Science Guide Books

[mrswongtuition]

I spent 5 days x 4 hours each day at Popular Bras Basah during June holidays to look through the wide range of books. And noticed that more new books came onto the market within the past 2 months.


Depending on the focus & purpose of buying the books, different books have different strengths. I choose books according to my student's learning abilities, so I can't recommend any books that suitable for all.

For example, if your child has very good basic knowledge of Science concepts and you are looking to enhance his/her knowledge, then get 'booster' notes instead of the guide books.

Different guide books also present information differently & everyone will have their own preferences too.

For most of my students, I will pick 1 book (base book) and give them extra notes & teach them to make their own notes. It's more effective than relying solely on 1 book

[lovingmum]

personally i like books by Casco publications. i thought they discuss themes more in depth. just my 2 cents worth. others may beg to differ.

[tiredmama]

cafelatte:

Your child going to P3 next year ? Are you just looking for something to supplement the textbooks ? or assessment/revision papers ? I agree with you there's really a wide range in the market/Popular. I was overwhelmed too !

Hi.... yes.. my dd going P3 next year.. am thinking of teaching / coaching her myself .. not sure what kind of guide books on the market that is good, comprehensive and clear... so am looking for some feedback from parents who has bot science guides before.. thanks

[cafelatte]

Ok, mine is P3 going P4. Just my 2cents worth:


If your child is using MyPals, this is a good supplement to the textbooks :

http://resource.marshallcavendish.com/mcdoc/bookfiles/jacket/Big/9789810114022.jpg\">

Besides understanding the facts & concepts, the child must be able to spell the keywords (to avoid losing marks for wrong spelling) correctly and answer fully. Example, there are questions which shows 2 pictures : 1 is a chick with a water dish, 1 is just a chick. Question asks, which one will survive longer and why. If answer is 'It has water', you get 1/2 mark. Answer is 'Chick needs water to survive and chick A has water', you get 1 mark. These are the tricky areas that we have to point out to the child.

I use assessment books & revision papers by Janet Sim. There are revision notes infront of each chapter which I will tear out and file and get my child to highlight or add additional notes along the way. My friend likes Casco assessments too but I haven't had a chance to check them out. I usually don't buy too many as there's not enough time to complete them all.

Lastly, do not give or throw away any of your Science textbooks or notes at the end of P3. P3-P6 Science will be tested in PSLE so in P4, they'll still get some questions on the topics they learnt in P3.

Hope this helps.

[tiredmama]

cafelatte:

Ok, mine is P3 going P4. Just my 2cents worth:


If your child is using MyPals, this is a good supplement to the textbooks :

http://resource.marshallcavendish.com/mcdoc/bookfiles/jacket/Big/9789810114022.jpg\">

Besides understanding the facts & concepts, the child must be able to spell the keywords (to avoid losing marks for wrong spelling) correctly and answer fully. Example, there are questions which shows 2 pictures : 1 is a chick with a water dish, 1 is just a chick. Question asks, which one will survive longer and why. If answer is 'It has water', you get 1/2 mark. Answer is 'Chick needs water to survive and chick A has water', you get 1 mark. These are the tricky areas that we have to point out to the child.

I use assessment books & revision papers by Janet Sim. There are revision notes infront of each chapter which I will tear out and file and get my child to highlight or add additional notes along the way. My friend likes Casco assessments too but I haven't had a chance to check them out. I usually don't buy too many as there's not enough time to complete them all.

Lastly, do not give or throw away any of your Science textbooks or notes at the end of P3. P3-P6 Science will be tested in PSLE so in P4, they'll still get some questions on the topics they learnt in P3.

Hope this helps.

Hi... thanks very much.. at least I have something to start on now.. will go popular and check them out... Janet Sim.. the names seems very familiar when I was browsing at the bookshop.. is the series \"Science Companion\" ? or Challenging Science ?

[cafelatte]

It is Lower Block Science 3-in-1 published by EPH, comes in a box set. My friend told me Casco has more integrated processes questions …I got to check it out in detail. Challenging Science - another friend uses but her children are under the old science syllabus. This year they introduced new syllabus, no human digestive systems in P3.

[keroppi]

Thanks, cafelatte, for the useful information. Will use my 20% popular voucher to get some of the books recommended above.

[James Ang]

tiredmama:

Dear parents.. any suggestions / recommendations on what series of science guide books to buy ? I was @ Popular and am overwhelmed by the large range... thinking of doing some HW myself before I really make any purchases..

Thanks for all the tips in advance ... :celebrate: appreciated

Buy EPH Ultimate Science Guide Book. All my students doing PSLE have at least the EPH Ultimate Science and plus EPH's Sec 1 and Sec 2 science guides for reference because many science experiments can be explained or found in the EPH's Sec 1 and Sec 2 guides, in fact my student's parent was shocked that the question from Maha Bodhi's P5 SA2 on why a thick glass mug will crack when hot water is poured into it and not a thin glass mug, that the exact answer/explanation is in EPH's sec 2 science guide word for word.

[kitty2]

Buy EPH Ultimate Science Guide Book. All my students doing PSLE have at least the EPH Ultimate Science and plus EPH’s Sec 1 and Sec 2 science guides for reference because many science experiments can be explained or found in the EPH’s Sec 1 and Sec 2 guides, in fact my student’s parent was shocked that the question from Maha Bodhi’s P5 SA2 on why a thick glass mug will crack when hot water is poured into it and not a thin glass mug, that the exact answer/explanation is in EPH’s sec 2 science guide word for word.[/quote]


Thanks for sharing.May i know the name for the Sec1 and 2 guide book?

[MMM]

My girl is going to P3 next year. She has enrichment classes for all subjects currently. I intend to let her try science on her own before deciding whether she needs help. Some of the "preworks" we do so far include subscribing to young scientist and sending them for discovery science camp to instil interest in science. Not sure if that helps but I hated scicence so I must make sure they don’t. I also start to wonder if science will just be another "english comprehension paper".


Thanks for all the sharing. I also didn’t know what assessment books to buy.

On the part on Maha bodhi, my kids are there. Does that mean we need to show them those Sec 1 and 2 notes later on to prepare them??? :!: