Parents, not enrichment centres, are key to result
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pinball:
Because they have more spare time to relook at different teaching strategies/ methodology.mamemo:
Maybe we should change the title to 'tuition teachers, not school teachers are key to result'
But a lot of these tution teachers used to be school teachers so why suddenly they know to teach hor? -
janet_lee88:
P5 exams test P6 difficulty. Sure... the exams follow the syllabus in that Speed is not covered till P6, and thus Speed questions don't come out. However the difficulty of the questions from the topics that are introduced in P5 and deepened in P6, are pitched at P6 level.
Enrichment/tuition prior P5 preparation can't seem to prepare a child when he/she faces the first CA. My son cried when he came home last year...my hubby couldn't understand either.buds:
And like Janet has reiterated many times over... P5 is THE YEAR! *gulp*
*Cannot Make It* :roll:
The more desperate a school is to get results, the more motivated it is to test HARD. At the end of the day, no one holds the school accountable for children's mental well-being. If a school intends to CLAW its way to good results, then the easiest way to do so is to test HARD.
This way, a whole chain of events is sparked.
Parents see failure marks and engage tutors, look for resources to bring the kids up to a pass, which may well be (in some schools) at the PSLE t-score 230 mark already - of this I am only guessing. Please don't take this as gospel truth. Even I am taking no chances at assuming this to be true, and whilst I have heard and understood that some parents say the PSLE is much easier, I ain't gonna take a chance with my son. I'll only be sure at the end of this year.
A whole village is thus activated to help the failing child cope... and this costs the school nothing in extra resources. Principals can then use Teacher time for other things. Now, why are schools so keen to CLAW their way up to good PSLE scores?
(1)Because the MOE incentivises schools for their academic performance. Schools that do well get more money to spend on their kids.
(2) Because PSLE scores open the way to good schools. DD came home after chatting with a guy who topped his cohort in a 2nd tier JC. This guy said \"I chose this over the top school because I could get to the top in this school and be given the choicest opportunities such as Overseas CIP.\" DD was puzzled but was sweet enough to keep her mouth shut. She said \"Mom, in my school EVERYONE goes for OCIP\". The top schools simply have more developmental opportunities.
Since good schools represent a basket of choice opportunities (funded by the money MOE gives for stellar results), parents become obsessed with good schools and the PSLE t-score that'll get their kids in there. They will pooh-pooh schools that WISELY and STUBBORNLY care for the whole child and REFUSE to bend to the crazy pressure of the PSLE. Such schools refuse to test HARD, and therefore, they fail to terrorise parents into spending money and time to hothouse their kids towards PSLE's \"the sky is the limit\". Hence, in such schools, school results are not artificially boosted by a whole village of tutors (10 for each child). However, such schools content themselves with doing poorly at the PSLE.
Freeloader Schools
It's one thing when you are in a school that tests hard but at the same time gives copious high quality notes. It's quite another when you are in a school that tests hard but gives NO notes. In the first case, the school tests what they teach. In the 2nd, the school is merely a freeloader.
Freeloader Teachers
Unfortunately for DS, in P5 and P6, his English Teacher is a complete freeloader... his Chinese Teacher is tries but she really cannot help him because his Chinese is so poor compared to P5 standards... and his Math/Science Teacher tries (but believes also that the smart ones naturally know).
DS handed up an English compo in the 2nd week of January. It was returned to him unmarked. I made a photocopy and returned the compo back to the Teacher with a sweet note, for marking. He passed up another compo 2 weeks ago. CA1 English exams have come and gone. Teacher has not returned either compo. All that my son knows about compo writing in P5, I taught him myself with advice from KSP. He also received a great foundation from his P4 Teacher. His P5 English Teacher could just be abducted by aliens one day and it would make NO DIFFERENCE to the academic life of her students, except maybe spare them easy and time-consuming homework.
Heavy Content
P5 content is very heavy in itself. To master P5 content is already not easy. In the 2nd half of P4, my son ASKED to be taught P5 work. He saw that all his friends were doing so already in P4. These children do well in P5 because they've had time to ABSORB the heavy content. In P5, teachers TEACH some concepts but have no time to reinforce before testing begins. If I had yielded to my son's request to expose him to P5 work, we would not have had to scramble in early P5. I was AMAZED at my son's absorption rate. In a matter of weeks, he could understand, absorb and apply stuff Teachers taught AND did not teach... but still tested , whilst his classmates with tuition had been doing P5 stuff since July of P4.
Time! Time! Time!
Eventually, he did well in P5 but we had to run a VERY tight ship by being very disciplined about the following...
(1) Don't waste time with poor quality resources.
(2) Dig and hustle to get resources written by SCHOOLS or TUITION CENTRES.
(3) Have iron clad PLAYTIME. Don't underestimate the power of play to help absorption of material learnt.
(4) Know that your child's time and energy is limited. It got to a point when I was assessing the value of spending time at every turn. I managed my son's time like he was a highly paid executive whose every hour was charged at $500.
(5) Don't even overdo good resources. We only skimmed Onsponge and did 2 questions from each sub-unit.
(6) Write excuses for the PILES and PILES of easy homework because rest and sleep is important.
(7) I managed his time like I managed my consulting workload. Prioritise and if the stupid stuff does not get done, then don't do... or else delegate stupid stuff to someone else. In P5, I did all his art and craft homework.
If you manage time well, you really can do more. And in P5, content is so heavy that time management is really everything. Do that well and half the battle is won. -
Hi Chenonceau,
You are SPOT ON !
Many of the primary schools are free loaders…they don’t have to do anything and yet the kids are still able to produce results. Naturally MOE can praise itself for having world class education system.
Set harder papers and parents will scramble to find tutors…then when kids can get them done…set EVEN harder ones. The cycle never ends. -
jedamum:
*gulp* Thank you. *gulp* :nailbite:
although my kid has 2 tuition, i want to be inspired that it is do-able to do well with none..buds:
And no... not many children have tuition.
Mine doesn't.
Yet. :scared:
Last year's teachers were beyond extraordinary! :please:
This year (now only Feb some more)... teachers are all
different and we're beginning to see *CMI traits. :nailbite:
And like Janet has reiterated many times over... P5 is THE YEAR! *gulp*
*Cannot Make It* :roll:
jiayou buds!
Let's see how it goes.. :hugs:
PS. Didn't realize u started DS on tuition..
Time for another round of ice cream to catch up agn, aye?
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What!?! There’s art and craft homework at P5!?!
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doodbug:
What!?! There's art and craft homework at P5!?!
My son has English worksheets everyday...thank goodness he is not taking HCL or else no need to sleep.
Mum reminded me to hands-off so as not to burn him out. I can't even slot in anything else...definitely have to hands off. It's only this week he has no homework. Next week back to square 1 again.
BTW, his CL teacher told him to re-do 2 compositions. Can't believe it...is she expecting 36/40 kinda of grade ? -
janet_lee88:
At least his Teacher marks the compos... Mine doesn't even do that.doodbug:
What!?! There's art and craft homework at P5!?!
My son has English worksheets everyday...thank goodness he is not taking HCL or else no need to sleep.
Mum reminded me to hands-off so as not to burn him out. I can't even slot in anything else...definitely have to hands off. It's only this week he has no homework. Next week back to square 1 again.
BTW, his CL teacher told him to re-do 2 compositions. Can't believe it...is she expecting 36/40 kinda of grade ? -
Chenonceau,
The time management tips are very useful, but how many parents will have the time, energy, ability, guts, whatever, to
(1) plan and manage a child’s time and curriculum;
(2) suss out the useful from the unproductive resources;
(3) see to the child’s physical (enough rest and sleep) and mental and psychological well being;
(4) sieve out useless homework assignments.
I feel errr, pretty inadequate to handle these. No wonder many parents are feeling overwhelmed. -
doodbug:
When your child is in pain, a mother will find the resources somehow. There are tutors... When push comes to shove, MOE knows that parents are emotionally invested in our child. They make use of this to help their schools do well.Chenonceau,
The time management tips are very useful, but how many parents will have the time, energy, ability, guts, whatever, to
(1) plan and manage a child's time and curriculum;
(2) suss out the useful from the unproductive resources;
(3) see to the child's physical (enough rest and sleep) and mental and psychological well being;
(4) sieve out useless homework assignments.
I feel errr, pretty inadequate to handle these. No wonder many parents are feeling overwhelmed. -
doodbug:
We have to be very sensitive to our kids' energy and psychological well-being this year. Cannot allow school teachers to burn them at both ends.Chenonceau,
The time management tips are very useful, but how many parents will have the time, energy, ability, guts, whatever, to
(1) plan and manage a child's time and curriculum;
(2) suss out the useful from the unproductive resources;
(3) see to the child's physical (enough rest and sleep) and mental and psychological well being;
I get my son to take a nap in the afternoon...everything else can wait.
(4) sieve out useless homework assignments.
If not urgent, email teacher to tell her/him no time
I feel errr, pretty inadequate to handle these. No wonder many parents are feeling overwhelmed.
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