Newspaper Article: Sorry, your child is not bright enough

[looking4Tutor]

jtoh:

Then you have the students (and parents) who really want to get into certain classes like GEP. And when they don't, they tell everyone that they purposely fail it because they don't want to get in. Too much face-saving going around.

Thanks for the tip. It's so timely for CNY visitation.

[jtoh]

looking4Tutor:

jtoh:

Then you have the students (and parents) who really want to get into certain classes like GEP. And when they don't, they tell everyone that they purposely fail it because they don't want to get in. Too much face-saving going around.

Thanks for the tip. It's so timely for CNY visitation.

:rotflmao:

[Mdm Koh]

Chenonceau:

I don't really care that there are centres like these targeting parents like that. Such centres won't get my money so their existence is irrelevant to me. What I do care about is that these centres tend to produce very high performing children that the MOE uses to set new PSLE benchmarks.


In other words, I don't care that these centres exist as long as they only impact the lives of crazy parents. I do care however that these centres perpetuate a cycle of ever higher performance because our MOE insists on developing tests and exams to differentiate talent at the top of the curve. And because of this, I now have to ENRICH my son too.

For many parents, this means extra business for Learning Lab. Enrichment is now a necessity. For me, it means more homeschooling because the school does not go near these levels of difficulty.

:goodpost:

Agree. I hope MOE takes note of this.

[coast]

Chenonceau:

I don't really care that there are centres like these targeting parents like that. Such centres won't get my money so their existence is irrelevant to me. What I do care about is that these centres tend to produce very high performing children that the MOE uses to set new PSLE benchmarks.


In other words, I don't care that these centres exist as long as they only impact the lives of crazy parents. I do care however that these centres perpetuate a cycle of ever higher performance because our MOE insists on developing tests and exams to differentiate talent at the top of the curve. And because of this, I now have to ENRICH my son too.

For many parents, this means extra business for Learning Lab. Enrichment is now a necessity. For me, it means more homeschooling because the school does not go near these levels of difficulty.

It's great to have you here

In a nutshell, you care right? PSLE is not about individual kid’s ability but a ranking against his/ her peers in the same cohort. I do not care much either as it does not affect my DS. For one, I do not believe in drilling (many parents and teachers think it is THE way). I admit it works in some situation but it is sad to see children doing hours and hours of worksheets all in the name of “Practice makes perfect”. Every child is unique and even for the same kid, his strengths and weaknesses is different for each area. What I see is that many parents/ teachers assume that drilling for ALL subjects and topics works for EVERY kid, meaning these poor kids have to spend hours and hours on the worksheets. It is okay if these kids have a balanced life, but to read in the news commending “hardworking” children spending 6 to 7 hours after school on their studies and more hours during holidays … I dread to think what life these kids have besides academics.

I also think we give too much credit to the enrichment centres for “producing” very high performing children. After all it is just a 2-hour weekly class. These centres have their fair share of “not good” teachers, high teachers’ turn-over, replacement teachers, etc. Not to forget most of the students they accept would have done well anyway.

Personally, I think the magic is the centres' materials (worksheets). Even at P1 level, I have seen an inadequacy of the official textbooks and materials.

With adequate materials available in schools to ALL students, I think it is a right move to a level playing field and enabling social mobility.

[Chenonceau]

coast:

With adequate materials available in schools to ALL students, I think it is a right move to a level playing field and enabling social mobility.

Yes!! :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

[Pen88n]

Chenonceau:

coast:

With adequate materials available in schools to ALL students, I think it is a right move to a level playing field and enabling social mobility.

Yes!! :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

So get Learning Lab to produce materials and train teachers for all the primary schools in Singapore??? :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

I can't believe I said that......

[Busymom]

Pen88n:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"coast\"]With adequate materials available in schools to ALL students, I think it is a right move to a level playing field and enabling social mobility.

Yes!! :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

So get Learning Lab to produce materials and train teachers for all the primary schools in Singapore??? :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

I can't believe I said that...... [/quote]But I heard not every student who has attended Learning Lab has done well in school.

Still a case of finding the right enrichment/tuition for your child eventually.

Some who are homeschooled will do better if the mummy is extremely resourceful or capable. We have some in this forum...

[looking4Tutor]

coast:

Personally, I think the magic is the centres' materials (worksheets). Even at P1 level, I have seen an inadequacy of the official textbooks and materials.


With adequate materials available in schools to ALL students, I think it is a right move to a level playing field and enabling social mobility.

Personally, I think KSP provides better help than ds's primary school.

[Busymom]

coast:

Busymom:

Did anyone watch the documentary \"Being a Child\"on CNA recently? I caught one episode late at night recently and it was on what Japanese preschool children go through to get into top elementary schools in Tokyo (there were other episodes on China, Hong Kong and India as well, but was too late, couldn't keep my eyes open).


I was left completely bewildered after watching it and really felt sorry for the kids, and parents - from attending enrichment classes that cost more than $1000 a month (not sure how long is the duration of the class, but have the impression that it isn't a daily class), or doing worksheets for up to 4 hours daily (so that the amount of worksheets done is as high as the height of the child), to going for mock exams and interviews prior to entrance exams of the elementary schools and going shopping for appropriate dressing for both mother and child for the interviews... Many also had to be good in their sports like Karate for boys and gym for girls. One boy had Karate on one day, swimming the next, gym another day, then Kumon on yet another day... What really struck me as crazy was that at one of the enrichment classes that charge more than $1000 a month, good performance would be rewarded with a seat in the first row in class... Also noticed a few of the children yawning while being filmed - a case of lack of sleep??

After watching this, I think we are still quite fortunate in Singapore...

Hi, there is actually an episode on Singapore as well! I did not catch the show from the beginning so not sure what I have missed but here's what I caught:-

(i) an expensive pre-school that charges S$1,300 per month (guess many parents here know about these schools anyway)
(ii) a Kindergarten boy having to attend a few enrichment classes on Sats ... he said Sat is a working day ...
(iii) another Kindergarten boy attending many enrichment classes, including very late at night ... he said he wants to be number zero and that number one is being 2nd

What intrigues me is how the parents in the show think about the Singapore education system.

While I know tuition/ enrichment is really common these days, it still alarms me that some parents would ask their Kindergarten kids to spend so much time on academic classes and worksheets at home for \"P1 preparation\". I hope viewers of the show would not think that is common in Singapore. I suppose this show is presenting a certain segment (enrichment classes?) and not reflecting the whole society in general?

I wasn't aware that was also an episode on Singapore. The Japanese one was the first episode (based on info provided at the time when documentary was shown). You are probably right in that the show reflects only a certain segment of the society in each country, as in how parents prepare their children for primary school, and sometimes to the extremes. However, it is clear that in certain countries such as Japan, children will have to go through entry tests and interviews in order to gain entry into prestigious primary school that are privately run (some offer through train to well-known universities). We don't have this in Singapore and this is what I feel fortunate about.

[Busymom]

coast:

I have a different view on the psychological impact on children who fail the entry tests. Such an entry test should not have a serious impact. If it does, then will the kids be able to handle other setbacks in life (school tests, exams, ... etc)? It is just a test. We should help and guide our kids to grow stronger each day ... to understand that there are many setbacks in life but you just stand up from where you fall and move on ... 失败是成功之母。。 I always tell my DS ... even world No. 1 in his favourite sports does not win every time, be gracious when one loses (try your best but accept the result), move on and focus on the next match

:goodpost: