Intellect or Age Peer?
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O, got a link that talks about this. Those 3 international arms of local schools are not considered 'international' schools. http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20071122-37914.html
Found the quote from MOE so like MOE, \"But the MOE stressed that the Government prefers Singaporeans to attend local schools for the purpose of building a national identity.
'Singaporean children should be educated in an environment that embraces the history and culture of Singapore, in particular, the multi-racial and multi-religious characteristics of Singapore'
International schools are less multi-racial and multi-religious??? It is by now a common knowledge why Singapore government makes it so difficult for locals, especially gifted boys to enroll in international schools. They want to 'create that national identity' (brain wash?). So even when the kid has problems, it is very difficult to get approved for international school. Easier for girls. -
2ppaamm:
Anyway, my son's friend who is perfectly fine, went to get a psychologist to state that he is asperger's and then got permission to enroll in an international-international school (not one of these local ones).
I kept asking an educational psychologist what good is it to get a formal diagnosis for the kid who displayed behaviours on the ASD spectrum? Why nowadays it seems that once a kid could not really \"fit\" into pre-schools or schools or the \"kwai kwai\" type would be deemed \"special\" and thus parents got to go see psychologist to see if anything wrong (most times the pyschologist also seems clueless only know how to ask a lot of questions).
This educational pyschologist said it is mainly for the School System, to help to get deferment in Chinese, to get more understanding and help from the teachers. I thought to myself, how about to defer NS? :evil: :evil: -
Chenonceau:
Content realism - my friend shared with me how her then P6 son's writing on terrorism was considered unrealistic. How can that be when security was stepped up and tightened following the aftermath of Sept 11 attack? I was going through some compo guides. One book particularly emphasizes on what one should not write about - deaths, terrorist threats etc. It even advises against writing events that stretch over a few days. In short, it is best to conclude the events within the day. :faint:
I think that if you bring your child to a high competence in writing overall (and do maintenance work through the years), you can wait till P6 to train to the rubrics. However, if the child is not of good competence in writing, no amount of rubrics training will help. For example, if the child has no vocabulary, no sense of the dramatic, it's no use telling the child in P6 that his compos are too imaginative - won't help his marks. One of the rubrics in P6 is Content Realism. Come on... how fun is it to write a story that is completely realistic when you're a little kid? So... when Little Boy was small, I never required realism. Instead, I celebrated every evidence of the imaginative. Then in P6, it's no effort bringing in Content Realism. One shouldn't be spending years training a kid to lack in imagination.chamonix:
I can totally understand this part, which is why I have been thinking about sending them for writing classes. You see, I can't and don't know how to teach nor drill them on the rubrics of compo writing required by school. Maybe, overtime they will learn to. But I too want to save them from unnecessary pains.
Oops, shouldn't this be in the thread on \"parents, not enrichment centers, is the key\"?
Can the moderators please move the discussions unrelated to giftedness to the relevant threads? Thanks!
I enjoy writing and I know how to write. My kids and I had great fun writing together. They read my writing and I read theirs, without marking. Just read and laughed. I also like Science and trivia, so there were plenty of such related materials in the house. In PSLE year, both these subjects are low stress subjects. Hardly need to spend time because it isn't too difficult in P6 to layer on the rubrics once your competence is already there.
The subjects that trip us up (fail) are those we never bothered to have fun with - Chinese and Math. I don't like Math and so we never played with that. I had very few materials in Math at home. So Math materials were all meant for school, no extras beyond because I found it not fun. Now I know better, I consciously go about getting Math materials because even if I dun find it fun, I realise he does (and that all this fun adds up to school results). Also he is older now and can actually ask me to buy stuff he likes.
How does your son find the Edward Zaccaro's books?
Both 2ppaamm's and your children are very blessed to have you ladies as mothers. Don't dwell too much on what you didn't do. From what you shared about your son, he is an intelligent, fine young man. Kudos for doing a great job! :rahrah: -
2ppaamm:
ACS International and Hwa Chong International only offers a programme from secondary onwards so this article is talking about children getting into international schools mainly at the primary level which only goes by exception. I suppose that is why statistics from them are left out. At the primary level, MOE needs to be consulted before the children can get out of a local system whereas at secondary, from what I know of my friends' kids, their children can opt to go to the ACSInternational and HCInternational for an IB education without having to subscribe to a MOE secondary school at all.O, got a link that talks about this. Those 3 international arms of local schools are not considered 'international' schools. http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20071122-37914.html
Found the quote from MOE so like MOE, \"But the MOE stressed that the Government prefers Singaporeans to attend local schools for the purpose of building a national identity.
'Singaporean children should be educated in an environment that embraces the history and culture of Singapore, in particular, the multi-racial and multi-religious characteristics of Singapore'
International schools are less multi-racial and multi-religious??? It is by now a common knowledge why Singapore government makes it so difficult for locals, especially gifted boys to enroll in international schools. They want to 'create that national identity' (brain wash?). So even when the kid has problems, it is very difficult to get approved for international school. Easier for girls.
However, it is interesting to note that going to international schools like SAS or UWC at secondary level needs letter from the doctor. -
ksi:
As far as I know or understand, every Singaporean international school applicant needs to get an MOE approval, even in SJI (btw, SJI has a primary school arm and still not covered in this article). The only difference is that the approval is 'automatic' compared to the international/international schools. For example, all the 3 local-international schools cannot accept students below 12 years old, this is laid down by MOE. Also, there is a 'quota' to how many Singaporeans they can take, and often, the kids are put on the waitlist not because they have no space, but because MOE refuse to increase the quota. The MOE is aware of the lack of control on the nationalistic education once a child is immersed in the international school culture. So while MOE does not necessarily control who goes to these local-international schools, it appears they do control the number of Singaporeans going there.
ACS International and Hwa Chong International only offers a programme from secondary onwards so this article is talking about children getting into international schools mainly at the primary level which only goes by exception. I suppose that is why statistics from them are left out. At the primary level, MOE needs to be consulted before the children can get out of a local system whereas at secondary, from what I know of my friends' kids, their children can opt to go to the ACSInternational and HCInternational for an IB education without having to subscribe to a MOE secondary school at all.2ppaamm:
O, got a link that talks about this. Those 3 international arms of local schools are not considered 'international' schools. http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20071122-37914.html
Found the quote from MOE so like MOE, \"But the MOE stressed that the Government prefers Singaporeans to attend local schools for the purpose of building a national identity.
'Singaporean children should be educated in an environment that embraces the history and culture of Singapore, in particular, the multi-racial and multi-religious characteristics of Singapore'
International schools are less multi-racial and multi-religious??? It is by now a common knowledge why Singapore government makes it so difficult for locals, especially gifted boys to enroll in international schools. They want to 'create that national identity' (brain wash?). So even when the kid has problems, it is very difficult to get approved for international school. Easier for girls.
However, it is interesting to note that going to international schools like SAS or UWC at secondary level needs letter from the doctor.
All the 4 international schools (local-international and international-international) I asked told me that the MOE approval is hard to get for my son's (gifted boy) case from experience, but they welcomed a try ($$$ upon application and administration of entrance tests). My son was applying for grade 9, which is Sec 3. I'm not sure why there is a difference between your friend's case. Perhaps you can tell us more so that we can learn from it? I'd like to know more. What is 'subscribe to any MOE school'? I thought once you are in the international schools, you are out of the MOE system? Were your friend's kids overseas for 2 or more years? :?
Btw, MOE is not being consulted, they approve - ultimate authority. Without this approval, the international school cannot enroll the student. I know of a case where the Singaporean child has never attended a Singapore school, but is gifted because he had won many awards overseas, and studied overseas. When he came back, MOE disapproved him going to an international school. So he was forced to go to a local school, and he really could not get used to the Singapore system. So even for kids who were away for more than 2 years, it is difficult, especially if you are a gifted boy. -
Hi 2ppaamm, you were saying that gifted boys will find it especially hard to get approval to go to international schools. In your case do you think it was because your son would have skipped grades if he had gone to an international school and MOE frowns upon grade skipping?
I wasn’t aware that MOE approval was required for local students to attend SJI International and ACS International and that there was a quota on it. Quite a few of my friends have enrolled their kids in SJI International. They said they went for a test and interview at the school and were given offers conditional on their PSLE performance. -
It's because MOE wants to keep gifted kids in the local school system.
From MOE website:
The Ministry of Education (MOE) formally identifies the academically gifted and caters to the top 1% of the national cohort through the Gifted Education Programme (GEP), beginning at Primary 4. It also caters for the exceptionally gifted.
In meeting the needs of the exceptionally gifted, MOE is guided by the following principles. First, these children should be in our Singapore school system. Second, they should receive a well-rounded education. Cognitive development should not be achieved at the expense of the development in the moral, social, physical and aesthetic domains. Third, the recommended interventions would be made within the constraints of existing resources. -
jtoh:
2ppaamm, Yes this is the same experience of my friends and they got in after PSLE but they are girls, is that the difference? :?Hi 2ppaamm, you were saying that gifted boys will find it especially hard to get approval to go to international schools. In your case do you think it was because your son would have skipped grades if he had gone to an international school and MOE frowns upon grade skipping?
I wasn't aware that MOE approval was required for local students to attend SJI International and ACS International and that there was a quota on it. Quite a few of my friends have enrolled their kids in SJI International. They said they went for a test and interview at the school and were given offers conditional on their PSLE performance. -
2ppaamm:
Maybe I confuse you, what I mean is exactly what you think. Once they go international school, they are out of MOE system forever. And these children went to local primary school but switched to international school for secondary education.What is 'subscribe to any MOE school'? I thought once you are in the international schools, you are out of the MOE system? Were your friend's kids overseas for 2 or more years? :?
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Sorry, getting confused. I thought we are talking about primary school-aged kids entering international schools? For that, MOE’s approval is required. In 2ppaamm’s son’s case, he is below 12 years old right? Is this also the case for the boy who returned from overseas?
I do think MOE is getting smarter at crafting their rules. A lot of hedging so that they can continue to have a gatekeeping role.
(Ahh, just saw above post. cross-post)
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