Primary school maths: A vicious circle (from TODAY May 8)

[mamemo]

Sun_2010:

Laura02:

Actually, I agree with most of what nansk said. Dd is in P4, but she doesn't go for tuition in any of the academic subjects. She does ballet and guzhen.

I agreed that learning the model method is quite challenging, but how can we expect our kids to master the model method, if we ourselves give up on trying to learn it. What sort of message are we giving our kids if we say to them \" Ah girl or Ah boy, mummy and daddy don't understand your maths, but die-die you must not only learn it, but must also score 100% for Maths.\" it isn't fair to them.
It isn't fair to expect our kids to sit down and study all day, while we ourselves had the luxury to play, and dream as kids. Yes, we can blame the system, other parents, the whole world ... But at the end of the day, it's up to the individual parents to say \"enough is enough\" and draw the line at where and how much we want to pressure our kids.
Remember, the mood pork hawker may not have a degree, but he can still sell his secret recipient for a million dollars and retire in comfort.

For me the model method is not challenging, it is in fact a very good method to visualize. In fact when i first saw it in my child's book, i thought what a fantastic method for young children. To each his own. The point is why are parents expected to learn and teach the child?

Why isnt it fair ? If the teacher is teaching them , they learn it - plain and simple.
Who taught us algebra - our parents ?
Was it unfair to us? Did we complain that our parents were having fun while we slogged with our studies? Did our parents plan their lives around our school/enrichment class schedule?

It is unfair if they are not being taught.
It is unfair if they are not being provided the resources to learn.
That is exactly why the parents are protesting - that it is unfair to the child to be treated thus.

:goodpost: :goodpost:

[Chenonceau]

Sun_2010:

I am not sure why it is being assumed it is the parent's role to teach academics (if needed learn and teach)

It is the teacher's role to teach. If i as a parent can or want to do it then great! But what about the child who has parents who have no time, no competence, no means to affortd tutions ?
My parents did not teach me Nor did parents of most of my classmates. Yet we did well. Well enough .

Not so for todays kids - if more than half the kids in the class fail - that means something is gravely wrong - it is the failure of the teaching.( I did not say teachers). It means children have not been taught the right stuff, or they have not been taught the right way or the material is beyond the potential of the children. Miraculously the children score well in PSLE. So how?
Public education is about educating all. If the schools feel half their pupils need tution it means they are admitting they are not discharging their duties.

In fact schools should not be focusing on PSLE. It is a competitive exam, but Primary schooling isnt just about T-score. It is about getting strong foundations in learning both academic n character.

Its funny how it has come to be the norm for us parents to put our career to help the child score well in PSLE.
The time parents spend with kids gets streamed into the study time.
We dont give our household kids chores - they dont have the time.
So much so we land up helping them pack, etc etc during the rush period - bcoz they dont have the time.
Character building cant be done with a timetable

Thank you for writing so cogently. I am too distraught to write well. :goodpost: :goodpost: :goodpost:

[Chenonceau]

mamemo:

Sun_2010:

[quote=\"Laura02\"] Actually, I agree with most of what nansk said. Dd is in P4, but she doesn't go for tuition in any of the academic subjects. She does ballet and guzhen.

I agreed that learning the model method is quite challenging, but how can we expect our kids to master the model method, if we ourselves give up on trying to learn it. What sort of message are we giving our kids if we say to them \" Ah girl or Ah boy, mummy and daddy don't understand your maths, but die-die you must not only learn it, but must also score 100% for Maths.\" it isn't fair to them.
It isn't fair to expect our kids to sit down and study all day, while we ourselves had the luxury to play, and dream as kids. Yes, we can blame the system, other parents, the whole world ... But at the end of the day, it's up to the individual parents to say \"enough is enough\" and draw the line at where and how much we want to pressure our kids.
Remember, the mood pork hawker may not have a degree, but he can still sell his secret recipient for a million dollars and retire in comfort.

For me the model method is not challenging, it is in fact a very good method to visualize. In fact when i first saw it in my child's book, i thought what a fantastic method for young children. To each his own. The point is why are parents expected to learn and teach the child?

Why isnt it fair ? If the teacher is teaching them , they learn it - plain and simple.
Who taught us algebra - our parents ?
Was it unfair to us? Did we complain that our parents were having fun while we slogged with our studies? Did our parents plan their lives around our school/enrichment class schedule?

It is unfair if they are not being taught.
It is unfair if they are not being provided the resources to learn.
That is exactly why the parents are protesting - that it is unfair to the child to be treated thus.

:goodpost: :goodpost:[/quote]Yes... :goodpost: :goodpost:

[fightingmom]

I can’t remember the year where MOE introduced the use of calculators in PSLE. But I think Maths paper has become more and more challenging since the children now has the aid of calculators in paper 2 now. And if I am not wrong, the number of questions to answer increased too. If you really break down the number of questions per minute for problem sum solving, it is about 3-4 min per question.


I try solving some. Most of the time I can’t even solve within 10 mins ! The children are always pressured for time to complete the whole paper. If we parents don’t help them, then who ? If we can’t roll up our sleeves (either due to no time, not competent enough…), we just have to engage outside help. How many school teachers can do 1-1 and are they willing to stay back just to help that few students that are not up to the "standard"?

[mamemo]

On the topic of failing kids, I cannot help but remember my own experience.


One fine day when I was in p6, my English Teacher decided to spring a surprise dictation on the class. The passage was "Marie Celeste", and it was a long long passage that spans across 10 pages of the exercise book. I remembered I even copied the title wrongly and a few of us got a big zero for this dictation. We were called up to stand in front of the class and the teacher sarcastically said that we are not fit to be in his best class of the school. I was demoralised and didn’t even dare to show my book to my mum. As expected, I got a good scolding and caning from my mum after that.

From then on, I began to be afraid of English as a subject. And English became my poorest subject, from PSLE to the "O"s to the "A"s.

I wonder, what benefits are there to set a paper that is beyond the capability of the average children? Is it a reverse-psychology thingy?

[Chenonceau]

mamemo:

On the topic of failing kids, I cannot help but remember my own experience.


One fine day when I was in p6, my English Teacher decided to spring a surprise dictation on the class. The passage was \"Marie Celeste\", and it was a long long passage that spans across 10 pages of the exercise book. I remembered I even copied the title wrongly and a few of us got a big zero for this dictation. We were called up to stand in front of the class and the teacher sarcastically said that we are not fit to be in his best class of the school. I was demoralised and didn't even dare to show my book to my mum. As expected, I got a good scolding and caning from my mum after that.

From then on, I began to be afraid of English as a subject. And English became my poorest subject, from PSLE to the \"O\"s to the \"A\"s.

I wonder, what benefits are there to set a paper that is beyond the capability of the average children? Is it a reverse-psychology thingy?

They modelled it after Genghis Khan http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2012/02/teaching-resilience-by-failing-kids.html

[Pris.011283tang]

thanks for the blog link.

[looking4Tutor]

I concurred that the level of difficulty of Primary School Leaving Examination mathematics "has not increased over the years", just that children nowadays have smaller brains, so do parents.

[Suz855]

Sorry, I cannot agree w u, our children drink expensive milk powder wit DHA ...etc .... They are suppose to help in brain development blah blah blah .. So how can their brain grow smaller


:rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

[peapot]

In our university days, weren’t we tested on what was taught? AND when the lecturer was in a good mood he might even drop hints what will come out for exams. The primary school kids are having a harder time than uni students?