Parents, not enrichment centres, are key to result
-
HAPPYH:
Honestly nothing will change at least in the near future. So parents and enrichment centres together with assessment books and top school papers must help the students to academically excel. Of course, the school also plays a part but this percentage significantly varies.
Did they not slash the pay of you know who(s)? :evil:
Like i shared in another thread... I\"m still optimistic. There will be change. But change will take time. Change will need the human factors to also adapt. I don't mind if changes are periodic too and i DO see and hear abt them from our girls' teachers. Maintaining good rapport somehow opens up barriers and it gave us better understanding of their work and we appreciate them more for what they do. This way parents and teachers are learning partners and this benefits children.
Yes, definitely the school plays a big part. A school that supports its team of staff & teachers and enjoy cohesive work relationship is a school that'll be able to help students succeed. :celebrate:Chenonceau:
You bother because you care.Yeah lor... why do I even bother?
You bother because you have gone thru hell and back (actual experiences) in getting your sonny back on track... get his esteem back... get his motivation back... get his spirit back... and of course get his childhood back in the end too.
So you bother because you care.
You care about how things got so cocked-up in the first place when it shouldn't.
You care about the disparity amongst schools. We are not even talking top school vs neighbourhood schools here.
You care because you know had you not made sacrifices with regards to your job demands, your son may have had to pay the price and how many parents can or have the choice to do so in an increasingly freaking expensive 1st world country we live in where in some cases having a double income is mandatory?
You care because like the rest of us from kampong days we had teachers who do all the work and we all did fine. Plus we had a LOT OF play time and wonderful childhood memories filled with loads of fun and mischief. You had less kampong time due to temporary overseas arrangement but I'm sure not that it was less fun.Chenonceau:
Coming here to rant or complain is one thing... cos honestly i come in awhile these days to back read... and these complains can actually generate into actual concrete feedback and if they can be reconstructed as positive feedback and channeled to the right people and departments, change may come faster than just coming in here to lament abt situations.I think I will be a good girl and stop complaining. It's not for us to wonder why. It's just for us to do or die.
I've also met a couple of sheeps myself.. however i was lucky that the overheads (HODs and Principals) have a fantastic open door policy where parents are welcome to come in to chat or express certain concerns that they find needed to be addressed. The overheads are pro-active and they revert back periodically to improve situations as per discussed. Things/People were taken to task and issues get resolved very quickly too i must say.
One Principal whom i hold in awe till today shared an opening address to parents during a P1 briefing, \"Take down this number. It's the number to my office. Call me directly if you think you cannot speak to the teachers. I can be the mediator. We have no enmity amongst us. We are all here for the children... our children. As a family, a big family, we try first to solve within the family. No point going all the way to MOE when the same issue will come back to us anyway... long way to u-turn. Every parent is welcome to speak to my teachers and myself and if we are tight on schedule we WILL rearrange a better time. So call me.. call my teachers... in fact we'll call you too. No noo nooo! Calls are not just for bad news yeah.. My teachers and i believe in parents as learning partners and let's work together to provide our children with the best we can. If you receive a call from us, please don't be too quick to ask... \"Now what did my child do this time?\"
Remember, our doors are always open for you. Let's keep our communication open so that we can all improve on the ways we can help our children achieve their best potentials.\"
She was the first Principal with an opening address that required NO SCRIPT. :salute: Such sincerity... so you bet there was nothing short of a roaring applause from the floor after that... followed by nodding parents gesturing a united agreement... \"We've landed ourselves a good school here...\" :evil:Chenonceau:
Yes, thank you NIKE and thank you Chenonceau... for parents like all of us... we just do it cos we care about our children... and we just do it cos as parents like everyone else, we only want the best for our children.... regardless how best is measured by each one of us.Just Do It.
Thank you Nike!
So there. No one is saying we should back down or give up on this mammoth feat of change. I too am in for it... but hopefully with better channeling of energy other than the usual :rant: ones. We have shared many a suggestion in various threads where parents lament the lack of ......... :idea: Perhaps a new thread with header : SUGGESTIONS for a better education system for our Primary School Children would be better? And no ranting there too.. only positives. Changes we hope to see. Changes we hope can change the nature of education that exists today.
While i have been rather fortunate (most times) with my children's schools and teachers who teach them, i have my fair share of :rant: abt those uhh sheeps from the dark side too. So NOPE, the schools are well run because good systems are in place and continued with every new principal change over a few years. But the human factor in a human-dependent industry is what truly matters. With the suggestions from us parents and also the feedback from the teachers' end with regards to the constraints they are facing and not forgetting the kind of support the Principals hope to have... hopefully it'd be a better way of channeling everything (that we have all discussed, slammed, complained, feedbacked about) on a legit platform where someone who holds the reins... who can make change happen... can \"truly\" listen.. digest.. and yes MUST make something happen.
Not just lip service and small talk. :spank:
Actual change. :grphug:
Within given timeline, not own sweet time. :xedfingers:
Here were mine (suggestions) from the other thread.
> http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=692147#p692147
> http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=692175#p692175
PS. My views are based solely on our good experiences with the schools the kids have attended or are still attending. This just means that it IS POSSIBLE to have things in place. Just that why some are better run than others?
While i don't wish to go into people politics, it may also be a factor in some schools where the disparity amongst staffs and the issue of seniority and noobies may contribute to some having better materials than others i.e.. not sharing... what's mine is mine and will benefit my own students?
I've had the misfortune to have one male teacher teaching my DD1 with horrible English (speaking and written) and only run slides during Science lessons. Boi did i transform into one angry bird awrite... :mad: I took it up with him first and then the boss. He made immediate efforts and immediate change and i shared my resources to give him a headstart. No issues... parents as learning partners mah.. So while some schools do have fab systems and pgrms in place, there are notti teachers who don't adhere.. are plain unmotivated (bo chap attitude).. and downright just there for the money.. -
ksi:
:rotflmao:If everyone needs to go through a hardship camp to understand poverty and hardship, then let me be the first to milk money out of everyone like tuition. :rotflmao:
Just to let you know in reality, such camps already exists in China. The new generation well-off Chinese breeds a generation of ill-bred and spoilt kids so when the parents could not cope with them anymore, they send them away for 3 months, I think, to a hardship camp in a rural part of China and pay for these camps of course! The outcome is the camp shocked the kids' system and some would change for the better and some would only get a temp fix and back to their old ways.
So parents, why do we want to make mistakes and let the businessmen fix the mistakes for us and sometimes only temporary? :?
Yet another iron rice bowl? :rubhands:
:rotflmao: -
buds:
You want this new up and rising iron rice bowl?
:rotflmao:ksi:
If everyone needs to go through a hardship camp to understand poverty and hardship, then let me be the first to milk money out of everyone like tuition. :rotflmao:
Just to let you know in reality, such camps already exists in China. The new generation well-off Chinese breeds a generation of ill-bred and spoilt kids so when the parents could not cope with them anymore, they send them away for 3 months, I think, to a hardship camp in a rural part of China and pay for these camps of course! The outcome is the camp shocked the kids' system and some would change for the better and some would only get a temp fix and back to their old ways.
So parents, why do we want to make mistakes and let the businessmen fix the mistakes for us and sometimes only temporary? :?
Yet another iron rice bowl? :rubhands:
:rotflmao:
-
Ohh geez.. u know.. i'm living the typical neighbourhood lifestyle... so that rice bowl can be easily done over at my place. I'll whip em' kids into shape in no time. Parents will have their children back like a newborn baby un-tinted and with EQ they gotta take time to adjust to.
Plus... :idea: ...soo great with housework too... so much so that you can all send your helpers back where they belong. :evil:
Anyone interested? :moneyflies:
:rotflmao: -
psle2011mum:
Because nothing changed hah? See now... other people have been there and done that. Nothing changed.c. I have tried to engage the MOE Curriculum specialists on the issue of better textbooks in 2009 [ long story as to how a group of Mummies got this 'lobang\", but it involved someone knowing the then Minister of Education - not me though - I just tagged along]; I found them really nice people --- they took the time to hear me out, look at all my materials [ this was for Science where I tried to show the inadequacy of the textbooks and also the poor QC for quite a number of school papers] and well, let's just say in 2011, when I had to revisit PSLE, I decided that doing it my way was still the way to go.
2ppaamm:
I'm not sure it'll help. I can get access with the asking but I dun wanna go alone. It's not just my problem. It's all ours. Besides, you heard psle2011mum, they tried in 2009. It's 2012. The last time I looked into the Science textbooks, they still look like Her World magazines to me.Opportunity to have your views heard at the highest level in education in Singapore. If you want to attend, PM me. It will be great to meet some of you.
Maybe we should get together and construct a case for Chen Show Mao. Give him the data and the logic, and then let him speak in Parliament. See... if this person (Ho Peng http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=698742#p698742, in charge of curriculum AND teachers' professional development) doesn't believe in our feedback (and believe me, I have given so much feedback both here and in meetings) and blocks all attempts to change, there is little Heng Swee Keat, Lawrence Wong and Sim Ann can do. They would have to move very carefully around Lee Hsien Loong's sister-in-law.
These issues deserve a parliamentary airing, and Chen Show Mao speaks well and convincingly.2ppaamm:
2ppaamm... it's good to have you here... I'm tired and very discouraged. It's good to breathe in your verve.Well, cannot give up. Can take a break from it. I have already taken all the kids out of the system because I think it does not make sense for my kids, for the public education does not add to their future. But that does not mean I give up. This is homeland, and we are true blue Singaporeans. Already, we can feel the invasion of a 'third kind' - imported scholars, workers, executives, businessmen etc. If we don't fight for our own children's future, who will?
It also does not mean all of us should only worry about our own kids. We need to worry about our future. When we are old, who will chart our directions, who will ensure we are well taken care of. That big money in the place called 'reserve' was partly earned by my father, mother, my husband and me. I want somebody to administer it properly, ethically for me. Unless we raise our kids (yours, mine and that Philip and Ah Kow) properly, our future will be doomed.
I have a buffer to go somewhere else with an alternative residency. Even I am not giving up. Nobody should.2ppaamm:
I agree on both points.The best schooled children are the ones with the most dedicated parents. The most fortunate ones. Look at the number of successes we get from children of KSP. This is very similar to homeschooled kids. I have not read all of this thread, but if this has not been mentioned, US data has shown that homeschool kids outstage their public-schooled counterparts.
That is why, even top colleges are wooing homeschooled children. Singapore government is not encouraging this, but we can see that many parents are already doing this while still sending kids to school, because we know it makes sense. Parents are indeed the best teachers. No doubt about it. As for enrichment centers. Er... :censored: who wouldn't want money thrown at them? (as one of my China students related how naive Singapore parents are. We are a bunch of clowns.)
(1) Many KSP-ers as good as homeschool their kids after regular school (especially in P5 & P6). I wish I had started earlier though... I should have sat up and taken notice of my son from P1. Might have been able to save him a lotta pain... EVEN THOUGH he looked at me as if I were crazy :siao: and said \"No Mom... I got a good deal. I spent 4 years goofing off and 2 years mugging. That is preferred to 6 years mugging.\"
(2) Singaporeans are naive. Very. We believe everything people tell us. -
buds:
Pretty much sums it up. I didn't know you understood. :snuggles:
You bother because you care.
You bother because you have gone thru hell and back (actual experiences) in getting your sonny back on track... get his esteem back... get his motivation back... get his spirit back... and of course get his childhood back in the end too.
So you bother because you care.
You care about how things got so cocked-up in the first place when it shouldn't.
You care about the disparity amongst schools. We are not even talking top school vs neighbourhood schools here.
You care because you know had you not made sacrifices with regards to your job demands, your son may have had to pay the price and how many parents can or have the choice to do so in an increasingly freaking expensive 1st world country we live in where in some cases having a double income is mandatory?
You care because like the rest of us from kampong days we had teachers who do all the work and we all did fine. Plus we had a LOT OF play time and wonderful childhood memories filled with loads of fun and mischief. You had less kampong time due to temporary overseas arrangement but I'm sure not that it was less fun.buds:
It isn't just for our children. It's for everyone else's children that come after ours. I know it's too late for DS. 2ppaamm said it well. It's for the Singapore we will grow old in.Yes, thank you NIKE and thank you Chenonceau... for parents like all of us... we just do it cos we care about our children... and we just do it cos as parents like everyone else, we only want the best for our children.... regardless how best is measured by each one of us.
-
Chenonceau:
lagi wanna find out who are the suppliers of these lousy textbooks.
Maybe we should get together and construct a case for Chen Show Mao. Give him the data and the logic, and then let him speak in Parliament. See... if this person (Ho Peng http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=698742#p698742, in charge of curriculum AND teachers' professional development) doesn't believe in our feedback (and believe me, I have given so much feedback both here and in meetings) and blocks all attempts to change, there is little Heng Swee Keat, Lawrence Wong and Sim Ann can do. They would have to move very carefully around Lee Hsien Loong's sister-in-law.
These issues deserve a parliamentary airing, and Chen Show Mao speaks well and convincingly. -
looking4Tutor:
All ex-teachers.
lagi wanna find out who are the suppliers of these lousy textbooks.Chenonceau:
Maybe we should get together and construct a case for Chen Show Mao. Give him the data and the logic, and then let him speak in Parliament. See... if this person (Ho Peng http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=698742#p698742, in charge of curriculum AND teachers' professional development) doesn't believe in our feedback (and believe me, I have given so much feedback both here and in meetings) and blocks all attempts to change, there is little Heng Swee Keat, Lawrence Wong and Sim Ann can do. They would have to move very carefully around Lee Hsien Loong's sister-in-law.
These issues deserve a parliamentary airing, and Chen Show Mao speaks well and convincingly. -
Chenonceau:
Just want to highlight that there is a growing population of elite new Singaporeans amongst us.
(2) Singaporeans are naive. Very. We believe everything people tell us. -
I have been wondering about these lousy textbooks issues. Why are the current teachers not complaining if it hinders their teaching progress? Is it not more effective for the pro to make this point strongly to MOE? Not that I am condoning the lousy textbooks, I am wondering if the teachers are using computer resources in school to supplement the textbooks which may be unknown to us? This is the digital age, could it be they put a lot of resources digitally? If so, perhaps it only takes a briefing to the parents to solve this? It suddenly dawn on me that my child has access to e-learning materials but I don't look at them so cannot comment much. I believe Marshall cavendish offers this digital service to schools. Our kids are young, we cannot expect them to be able to link up everything and tell us the full picture on resources.
Maybe we should request MOE to subsidise or give our kids e-textbooks instead, then info can be always updated and they can even video some teaching lessons from school and help parents to re-cap with their children at home since I hear so many parents are so hands on except me.
Of course the caveat here is any materials copied and used commercially will be heavily prosecuted. And parents have to discipline and ensure children go to school daily and not always think of homeschooling.
I am happy to offer myself for the trial.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better š
Register Login
Online Users
Statistics
Popular Topics