2013 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[happyheart]

mama_10:

perhaps still in early stage? My DD cant stay until so late. I can see she is really tired. So go to sleep after finish her homework, luckily not much at this moment.

wonder how can she cope when teachers load them with tons of homework at later stage :shock:

Same here. As far as I can see, homework is still managable at this point but DS is already tired after a long day. Spend the rest of the evening finishing up homework and totally exhausted after that. Not to mention extra time to revise...with the low energy, he is not productive in doing more. I wonder how he is going to cope when the 'real work' is in.

[ruohoo97]

ScaredyMum:

zeemimi:

I will still let ds continue his sports n music. Just that no music exams this year till after psle. But he will still hv to practice everyday if possible, if not, will be back to square one.

doing his weekly sports is also a form of break for him.

DS doesn't seem to have time to practise at all
Now he's already rushing school & tuition work till 11pm every night.
Maybe its his time management but I am not home to supervise him during the day so really dunno wat is happening before I reach home

11 pm? That is extreme. Maybe consider to cut down tuition. The child needs enough rest to function well.

[ScaredyMum]

ruohoo97:

ScaredyMum:

[quote=\"zeemimi\"]I will still let ds continue his sports n music. Just that no music exams this year till after psle. But he will still hv to practice everyday if possible, if not, will be back to square one.

doing his weekly sports is also a form of break for him.

DS doesn't seem to have time to practise at all
Now he's already rushing school & tuition work till 11pm every night.
Maybe its his time management but I am not home to supervise him during the day so really dunno wat is happening before I reach home

11 pm? That is extreme. Maybe consider to cut down tuition. The child needs enough rest to function well.[/quote]I've heard of worse, and yes, I m monitoring the amount of tuition homework he gets but oso not discounting the possibility of bad time management.

[Just relax]

I think some KSPs believe it is better to get DC into routine of staying up later to study as compared to P5 in preparation for the upcoming PSLE while other KSPs believe in letting DC deal with the workload and increased studying on a gradual basis.


To each his own as each KSP will know their child the best :pokeeye:

I guess the only word of caution which has been repeated in the P6 forums of every year is to watch out for burnout :lightrod:

We as parents may/will become over anxious and forget that DC is still a child with his/her own anxieties and ideas. So please remain :imanangel:

[Peony]

Just relax:

I think some KSPs believe it is better to get DC into routine of staying up later to study as compared to P5 in preparation for the upcoming PSLE while other KSPs believe in letting DC deal with the workload and increased studying on a gradual basis.


To each his own as each KSP will know their child the best :pokeeye:

I guess the only word of caution which has been repeated in the P6 forums of every year is to watch out for burnout :lightrod:

We as parents may/will become over anxious and forget that DC is still a child with his/her own anxieties and ideas. So please remain :imanangel:

Very true.

Over anxious parents (and teachers) transfer these negative energies to kids and the worst case scenario is sick kids during PSLE!! Have seen that - kids with cooling gels thingy on their forehead as they take the exams.

As parents, you can create the balance they need to stay happy and healthy from now till PSLE. How do you want the journey to be? Stressed at school and at home? Or stressed at school and recovery at home?

The extra half hour or more each night may not translate to higher results.

Free play time actually helps kids concentrate better when they are studying. I've seen this for years.... kids pushed too hard do not do as well as kids who have a balance - sleep, study and play. This is based on the kids I know. The old saying - study/work hard, play harder, works.

[HAPPYH]

:goodpost:

Peony:

Just relax:

I think some KSPs believe it is better to get DC into routine of staying up later to study as compared to P5 in preparation for the upcoming PSLE while other KSPs believe in letting DC deal with the workload and increased studying on a gradual basis.


To each his own as each KSP will know their child the best :pokeeye:

I guess the only word of caution which has been repeated in the P6 forums of every year is to watch out for burnout :lightrod:

We as parents may/will become over anxious and forget that DC is still a child with his/her own anxieties and ideas. So please remain :imanangel:

Very true.

Over anxious parents (and teachers) transfer these negative energies to kids and the worst case scenario is sick kids during PSLE!! Have seen that - kids with cooling gels thingy on their forehead as they take the exams.

As parents, you can create the balance they need to stay happy and healthy from now till PSLE. How do you want the journey to be? Stressed at school and at home? Or stressed at school and recovery at home?

The extra half hour or more each night may not translate to higher results.

Free play time actually helps kids concentrate better when they are studying. I've seen this for years.... kids pushed too hard do not do as well as kids who have a balance - sleep, study and play. This is based on the kids I know. The old saying - study/work hard, play harder, works.

[pixiedust]

Agree and you have to know your child. My son (now S1) needs to sleep early so I have to help him prioritise his work last year. I know many of his classmates work till 11pm+ last year and some of them scored >260, some <250.


Ultimately, it is not the number of hours but the effective learning which takes place. If you feel that your child is getting tired and unable to absorb or learn, then step in to help them prioritise.

[AdonciaTang]

pixiedust:

Agree and you have to know your child. My son (now S1) needs to sleep early so I have to help him prioritise his work last year. I know many of his classmates work till 11pm+ last year and some of them scored >260, some <250.


Ultimately, it is not the number of hours but the effective learning which takes place. If you feel that your child is getting tired and unable to absorb or learn, then step in to help them prioritise.

:goodpost:

[janet88]

pixiedust:

Agree and you have to know your child. My son (now S1) needs to sleep early so I have to help him prioritise his work last year. I know many of his classmates work till 11pm+ last year and some of them scored >260, some <250.


Ultimately, it is not the number of hours but the effective learning which takes place. If you feel that your child is getting tired and unable to absorb or learn, then step in to help them prioritise.

The months leading up to PSLE is long...with schools starting to push intensively after June, do look out for signs of stress.

[BeContented]

pixiedust:

Agree and you have to know your child. My son (now S1) needs to sleep early so I have to help him prioritise his work last year. I know many of his classmates work till 11pm+ last year and some of them scored >260, some <250.


Ultimately, it is not the number of hours but the effective learning which takes place. If you feel that your child is getting tired and unable to absorb or learn, then step in to help them prioritise.

Yes, must know your child.
When DS was doing his PSLE in 2012, I could see that he became tired past 11pm but he would persist and complete his work as he had a target in mind. Fortunately, he didn't really have that many late nights and at least not continuously....At that point, I thot life was tough.
Now at Sec 1, he has little homework so far....but he yet seems more tired ....about 10.30pm he would pack up for bed. Probably more brain juice required in Sec 1 so mentally exhausting??

DD's turn to do her PSLE this year. Comparing DD daily sch load vs DS load in P6, DS had such an easy time :scared: DD has been sleeping between 12am -1.30am since 2nd week of sch......daily . I tried to help DD prioritize and even ask her to cut corners eg. dun be so neat, submit less vocab words etc :oops: , but having received praises for her good effort plus she really likes her teacher this year, she has been very motivated so far. DD has also rejected my offer to write excuse letters so that she could sleep more. So we changed our routine a little and nowadays, she takes ~an hour of power nap in the afternoon.
These days, I found myself loitering around middle of the night and playing my iphone games a lot....cos' if I sit still or read, i'll doze off b4 my DD finishes her work :oops: Guess that is about all the support I can give her by staying up late together with her.
I have heard how some of my friends' kids would whine & throw tantrum etc.....so in a way, I am very blessed that both kids had taken it in stride (esp. DD as her work load was a lot more challenging than DS time).

As for the teacher, while at times I do think such a heavy workload is plain crazy, on the other hand, I will remind my kids the time & effort required from the teacher. The more work the kids have, it actually means the more effort (x40) from the teacher. At least the teacher is willing to take on the extra, and because of her dedication, parents like me can worry less and leave my kid in good hands :love:

It's now Feb, so just another 7+ months to go.......I promised DD she can go crazy after PSLE