLE is a stressful period for the child. Do support and show concern for your child. Make sure that she eats and rest well. Encourage her more and scold her less especially if she is trying her best.

That's all folks ! Good luck ! Hope your child will do well !

Jia You ! :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

[pixiedust]

Thanks apricot and psle2011mum for dropping into this thread with valuable sharing !

I am one of the 2012 PSLE moms Hope to continue to see you both around here ! :rahrah:

psle2011mum, you were very 'brave' re: your decision about supplementary lessons ! DS's supplementary lessons this year P5 were not very useful for him too but I was too chicken to pull him out. Fortunately, P5 is behind us now. I will assess the situation when school re-opens and step-in if necessary. My situation is similar to yours except mine is a ds and my first PSLE experience. Sometimes, I really feel out-of-steam juggling so many subjects.....

[alng]

psle2011mum:

Hi I am \"new\" here. I have finally finished 2 psle journeys [2009 and 2011] and have benefitted greatly from being a previously silent reader of this forum. I am back now to share what I learnt.


I took my DD out of all the school's supp classes [ wrote polite letters declining participation] and took charge [ and therefore full responsibility] of DD's revision. I think the critical issue is to find out if your child is benefitting from the Supp classes and if not [ as was in our case], just say thank you but no thank you and do something that does benefit your child.

I can't comment too much about hiring a tutor since I was the tutor and DD only had one weekly 3 hour session for Chinese at an enrichment centre, but I think the analysis is the same - what works best for your particular child.

All the best in your PSLE journey.

Hi, my dd is going P6 next year and the school have compulsory supplementary classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting from term 1. I am considering to take my dd out from the sup classes. I have checked with the teachers and they have confirmed that curriculum are taught during these sup classes. These sup classes are not used for extra drilling or practice but currciulum teaching so that the school could complete the curriculum on time.

Did your child's sup classes cover curriculum teaching as well? If it did, then you would have to teach your child whatever she has missed from the sup classes. I am trying to figure out how I could do that. My dd has tuition for English only. And my hubby and I provide the support for the other 3 subjects.

Thanks!

[Holychild72]

Engage a current school teacher who is teaching P6 maths n science.that will helped. My daughter failed her maths this year SA1, P3. I engaged a Sch maths sir n my daughter scored 60. A big improvement for her. It might make a difference for u too

[JimL]

Apricot:

Dear All,


I am a parent with a child that has just completed PSLE 2011. My dd scored above 260 and is from mainstream, so has to work hard like most students. She has tuition only for Chinese. Would like to share some tips which I hope may help your child achieve better results. I am no guru and what I share is mostly from my own experience/ insights. Hope the following will be useful :

1) MOTIVATE YOUR CHILD

- Let your child know the reasons why she would want to study hard .... namely good results give her CHOICES in life. Not just choosing the secondary schools but in the long-term, a career path that she likes.
- Discuss with your child which secondary school she likes, the pros & cons. Bring her to some good schools (esp open house) to entice and motivate her towards that goal.
- Talk to her about the reality of life and cost of living. Haha! This method used by my brother, a tutor, never fails to `frighten' his students to work harder. Basically, my brother would discuss with his students the cost of living when they start working in the future and the estimated salaries of jobs. The itemised figures would include cost of transport, food & groceries, handphone, insurance, utilities, etc, excluding luxury items like car, branded goods, visiting restuarants/pubs. The total bill usually give the students a shock. They realised that if they don't study hard now, they may not be able to afford the lifestyle they want in the future.

3) ATTITUDE & DISCIPLINE

- In life, there is no such thing as wanting something but not willing to work at it (bu lao er huo). Your child need to know that there is a price to pay to achieve good results. It involves hard work and discipline. So when they start complaining, remind them of this and encourage them to focus on the worthwhile end result.

3) PLAN A SCHEDULE/TIMETABLE TOGETHER

- Let the child have input in the schedule. In doing so, the child is more likely to commit to the schedule since she has agreed to it.
- The schedule should include timeline to finish certain tasks. In general, it is good to revise P3 to P5 work during december holidays because once the school re-opens, it will be a mad rush. Also, target to finish all P6 work before June holidays if possible (usually means that the child need to study ahead). She can then use the June holidays to do various school prelim papers. As for September holidays, revise all work P3 to P6, review mistakes in assessment papers. Repetition will help re-inforce their memory.
- Praise and reward your child if she sticks to the schedule. I usually leave a portion of time free of any activity during the weekend. That slot is either for my dd to complete what was not done during weekdays or free time for her if nothing is required.

4) DO THE TOP SCHOOLS PRELIM PAPERS

- This is essential as it helps your child practise for PSLE. TOP schools papers have been set by experienced teachers who knows the PSLE format well and may be able to anticipate questions (that is probably why their students do well). With practice, your child will be better prepared. Do circle the questions that she has got them wrong and review before PSLE so that similar mistakes will not be made. If possible, do at least past 2 years prelim papers. You may also want to try their latest prelim papers (usually printed around Sep holidays) if you have the time.

5) SUPPORT AND CONCERN FOR YOUR CHILD

- PSLE is a stressful period for the child. Do support and show concern for your child. Make sure that she eats and rest well. Encourage her more and scold her less especially if she is trying her best.

That's all folks ! Good luck ! Hope your child will do well !

Jia You ! :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

Thanks for your valuable and detailed sharing. Must learn from you parents here how to motivate or even push my kids to study hard. Really not easy for these kids to study and excel in Singapore schools.

[janet88]

Hi insider,

Thanks for your advice...I dare not say my strategy is right...but then again the very same strategy may not work on my younger one. She has a mind of her own and has a short attention span.

We do few pages of Grammar/Vocab MCQ on certain days, comprehension MCQ and polishing her CL...have to put lots of stickers with stars, stamps with 'Good', 'Excellent', 'Good Job' to motivate her.

[For example, you want your child to practice maths. So, you set three maths paper. One to do in the morning, one in noon, one in the evening. You can tell your child, if you score 75 (85 or 95 depending on your ‘target’), then the other two hours will be ‘free’ (note: must be really FREE one hor instead of trying to slot in another Chinese paper). This usually can make your child ultra concentrate on his first paper to rid himself from the chore of doing the next two. You can try to see whether it works for your child. Children want to see ‘an end’ to their boring work and so this ‘carrot’ of gaining another two hours of work free time is highly attractive to them and usually they will work for it. You may get to see ‘quality’ work without the ‘quantity’ coz most kids are smart!]

I will try out your method. Thanks.

[janet88]

pixiedust:

Thanks apricot and psle2011mum for dropping into this thread with valuable sharing !

I am one of the 2012 PSLE moms Hope to continue to see you both around here ! :rahrah:

psle2011mum, you were very 'brave' re: your decision about supplementary lessons ! DS's supplementary lessons this year P5 were not very useful for him too but I was too chicken to pull him out. Fortunately, P5 is behind us now. I will assess the situation when school re-opens and step-in if necessary. My situation is similar to yours except mine is a ds and my first PSLE experience. Sometimes, I really feel out-of-steam juggling so many subjects.....

My son didn't find P5 suppl lessons useful either...but couldn't pull him out because I was chicken to do so. Now is to look forward to assess situation for P6.
Understand there will be twice weekly suppl too. Most prob I will step in to pull him out for suppl lessons on Thur as he will have Math tuition and I want him to have ample rest after school.
It's going to be a crazy time next year and I cannot neglect my younger one going to P2.

[fifiyeo]

psle2011mum:

Hi I am \"new\" here. I have finally finished 2 psle journeys [2009 and 2011] and have benefitted greatly from being a previously silent reader of this forum. I am back now to share what I learnt.


I took my DD out of all the school's supp classes [ wrote polite letters declining participation] and took charge [ and therefore full responsibility] of DD's revision. I think the critical issue is to find out if your child is benefitting from the Supp classes and if not [ as was in our case], just say thank you but no thank you and do something that does benefit your child.

I can't comment too much about hiring a tutor since I was the tutor and DD only had one weekly 3 hour session for Chinese at an enrichment centre, but I think the analysis is the same - what works best for your particular child.

All the best in your PSLE journey.

Thanks. Nice to know that I'm not insane thinking of stopping supp classes.

DS has a CL tutor since P2 and just started Math at an enrichment centre. Other than that, I'm the tutor. Teacher won't even give me a very clear answer as to what is being taught just that supp classes are VERY important! :rant: