Is GEP really necessary?
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Really? Now I really feel stupid that I didn’t hothouse my son. I REALLY REALLY believed the MOE line that GEP is for the truly gifted, and we would hurt our children by sending for prep course.
Recently, DS’ teachers have made it a point to tell me NOT to send DS for tuition (I wasn’t going to anyway) BUT I do know teachers whose kids go to Learning Lab. Hmmmmmmmm… 说一套做的是另一套…[/quote]
Sad, but its true… I felt kind of stupid too. -
WOW!! I almost forego the GEP offer!!! Would be feeling triple stupid if I did!!! :evil:
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concern2:
A friend once told me that a number of her gal's GEP classmates attended Shichida/GD when they were younger. That was many years ago. I wonder if such correlation still exists today.
Found this definition from about.com:
Definition:
Hothouse children are children whose parents push them into learning more quickly and earlier than is appropriate for the cognitive age of the children.
The term comes from the verb \"hothousing,\" which researchers coined to refer to parents' attempts to create a \"superbaby,\" in other words, a genius.
These parents provide every type of enrichment they can for their child, beginning in infancy. They play classical music for their infants, and may even use flashcards to prepare their infant for reading and math. When their children become toddlers, the real lessons on reading and math begin, using either flashcards or other methods of instruction.
They also provide piano or violin lessons for their children, often starting when the children are three or four and make every effort to get their children into the \"best\" preschools, which they believe are the ones that emphasize academics.
Hothouse children are often overscheduled in activities their parents believe are essential to their children's success in life.
The two keys terms in this definition are \"push\" and \"cognitive age.\" Gifted children are not generally hothouse children even though they are learning material more quickly and earlier than most children their age. However, the learning is child-centered, which means the desire to learn comes from the child, not the parent.
Gifted children can also be hothouse children if and when their parents are the ones initiating - and insisting on - the early learning. -
Nebbermind:
WOW!! I almost forego the GEP offer!!! Would be feeling triple stupid if I did!!! :evil:
Yeah lor... then you will whip yourself hor.... That's even more kinky.
Kekekekekeke! Anyway, just be glad you accepted the offer. It's a good thing. You did the right thing for your child. :hugs: -
Both ds went through the GEP tests round 1 and round 2. But after the tests, both could not tell much on the types of questions that were tested. So were their friends. Not many people except the P3 kids have seen the GEP test paper. So I wonder how those GEP preparation class know what are the types of questions to be tested?
Btw, i also do not think there are many people sending their kids for GEP preparation class. Not that I know of in my ds school. Of course not many parents would like to admit too. -
Nebbermind:
WOW!! I almost forego the GEP offer!!! Would be feeling triple stupid if I did!!! :evil:
Really? I feel quadruply stupid. I accepted the GEP offer for my son to be there, and I realize my son doesn't fit because he was never hot housed! The GEP cannot accept children who want to learn themselves and are too inquisitive. For guai guai children, they survive better. The odd balls, those who have never known what a tuition room look like, or even done a single piece of homework (unfortunately, yes, my son did not do any of his homework from P1 to P3, and I didn't think it was important, because he received school academic awards anyway, and I was receiving too many behavior issues to handle.). A child like this won't survive in GEP as well. So, in order to survive in GEP, the kid has to know how to be hothoused, not too creative, and not too out of the norm. So silly, gifted = out of the norm mah...
For that matter, Einstein won't survive as well. He is weird as weird can be. Poor in communication and social skills. But that's why he was good. He could think differently! -
2ppaamm:
It is because your son didn't fit that my son would've. And he would have had 25 in his class.Nebbermind:
WOW!! I almost forego the GEP offer!!! Would be feeling triple stupid if I did!!! :evil:
Really? I feel quadruply stupid. I accepted the GEP offer for my son to be there, and I realize my son doesn't fit because he was never hot housed! The GEP cannot accept children who want to learn themselves and are too inquisitive. For guai guai children, they survive better. The odd balls, those who have never known what a tuition room look like, or even done a single piece of homework (unfortunately, yes, my son did not do any of his homework from P1 to P3, and I didn't think it was important, because he received school academic awards away). A child like this won't survive in GEP as well. So, in order to survive in GEP, the kid has to know how to be hothoused, not too creative, and not too out of the norm. So silly, gifted = out of the norm mah... -
drickymummy:
Yup.. it is definitely not that easy to get a CO from the 2 popular boy schools even for the GEPpers. There are also quite a number of GEPpers who did not do so well in the PSLE. I wondered if these GEPpers were in the mainstream where there are so much more drill and practice for each subjects, would they have done better in the PSLE and to get into the 'top schools' through the S1 posting. And which is better, to be in GEP for 3 years but because of less drilling and less preparation time and not able to go to so called 'top schools' or not to be in the GEP but because of the better preparation in the mainstream and hence achieve better PSLE result and go the so called 'top sec schools'?
From wat I understand, even for GEPpers to apply for DSA ...there is still not guaranteed CO.. It still depends on the child's performance.. There r till cases of kids who dun get CO from all these 9 centers. If CO are so easily obtained by GEPpers, then maybe that will make me a less worried mom..
or maybe I just think of the worst scenarios always... -
PiggyLalala:
haha... so confusing. Like all education systems in the world!
Yup.. it is definitely not that easy to get a CO from the 2 popular boy schools even for the GEPpers. There are also quite a number of GEPpers who did not do so well in the PSLE. I wondered if these GEPpers were in the mainstream where there are so much more drill and practice for each subjects, would they have done better in the PSLE and to get into the 'top schools' through the S1 posting. And which is better, to be in GEP for 3 years but because of less drilling and less preparation time and not able to go to so called 'top schools' or not to be in the GEP but because of the better preparation in the mainstream and hence achieve better PSLE result and go the so called 'top sec schools'?drickymummy:
From wat I understand, even for GEPpers to apply for DSA ...there is still not guaranteed CO.. It still depends on the child's performance.. There r till cases of kids who dun get CO from all these 9 centers. If CO are so easily obtained by GEPpers, then maybe that will make me a less worried mom.. or maybe I just think of the worst scenarios always...
That day, I was at this conference and my funny friend introduced me to the speaker, and told him how my kids can make it to the university at a very young age. His first question was, \"Do you homeschool them?\" He is American.
People in the know are aware the best schools are at home! I have to keep reminding myself... GEP will all its hype and carrots, still cannot beat the best school in the world, with the best system. -
2ppaamm:
You probably meant it tongue-in-cheek, but your post implies that to fit in as a GEPper you need to have been hot-housed. I have to disagree. Also as I have posted previously, my dd had classmates who were anything but quiet and obedient in class and asked all manner of questions and disrupted the class but were handled very well by the teachers. Teachers who accepted their quirks and did not put them down in answering their questions.Nebbermind:
WOW!! I almost forego the GEP offer!!! Would be feeling triple stupid if I did!!! :evil:
Really? I feel quadruply stupid. I accepted the GEP offer for my son to be there, and I realize my son doesn't fit because he was never hot housed! The GEP cannot accept children who want to learn themselves and are too inquisitive. For guai guai children, they survive better. The odd balls, those who have never known what a tuition room look like, or even done a single piece of homework (unfortunately, yes, my son did not do any of his homework from P1 to P3, and I didn't think it was important, because he received school academic awards anyway, and I was receiving too many behavior issues to handle.). A child like this won't survive in GEP as well. So, in order to survive in GEP, the kid has to know how to be hothoused, not too creative, and not too out of the norm. So silly, gifted = out of the norm mah...
For that matter, Einstein won't survive as well. He is weird as weird can be. Poor in communication and social skills. But that's why he was good. He could think differently!
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