Newspaper Article: Sorry, your child is not bright enough
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coast:
Agree. Some parents underappreciate the value of play. They think that primary school kids are \"big\" enough that they do not need to play much especially outdoor activities. I feel that play is critical for healthy development for children.[/quote]So true, Chenonceau and coast.
They perform better when they get to play enough. And their development in other important areas is not stunted either.Chenonceau:
[quote=\"jtoh\"]
I read these articles about top P6 students who study 5-6 hours or 8-9 hours daily in the run-up to PSLE and I wonder where's their childhood? And some of these students also attend music lessons and I wonder where do they find the hours in a day. When do they have time to play? I tell my dd about the schedules of my P6 neighbour and she says I was a good mother for not stressing her out during PSLE.
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Busymom:
This issue is indeed school dependent, again not MOE.
The main issue perhaps, is how some schools have been setting their papers, which could be demoralising for the students if the papers are set too difficult. At times, it may also be a case of students requiring some time to digest the concept before they are being tested. I still remember a time when almost my entire class failed our first A Math test... but everyone did well in the end.
I know some schools use the scare strategy and typically for mid year exams... Scare the parents so badly that all starts to go for tuition or buck up somehow. This of course boosts up the passing rate at year end because it works.
Another thing I notice how some teachers boost their own perfomance. I saw this in the kindy report book. First half year, everything is fair or good then comes year end everything becomes good or very good...this becomes apparent when you know your child's strength(with good track record) and it has been marked as \"fair\" in mid year and then \"good\" at year end. Similarly in weaker areas that are still weaker, it can suddenly become \"very good\" at year end. So in the same way, perhaps some exams are made tough at mid year and then easier at year end, then it shows \"improvement in teaching\"?
I hope school teaches and just have the interest of the children at heart and the results come automatically through motivation, no need to try all these CORPORATE strategies for quick results because it goes against the grain of education mission, driven by wrong KPIs. -
coast:
Some of the branded schools I know of encourage their students to start CCA from P1 onwards which I thought is a good move since P1/2 workload is very low and good for the kids to find some other forms of 'entertiament' besides computer, handheld and assessment books!!
Agree. Some parents underappreciate the value of play. They think that primary school kids are \"big\" enough that they do not need to play much especially outdoor activities. I feel that play is critical for healthy development for children. -
ksi:
I hope school teaches and just have the interest of the children at heart and the results come automatically through motivation, no need to try all these CORPORATE strategies for quick results because it goes against the grain of education mission, driven by wrong KPIs.
I can't agree more. In the past 15 years, Singapore government has become enamoured of American corporate fads, and has attempted to run the country like a corporation. This has advantages but everything that has advantages also comes with disadvantages to be managed. -
a ex-teacher friend ever told me that the schools see themselves less of an educator...and more as a facilitator now....it was 6 yrs ago when he said it. Not long after, he left MOE. :evil:
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Nebbermind:
a ex-teacher friend ever told me that the schools see themselves less of an educator...and more as a facilitator now....it was 6 yrs ago when he said it. Not long after, he left MOE. :evil:
If so... why still call themselves educators?
The way I see it, it would be more accurate to just call them TESTERS. You know... like GMAT or SAT testing centres? -
coast:
Agree. Some parents underappreciate the value of play. They think that primary school kids are \"big\" enough that they do not need to play much especially outdoor activities. I feel that play is critical for healthy development for children.
Fully agree, this is such an understatement. Not only play, CCAs are also equally important. On CCAs, I used to think that it is the schools that choose certain students with potentials to help win medals etc, but recently, I realised that there are parents who advise their children to sign up for CCAs which the school already had won many golds and medals instead of choosing one that the children have interest in. -
pepper spice:
But from what I know, if the students are winning at zone or national level, most of the time they r already attending special training outside the school, unless superduper talented. So if u r so-so only, u may not even get to join those CCAs
Fully agree, this is such an understatement. Not only play, CCAs are also equally important. On CCAs, I used to think that it is the schools that choose certain students with potentials to help win medals etc, but recently, I realised that there are parents who advise their children to sign up for CCAs which the school already had won many golds and medals instead of choosing one that the children have interest in. -
pepper spice:
This clearly demonstrates how we are gravitating towards a wrong value system for the children, both parents and schools. Schools only want ready-made kids to win medals and parents only want medal-winning CCA......everything ready-made.....coast:
Agree. Some parents underappreciate the value of play. They think that primary school kids are \"big\" enough that they do not need to play much especially outdoor activities. I feel that play is critical for healthy development for children.
Fully agree, this is such an understatement. Not only play, CCAs are also equally important. On CCAs, I used to think that it is the schools that choose certain students with potentials to help win medals etc, but recently, I realised that there are parents who advise their children to sign up for CCAs which the school already had won many golds and medals instead of choosing one that the children have interest in. -
Sad to say some CCA, choose you instead of you choose them. One mummy told me his son wanted to join badminton in p3 but was not selected. They chose those that are already good at it.
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