2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[Peony]

Zekezachzoom:

I think for p6, most teachers will use the suppl class to rush finish the syllabus so that they will have more time to do revision later. My DS mentioned that in the supple classes ( 3 times a week) in p5, teachers will cover some syllabus, so most likely it will be more so for p6.

Yup, in P5 supp class is 3x a week
In P6 it's 4 times a week.
More supp classes = more homework.

This is a typical schools' strategy to \"prepare students\" for PSLE.
If they analysed, they'd \"see\" that this is one reason why overall performance has been sliding.
But no one (in school) dares to go the other route (less supp, less homework) when trying to improve results.

[Zekezachzoom]

Sadly that is the current situation now. I am not aware of any schools that do not have supple classes for p6. My friend’s DD was in this well known school and the number of extra classes (ESP math) they had throughout the p6 was just amazing. However, the results speak for itself, the class did extremely well for the paper in psle. So I guess, supple classes do work well for others.

[Chenonceau]

beanbear:

\"Insanity is doing more of the same thing and expecting different results.\"

Precisely...

The variables have changed. Today's syllabus is skills heavy. Skills mastery cannot be had without practice and INDIVIDUALIZED FEEDBACK. Teaching methods thus also need to change. Class sizes still as large... so teaching methods are still the Old Style Large Group Teaching with all the inertia that this carries with it.

Recently, the newspapers plaster all over the headlines articles on Innovative Teaching Techniques. Firstly, I've never seen any innovative techniques used by Teachers on my son. Secondly, these are still large group techniques. Use of IT... sexy equipment etc... but the basic requirements for necessary skills practice is missing.

It's all wayang because the kids do 1 compo a month if lucky... no one gives them individualized feedback on how to tackle compre... they do hardly enough practice to get skillful. It's like learning to cook by READING and LISTENING alone. To learn to cook you must DO and RECEIVE FEEDBACK.

Recently, my DS's school got Teachers to organise a parent fair to showcase innovative teaching techniques. The teachers could have better spent the time marking compos and giving individualized feedback.

[niza6666.028774hotmail.028774com]

janet_lee88:

Daisy.p:

He loves to play computer and watch TV and I've told or more like scolded him to \"wake up\" umpteen times. :nunchuk: :nunchuk:

Hi Daisy,
There is really no need to apologize...I am facing the same headache as you too. My son loves to watch Youtube, all nuts about that animal kaiser thing and Wii. I've nagged, scolded and talked to him nicely that PSLE is ONLY 9 months away. So what, after 1 day automatic doing some work, he is back to square 1 the day after. I'm stressed out :frustrated: over his lack of worry and concern...already losing sleep every night worrying what to expect next year and he doesn't seem to bother at all :mad:
Math tutor was so angry last week because he was dreaming and forgot his P4 Math. I really feel like strangling him.

Hi Janet,

I think we are stressed out maybe because we're handling boys and they are like that. They will listen to you seriously and nod their head to whatever we tell them. This will work for 1 or 2 days then it will get dried out. Then we got to start with our nagging again :rant: . Another 9 more months and school is going to start next week. Have to go into a real serious business by setting strict rules. :rotflmao: Sometimes strict rules also don't work for them. Just keep fingers crossed. :xedfingers:

[Picolo]

Chenonceau:

janet_lee88:

My son attended the twice weekly suppl for the whole of this year.
After every suppl, I asked him what was taught and he gave me the same answer, 'Exactly like what goes on during school hours' :yikes: . This isn't supplementary right ? To me, 'supplementary' means that the teachers should be teaching stuff out of textbook and giving the students some worksheets. What's the point of teaching from the syllabus ? It's stupid.

Yeah lor... that's why I pulled him out. He went for about 2 weeks of supplementary classes. I asked him to list out on a piece of paper the things he learnt each day, and when I saw that in the same 2 hours, we could cover 5 times more at home, I pulled him out.

I teach him myself, so I know. Also, when we work at home, he learns so effectively there is no need to revise. He just doesn't forget. This way, he gets more time to play. I think play is more important than supplementary classes.

Sorry to intrude, my kiddos have not experienced P5 yet but from what I understand from a few parents who have 'been there, done that', the name 'supplementary classes' is just a term the school coined for extended school hours, it's definitely not meant to be supplementary but core lessons ... at least it's for P5 through maybe term 1 of P6 until all the topics within PSLE are covered... this is for my sons' school. That's why, what covered from 1.30 - 3.30 pm is a continuity to what was covered in the morning school hours. If the kids don't join in the extended school hours, it's like taking time-off/pm leave from the normal school lessons and the kids (even if they read well in advance) will not know any specific teachers' instructions and always have to rely on other classmates to find out about new homework given / what's covered/ announcement/etc. Of course, I can also imagine this can pose some inconvenience to the teachers involved if many kids in their class opt out.

I know different schools may operate differently, but if your child is in a school that do extended school hours like my kids', would you still keep your child at home and not attend the 'suppl lesson' ?

[Chenonceau]

Picolo:

...but if your child is in a school that do extended school hours like my kids', would you still keep your child at home and not attend the 'suppl lesson' ?

Yup!! I would... and I have. I do know that Teachers cover parts of the syllabus in these extended school hours because the Teachers told me. Still, because we learn faster and better at home, keeping him out of supplementary classes still made sense to us.

The syllabus is meant for a half day session. If Teachers cannot finish in the normal school hours, then extra time given just indulges the system with MORE time to be inefficient. My son is young. He gets tired, like every other child... and I still want him to have a childhood. If the system is inefficient, I have to step in to protect my son.

[silverhorse]

smartmummy:

Is any school starts from P3?My son's school has supplimentary for P3.I struggled with him.Cos he too tired and have no time to revision.He had one day for Maths and one day for English.I heard other schools has remedial class.That is acceptable.I feel wast of time for this supplementary.There were four days in a week he stayed back.cos one day CCA,one day MO.

Hi Smartmummy,

DS1 started compulsory Supplementary class in P3. Once a week till 5pm, and after that, he still have homework to complete. I told my son the teachers are being ridiculous. He gets on the schoolbus daily at 6am, comes home from CCA and Supp class at 6pm. its a 12hr day for him. How can a young mind function after 12hrs of work? Even as adults, we will feel drained.

[fifiyeo]

Picolo:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"janet_lee88\"]

My son attended the twice weekly suppl for the whole of this year.
After every suppl, I asked him what was taught and he gave me the same answer, 'Exactly like what goes on during school hours' :yikes: . This isn't supplementary right ? To me, 'supplementary' means that the teachers should be teaching stuff out of textbook and giving the students some worksheets. What's the point of teaching from the syllabus ? It's stupid.

Yeah lor... that's why I pulled him out. He went for about 2 weeks of supplementary classes. I asked him to list out on a piece of paper the things he learnt each day, and when I saw that in the same 2 hours, we could cover 5 times more at home, I pulled him out.

I teach him myself, so I know. Also, when we work at home, he learns so effectively there is no need to revise. He just doesn't forget. This way, he gets more time to play. I think play is more important than supplementary classes.

Sorry to intrude, my kiddos have not experienced P5 yet but from what I understand from a few parents who have 'been there, done that', the name 'supplementary classes' is just a term the school coined for extended school hours, it's definitely not meant to be supplementary but core lessons ... at least it's for P5 through maybe term 1 of P6 until all the topics within PSLE are covered... this is for my sons' school. That's why, what covered from 1.30 - 3.30 pm is a continuity to what was covered in the morning school hours. If the kids don't join in the extended school hours, it's like taking time-off/pm leave from the normal school lessons and the kids (even if they read well in advance) will not know any specific teachers' instructions and always have to rely on other classmates to find out about new homework given / what's covered/ announcement/etc. Of course, I can also imagine this can pose some inconvenience to the teachers involved if many kids in their class opt out.

I know different schools may operate differently, but if your child is in a school that do extended school hours like my kids', would you still keep your child at home and not attend the 'suppl lesson' ?[/quote]
Actually I would if my kid is in your school. If not for the fact that it's not healthy socially for kids to be home schooled, and results are all that I'm looking at, I'll have my kid home schooled and we can loads of extra time to explore lots of other interesting stuff.

I strongly believe kids can do well or maybe even better just being tutored at home if results are all that we are looking at. My DS come from one of those \"branded\" top schools but over the years I see his teachers changing all the time and often leaving the kids confused!

[fifiyeo]

silverhorse:

smartmummy:

Is any school starts from P3?My son's school has supplimentary for P3.I struggled with him.Cos he too tired and have no time to revision.He had one day for Maths and one day for English.I heard other schools has remedial class.That is acceptable.I feel wast of time for this supplementary.There were four days in a week he stayed back.cos one day CCA,one day MO.

Hi Smartmummy,

DS1 started compulsory Supplementary class in P3. Once a week till 5pm, and after that, he still have homework to complete. I told my son the teachers are being ridiculous. He gets on the schoolbus daily at 6am, comes home from CCA and Supp class at 6pm. its a 12hr day for him. How can a young mind function after 12hrs of work? Even as adults, we will feel drained.

With a 12hr shift, most of us adults will be sleeping behind the computer at our desks! Hahahaha...... :rotflmao: So what do you think the kids will do? They get tired and distracted and they need to act out....then drive the teachers crazy!

[Peony]

fifiyeo:

Actually I would if my kid is in your school. If not for the fact that it's not healthy socially for kids to be home schooled, and results are all that I'm looking at, I'll have my kid home schooled and we can loads of extra time to explore lots of other interesting stuff.

I strongly believe kids can do well or maybe even better just being tutored at home if results are all that we are looking at. My DS come from one of those \"branded\" top schools but over the years I see his teachers changing all the time and often leaving the kids confused!

Yup. From the time she was in P1, I always felt that my DD learnt from \"home\" and only attended school to socialise. Hence, when school got extended to almost daily and homework (given by school) was too much, her results slipped as there was no time to learn (my definition - real/effective learning)

In my case, real learning comes from home. Am not fixated with results. If I was, she would not be in school at all.