Alternative use for tuition
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janet_lee88:
:hi5:
Making own notes is important for a child to learn. He/She cannot possibly be having a tutor beside to give notes. If the child can make his/her own notes, that would be more effective bcos it is 'personalized' to oneself...for eg the mistakes often made and areas which are overlooked. Critical thinking as well as thinking out of the box will make those notes more valuable.SAHM_TAN:
I think it's important for a child to go though and learn about the process of thinking. I have no issue if the child wants to buy notes or to use teachers' notes as additional resource but the child must have the thinking skills.
It's just like there are shoes with Velcro but I still insist that they learn how to tie shoe laces. Or like making ice-cream, there's an easy and more tedious way to do it. I will show them the tedious way before showing them the easier way. It's like I'm torturing my kids :rotflmao:
There may be shoes with Velcro but they cannot be wearing Velcro shoes or digital watches for life. I don't think you are torturing but teaching them that life is not a bed of roses. :hi5: -
hquek:
Shouldn't teachers be the one to:Well I know some bright sec school kids who ask for tuition so they can have access to good notes.
When I was in sec 3, I took bio and had no clue what the super cheem book was talking about. Luckily I had a friend who quietly told me about this fantastic alternate textbook. Went to buy the book and the bio world made sense after that, moral of story...sometime studying hard ain't going to help if one don't have good crutches to lean on.
- give good notes to the students
- and more so, make sure that the students understand what the textbook is talking about?
Actually, it's also a little surprising: all textbooks used in Singapore schools are approved by MOE, so if the textbook you used was so bad, how did it get approved in the first place? -
hquek:
Shouldn't teachers be the one to:Well I know some bright sec school kids who ask for tuition so they can have access to good notes.
When I was in sec 3, I took bio and had no clue what the super cheem book was talking about. Luckily I had a friend who quietly told me about this fantastic alternate textbook. Went to buy the book and the bio world made sense after that, moral of story...sometime studying hard ain't going to help if one don't have good crutches to lean on.
- give good notes to the students
- and more so, make sure that the students understand what the textbook is talking about?
Actually, it's also a little surprising: all textbooks used in Singapore schools are approved by MOE, so if the textbook you used was so bad, how did it get approved in the first place? -
atrecord:
Maybe coz I was a science student, I donch remember getting at notes from teachers when I was in sec school....all we had was just textbk.
Shouldn't teachers be the one to:
- give good notes to the students
- and more so, make sure that the students understand what the textbook is talking about?
Actually, it's also a little surprising: all textbooks used in Singapore schools are approved by MOE, so if the textbook you used was so bad, how did it get approved in the first place?
Is textbook not enough? -
slmkhoo:
Unfortunately, no. Pr textbooks are terrible, and sec school textbooks are only slightly better. I recall my own textbooks as very dense - lots of words, facts, hardly any illustrations except for the essentials. Boring, but useful. Nowadays, textbooks are colourful, low on text, and filled with not very useful 'interesting' sidenotes. They are not very much use for self-study or teaching. Hence the demand for notes, I suppose. I think MOE's textbook writers have forgotten the main purpose of textbooks. They are meant primarily to provide materials for learning, not be pretty and 'interesting'. They also waste a lot of (good-quality) paper by giving so little info on every page.
Maybe coz I was a science student, I donch remember getting at notes from teachers when I was in sec school....all we had was just textbk.Nebbermind:
[quote=\"atrecord\"]
Shouldn't teachers be the one to:
- give good notes to the students
- and more so, make sure that the students understand what the textbook is talking about?
Actually, it's also a little surprising: all textbooks used in Singapore schools are approved by MOE, so if the textbook you used was so bad, how did it get approved in the first place?
Is textbook not enough?
On notes: I also believe that teachers should provide some notes for guidance as to the scope of the syllabus and some key facts, but that students should be responsible for compiling their own study notes. That exercise alone will help them master most of the material.[/quote]Agree.Agree.Agree.
The problem of bad textbooks is exacerbated in primary by the relatively younger age and higher dependency. In secondary, I found a way around bad textbooks without resorting to tuition by dropping DD of at any uni library nearby. Textbooks at secondary ARE somewhat better... somewhat... -
i find that its the test contents that are the killers!!
pri textbooks only gave simple examples and some easy problems to work with… but when it comes to test n exams, the question suddenly became so hard… no wonder pri kids have a higher tendency to go for tuition!!
my eldest dd no longer go for tuition ever since he went to sec 1… not only busy with hw n activities, there is no longer a need to because he told me most of the things from the text are the questions that will come out in exam… nothing too challenging for him so long as he is good with the textbook… -
Yup, have to agree on the pri school text. Why hasn’t someone complained to the MOE, esp the science textbook???
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but i feel it is good training for pri students too… in a way, so they wouldnt be just sticking to the text n refuse to do assmt books…
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slmkhoo:
u may find it ridiculous, but that makes the difference with other countries' education system.. why so many neighbouring countries strive to come to sg to study? because of the system as well...verykiasumummy:
but i feel it is good training for pri students too... in a way, so they wouldnt be just sticking to the text n refuse to do assmt books...
But why should they be doing assessment books? It's a highly Singaporean thing that I believe grew out of the gap left by inadequate textbooks and teachers not covering the full range of material. If the textbooks contain enough, and teachers teach all of it, then there will be no need for additional materials. I see no reason to do assessment books for assessment books' sake. If a child has interest and time, there are lots of other reading and activities to do rather than assessment books.
no doubts there is no absolute right or wrong in this, just different points of views, but learning is a process that should be nurtured young... -
slmkhoo:
Think Chen has a thread on this sometme back...verykiasumummy:
but i feel it is good training for pri students too... in a way, so they wouldnt be just sticking to the text n refuse to do assmt books...
But why should they be doing assessment books? It's a highly Singaporean thing that I believe grew out of the gap left by inadequate textbooks and teachers not covering the full range of material. If the textbooks contain enough, and teachers teach all of it, then there will be no need for additional materials. I see no reason to do assessment books for assessment books' sake. If a child has interest and time, there are lots of other reading and activities to do rather than assessment books.
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