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

[munchkukie]

Chenonceau:

sean wife:

Hi can I join too? My kids are in k1...

Tks.

(1) Silverhorse
(2) mummy of 2
(3) munchkukie (attended Motivation Workshop)
(4) mum2b
(5) alng
(6) freesia (attended Motivation Workshop)
(7) oneheart
(8) resgmom
(9) poohbear (attended Motivation Workshop)
(10) bluepanda
(11) sun_2010
(12) musings
(13) tigermum
(14) raynreg (some stuff can be done in nursery)
(15) sean wife

Ok... the registration for this workshop is now closed. I will not be running any other after this because I'm just doing this for fun and to have a party whilst also sharing what I have learnt in the course of teaching my son.

All those involved, please be prepared to bring a teeny bit of food to share. Thanks!! I will PM my email to you eventually and do email me with your Name + KSP Nick so I know who is who. Co-ordinating stuff via PM is a nightmare.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us!

[Chenonceau]

oxyleo:

Dear Edureach,

Firstly thank you for sharing. I am happy to hear your views too, and you obviously sound like a very responsible parent. I apologise that I am new to this forum and am posting this thru an iphone, so I haven't quite figured out how to quote your post, which would allow for better cross referencing.

I do not disagree with your tips on how we can help our children, they are indeed useful. But my key contention with today's education system is that performance seems to be underscored by having smarter parents or good quality tuition. The tips u mentioned to help a child would first and foremost need to be executed by a parent who has both time and the intellect to source for the right material to address any gaps.

Bear in mind for kids who do not attend tuition, the gaps when identified need a fix fast, as the exams are spaced out 3 months apart. Where does that leave children who do not have parents with time nor aptitude? We are talking about public education after all, so why are the barriers to performance as such?

U also mentioned about your children choosing 2 different pathways. I admire their choices, for I am sure at the back of their minds, they will know there are huge differences in experiences for both pathways.

I'll give u an analogy, using 2 babies, A and B.

Baby A walks at 8 mths, B at 14 mths. Assume we impose that the baby that walks before 12 months has the best potential, as we are doing thru the IP. And we then say given the huge potential, Baby A qualifies for Program A: daily walks in the park, excursions to the zoo, trips that build and develop all the other senses. Better still,bring Baby A overseas, so they experience the climate changes we don't get in SG, the best of art, and music in Vienna, the best educational course.

Baby B, sorry to say, misses the cut-off. Sad to say, let's put him in Program B. Well, the poor baby can't even walk yet, so let's have him just play around in the room, just leave a radio on in the background. Feed him, give him the basics. We all know eventually Baby B will grow up and walk, but what have we done to him by consciously keeping him away from those playground trips and sensory building outings? Yes, they do walk eventually, just as we argue all pathways can lead to university, but one would have seen the world, and the other would have remained myopic. If baby B has rich parents that can enrich him anyhow, good for baby B. what if Baby B's parents aren't?

We do not have a convincing argument to ask parents not to push the panic button.

I love this piece but since oxy did it via iphone, the formatting was poor and detracted from the excellent argumentation. Oxy, forgive me. I took the liberty to format for you, and highlight the parts I love. :love:

[Chenonceau]

munchkukie:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"sean wife\"]Hi can I join too? My kids are in k1...

Tks.

(1) Silverhorse
(2) mummy of 2
(3) munchkukie (attended Motivation Workshop)
(4) mum2b
(5) alng
(6) freesia (attended Motivation Workshop)
(7) oneheart
(8) resgmom
(9) poohbear (attended Motivation Workshop)
(10) bluepanda
(11) sun_2010
(12) musings
(13) tigermum
(14) raynreg (some stuff can be done in nursery)
(15) sean wife

Ok... the registration for this workshop is now closed. I will not be running any other after this because I'm just doing this for fun and to have a party whilst also sharing what I have learnt in the course of teaching my son.

All those involved, please be prepared to bring a teeny bit of food to share. Thanks!! I will PM my email to you eventually and do email me with your Name + KSP Nick so I know who is who. Co-ordinating stuff via PM is a nightmare.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us![/quote] :welcome:

My pleasure!

[beanbear]

Chen, can add one more? I’d love to join in.

[Chenonceau]

beanbear:

Chen, can add one more? I'd love to join in.

:imsorry: Cannot lah babe! :oops: :imsorry: If add you now then everybody wanna add then I'll end up like the Motivation Workshop with a long long long wait list that I need to service for free. I still haven't got through that list yet. If got people pull out I add you ok?

Besides, your DS is in P6 already no?

[Poohbear]

Hi Chen,


Pls keep my bro n wifey in the backup list too

:thankyou:

[oxyleo]

Dear Chenonceau,


Haha. Thanks for helping me there. I wasn’t sure how it was gonna turn out when done over iPhone either. And thanks for the lovely encouragement you gave me. You are inspirational, looking at what you’ve done for your children.

I forgot to add one more point too. The over-emphasis on competition in our society has sadly also resulted in people falling into divides. We have those who want to win at all costs, and those who are happy to slow down for the greater good. If we see more and more people focus only on winning, we will continue to see many with a Not In My BackYard syndrome, many who do not want children and many who do not want to care for older folks, because people who want to win will not stand for the risk of their property being devalued to cater for elderly people in their neighborhood, people who want to win will not stand for being sidelined in their careers to have children ( we all know unless you have a terrific network of family support, it will slow you down), and people who want to win will not have the patience and time for the older generation. When we win as individuals, have we really won as a society? In competition, 1+1=1, because only 1 survives. In an inclusive society, 1+1=3, because we help each other succeed, and people are happy to have more children.
I don’t think we are asking for everyone to be all lovey dovey, put our heads in the sand and ignore the real competition out there. We just want to say, hey, we are leaving some people behind. How can we forget about them? Isn’t this the inclusiveness PM Lee wants to achieve in our society?

[Chenonceau]

oxyleo:

Dear Chenonceau,


Haha. Thanks for helping me there. I wasn't sure how it was gonna turn out when done over iPhone either. And thanks for the lovely encouragement you gave me. You are inspirational, looking at what you've done for your children.

I forgot to add one more point too. The over-emphasis on competition in our society has sadly also resulted in people falling into divides. We have those who want to win at all costs, and those who are happy to slow down for the greater good. If we see more and more people focus only on winning, we will continue to see many with a Not In My BackYard syndrome, many who do not want children and many who do not want to care for older folks, because people who want to win will not stand for the risk of their property being devalued to cater for elderly people in their neighborhood, people who want to win will not stand for being sidelined in their careers to have children ( we all know unless you have a terrific network of family support, it will slow you down), and people who want to win will not have the patience and time for the older generation. When we win as individuals, have we really won as a society? In competition, 1+1=1, because only 1 survives. In an inclusive society, 1+1=3, because we help each other succeed, and people are happy to have more children.
I don't think we are asking for everyone to be all lovey dovey, put our heads in the sand and ignore the real competition out there. We just want to say, hey, we are leaving some people behind. How can we forget about them? Isn't this the inclusiveness PM Lee wants to achieve in our society?

You have a Private Message from me in this forum. Please check.

[3Boys]

Is it possible to state a contrarian view in this thread without being excoriated? :siam:

[oxyleo]

Hi Chenonceau, have checked and replied. Thanks!


Hi 3 boys, I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It would be nice to hear your views.