PM Says new Stat Board to oversee pre-school education

[3Boys]

Perhaps I’m just too lazy to really watch over their homework like a hawk, much rather take the DSs out for a kickabout or go running on a track.

[keroppi]

Daddy

Mawar:

[quote=\"Daddy D\"]How many of us have the courage to embrace \"No homework is not a bad thing\"? ... Esp on weekdays... Not to mention weekends.


How many of us have the courage to let our kids \"idle\" away during their free time?

We need to consciously stop and check once in a while.
:celebrate:

My kids hardly have homework. Once in a blue moon, they are assigned eLearning, and even then the work is manageable. They tell me that if they could finish their work in class, they don't need to do it at home. Since compos are done strictly in class, they seldom have hw.

You lucky leh...
My kid every other days got homework/spelling/听写/mini tests...
Give me more work also... :faint:[/quote]My kids' schools have a no homework policy for P1 & P2. Like what some parents say (and I agree) P1-P3 are honeymoon years. Let them enjoy their childhoood. It is only in upper Pri that things get a little tougher. Still we are talking about only 4 subjects here, I don't think there's a lot to study or revise ... :lightrod: .

[DesertWind]

Laura02:

I would encourage all parents to have the courage of their convictions and guide their children the way they think fit. I would discourage parents from trying to keep up with their neighbour's/ colleges trying to outdo one another with tuition, enrichments, days so packed full of organized activity the child has no time \"sit and stare\".

Pre-school education does nact affect me as my kid is in upper Pri. But I feel that at that age, kids learn most from their parents. As parents, we can read to our kids, not just in bed before sleeping, but anytime, everywhere. Point out road signs, street signs, labels in supermarkets, shops, menus, words are everywhere in our daily lives. Just point out the letters and read them out to the child, and the child will pick up reading. Count with the child, then number of pencils, number of spoons and forks, the numbers of red cars in a car park, .... It can all be incorporated easily into our daily interactions with children.
And if you, as a parent feel that you rather not send your children for tuition, then don't. Lessons can be learnt in the playground too. Count the number of times the child slides down the slide. Introduce the idea of potential energy and kinetic energy on the slide. Count the number of times you push your child on the swing. Introduce the idea of center of gravity and why it provides a push or pull force when he leans backwards or forwards on the swing. Think of why leaves are green, flowers fall to the ground, water is blue ...

Have courage in your convictions, and pass on what you have learnt in your own life to your kids.

:goodpost: Laura02!

I am also convinced that parents can do more to teach our kids during our daily interactions with the kids. Like when walking down the stairs now, instead of counting, I am now saying \"left, right, left, right....\" teaching him directions already.

[DesertWind]

I am glad there is a new Stat Board now to oversee pre-school education, bringing together the MOE kindies and MCYS CCC under one umbrella. Make sense. Provide more competition to the sector. Another anchor-provider (I am very curious who would it be). Will be looking forward to what this new Stat Board will do ie. what are their directives, goals etc.

[Lilac66]

Daddy

Mawar:

[quote=\"Daddy D\"]How many of us have the courage to embrace \"No homework is not a bad thing\"? ... Esp on weekdays... Not to mention weekends.


How many of us have the courage to let our kids \"idle\" away during their free time?

We need to consciously stop and check once in a while.
:celebrate:

My kids hardly have homework. Once in a blue moon, they are assigned eLearning, and even then the work is manageable. They tell me that if they could finish their work in class, they don't need to do it at home. Since compos are done strictly in class, they seldom have hw.

You lucky leh...
My kid every other days got homework/spelling/听写/mini tests...
Give me more work also... :faint:[/quote]
My \"policy\" to my child regarding spelling, 听写 tests would be preparation to the best of his ability, and I won't really bother about the results. I don't know why the teacher cares so much about the children getting 100 marks when we don't really bother.
My DS uses a voice recorder for his 听写 , then he'll self test. Less work for me though sometimes he'll want us to do it.

Only when it comes to SA that I get more uptight.

[Imami]

Mawar:

The parents with the means and aspirations will continue to send their kiddies for enrichment classes. I fully encourage exposing little ones to music, art or speech & drama type of classes. They are fun and kids benefit from playing and having fun. I hope the new anchor operator will incorporate more of this type of activities into their program. Let kids from all walks of life be exposed to this type of classes. Make our kindies fun. Focus less on the ABCs, that will come later. Focus on inquiry and exploratory based learning, and life skills.

Nice. I like. :goodpost:

[Imami]

MMM:

Actually P1 syllabus is really manageable. Having my 2 older kids in P5 and P4, I used to think P1 is scary too... In fact my stress started when kids enter P1. Apparently the stress level never reduce but it just went higher and higher.

However recently I started to tell friends that P1 and probably P2 is actually honeymoon period so take it easy. This is after we looked at P4/ P5 requirements.... For term 3 assessments, I started to take it \"easy\" with my P1. Never expect her to get 100% but just got to train her to read instructions, check her work and make sure she understand those concepts along the way. I sort of felt that maybe this is the time to let her make mistakes and learn from it. By not having level/ class ranking in the report book sort of help too.

However, the scary part is really the peers.... Eg. my P1 dd's best pal (the boy sitting beside her) already knows his timestable while she is probably still clueless as I didn't get my kids to rote learn. I prefer them to understand the concept of timestable along the way.

So I come to a conclusion that the monster is not P1 syllabus but the kiasu parents around who prepares their children. In order to keep up, we got \"no choice\" but to keep up too as personally, I feel that if the child is able to cope well, this will increase their self-esteem. The last thing for us is for our child to think she is lagging behind her friends..... so yes it's that kiasu mindset. It's a chicken and egg story....

Indeed, there is truth on who's the real monsters for pri 1 and I kinda agree with ksi's observation - that those stressed/trying to cope one's are those who are aiming to be at the top.

Time and time again, I have to ignore certain comments from the teachers about my child and remind myself that
- I only want my child to do his best
- I need to accept that his best can be 49/100.
- his best performance is not driven by my pushiness/slave drivings but his own aptitude and attitude.

It is contagious to hang around with fellow parents who are \"the monsters\". Sometimes I feel like being brain washed. hearing musings and mmm's comments make my day. My child came back with 0/10 in spelling last week. But heck, I don't give a damn (at least for now). :imcool:

[Imami]

Laura02:

I would encourage all parents to have the courage of their convictions and guide their children the way they think fit. I would discourage parents from trying to keep up with their neighbour's/ colleges trying to outdo one another with tuition, enrichments, days so packed full of organized activity the child has no time \"sit and stare\".

Pre-school education does nact affect me as my kid is in upper Pri. But I feel that at that age, kids learn most from their parents. As parents, we can read to our kids, not just in bed before sleeping, but anytime, everywhere. Point out road signs, street signs, labels in supermarkets, shops, menus, words are everywhere in our daily lives. Just point out the letters and read them out to the child, and the child will pick up reading. Count with the child, then number of pencils, number of spoons and forks, the numbers of red cars in a car park, .... It can all be incorporated easily into our daily interactions with children.
And if you, as a parent feel that you rather not send your children for tuition, then don't. Lessons can be learnt in the playground too. Count the number of times the child slides down the slide. Introduce the idea of potential energy and kinetic energy on the slide. Count the number of times you push your child on the swing. Introduce the idea of center of gravity and why it provides a push or pull force when he leans backwards or forwards on the swing. Think of why leaves are green, flowers fall to the ground, water is blue ...

Have courage in your convictions, and pass on what you have learnt in your own life to your kids.

Nice. I like. :goodpost:

[3Boys]

So parents here who tout the moderate non-academic approach to pre-school, do not just keep this within this forum. You are are part of the broader discussion, do not be afraid to speak up and have yourself heard, or to debate this issue with others who may differ in opinion from you. I believe the g’ment is making an earnest effort to hear public opinion, the moderates need to speak up and be part of the process.

[Imami]

Sun_2010:

The interesting question is -
And why does that give you work?
Your DC needs some help to sit down and do?
Your DC needs some some explaining /help to do the homework?
You worry that DC may not get full marks for her spellings/ mini tests?

To each his own , but like you say sometimes we need to examine the why we do what we do .

IMHO , all especially children need \"idle\" time. It has to be no electronic gadget time . Its the ideal time for the brain to play around what it has absorbed. When the children are bored then they use their head to keep themselves entertained - read, draw, scribble , imaginative play - fighting all the bad guys, house-house, self conversation ... limitless learning.

Hmmm some very good and thought provoking qns here....

But yes, the idle time is very impt. To the adults who don't observe closely, it is idle time. But from my personal experience, it is not. My child gets his daily doses of free play and rest. There are times when he requested a nap at awkward timing e.g 6pm and this is after his usual nap time from 2-5pm. He seems to have this habit of \"sleeping over the prob\". Time and again, I found him going to awkward nap with some unsolved puzzles or qns and woke up finding a solution for these prob! Amazing but it's true. So yes, he is going to get his awkward nap anytime he wants.

Recently he would just stare out of our window for a long while. When he finally decides enough is enough, he Came back with something new. He told me,\"cat, mat, hat, that are same but not same\". I suspected he meant these are from the same word family but decided to ask him,\"what do you mean by \"same but not same\"? He quickly picked up a pencil and paper and started scribbling these words. He then pointed to me that these words start with diff consonants but all end with \"at\".

So even if the children look like they are doing nothing, what transpires within their brains can be amazing. Let them idle, I say!