Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) [*IP]

[MummySTay]

Choco05:

strangequark:

Dear current RGS girls, may I know if you take tuition? Is it common for Year 1 girls to take tuition? Thanks in advance for your advice.

Most do, but some don't(banana). I take math & eng/lit. It's alright to have a few tuitions.

In our case, DH and I have already spoken to DD.
We have no intention to put her through tuition.
She will have to learn to be independent and cope on her own.
I guess we will monitor the situation and provide external help only when it is absolutely necessary.

[jtoh]

slmkhoo:

Another question - how different is HCL from CL at sec school? In terms of vocab required, compo demands, exam format etc? Would someone who hasn't taken HCL before be able to catch up if she starts in Yr 2?

If your dd hasn't done HCL at primary school level, HCL is a big jump from primary school CL. How well she copes depends on her level of Chinese to begin with. If her CL is good, she'll have no problems in Secondary HCL.

I'm not sure if you'll be allowed to take up HCL in Year 2 if you didn't take it in Year 1. A better option would be to take HCL in Year 1 then drop it to CL in Year 2 if she can't cope.

[jtoh]

MummySTay:

Choco05:

[quote=\"strangequark\"]Dear current RGS girls, may I know if you take tuition? Is it common for Year 1 girls to take tuition? Thanks in advance for your advice.

Most do, but some don't(banana). I take math & eng/lit. It's alright to have a few tuitions.

In our case, DH and I have already spoken to DD.
We have no intention to put her through tuition.
She will have to learn to be independent and cope on her own.
I guess we will monitor the situation and provide external help only when it is absolutely necessary. [/quote]I think that should be the way. Year 1 is a honeymoon year so the girls should be able to cope. Go for tuition only in subjects she really needs help in, like Chinese for some students.

[strangequark]

Thanks for sharing your views, Choco05, MummySTay and jtoh :grphug:

[Choco05]

slmkhoo:

Choco05:

[quote=\"strangequark\"]Dear current RGS girls, may I know if you take tuition? Is it common for Year 1 girls to take tuition? Thanks in advance for your advice.

Most do, but some don't(banana). I take math & eng/lit. It's alright to have a few tuitions.

Good night:)

When do you have the time? We aren't used to the idea of tuition after school. Do you go to a tuition centre or have home tuition?

Another question - how different is HCL from CL at sec school? In terms of vocab required, compo demands, exam format etc? Would someone who hasn't taken HCL before be able to catch up if she starts in Yr 2?[/quote]One tuition is on weekends, the other on my free day. Both are home tuition. Haven't had them during the holidays though, my teachers were busy.

Idk what CL does, but i would say if you didn't take HCL in pri sch because you don't do well in Chi at all(even if you take CL still dont do well), i suggest maybe not. I have a classmate who took up HCL for the first time, and it was horrible for her. If you want to take it in Yr 2, look at your Yr 1 results first? If it's decent enough it's more than fine to give HCL a try.

[OrangeJuice]

MummySTay:

Choco05:

[quote=\"strangequark\"]Dear current RGS girls, may I know if you take tuition? Is it common for Year 1 girls to take tuition? Thanks in advance for your advice.

Most do, but some don't(banana). I take math & eng/lit. It's alright to have a few tuitions.

In our case, DH and I have already spoken to DD.
We have no intention to put her through tuition.
She will have to learn to be independent and cope on her own.
I guess we will monitor the situation and provide external help only when it is absolutely necessary. [/quote]Hi MummySTay, we did exactly the same thing as you (DD had no tuition anyway at pri school except for MT). Though i was a bit concerned whether DD cld cope w/o enrichment for MT as she will be taking HCL at RGS but we will monitor situation as we go along.

Glad to find a mummy like you who is not really into the idea of tuition unless nec. DH said he will find it ironical that DD made it to a top school and ye needs tuition to cope - but that's just his opinion lah

[a child]

strangequark:

Dear current RGS girls, may I know if you take tuition? Is it common for Year 1 girls to take tuition? Thanks in advance for your advice.

I don't have any tuition, but my English is suffering so I plan to have English tuition next year, but that's it. In my opinion 1-2 tuition for the subjects that you really can't cope with should be the max. Especially since there's a heavy workload (that can only get heavier through the years) with projects and everything, and with SAs every few weeks. So there isn't time to do much tuition anyway. (Please don't be like some people I've heard of who take 9 weekly tuition, one for each subject plus two each for languages :yikes: - it's not worth it Really. Either your health/sleep goes, or your fun/enjoyment/life/sanity/social life. :roll: ) Also, you don't know how efficient tuition it is; my friends who went for group tuition, even the IP ones, complain that it's far too slow and isn't suitable for the Raffles Program, and have hence quit.

However, if you really need help, the following are some tried and tested options that have been proven to work (in some cases). Learning Lab, home tuition, or for Chinese. Learning Lab - take it how you will. I've never tried it, only heard about it. It's expensive :moneyflies: . But it also seems by far the tuition center most compatible with RP, though there are some who have dropped this year as they think it isn't helping too much. Chinese is a weak spot for many, especially if you haven't taken HCL in primary school, and since RP Chinese isn't much more difficult than any other school's most are able to find okay tuition centers. And that leaves home tuition, which many do for the weakest subjects. I find this the most effective (and most expensive :moneyflies: :moneyflies: ) of the lot. However, once you get a tutor, you don't really learn to learn/read up/try to figure the thing out for yourself (esp. for Math/Sci/Humanities) so that is a downside to having home tuition. It'll sort of look like you don't get spoon-fed (in class), but actually the spoon-feeding's done at home during tuition. I would keep this to a minimum.

So you see, none of the options are very enticing or efficient, so I guess you should see first how it goes before seeking tuition, unless you're very sure you can't cope (like for Chinese).

[MummySTay]

OrangeJuice:

Hi MummySTay, we did exactly the same thing as you (DD had no tuition anyway at pri school except for MT). Though i was a bit concerned whether DD cld cope w/o enrichment for MT as she will be taking HCL at RGS but we will monitor situation as we go along.

Glad to find a mummy like you who is not really into the idea of tuition unless nec. DH said he will find it ironical that DD made it to a top school and ye needs tuition to cope - but that's just his opinion lah

:hugs: :hugs:

[jtoh]

slmkhoo:

jtoh:

[quote=\"slmkhoo\"]

Another question - how different is HCL from CL at sec school? In terms of vocab required, compo demands, exam format etc? Would someone who hasn't taken HCL before be able to catch up if she starts in Yr 2?

If your dd hasn't done HCL at primary school level, HCL is a big jump from primary school CL. How well she copes depends on her level of Chinese to begin with. If her CL is good, she'll have no problems in Secondary HCL.

I'm not sure if you'll be allowed to take up HCL in Year 2 if you didn't take it in Year 1. A better option would be to take HCL in Year 1 then drop it to CL in Year 2 if she can't cope.

OK, thanks, looks like HCL should be a no-no. My daughter didn't even do CL at Pr school as we have been overseas for years. We just came back for 4 mths for her to take the PSLE (without MT). And we are still overseas until Yr 2. She knows some Chinese but I don't know how much she can catch up, given that she will be coping with the transition in all subjects at the same time. I will ask the school if they can send me a sample test paper for CL and HCL and we will see. She has actually been given exemption through 'A' levels, but we don't see why she shouldn't take Chinese once we are back in Singapore. I don't expect an A grade, but a pass at CL should be possible.[/quote]Didn't realize you were only coming back in Year 2. In that case, yes definitely ask the school to send you the syllabus and papers for CL and HCL and you can judge from there which one's better for.

[strangequark]

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