MP echoes calls for PSLE to be scrapped

[Nebbermind]

Chenonceau:

I ummm... dun think we are talking about the same things. Nebbermind speaks of GEP. I know very little about the GEP. Maybe GEP parents expect enrichment? Me, in mainstream, I dun expect the schools to enrich. I expect schools to teach the skills they test.

If I'm not wrong, the Parent1 has a P1 and not a GEP school.

[Chenonceau]

Nebbermind:

Chenonceau:

I ummm... dun think we are talking about the same things. Nebbermind speaks of GEP. I know very little about the GEP. Maybe GEP parents expect enrichment? Me, in mainstream, I dun expect the schools to enrich. I expect schools to teach the skills they test.

If I'm not wrong, the Parent1 has a P1 and not a GEP school.

I am confused. You wrote the following?

Nebbermind:

Recently I came across 2 comments from diff parents.

Parent1 : This new (actually she has taken over for a few yrs if I remember correctly) principal not very good.
Me : What u mean? :scratchhead:
Parent1 : Oh, she only care about (academic) results and not the well being of the kids.
Me : :roll:

Parent2 : I donch like this GEP school.
Me : Why? :scratchhead:
Parent2 : Coz this school seems to be only training the kids to get good results in exams. Doesn't look very enriching as compare to xxx school. (This is her 2nd kid in GEP).

Well, sometimes life is so ironic!

[Nebbermind]

Two different occassions…2 non-related parents. Sorry for the confusion!

[Lilac66]

KSP:

someone forwarded this to me...


another message from a parent on \"about Singapore Education System\"


In reality, these classes are perceived as a class for the slow and stupid, students are given the impression that once they ended up in these classes, they are losers. In this case it greatly damage their self esteem. Those end up in these classes, they feel inferior and those outside look at them as failures. Is this what MOE wanted in the first place? No, but this is reality. Already my P4 son consistently tells me he does not want to end up in foundation class as it is for children who fail. All his friends feel this way too. Does not matter if I tell him it\"s a class to help not to brand. These group of academically weaker children will feel segregated, isolated from young age.

How true. We parents can do so much to assure these kids, but when the kid is in such an environment with friends who also feel this way, it's kinda difficult to get out of that mentality.

KSP:

The academically better ones will think they are one class higher just because they are good in studies. What is most concerning is those who are academically better are most likely to end up to be policy makers, how can they make good polices that have consideration and compassion for all if they never mix with the weaker ones at all.

That is the concern we have with the new generation policy makers who do not even know what's like taking the public transport. But at least we see some steps being taken now.

KSP:

PUT THEM IN THE SAME CLASS BUT PROVIDE HELP FOR THE WEAKER ONES. THOSE WHO ARE BRILLIANT CAN BE PULLED OUT TOO FOR CERTAIN SPECIAL LESSONS TO PURSUE ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE BUT LET THEM ALL STAY IN THE SAME CLASS WEAK OR GIFTED FOR GENERAL SUBJECTS LIKE SOCIAL STUDIES, PE, MUSIC, ART, SO THAT THERE IS COMMUNICATION, BONDING AND LEARNING AMONG ALL.

That's if parents are open about this system. With our \"elite\" mindset, I've heard of parents who disapprove of their kids mixing with less academically inclined children.

KSP:

It may sound very dfficult to implement but it is the right thing to do. Long time ago there was no classifying, but we still have many outstanding leaders and ministers, not just briiliant academically but in humility. These are results of them having the chance to mix with all class and all tyes of people from young.

100% agree! I remember during my times, we had no qualms mixing with friends from all backgrounds and we only cared about whether we were promoted to the next level or not.

[beanbear]

pirate:

beanbear:

One critical skill eg in English comprehension is mining for meaning.

Can some kind soul explain to a clueless person like me what is mining for meaning? Is it similar to 有边读边 没边乱仙 ? :scratchhead:

Let me attempt based on what I do with my ds. I get ds to inquire the meanings at word level, sentence level and at paragraph level. Then there r things which needs to b inferred eg relationships between characters being mentioned in the story. Inferring events that r being talked about, what r the characters talking about. For eg if the passage mentions The Beatles and my ds does not belong to that era to know Beatles refer to a male band, he needs to find clues elsewhere in the passage to see if he can infer that they r a group of singers.

[SAHM_TAN]

beanbear:

pirate:

[quote=\"beanbear\"]One critical skill eg in English comprehension is mining for meaning.

Can some kind soul explain to a clueless person like me what is mining for meaning? Is it similar to 有边读边 没边乱仙 ? :scratchhead:

Let me attempt based on what I do with my ds. I get ds to inquire the meanings at word level, sentence level and at paragraph level. Then there r things which needs to b inferred eg relationships between characters being mentioned in the story. Inferring events that r being talked about, what r the characters talking about. For eg if the passage mentions The Beatles and my ds does not belong to that era to know Beatles refer to a male band, he needs to find clues elsewhere in the passage to see if he can infer that they r a group of singers.[/quote]Do you encounter cases whereby comprehension of passage is dependent on General knowledge? Thanks

[beanbear]

SAHM_TAN:

Do you encounter cases whereby comprehension of passage is dependent on General knowledge? Thanks

So far, in most passages I've encountered in school exam papers do not require you to have an wide general knowledge but it helps for you to fully appreciate what the passage is talking about. Once DS did a passage on Alfred Nobel and he didn't know who he was but the passage gave information about how the prize came about, who the first winners were and if you read closely enough, a child can infer that this Nobel prize is a very prestigious prize.

A well-set paper should not require a child to have had general knowledge in order to answer the questions. To mine for meanings, it certainly helps to have general knowledge. For eg, one passage I did with DS was a historical passage on the origins of foreign labour, how it started with slave trade, then migration of labour to richer countries to work and forced migration. This was a particularly difficult passage for DS. There were references like ethnic cleansing, open door policy, industrial revolution. It was very hard for DS to understand even though he could understand most words but hard to understand because there are many terms that refer to events, concepts, general awareness of economics & history. I taught to see that even in a passage where he didn't know many of the events being referred to, he can depend on his grammar skills to distill a good enough understanding in order to answer the questions. But i must admit, for a kid whose English is just average or below average, it's like reading Greek!!

The last question in OE comprehension is often about expression of feelings or analysing the character of a person. DS often find it difficult because he can't relate with those feelings being associated with the passage. He needs to vicariously experience these things and then extrapolate what might be the feelings. That type of question can be unfair to a child because many children have limited life experiences and a child is usually not yet mature enough to extrapolate what kind of feelings he ought to feel, right? For that kind of questions, I often \"train\" DS to have a pool of feelings that you would associate with different scenarios.

[pirate]

That's very helpful to know. :thankyou:

[SAHM_TAN]

beanbear:

SAHM_TAN:

Do you encounter cases whereby comprehension of passage is dependent on General knowledge? Thanks

So far, in most passages I've encountered in school exam papers do not require you to have an wide general knowledge but it helps for you to fully appreciate what the passage is talking about. Once DS did a passage on Alfred Nobel and he didn't know who he was but the passage gave information about how the prize came about, who the first winners were and if you read closely enough, a child can infer that this Nobel prize is a very prestigious prize.

A well-set paper should not require a child to have had general knowledge in order to answer the questions. To mine for meanings, it certainly helps to have general knowledge.

The last question in OE comprehension is often about expression of feelings or analysing the character of a person. DS often find it difficult because he can't relate with those feelings being associated with the passage. He needs to vicariously experience these things and then extrapolate what might be the feelings. That type of question can be unfair to a child because many children have limited life experiences and a child is usually not yet mature enough to extrapolate what kind of feelings he ought to feel, right? For that kind of questions, I often \"train\" DS to have a pool of feelings that you would associate with different scenarios.

Thanks. I see vocab very important.

[janet88]

My son has done several PSLE comprehension passages with his tutor.

I am unable to repeat what she explained to me, but I understand what she said :oops: doing several passages with different themes and scenarios helps the child to further understand and how to loop in. There are a few passages done like 'Osaka airport', 'kindness week', 'selling eggs'...all these are past year PSLE passages.

I am a stay at home mum. Unfortunately I am not equipped with experience nor the knowledge to coach. What I did this whole year was to arrange/coordinate son's tuition sessions this year. He attended supplementary lessons after school in P5 last year...but honestly I find that they did not benefit him, other than making him MORE tired. So, this year, he did not attend any supplementary lessons at all.
I did try to accommodate during the holidays, but teachers could not give me any information about the dates and I had to plan in advance this year...P6 !!!