2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[janet88]

Hi Mummies,

So I'm not the only one who's going to step in next year :evil: where suppl classes are concerned...this whole year I've been asking my son every single week what teacher did during suppl lesson and he told me, 'teaching like what she did in the morning'. Anyway if that's the case, I would rather he come home at 130pm, bath/lunch/revise with him instead. I don't think his teacher is able to do much for entire class of 40 during suppl class.

In doing so, I will take responsibility. Other than Math twice weekly, he will be having tuition for Eng and Chinese. Science I coach myself.

[dovetail]

I watch a documentary in discovery channel sometime back. It featured a girl who was borned blind, deaf and mute. She had very loving parents who do all they can to help her use the rest of her working senses to get in touch with the world.


At one point in the show, she was spending some time with the horse. Touching, feeling, smelling. She took quite a while. After that they brought the horse back to the stable and she suddenly pushed her parents away. She just sat by herself, in deep thoughts, probably reflecting on her experience.

The doctor/scientist who was working with her mentioned that that is how the human mind learns, it needs time to reflect and think about the input that has gone into the mind.

Reflection is a very important process in learning. It is not that children/youth can’t do it. It is because they have been bogged down with far too much work, all in the name of COMPETITION. As parents, we have to protect our kids from this frenzy. The best guiding principlel is to ensure
they get enough rest and time for solitude.

[oliveminx]

alng:

Hi all,


Just want to find out how do your children revise science? Do you just go through the school notes and science textbooks or do you get your children to read the many-pages-per-topic science guide as well? I used to get my dd to read the science guides but have stopped doing that in P5. I stopped doing it becos I realise that the testing of knowledge forms a very small percentage of the science exam and the main objectives to test on other skills such as classifying, comparing, inferring, etc. So I get her to do more worksheets and we focus on her answering techniques instead. Just wondering is this the right method. Dd is happier cos she is not motivated to read the science guide. Thanks very much!

Guidebooks are for understanding key concepts and the better ones highlight misconceptions and common questions. Only with a firm grasp of the concepts can you apply it to higher order questions like comparing and inference. Maybe your guidebooks provide information that are not tested in exam because they go beyond the syllabus. You just have to familiarise yourself with which sections are in the syllabuses or get a guidebook that doesn't provide so much extraneous information.

[Flowermonaster]

I have never think of taking my DS out from the suppl classes as the teachers really do cover topics that suppose to cover during curriculum but lack time. Agreed that the 1.5hrs might not be fully useful as the teacher might spent some time getting the class in order (depending how rowdy the kids were that day) so left not much time for going through the lesson. Overall, I still think it's still good for my DS to go as he wont miss anything taught during suppl class no manner how minor it is.

I have bought quite a number of assessment books during the Popular book fair & get DS to revise P3 to P5 now so that next year he won't be so stressed with PSLE. Am expecting lots of revision from school so not going to double stress him, we have decided not to send him for tuition except swimming lesson & MOS trainng. Yes, We know we r going against the flow of many parents. Sometimes, I do ask myself if I am doing the right thing since next year is really an important year for him.

[Sun_2010]

:goodpost: dovetail

[Sun_2010]

Time with nothing to do is very important , especially for children

( also means no electronic devices )

This is one poem that I loved as a child - It defended my right to Day Dream . And I still remember it.

Leisure
By William Henry Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beautys glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare


And HPB also tells us that staring at thing far away is good for the eyes too :evil:

This is the period for PSLE next year kids to not just revise but to more importantly recharge .
So do let them take time to stand and stare.

[niza6666.028774hotmail.028774com]

janet_lee88:

mn:

Finally DS completed P3 & P4 Science topics. Moving on to P5. Hopefully we can complete!

Wow, done already ? We are in the midst of both...alternating between lower and upper block.

Hi mn,
For P3/4 MCQs, my son is able to score full marks (95%)...however, can't say the same for P5 topics. Our target is ZERO mistakes for MCQ. Got him to do Cycles OE just now (P5) and result was rather disappointing...so have to highlight and underline the keyword while marking.

Yes Janet,
My son does well for P3/4 MCQs but when it comes to P5 he is struggling. Thanks for the tip. Now have to pump a lot for P5 and pre-read P6 topics. Sigh... sometimes ds complains a lot of work but what to do. So I must work on motivational tactics too! :frustrated: So many things to look into!

[niza6666.028774hotmail.028774com]

fifiyeo:

Was wondering how you parents out there feel about supplementary classes?


My DS had supplementary classes this year starting from middle of term 2. Since then, he was always so tired and there was just time only to do school homework (he goes to bed at 9.30pm). In fact, this year is the first year we hardly did any out of school revision after CA1. I'm amazed how we even survived it though they were very poor results.

Was thinking of NOT allowing him to do any more of those supplementary classes next year since I can't see any benefits. Perhaps hiring a tuitor might be a better option than staying in school. ???

Hi fifiyeo,

Yes, my ds was always tired after the long day with supplementary classes. For him the Teacher cover school's curriculum and not doing anything extraordinary. Good idea if you hire a tutor to coach him.

[mother777]

Chenonceau:

On our end we're doing a 2 Week Chinese Boot Camp. DS has to process 4 China Compos everyday + 2 Compre Passages + 1 Chapter Ting Xie. Hopefully, this'll give him a booster shot in Chinese for next year. :xedfingers:


He's usually done by 3-4pm, and then he likes to read short stories on the internet because he wanna try writing a short story. I rented Kung Fu Panda today but he refused to watch!! I had to MAKE him because I didn't wanna waste $5/=.

Hi Chenonceau,

pls advise what you mean by \"China Compos\" and where to get them?
sorry i am clueless

cheers

[psle2011mum]

Hi Everyone


I have to say that pulling my DD out of the Supp classes did have the effect of the teachers/HOD sending me long emails about how important the Supp classes were and also an offhand remark made in class to the students about how Supp classes will help them in the PSLE so they should attend.

I think the main reason these didn’t bother me was mostly because I was very hands-on and also somewhat more "courageous" having been through a 2009 PSLE; so I really knew what they did [ and didn’t do] at the Supp classes.

I do know of some children who don’t like missing out on the Supp classes because it makes them different from the rest of the class [ DD was the only one of two students who didn’t attend and the other child had a legitimate excuse ] so this route is not for everyone.

I wasn’t too concerned about "missing syllabus" because I taught DD almost everything before the school did [ so that she had no excuses not to do the full papers for practice at home] and also went through all the work my DD did before it was handed in and after the corrections came back, so I guess Supp classes really would not have been useful for us.

I’m supposed to be at work now [ I work full time] so I’m afraid I can’t share more in this post but will look for time this weekend to share more.