GEP 2012 - Screening & Selection

[Flowermonaster]

Mum101:

\".....There is only the prerequisite baseline that the kids need to meet, 70/100 for all subjects except English which is 65/100...\"

.

The baseline for English has already been changed to 70%, no longer 65%. so in other words, all subjects baseline are 70%.

[Nebbermind]

2bb:

Hi, phtthp,

I like your question, several feedback from parents of current GEPpers, given second chioce, they would not take it... why???

I am also a bit frightened...

WHO? WHO? WHO?

[Zann]

phtthp:

porcupine12trade:

[quote=\"comfy\"]
Just to add, not only Good Luck but maybe $$$$. :evil:

huh u mean gep need to spend alot of $$$??

Any parents have the slightest regret opting in gep? i dont want to set my dd up for failure. the more i read about the requirement, I more :nailbite:

are there parents out here whose first child went through GEP. So you already know what GEP is all about. And when your 2nd child also offered GEP, decide not to take up the offer ?

if Yes, let us hear your view(s).[/quote]I have met parent whose first kid went thru GEP but opted out of GEP screening test for the second child. The second child later got DSA into NYGH via good consistent academic result and CCA. PSLE result also outstanding.

[polkadot]

I think a lot of parents have this misconception that GEP will be = Top PSLE Scholar.


It is not. And it was never intended to. It is about stretching their minds and thinking out of the box.

[chlobe]

Hi all,


My dd has also been selected for GEP… So far, at least a couple of friends have told me to consider not going for it. Surprisingly some of them are current MOE teachers… Seems like they don’t really like the program and how the kids are churned out. Any views?

[nansk]

chlobe:

Hi all,


My dd has also been selected for GEP... So far, at least a couple of friends have told me to consider not going for it. Surprisingly some of them are current MOE teachers.... Seems like they don't really like the program and how the kids are churned out. Any views?

That's interesting. What reasons did they give for asking you to careful consider this option? When they say \"how the kids are churned out\", are what aspect are they referring to? (The intense project load? The acceleration? What else?)

Thank you for sharing this alternate viewpoint.

[porcupine12trade]

chlobe:

Hi all,


My dd has also been selected for GEP... So far, at least a couple of friends have told me to consider not going for it. Surprisingly some of them are current MOE teachers.... Seems like they don't really like the program and how the kids are churned out. Any views?

there are so many views...confuse me further. i spoke to a nyps teacher, the teacher encouraged my dd to go for gep.

sorry..1 more qn, may sound very hypothetical. I am sure dd will score very well for PSLE if she remains in mainstream, but if she goes for gep, is it possible she may not score as well? i dont want her to get penalized for doing something more challenging, sound very narrow-minded? Maybe I am greedy, I hope by joining gep, she is able to learn more (that is not psle related) and at the same time score (for psle) as well as if she stayed in mainstream. I have never expected gep to make her score any higher (than if she remain in mainstream). Hope i am talking sense.

[Flowermonaster]

porcupine12trade:

chlobe:

Hi all,


My dd has also been selected for GEP... So far, at least a couple of friends have told me to consider not going for it. Surprisingly some of them are current MOE teachers.... Seems like they don't really like the program and how the kids are churned out. Any views?

there are so many views...confuse me further. i spoke to a nyps teacher, the teacher encouraged my dd to go for gep.

sorry..1 more qn, may sound very hypothetical. I am sure dd will score very well for PSLE if she remains in mainstream, but if she goes for gep, is it possible she may not score as well? i dont want her to get penalized for doing something more challenging, sound very narrow-minded? Maybe I am greedy, I hope by joining gep, she is able to learn more (that is not psle related) and at the same time score (for psle) as well as if she stayed in mainstream. I have never expected gep to make her score any higher (than if she remain in mainstream). Hope i am talking sense.

Personally I don't agree that GEP students will not score well in PSLE. Does not getting Top scholar = not score well? If so, then yes GEPpers might not do well as most of them just don't put in as much effort as the mainstreamers when it comes to PSLE since majority of them already got COs from their dream schools. Despite that, majority still scores 250 & above for PSLE.

[jtoh]

porcupine12trade:

there are so many views...confuse me further. i spoke to a nyps teacher, the teacher encouraged my dd to go for gep.

sorry..1 more qn, may sound very hypothetical. I am sure dd will score very well for PSLE if she remains in mainstream, but if she goes for gep, is it possible she may not score as well? i dont want her to get penalized for doing something more challenging, sound very narrow-minded? Maybe I am greedy, I hope by joining gep, she is able to learn more (that is not psle related) and at the same time score (for psle) as well as if she stayed in mainstream. I have never expected gep to make her score any higher (than if she remain in mainstream). Hope i am talking sense.

What's your definition of 'score very well'? There are many GEP students in the top students listed published by MOE yearly. These are students who attained the highest PSLE scores in the country. There are GEP students who score >280, many who score >270 and >260. Those who score <250 are few and far between. The girl who scored 294 (the highest PSLE score so far) was from GEP.

[meekopeeko]

You know, I have been reading quietly over the last week. Not just this thread but also other GEP threads. Also spoke to a few people who have been through the same thing. Like many of you, I have to make a choice. Or rather, allow my daughter to make her choice. By tomorrow!


Often, it is the adults who complicate the choice.

I think it is fairly clear that GEP is a very enriching programme. Nobody I have spoken to, disputes this. There are hundreds of pages on KSP and I don’t seem to find any legitimate dispute about this either.

As parents of GEP kids, we are told that our children have an exceptional intellectual gifting for higher order thinking, or simply put, ability to think out of the box or problem-solve. I think we ought to celebrate this gift and allow our children to celebrate this gift… because it is rare and it is meaningful! Typically, gifted children are inventors. I think GEP aims to give our kids the space to become the next Einstein, but not without hard work and perseverance. I think the GEP handbook has fully expressed this. Einstein himself said that the person who has never failed has never tried anything new! Einstein said he is not the smartest person (he has super IQ), he has simply pondered on the same problem for a much longer time! Tried it over and over again!

What I am trying to say is simply this - that as parents of GEP kids, we ought to have the same spirit as Einstein. If our kids are to be Einstein.

Our kids may not do as well in PSLE as children who spend a year doing ten year series. PSLE is indeed not about doing anything new, but producing methods, techniques and formulaes best perfected through practice. Parents with kids NOT in GEP are most happy to point this out.

But I don’t think they are right. It does not explain why the majority of GEP children do very well in PSLE, and why their performance have been so consistent that the top IP schools will continue to offer preferential DSA year after year. It is not just MOE that believes in the GEP btw, many countries, like the US or UK have similar programmes. Year after year.

So what if there are wild stories of a GEP kid flunking out, getting 240, or worse, getting just ONE point less than a mainstream kiddo? This is not a reflection of the lack of intelligence in these GEP children, just a reflection of the lack of generosity in some adults.

Let the children grow!