Help on english for secondary school kid

[mrswongtuition]

daisyt:

Huang:

Hi there,

Need suggestion on how to help my boy's english. He is doing pretty badly in school (in secondary 2 now).
He is failing both sections and in the composition section all the teacher's comments revolve around fair effort or you should work on your grammar. What could be wrong? I have went to tutors that have said that he has this or that problem... However, as we change the tutors, the problem changes too.
What should I do?

Hi Huang, since he is already in Sec 2, I guess he has to put in more effort to sort things right. Apart from reading those Nat Geo, Asia Geo, Readers Digest as suggested by a few parents here, he has to go a bit further. My suggestion is every day, choose an article from these magazines, read, identify the difficult words, find the meanings, make sentences from the difficult words, write a review on the article (reader's review). He can also get a small notebook to write down all the difficult words he has encountered and revise when he has free time. He can also do the above for newspaper articles. You can also get him those model essays to read and do the above. My girl was exposed to this type of teaching when in P6 and now in Sec 1.

What are the methods the tutors used to make him improve ? Simply doing assessment books for languages, is not helping much.

What are the syllabus taught in your son's school for English ? What are types of work he does in school and the type of homework he is doing at home ?

Actually alot of kids (even in sec sch) need someone to sit beside them to 'force' them to do a book review or even read an article!

RE: Tutors' methods
There are many different tutors out there & many have different methods. If you are lucky, you'll find a suitable tutor for your child. Some children are more independent, you can ask them to read as homework & during tuition is discussion/learning time. Some children need to be guided into reading, so the tutor has to spend time making the child read the article.

I do change my teaching style according to the student. There are students which I have to 'force' them to sit down and do their work, there are students which are able to finish their work at home & tuition is purely for teaching (either corrections or new concepts).

You should speak to the tutor on your expectations and what you hope they can do with your child.

[daisyt]

hi mrswongtuition, what is the best way to study English poems and be good in it ? Any good guide books or methods to recommend ? Thanks

[lovethekids]

Hello hopeful4future,


I am a newly joined member, was currently looking for English enrichment or rather tuition for my son sec one next year.

Can I have your nephew tutor contact?

Thank you

hopeful4future:

Hello Huang, Thought i should share my experience... My nephew also face the same problem when he entered sec school as its really a big difference from primary school. He got in touch with a tutor who taught him the right methods and showed some improvement.

Actually for languages he should also read up a lot. Does your son read? Maybe its the tutor's way of teaching. The tutor my nephew had gave him a lot of practices and had good tips on essay writing. She focus on forming his ideas and gave him reading materials to supplement. She is quite effective, and said its impt cos in JC they will have general paper. i can pm you the contact for her if you want.

Maybe your son should try to read more, it will help for languages.. How is he doing in mother tongue?

I'm really quite afraid of my kids entering secondary school cos of the big jump, so i'm trying to do all i can to secure their foundation in languages now :lol: so far for english they are ok but their mandarin grades are very poor!

Cheers and good luck

p.s. i pm-ed you this earlier, but realise i should post it up


~We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.

[SoWoW]

mummies who gotta the tutor’s contact number from hopeful4future, how is the tutor?

[lovethekids]

Hi All,


Can you post the English tutor contact referred from hopeful4future? I am eagerly looking for one.

Thank you so much


lovethekids

SoWoW:

mummies who gotta the tutor's contact number from hopeful4future, how is the tutor?

[Rishisusee]

Hi Mummies My DD will be in Sec 1 next year and I would like to get suggestion from you that What type of English books she has to read ? Please help me by giving name of few books for english Practice


TIA

[sharonkhoo]

Rishisusee:

Hi Mummies My DD will be in Sec 1 next year and I would like to get suggestion from you that What type of English books she has to read ? Please help me by giving name of few books for english Practice


TIA

Are you referring to fiction? What books is she reading currently? You can ask her to get books from the 'young adults' section of public libraries - most of those books are the right level for sec school kids.

If you are asking about 'school' type books, I can't help you.

[Sweet Joy]

Personally, I think reading is best and should be cultivated when the child is young. By the time the child progresses through to secondary school, he will have lesser time to read. Nonetheless, this good habit is still important and should be continued.


I recently got my child's composition assessed to find out her strengths and weaknesses. There is a detailed report that comes with it. So those who want Paper 1 help can try this service, Quintessentially Writing.

Find a good tutor or centre that can help your child this holiday. It takes time to build language skills.

[IceOaks]

I am a recently resigned MOE Teacher who had been teaching English Language in Secondary Schools for the past 7 years, and am familiar with the new 2013 Syllabus for English language. I am looking to become a private tutor.


If you need a tutor for English, drop me a msg. I still have a few slots available.

Cheers.

[whitebelt]

Dear hopeful4future, 


I am a newly joined member, was currently looking for English tuition for my son sec one next year and hope can start Tuition class during school holiday.

Can I have your nephew tutor contact? 

Thank you