2013 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[fightingmom]

Chenonceau:

Sharing our experience at prelim so that 2012 PSLE parents have time to react.


http://petunialee.blogspot.sg/2012/08/69-marks-for-psle-prelim-math.html

:thankyou: Chenonceau for the sharing.

[Pen88n]

Chenonceau:

Sharing our experience at prelim so that 2012 PSLE parents have time to react.


http://petunialee.blogspot.sg/2012/08/69-marks-for-psle-prelim-math.html

Chen, don't be disheartened. PSLE standard will take into consideration nationwide standard. Keep up the calm and happy environment at home - that's the best support for your little boy!!

[yarna]

Chenonceau:

Sharing our experience at prelim so that 2012 PSLE parents have time to react.


http://petunialee.blogspot.sg/2012/08/69-marks-for-psle-prelim-math.html

Thanks for sharing.

DS will be having his prelim next week and I do not know what to expect. If the schools want to make the paper difficult in order to spur learning, it should be done earlier - not now. The prelim papers should be set at PSLE level. DS came back and told me that some kids last year had a total black out and these are good kids who have been consistently doing well in school.

[Chenonceau]

Pen88n:

Chenonceau:

Sharing our experience at prelim so that 2012 PSLE parents have time to react.


http://petunialee.blogspot.sg/2012/08/69-marks-for-psle-prelim-math.html

Chen, don't be disheartened. PSLE standard will take into consideration nationwide standard. Keep up the calm and happy environment at home - that's the best support for your little boy!!

I don't have much faith in my son's school. Looking at
(1) the sparse handouts and materials produced by his school to supplement the textbooks (i.e., little exposure to necessary material),
(2) the demoralizing shocks it administers frequently to kids (i.e., demotivating influence)

... I don't think it can compete with schools that really do teach properly. Its tests may be harder than top school papers BUT it does not have the teaching capability (nor the school-based materials) to bring the kids up to that level. Unless with access to good enrichment (and I have been stubborn in refusing enrichment because I want him to learn NOW to be self-reliant), kids have neither the motivation nor the necessary training to perform at the standards of the school prelims.

I can't do much now except to shield my son.

[verykiasu2010]

Chenonceau:

Pen88n:

[quote=\"Chenonceau\"]Sharing our experience at prelim so that 2012 PSLE parents have time to react.


http://petunialee.blogspot.sg/2012/08/69-marks-for-psle-prelim-math.html

Chen, don't be disheartened. PSLE standard will take into consideration nationwide standard. Keep up the calm and happy environment at home - that's the best support for your little boy!!

I don't have much faith in my son's school. Looking at
(1) the sparse handouts and materials produced by his school to supplement the textbooks (i.e., little exposure to necessary material),
(2) the demoralizing shocks it administers frequently to kids (i.e., demotivating influence)

... I don't think it can compete with schools that really do teach properly. Its tests may be harder than top school papers BUT it does not have the teaching capability (nor the school-based materials) to bring the kids up to that level. Unless with access to good enrichment (and I have been stubborn in refusing enrichment because I want him to learn NOW to be self-reliant), kids have neither the motivation nor the necessary training to perform at the standards of the school prelims.

I can't do much now except to shield my son.[/quote]I just went to read your blog on the 69 marks

if he could do NY papers under exam conditions (timing etc) and self marked to be ok, then no fear, regardless of what the prelim marks say. Just keep up the practice on those tricky questions. Most of the time the questions are not super difficult, just tricky, and watch the wordings! And for simple questions, it is simply easy to lose marks by being careless

in fact, NY has communicated to parents that they actually don't pitch the paper way above the PSLE standard - skill sets and knowledge imparted during curriculum time need to be boosted by self-confidence, which is more important in the run up to PSLE. Even after NY \"lowered\" the prelim standard, they still managed to get everyone scoring higher than prelim t-scores. So it is proven that setting extra hard prelim paper to so-called wake up the kids could be counter-productive in wrecking morale

[Chenonceau]

verykiasu2010:

I just went to read your blog on the 69 marks

if he could do NY papers under exam conditions (timing etc) and self marked to be ok, then no fear, regardless of what the prelim marks say.

Thank you dear... this makes me feel a little better but not much. It's CL Oral tomorrow so I took him out for a nice meal at Liang Court. It was a strain for me to smile kindly at him throughout the meal.

verykiasu2010:

Just keep up the practice on those tricky questions.

Any lobang where to find these tricky questions? All I have are the Top School papers. I am so tired trying to source for materials. We've even gotten the Math Olympiad questions from Popular and found those easy. He's even done papers from the NY GEP stack and found them manageable.

verykiasu2010:

Most of the time the questions are not super difficult, just tricky, and watch the wordings! And for simple questions, it is simply easy to lose marks by being careless

He lost 5 marks to carelessness. The rest is really cannot do.

verykiasu2010:

in fact, NY has communicated to parents that they actually don't pitch the paper way above the PSLE standard - skill sets and knowledge imparted during curriculum time need to be boosted by self-confidence, which is more important in the run up to PSLE.

This is what I think is reasonable too. Self-confidence is important in performance. I am bottling all this in and putting up a smiling face just to ensure his self-confidence remains intact.

verykiasu2010:

Even after NY \"lowered\" the prelim standard, they still managed to get everyone scoring higher than prelim t-scores. So it is proven that setting extra hard prelim paper to so-called wake up the kids could be counter-productive in wrecking morale

Precisely so! I really do feel better now. I was confused a bit but now I am convinced that shielding him was the right thing to do. It took me 1 week before I could even bear to blog about it.

My heart goes out to those kids who failed the paper. Many kids in the 2nd best class failed. Some kids in the best class also failed. But I have no way to help others now. I can only help my own son. Giving feedback to the school is no use. I gave feedback in CA1 to a HOD... nicely and reasonably. No use. Just suck it up.

[Sun_2010]

Chenonceau:

Thank you dear... this makes me feel a little better but not much. Its CL Oral tomorrow so I took him out for a nice meal at Liang Court. It was a strain for me to smile kindly at him throughout the meal.

Hi Chen,
Get a sand bag toy, and bash it up . Or something that will make you feel better. Because while faking it is the next best thing to being emotional, it is very far from the real thing.
I guess you know better than anyone else that children can pick up parent's ' vibes very fast even without consciously trying .

Chenonceau:

He lost 5 marks to carelessness. The rest is really cannot do.

can you assess these questions he could'nt do- are they sensible question?
have they gone thru the solution in school, if so what is his opinion?
May be your son is the best person to assess -
Are they brilliant questions?
Solutions to brilliant questions help one get a new prespective. Or are sometimes simple that make you go , oh , why didn i see that?
Or were they just too complicated in words and/or in solution?
If it was then it belongs to the category of tought-question-for-the sake-of-it. Just ignore that set. :siao:
They are the outcome of some sadist, or misguided teacher who feel compelled to make it tough.

After that take out the marks of all those questions. Now calculate the percentage of marks he would get with this new total.
I believe you will have reason to celebrate. :celebrate:

Your DS has such cute twinkling eyes, wouldnt want to see them dampen. give him an extra :snuggles: , if he still lets you.

[Chenonceau]

Sun_2010:

Hi Chen,
Get a sand bag toy, and bash it up . Or something that will make you feel better. Because while faking it is the next best thing to being emotional, it is very far from the real thing.
I guess you know better than anyone else that children can pick up parent's ' vibes very fast even without consciously trying .

I do feel better after venting here.

Sun_2010:

can you assess these questions he could'nt do- are they sensible question?
have they gone thru the solution in school, if so what is his opinion?
May be your son is the best person to assess -
Are they brilliant questions?
Solutions to brilliant questions help one get a new prespective. Or are sometimes simple that make you go , oh , why didn i see that?
Or were they just too complicated in words and/or in solution?
If it was then it belongs to the category of tought-question-for-the sake-of-it. Just ignore that set. :siao:
They are the outcome of some sadist, or misguided teacher who feel compelled to make it tough.

After that take out the marks of all those questions. Now calculate the percentage of marks he would get with this new total.
I believe you will have reason to celebrate. :celebrate:

Your DS has such cute twinkling eyes, wouldnt want to see them dampen. give him an extra :snuggles: , if he still lets you.

Papers have not been returned. I'll make sure I get Little Boy will need to analyze and explain to me these things when he gets back the paper.

[verykiasu2010]

Chenonceau:

verykiasu2010:

I just went to read your blog on the 69 marks

if he could do NY papers under exam conditions (timing etc) and self marked to be ok, then no fear, regardless of what the prelim marks say.

Thank you dear... this makes me feel a little better but not much. It's CL Oral tomorrow so I took him out for a nice meal at Liang Court. It was a strain for me to smile kindly at him throughout the meal.

verykiasu2010:

Just keep up the practice on those tricky questions.

Any lobang where to find these tricky questions? All I have are the Top School papers. I am so tired trying to source for materials. We've even gotten the Math Olympiad questions from Popular and found those easy. He's even done papers from the NY GEP stack and found them manageable.

verykiasu2010:

Most of the time the questions are not super difficult, just tricky, and watch the wordings! And for simple questions, it is simply easy to lose marks by being careless

He lost 5 marks to carelessness. The rest is really cannot do.

verykiasu2010:

in fact, NY has communicated to parents that they actually don't pitch the paper way above the PSLE standard - skill sets and knowledge imparted during curriculum time need to be boosted by self-confidence, which is more important in the run up to PSLE.

This is what I think is reasonable too. Self-confidence is important in performance. I am bottling all this in and putting up a smiling face just to ensure his self-confidence remains intact.

verykiasu2010:

Even after NY \"lowered\" the prelim standard, they still managed to get everyone scoring higher than prelim t-scores. So it is proven that setting extra hard prelim paper to so-called wake up the kids could be counter-productive in wrecking morale

Precisely so! I really do feel better now. I was confused a bit but now I am convinced that shielding him was the right thing to do. It took me 1 week before I could even bear to blog about it.

My heart goes out to those kids who failed the paper. Many kids in the 2nd best class failed. Some kids in the best class also failed. But I have no way to help others now. I can only help my own son. Giving feedback to the school is no use. I gave feedback in CA1 to a HOD... nicely and reasonably. No use. Just suck it up.

I think practising on past years PSLE papers and those top schools' prelim papers are good enough. MO questions may confuse the kid.

Last time we bought those top schools' previous year prelim papers but did not finish all. Be selective, spread out the practice days -- but discipline in doing it in exam condition is important.

Some schools do exchange of current year prelim papers and let the kids practise. May be your DS school does not do that but is okay, past years papers prelim papers are sufficient. Some of the answers in the pack could be wrong - just be aware if the answers look awkward

The PSLE past year papers are arranged by topic - tricky questions are there, mostly in problem sums. Probably you already have them - from Popular bookshop, if the school has not arranged bulk purchase for the class

You must first overcome your own emo before you can help him. Steel yourself and believe in your DS, you know that better than me.

[Chenonceau]

verykiasu2010:

You must first overcome your own emo before you can help him. Steel yourself and believe in your DS, you know that better than me.

Yeeeeaaaah.... I know that. I documented it in Chapter 4 of Petunia's Book. And yet I find it a struggle to follow my own advice. What a hypocrite, right!?