2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy
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Sometimes you have to show carrot to win your kids. I try to give more play time and bring him out to eat his favourite foods or for a movie. :moneyflies:
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mn:
Sometimes you have to show carrot to win your kids. I try to give more play time and bring him out to eat his favourite foods or for a movie. :moneyflies:
I have to dangle more carrots like play time, yummy food/ice cream, some shopping to give me quality work for Dec. Come Jan, it's not really possible.
For MCQs, he is able to focus and be more careful but not the case for OE. Although I also have Science P3/4 OE assessment, I have no intention to start it. Prob is past year exam papers may not have reliable answers sometimes :frustrated: -
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.
I, too, never thought of pulling my dd out from suppl class when my dd was in P6. The school was covering syllabus that were not taught in class due to time constraint during school hours. In fact, sometimes, the teachers gave additional useful notes that were outside the syllabus (came out during exams). My dd came back quite exhausted at times, but I felt that this is part and parcel of the stressful education system in Singapore and so she has to learn to cope. It will probably be worst when she goes to secondary school as the subjects will double.
As a parent, I helped her to cope by ensuring that she managed well whatever free time she has by helping her to set her priorities right. Realistically, it is difficult to do much during the school weekdays. So weekends and holidays are quite fully utilised. At the same time, I try to support her physically and emotionally so that the stress do not get to her.
For those who are thinking of pulling your kid out of suppl classes, perhaps you would like to ask yourself the following questions :
1) Is it really that the suppl lessons in your kid's school are not useful and hence unnecessary ?
2) Can you or the tutor do a better job in teaching your kid than the teachers ?
3) How does your kid feels ? Does she feel that she is losing out by not attending the class or uncomfortable with such arrangement ?
At the end of the day, what I felt was most beneficial for my dd was ensuring that she did the TOP schools and other topical assessment papers esp for Maths and Science. For these subjects, mere studying the textbooks cannot help the kid to score well but it's knowing how to apply thru answering questions in assessment papers that will help the kid tremendously. After doing many papers, the child will be able decipher and give `standard answers' even when questions are phrased differently. I realised the `standard answers' pattern after marking many of her papers. -
Read a fair bit on supp Class from Parents in the Last 2 pages ....
Let me view it from the other End ....
With 4 Subjects, 2x a Week Supp Class = 1 Supp Class every Fortnite for each subj.
To me, that is Not really too much time spent ....
Maybe coz My Gal does not have tuition, So don't really find 1.5hr after sch is a lot of time spent. (In fact she spent far more time on her CCA per Week!)
To me, I've just treat these sessions as tuition for my Gal.
There R some Reinforcement conducted during supp class esp on Lang that may be useful. In Oral esp'ly.
The T get to have more time to focus on each kid for Practice, towards the last month or so of supp class B4 PSLE Oral. Prior to that, Guess the T have to spend time finishing the P6 sch works, both during sch time and thru supp class.
Maybe diff sch got diff style, diff effectiveness in conducting supp class. But for a Relatively Hands-Off, L-F Mummy like me, I've No Strong Objection to Supp Class.
And Errrrrrrr .... Btw ....
I have Officially Ended My Final Tour of Duty for PSLE this yr
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psle2011mum:
I did the same as you did this year. My son doesn't like to be the odd one out either but when asked to evaluate intensity and effectiveness of learning, he said that he learnt more at home with me and faster... and he then appreciated that he could play more.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.
I chose to pull him outta supp classes because I don't wanna make him work on weekends at all. He does no work on Sundays but still made it to top 5% of his cohort this year, receiving a $400 award from MOE. I can't bear to see my son not play at all... -
psle2011mum:
Hi psle2011mom, I really salute you! Being a full time working mom, you are so hands-on with your dd.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.
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oliveminx:
Thanks so much, oliveminx. Any recommendations of good guide books? Thanks!
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. -
Chenonceau:
Frankly, I have never really thought about taking my kids out of suppl classes.....perhaps partly cos' when the kids are at home, they tend to want to laze around but in school, it seems that they do pay attention to the Teachers.
I did the same as you did this year. My son doesn't like to be the odd one out either but when asked to evaluate intensity and effectiveness of learning, he said that he learnt more at home with me and faster... and he then appreciated that he could play more.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.
I chose to pull him outta supp classes because I don't wanna make him work on weekends at all. He does no work on Sundays but still made it to top 5% of his cohort this year, receiving a $400 award from MOE. I can't bear to see my son not play at all...
Weighing the situation, I think T still can coach better ..... unless my kids come telling me they are bored....it's status quo.
The other concern is....I dun wanna set the mindset that they can DUN attend lessons. My kids hah, let them skip once they'll little little thing ask again...so better not even start it.
PS : DS school had a boy who was top almost every year....2 years ago, when that boy was in P6, his mom took him out of the supp class against the T's protest. Apparently, the boy hired external tutors. Unfortunately for that boy, he dropped to 24x ..... so sometimes, i also worried, so unless I can hired really good tutors or be one myself, I'll rather fall back on T.....
Chenonceau, DS also receive his long-awaited MOE reward of $400 too In fact, since P1-P4, both kids receive MOE letters every year but dun qualify. Finally DS got his & even DD's new school has this alumni fund and they actually give a token of $100/$150 to the top 5 I think.
How does your son plan to spend it? Mine is aiming for a football PC game (so ex, >$50) .... but since he worked hard to earn it, guess I can't say no. -
janet_lee88:
Hi Janet, will your DS be having the same FT teacher when he goes P6? I guess not right? If so, may be you can talk to his new teacher & find out what they r teaching in their suppl classes & how they r going to revise for PSLE. If you don't feel comfortable then check if teacher is ok if your DS skip suppl classes.Flowermonaster:
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.
Asked son's FT regarding pull-out of suppl class next year and she said some teachers are offended if the kids do not attend the suppl class. Really don't see the reason because parents are the ones who will bear the responsibility.
I've been pushing him quite a bit every day for 2 hours...plan to slow down when school reopens because I don't want to burn him out. It's quite scary to pull him out, but if the school can inform us parents what/how the teachers will be revising for PSLE, I might change my mind. -
BeContented:
Kekekekeke!! My DS said he's gonna put in the bank. He's saving to buy a property so he can reach financial independence early in life. He wanna buy a farm in Tasmania and live there.
Chenonceau, DS also receive his long-awaited MOE reward of $400 too In fact, since P1-P4, both kids receive MOE letters every year but dun qualify. Finally DS got his & even DD's new school has this alumni fund and they actually give a token of $100/$150 to the top 5 I think.
How does your son plan to spend it? Mine is aiming for a football PC game (so ex, >$50) .... but since he worked hard to earn it, guess I can't say no.
We didn't expect the award though. We didn't know there was such an award till the letter came and we googled for what it was.
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