Parents, not enrichment centres, are key to result
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ksi:
Most schools (or every school?) come out with their own materials to supplement MOE standard textbooks. I have also heard of schools using different materials for different classes.I have heard hero stories of a child whose parents do not coach him and the child totally relied on the school's teaching and support and every year was the top student even up to PSLE. Alot is also to do with the inner material this child has, highly self-driven and most likely is a self-learner.
I fully agree with you that a self-motivated child can do wonders. But why should it be dependent on which school and which class to have access to the \"materials\"?
Just look at MOE Maths textbooks (MPAH). I have heard that Science is worse (I cannot comment yet as my DS is only P2). -
ksi:
I heard a similar story 2 nights ago. Her child it seems has no tuition and did not study the whole PSLE year and made it to Hwa Chong. However, this mother is known to drive her kids hard. I'm not inclined to believe her. Maybe her definition of NOT studying is my definition of studying hard...I have heard hero stories of a child whose parents do not coach him and the child totally relied on the school's teaching and support and every year was the top student even up to PSLE. Alot is also to do with the inner material this child has, highly self-driven and most likely is a self-learner.
The truth of this is easily discernible with a proper INDEPENDENT statistical examination of students in the top 2 classes of every school versus the bottom 2 classes. Else, it's one story versus another. If MOE were serious to get to the bottom of this tuition thing... do a rigorous study of the phenomenon. I proposed it. MOE said it had no resources for that sort of thing.
What I do know is that whilst some neighbourhood schools give out CL materials (oral and compo) half to one inch think, my son's teacher gives out only 6 pages of pictures as CL oral resources and no compo resources at all. If I don't go around sourcing for CL resources, no one will support my son in his quest to do better in Chinese.
Some schools use Onsponge as a textbook and go through systematically the heuristics needed to tackle the skills component of the math syllabus, my son's school uses a very easy textbook and workbook indeed that covers only concepts... no heuristics.
This difference is the same as what is documented in
(1) a cordon bleu cookbook
(2) a Shermay Lee cookbook
Research has shown that highly skilled individuals categorise topics by heuristics, not concepts. These heuristics are approaches used by the individual to analyze and make sense of concepts. Individuals poorly skilled in a domain categorize by concepts. A cordon bleu written cookbook addresses in detail cooking techniques (skills) as much as recipes. Shermay Lee's book gives you recipes only.
Our primary math textbooks are chapter-red by concept (percentage... ratio etc). Challenging Problem Sums Made Easy is chapter-red by heuristic. Onsponge too is organised by heuristic within every concept. Schools may cover all the topics in Math (they can dust their hands and backside and say \"we did a good job\")... but nowhere in the textbook is any heuristic covered. It is no wonder that some independent schools use Onsponge as a textbook instead. It covers the skills component of the PSLE much better than the normal textbooks.
Of course, the fibre of the child counts... but it is not all that counts. When I garden, I can throw seeds all over and tell myself, the strongest plants will make it. Or, I do what I do, raise the seedlings on seed trays and cultivate them so that there is as little wastage as possible... and the productivity of my garden is enhanced.
Saying that failure/success depends on the child whatever the system, is true... but it does mean then that the system doesn't matter... and so why have a system in the first place? -
My son is still young, but this much I’ve found out after one year. Chinese teacher zooms through textbook and skips the enrichment pages. But when it’s time for reviews or doing worksheets, the words from enrichment pages will appear as well. Previous to this realization, I wondered why my son was struggling. Was he daydreaming in class? Was he just thick? I began checking in with him everyday for Chinese until I finally realized what was going on. But still, it was hard.
Later, my neighbor recommended me a tuition center, saying it had turned another neighbour’s kid from failing Chinese to getting As. I went to talk to the tuition center and realized to my horror that the tuition centers were covering the textbook four lessons ahead of the school. I spoke to my neighbor whose kid is in the same school and found out his personal tutor would give him writing practices and cover the missing pages.
I started doing the same before school started. My son came back this week with a grin. Chinese class was a breeze. He understood everything even though the teacher spoke a little too fast. Like the rest of the class, he now knows everything beforehand TOO.
It really should not be this way. -
Musings:
I'm amused, if all schools are equal why parents need to shy away from some.
This seems to suggest that the success or failure of the child is dependent on whether he/she is in these neighbourhood schools \"feeder schools to Normal/Normal Tech Secondary Schools\". I think this is too simplistic. As many of us know, the success of the child is dependent on a myriad of factors like stability of the home, the diligence of the child, how self motivated the child is.
Take a neighbourhood school ie those schools which parents shun at P1 registration and have plenty of places left for Phase 3 etc, which are filled by children whose parents did not rack their brains to plot a strategy like move house, do PV etc to get into a more popular school. By definition, such parents are less likely to monitor or support the progress/education of the child in primary school hence the potential of the child to shine/succeed has been limited.
I firmly believe children whose parents who support their child's learning (not through monetary means like providing enrichment but through encouragement) and monitor their progress and step in to get help (voice to school) and who are reasonably diligent and intelligent will invariably do well. May not score >250 at PSLE but definitely not Normal Tech etc.
Move house to buy equal right is an expensive games for many.
Some parents need more encouragement than the children.
This vicious cycle will continue till the end of the world. -
deminc:
I, too, was grinning when ds told me he got 87 for maths cos I had overheard other moms complaining about how tough the maths papers.My son is still young, but this much I've found out after one year. Chinese teacher zooms through textbook and skips the enrichment pages. But when it's time for reviews or doing worksheets, the words from enrichment pages will appear as well. Previous to this realization, I wondered why my son was struggling. Was he daydreaming in class? Was he just thick? I began checking in with him everyday for Chinese until I finally realized what was going on. But still, it was hard.
Later, my neighbor recommended me a tuition center, saying it had turned another neighbour's kid from failing Chinese to getting As. I went to talk to the tuition center and realized to my horror that the tuition centers were covering the textbook four lessons ahead of the school. I spoke to my neighbor whose kid is in the same school and found out his personal tutor would give him writing practices and cover the missing pages.
I started doing the same before school started. My son came back this week with a grin. Chinese class was a breeze. He understood everything even though the teacher spoke a little too fast. Like the rest of the class, he now knows everything beforehand TOO.
It really should not be this way.
Till 1 mom pass me her ds paper. To my horror it was world apart from my ds.
It really should not be this way. -
looking4Tutor:
All schools are equal from MOE's framework and I feel that that is getting more and more true....
I'm amused, if all schools are equal why parents need to shy away from some.
Move house to buy equal right is an expensive games for many.
Some parents need more encouragement than the children.
This vicious cycle will continue till the end of the world.
1. Every school has teachers' constraint,
2. Every school claimed no control of teachers' quality as they are posted from MOE.
3. Every teacher is trained from NIE...
However the difference I see would be the P's ability to lead & motivate the teachers and the pupils in the neighbourhood is another key difference, hence the network of friends. Having said this, P in a school can change over time...so the pupils in the neighbourhood is more of a constant and many parents are moving house to get into a school for this constant, funny?
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looking4Tutor:
Question is what is the median?
I, too, was grinning when ds told me he got 87 for maths cos I had overheard other moms complaining about how tough the maths papers.
Till 1 mom pass me her ds paper. To my horror it was world apart from my ds.
It really should not be this way. -
ksi:
Ok... so all schools are equally bad. Same difference. :evil: :evil: :evil:
All schools are equal from MOE's framework and I feel that that is getting more and more true....
1. Every school has teachers' constraint,
2. Every school claimed no control of teachers' quality as they are posted from MOE.
3. Every teacher is trained from NIE... -
Chenonceau:
Ah...your own interpretation hor....
Ok... so all schools are equally bad. Same difference. :evil: :evil: :evil:ksi:
All schools are equal from MOE's framework and I feel that that is getting more and more true....
1. Every school has teachers' constraint,
2. Every school claimed no control of teachers' quality as they are posted from MOE.
3. Every teacher is trained from NIE...
-
looking4Tutor:
Did anyone ever suggest all schools are equal? They are NOT for many reasons and one of which is the quality/social economic background of the kids attending the school.
I'm amused, if all schools are equal why parents need to shy away from some.Musings:
This seems to suggest that the success or failure of the child is dependent on whether he/she is in these neighbourhood schools \"feeder schools to Normal/Normal Tech Secondary Schools\". I think this is too simplistic. As many of us know, the success of the child is dependent on a myriad of factors like stability of the home, the diligence of the child, how self motivated the child is.
Take a neighbourhood school ie those schools which parents shun at P1 registration and have plenty of places left for Phase 3 etc, which are filled by children whose parents did not rack their brains to plot a strategy like move house, do PV etc to get into a more popular school. By definition, such parents are less likely to monitor or support the progress/education of the child in primary school hence the potential of the child to shine/succeed has been limited.
I firmly believe children whose parents who support their child's learning (not through monetary means like providing enrichment but through encouragement) and monitor their progress and step in to get help (voice to school) and who are reasonably diligent and intelligent will invariably do well. May not score >250 at PSLE but definitely not Normal Tech etc.
Move house to buy equal right is an expensive games for many.
Some parents need more encouragement than the children.
This vicious cycle will continue till the end of the world.
I'm just pointing out that while a school may appear to be 'lousy' school for not churning out many PSLE kids > 250. We have to look at the demographics of the kids attending the school.
Having a sister who runs a drop in centre for neighbourhood primary kids, we know that as many as 50% of the kids from a nearby neighbourhood school come from broken families and not surprisingly, they all went to Normal Tech if at all. What can the school do when these kids obviously lack home support, stable home environment and money for basic needs? Monetary needs can be addressed through social financial schemes. Lack of foundation can be taught by the school. But no school can replace the parents' role in guiding and providing stable home environment.
There have been kids from this school who have excelled in PSLE and you will find that the critical factor is always having a dedicated adult at home who values education (such as Grandma becos both parents are in jail etc. Grandma can't teach - not educated but encourages) and self motivation (I want to better my lot) translating to diligence.
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