2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[mummy so kiasu]

Is there school on this Fri (31st Aug)? Teachers’ Day is supposed to be on 7th Sept & it is a school holiday.

[BeContented]

mummy so kiasu:

Is there school on this Fri (31st Aug)? Teachers' Day is supposed to be on 7th Sept & it is a school holiday.

DS release time is per normal @ 1.30pm. Shorter lesson + Teacher's Day celebration.
DD release at 9.30am. No lesson, only celebration.

[janet88]

mummy so kiasu:

Is there school on this Fri (31st Aug)? Teachers' Day is supposed to be on 7th Sept & it is a school holiday.

For my son, hours as per norm.
Daughter gets to come home at 11.
Teachers will get their day off on sep 7.

[speedmaths.012624com]

Chenonceau:

mummy so kiasu:

Just to get the opinions of those who have completed the past year papers. Among all the GEP schools, which school set the toughest Prelim papers for 2011 & 2012? Is it Nanyang Pri?

I think my DS' school sets even tougher papers than NYPS. My son can actually manage the Top School papers quite well but his school paper was a killer. Highest mark was 85.

And pssssssst... it isn't even a GEP centre ok...

For Maths, over the last 10 years, NYPS usually has the most interesting questions.
But the most difficult prelim Maths paper I have seen is the 2008 Ngee Ann Primary paper.

At this late stage (one month before PSLE), it is important that your child actually learn how to answer those tough A-star maths questions from the prelim papers.

Some schools give their pupils lots of papers to do, but do not have the time to go through the answers/solutions sufficiently, in detail, with their pupils.
The result is that many pupils just learn how to answer the questions wrongly, which is not the desired outcome.


speedmaths.com


.

[alng]

speedmaths.com:

For Maths, over the last 10 years, NYPS usually has the most interesting questions.
But the most difficult prelim Maths paper I have seen is the 2008 Ngee Ann Primary paper.

At this late stage (one month before PSLE), it is important that your child actually learn how to answer those tough A-star maths questions from the prelim papers.

Some schools give their pupils lots of papers to do, but do not have the time to go through the answers/solutions sufficiently, in detail, with their pupils.
The result is that many pupils just learn how to answer the questions wrongly, which is not the desired outcome.


speedmaths.com


.

Hi speedmaths, thanks for the info.
May I ask if the maths syllabus has changed in the last 10 years? Is it relevant to practice the maths prelim papers of NYPS say for year 2003? Could you share the Ngee Ann 2008 paper? Or where can we download the paper from? Thanks very much!

[janet88]

[quote=\"speedmaths.com]At this late stage (one month before PSLE), it is important that your child actually learn how to answer those tough A-star maths questions from the prelim papers.


Some schools give their pupils lots of papers to do, but do not have the time to go through the answers/solutions sufficiently, in detail, with their pupils.
The result is that many pupils just learn how to answer the questions wrongly, which is not the desired outcome.

speedmaths.com
[/quote]

Thanks for the advice. My boy told me the last question was a 'thinking question'. Last year's prelim was tough according to my son...but this year is more difficult. I hope this year's PSLE is not going to leave kids crying out of the classroom.

Kids should be exposed to tough questions in the weeks leading to PSLE...at the same time, they should also be taught how to handle them if it is phrased differently but actually using similar application.

[Chenonceau]

Actually... I don't think you can LEARN (especially so late in the PSLE year, one month away from the actual papers) how to do the A* questions. Here is what I think about the A* questions. Mommies might find this interesting, though rather convoluted.


http://petunialee.blogspot.sg/2012/08/getting-into-mood-for-psle-math-and.html

[Neko]

Chenonceau:

Actually... I don't think you can LEARN (especially so late in the PSLE year, one month away from the actual papers) how to do the A* questions. Here is what I think about the A* questions. Mommies might find this interesting, though rather convoluted.


http://petunialee.blogspot.sg/2012/08/getting-into-mood-for-psle-math-and.html

Totally agree with the following quoted from your blog :

\"So... our poor kids. When they go out on the limb and get divergent, they're told that there is only one answer and it must be accurate (i.e., they must do convergent thinking) and when they toe the line and engage in convergent thinking, they're told that they must learn to think (i.e., divergent thinking).\"

Sigh ...

[Nebbermind]

How many A* questions are there? Maybe worth 15 marks?


Just wondering aloud. Would you want to chase that elusive 15 marks (if u are mostly an Band2/low Band1 kid) or spend more time trying to ace the 85 marks??

Not my call yet…I still have 2 yrs to go.

[janet88]

Out of 18 problem sums, there is 1 thinking question…about 5-6 marks.

It requires time to think out of the box. In my opinion, it’s really no point attempting it. Reminded my boy several times to ignore that 1 tree vs 17 trees in the forest. If he has the time, sure go ahead to get 1 or 2 marks for that last question…if not, forget it. Do a good job with the others.