Parents, not enrichment centres, are key to result

[Always21]

I guess all parents want the child to feel at ease learning in school. I just worry if the child cannot understand what the school is teaching and give up on themselves. That is why I sent my child to enrichment class, to prepare him, not aiming him to go top class.

[Funz]

My kiddos are not yet at the PSLE stage yet so all is still kinda rosy right now. Just trying to understand what I might be heading in for so don’t shoot me hor.


But I am just wondering, all these talk about testing beyond what is taught or beyond the abilities of kids this age, is it really so? Of the entire exam paper, are all the questions beyond what is taught in the syllabus? Or just a small percentage of the questions to sniff out those with higher order thinking?

Is it the paper that is forcing the parents to need all these tuition and enrichment or is it the parents who refuse let their children stumble on these questions that led to this ‘tuition culture’?

[HAPPYH]

Funz:

My kiddos are not yet at the PSLE stage yet so all is still kinda rosy right now. Just trying to understand what I might be heading in for so don't shoot me hor.


But I am just wondering, all these talk about testing beyond what is taught or beyond the abilities of kids this age, is it really so? Of the entire exam paper, are all the questions beyond what is taught in the syllabus? Or just a small percentage of the questions to sniff out those with higher order thinking?

Is it the paper that is forcing the parents to need all these tuition and enrichment or is it the parents who refuse let their children stumble on these questions that led to this 'tuition culture'?

I think it is like \"egg came from the hen or the hen came from the egg\"\" type.

[Chenonceau]

Funz:

But I am just wondering, all these talk about testing beyond what is taught or beyond the abilities of kids this age, is it really so? Of the entire exam paper, are all the questions beyond what is taught in the syllabus? Or just a small percentage of the questions to sniff out those with higher order thinking?

It depends on when the exam I think. In P5 CA1, these unknowns can hit about 35 marks. As the school teaches forwards you MAY find that the SA2 paper is easier than the SA1 paper. By the time PSLE comes around, it may just be 10 marks that are beyond?

Funz:

Is it the paper that is forcing the parents to need all these tuition and enrichment or is it the parents who refuse let their children stumble on these questions that led to this 'tuition culture'?

For me, if the paper tests this much, and I have time and resources (and my son is capable), I will cover the whole domain tested by the paper. I am unlikely to cover the full domain for Chinese because he started at a really low base, and we have little time. We haven't even LOOKED at HCL, and probably won't. However, I probably CAN cover the whole domain tested for Science, Math and English because he already has very strong foundations in these 3 subjects.

BUT if the exam papers' domain wasn't so ambitious, I wouldn't cover so much. I would cover what the papers test only. If papers target less, I will cover less. If papers target more, I will cover more. The objective is to teach to the domain the paper covers. So I for one, am responding to what the papers test.

[PiggyLalala]

Chenonceau:

ksi:

Yup think further and I too have nothing against streaming, in fact, to some extent it is beneficial for both teachers and students in terms of making progress in the class. So you can say I am pro streaming but not overly granular streaming. I find it strange that your school's top class and second best class is handled differently, so granular in treatment.

I am not sure... but I rather suspect that even the top class doesn't get as much stretch as it should in class to cope with P5 work. Most in top class have tuition. Also, the PSLE results for DS' school last year dropped quite a bit. Perhaps even in best class the PSLE training is insufficient?

But well... I conjecture only. Perhaps not fair to the school.

However, we already know that Piggy's GEP didn't handle heuristics... and neither did my friend's GEP. Piggy taught her son simultaneous and my friend's son did like mine - Onsponge, and went to MindStretcher regularly. So maybe even the best of the best aren't taught these stretch stuff eh?

Just to clarify. If I did not remember wrongly, I did not see any worksheets that specifically taught simultaneous equations, and neither did the teacher specifically teach the skill to the pupils. However, in class, the teacher might have used it as a method to solve certain practice questions, which allowed the better students to indirectly learn the way of doing simultaneous equations.

[Funz]

So it is fair to say that the exams will have most questions catered to test basic knowledge of the subject, some questions to test depth of knowledge of the subject and a small number of questions, deliberate set at a standard way higher then expected to test for ‘giftedness’ in the subject?

[Chenonceau]

Funz:

So it is fair to say that the exams will have most questions catered to test basic knowledge of the subject, some questions to test depth of knowledge of the subject and a small number of questions, deliberate set at a standard way higher then expected to test for 'giftedness' in the subject?

Yah! I think so. But hor... Onsponge won't cover the giftedness ones hor... you can know Onsponge and whatever else but still dunno the last 10 marks.

That means you cover Onsponge and blah blah and still are only sure of 90 marks.

[Chenonceau]

PiggyLalala:

Just to clarify. If I did not remember wrongly, I did not see any worksheets that specifically taught simultaneous equations, and neither did the teacher specifically teach the skill to the pupils. However, in class, the teacher might have used it as a method to solve certain practice questions, which allowed the better students to indirectly learn the way of doing simultaneous equations.

Can learn simultaneous equations indirectly one meh? :scratchhead:

[Funz]

Chenonceau:

PiggyLalala:

Just to clarify. If I did not remember wrongly, I did not see any worksheets that specifically taught simultaneous equations, and neither did the teacher specifically teach the skill to the pupils. However, in class, the teacher might have used it as a method to solve certain practice questions, which allowed the better students to indirectly learn the way of doing simultaneous equations.

Can learn simultaneous equations indirectly one meh?

Chim.

[PiggyLalala]

sleepyqueen:

jesschan,

Here is it based on elkniwt's upload:
http://i41.tinypic.com/1z676s4.jpg\">

Just a word of caution, when i said 'simultaneous equations', it does not mean the complicated 'simultaneous equations' like above.
I think the above solution is too complicated for the P6 students to handle.