2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[psle2011mum]

fifiyeo:

DS came home and reported his results for Math, Sci and Eng. Aiyoyo, so bad!


Although much better than CA1 (which he nearly failed), it is no where near good. (My good is not even band 1 in case some of you think I have very high expectations). :spank:

So today, DS took out his school books and started studying. He even started doing his school Math activity book and plans to finish everything before the end of the school hols so that he will have less homework and more time to revise in term 3.

So should forgive him or what??? :scratchhead:

Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less.
Rabbi Julius Gordon

You know your DS best and you are in a unique position to support him. Don't give up his dreams or yours now -- the kiddos really do mature alot through this experience. Take care!

[psle2011mum]

Chenonceau:

(4) Self ting xie of the yummy compo words from the previous day.

Chenonceau

Just to share about the above.

We kind of abandoned \"ting xie\" in P6 because we found that the structure of the paper was that the kids don't really need to write the words from the textbook in the MT written paper. So DD stopped writing all the ting xie words 10 times each as practice.

For MT compo, they are allowed an e-dictionary. So DD would memorise phrases, passages, sentences and we made sure she got them phonetically correct so that she could check these out on the e-dict during the exams using han yu pin yin. With the words staring at her from the e-dict, there was no excuse to write the word wrongly (something she sometimes did on the more common words she thought she didn't need to check eg missing a stroke or a \"dian').

Of course if the kids know how to write the word, that's wonderful. But we were trying to save every little bit of time we could so that DD had more time to rest/play as well, so we let the ting xie slide [school still tested but DD mainly just eye-balled the words and then scored something like 70-80 on her ting xie when prior to P6, it was mostly full mark scores because she had written them out for practice].

I can't say that this is a good method to advocate [ DD and I were only aiming for a high enough A for MT so that it wouldn't drag her other grades down and having only aimed this high, I guess that was where we ended up] but I raise this just an alternate view for consideration.

BTW, one of the questions I asked the teachers first for each paper in P6 was :
\" Did you set this paper below, above or about PSLE standard?\".

I did get honest answers I believe because the MT teacher actually said, \" A little lower than PSLE since we need to motivate the students\". Even then, DD barely scraped through an A and that was the highest score in her HA class. The good news is that while the cohort didn't do so well in all the exams including the Prelims, the same cohort turned in a stellar record of quality passes last year (surpassing English marginally). I've shared that we had a very conscientious and caring Chinese teacher and the HOD, MT was also very approachable and freely shared her views as to whether what I was trying to do helped or should be modified. So don't write off MT just based on the results for this SA1 - there is much hope yet.

[peterch]

fifiyeo:

DS came home and reported his results for Math, Sci and Eng. Aiyoyo, so bad!


Although much better than CA1 (which he nearly failed), it is no where near good. (My good is not even band 1 in case some of you think I have very high expectations). :spank:

So today, DS took out his school books and started studying. He even started doing his school Math activity book and plans to finish everything before the end of the school hols so that he will have less homework and more time to revise in term 3.

So should forgive him or what??? :scratchhead:

May I prefer you to encourage him and ask him to put more effort in his study. I don't think being angry and scold him will do him any good. I did angry and scold my son before, but it didn't change him so tried another way to push him such as discussing his future and present condition, and try to show him the 'fierce' side of this world and let him think and guide him what he should do next. Cheers

[Nebbermind]

fifiyeo:

DS has not done well this year. Yet he wants to go for DSA for his particular dream school. I wonder if I should let him go and try. Might be wasting time. Sigh...


I think he is going to seek out his teacher today to have a talk with her about his chances. I don't think he wants to give up hope. Rather he is still very hopeful.

These days when alot of kids actually take things for granted, it's a good sign to see that they have their own dreams!!

You ought to be encouraging him. EVen if he does not make it, he knew that he had tried and have no regrets!!

Anyway, some schools are not so concerned abt past result. Just go for some paper tests and then they release the CO results.

MUST TRY!!

[Chenonceau]

psle2011mum:

Chenonceau:

(4) Self ting xie of the yummy compo words from the previous day.

Chenonceau

Just to share about the above.

We kind of abandoned \"ting xie\" in P6 because we found that the structure of the paper was that the kids don't really need to write the words from the textbook in the MT written paper. So DD stopped writing all the ting xie words 10 times each as practice.

....

So don't write off MT just based on the results for this SA1 - there is much hope yet.

Heyyyyy... thanks for weighing in. We're not doing school ting xie at all. He draws out phrases from the China compos he reads daily and puts them in his book. Since he has seen these phrases in context, he knows how they are used and he does ting xie in order to learn to write them for use in compos.

It's also good at keeping the brain synapses (specifically used for remembering how to write Chinese characters) firing. Keep those synapses well-toned so they don't get flabby. Even without the PSLE, I think this is worth doing. I do want him to achieve some degree of true competence in Chinese... and this is a nice stress-free way of doing it. It doesn't take much time. Only 15 minutes to ting xie his list and certainly no need to copy 10 times. Quick and daily.

I'm willing myself not to worry about his PSLE Chinese.

I know he has improved. In end P4, he needed 7 hours to memorize a model composition written by PRC 12 year olds well enough to READ it to me. Now, he doesn't need to memorize these compos anymore to read to me. He needs to only listen to the audio tape once and he can read the whole piece fluently to me (all done in 20 minutes instead of 7 hours). His marks in Chinese have definitely improved a great deal.

Hence, I am not in despair. I am actually quite hopeful. He has come a long way and I am proud of him even though he is still nowhere near the top of the class.

[peterch]

Chenonceau:

psle2011mum:

[quote=\"Chenonceau\"]

(4) Self ting xie of the yummy compo words from the previous day.

Chenonceau

Just to share about the above.

We kind of abandoned \"ting xie\" in P6 because we found that the structure of the paper was that the kids don't really need to write the words from the textbook in the MT written paper. So DD stopped writing all the ting xie words 10 times each as practice.

....

So don't write off MT just based on the results for this SA1 - there is much hope yet.

Heyyyyy... thanks for weighing in. We're not doing school ting xie at all. He draws out phrases from the China compos he reads daily and puts them in his book. Since he has seen these phrases in context, he knows how they are used and he does ting xie in order to learn to write them for use in compos.

It's also good at keeping the brain synapses (specifically used for remembering how to write Chinese characters) firing. Keep those synapses well-toned so they don't get flabby. Even without the PSLE, I think this is worth doing. I do want him to achieve some degree of true competence in Chinese... and this is a nice stress-free way of doing it. It doesn't take much time. Only 15 minutes to ting xie his list and certainly no need to copy 10 times. Quick and daily.

I'm willing myself not to worry about his PSLE Chinese.

I know he has improved. In end P4, he needed 7 hours to memorize a model composition written by PRC 12 year olds well enough to READ it to me. Now, he doesn't need to memorize these compos anymore to read to me. He needs to only listen to the audio tape once and he can read the whole piece fluently to me (all done in 20 minutes instead of 7 hours). His marks in Chinese have definitely improved a great deal.

Hence, I am not in despair. I am actually quite hopeful. He has come a long way and I am proud of him even though he is still nowhere near the top of the class.[/quote]May I know where to get the compo written by PRC? or the audio tape. Thanks

[HAPPYH]

mummy so kiasu:

HAPPYH:

I am suffering in P3 itself. I cant think of P5 or P6. Hope I can sustain thro' the journey.

Your child is only in P3 & you have 3 more years. Don't have to worry. My boy was an average student when he was in P1 to P3. He started to pick up in P4. In fact, he managed to maintain when he went to P5, while his friends' grade dropped. So you still have a lot of time. Some kids just pick up slower & catch up later.

Thank you so much for the encouragement. I hope she can be little bit more independent.

[HAPPYH]

fifiyeo:

DS came home and reported his results for Math, Sci and Eng. Aiyoyo, so bad!


Although much better than CA1 (which he nearly failed), it is no where near good. (My good is not even band 1 in case some of you think I have very high expectations). :spank:

So today, DS took out his school books and started studying. He even started doing his school Math activity book and plans to finish everything before the end of the school hols so that he will have less homework and more time to revise in term 3.

So should forgive him or what??? :scratchhead:

You must really appreciate his attitude. And give him a lot more encouragement. Kids are really happy when they understand that mummy is not always result-oriented. They will then put in more efforts to improve further.

Saying all this, I can understand how we will feel as a mother if they come with below average marks. I too feel in the same way. My DD scored badly for mother tongue although she scored reasonably well for other subjects. I almost felt like crying and helpless. Nevertheless, I told her that I appreciate her efforts and hard work (which she really put in). She herself told me that she will work even harder next time. I liked her spirit.

We need to move on and help our kids somehow although low marks hurts us a lot. Encouragement is more important and make sure he is not demoralized by harsh words.

[coast]

HAPPYH:

You must really appreciate his attitude. And give him a lot more encouragement. Kids are really happy when they understand that mummy is not always result-oriented. They will then put in more efforts to improve further.

Saying all this, I can understand how we will feel as a mother if they come with below average marks. I too feel in the same way. My DD scored badly for mother tongue although she scored reasonably well for other subjects. I almost felt like crying and helpless. Nevertheless, I told her that I appreciate her efforts and hard work (which she really put in). She herself told me that she will work even harder next time. I liked her spirit.

We need to move on and help our kids somehow although low marks hurts us a lot. Encouragement is more important and make sure he is not demoralized by harsh words.

Agree! :goodpost:

[Layla]

fightingmom:

Augmum:

U're welcome.....
Unless there is last minute changes, ( which we are not aware of), but i doubt so lah....
Juz puzzled, why the admin couldnt confirm with the caller the date. :roll: :scratchhead:

maybe he / she realized that the caller is one of the kiasuparents so better kiasi a bit ... say don't know or not sure better... :rotflmao:

Dunno leh, I called end Mar, admin told me usually last Sat of Term 2 but not firm yet and asked me to call back later. I called last Wed, same answer! That's why so frustrating. Ought to \"shoot\" the lady who picked up my cal! :nunchuk: