Exam Preparation

[janet88]

Sa1 is just next month...oral 2/3 may after labour day holiday.

Consistent work is important for p 1/2...but p3 onwards, I am starting her revision one month in advance...hopefully something will stay in her head. So I go back and forth to make sure she doesn't forget :xedfingers: when I move on to other topics.

[Funz]

This thread go me checking DD's SA1 dates. :razz:


Realise that we have only 4 weeks to her 1st paper.

[Giggler1]

Yes, I just check my dd’s SA1 schedule after reading this thread too.


She will start her oral and paper 1 in late Apr which means we have to start preparing from this week!!!

[Steadyberry]

ammonite:

TheAnswer:

No one is preparing for SA1 yet? :?

I don't even know when SA1 is. ds1 is only in P3, never had a real test before. Maybe we are still in lala land. But I think consistent work is more important.

My ds1 is also in p3 but I am already stressed out myself. What do you mean never had a real test before? How about last year sa1 and the recent ca1? For the recent ca1, it is 10% of the final mark. Whereas sa1 is 25%.

Anyway, my ds is not very strong in maths. So I had started to tear out maths sa1 papers from different assessment books for him to do. He is extremely lazy so I do not get him to complete every single page in assessment books. I also picked some questions from the P3 maths Q&A thread for him to do.

[TheAnswer]

Mini test, CA and SA exams are just terminology. No matter what percentage they hold we should still have consistent revision. I dislike backlog of work. I will clear them before they become an eyesore. Guess its an occupational hazard.

[TheAnswer]

My son has no tuition. The only additional work he does every weekday is during that one hour of serious work every morning. I refer to serious work as quality revision. Revising the things which I taught him previously (previous chapters etc). He will also complete his additional homework (assessment books and exam papers).

I will actively coach him as and when I can. When he has doubts, he will bring them to me. There is no need for me to ask him if he is has anything to clear.

Tips for creative writing will be shared tmr.

[metz]

janet_lee88:

Sa1 is just next month...oral 2/3 may after labour day holiday.

Consistent work is important for p 1/2...but p3 onwards, I am starting her revision one month in advance...hopefully something will stay in her head. So I go back and forth to make sure she doesn't forget :xedfingers: when I move on to other topics.

:goodpost:

[metz]

TheAnswer:

Mini test, CA and SA exams are just terminology. No matter what percentage they hold we should still have consistent revision. I dislike backlog of work. I will clear them before they become an eyesore. Guess its an occupational hazard.

Talking about occupational hazard, is it common for tutors to be unduly worried about their own kids' academics?

My sis is also a full-time tutor tutoring primary and secondary school students. Because of her understanding how difficult primary Math can be, she seems to be driving her child a little too hard. She coaches her kid herself (on weekends only), no tuition too. To a certain extent, we feel that it is a little unhealthy the expectation she has of her kid. But she claims that it is just occupational hazard, as she has seen far too many cases.

Can you share how you maintain a balance in coaching your kid yourself? I would like to see if another perspective could help my sister and niece. But if you are uncomfortable with sharing, it's really fine.

[TheAnswer]

metz:

TheAnswer:

Mini test, CA and SA exams are just terminology. No matter what percentage they hold we should still have consistent revision. I dislike backlog of work. I will clear them before they become an eyesore. Guess its an occupational hazard.

Talking about occupational hazard, is it common for tutors to be unduly worried about their own kids' academics?

My sis is also a full-time tutor tutoring primary and secondary school students. Because of her understanding how difficult primary Math can be, she seems to be driving her child a little too hard. She coaches her kid herself (on weekends only), no tuition too. To a certain extent, we feel that it is a little unhealthy the expectation she has of her kid. But she claims that it is just occupational hazard, as she has seen far too many cases.

Can you share how you maintain a balance in coaching your kid yourself? I would like to see if another perspective could help my sister and niece. But if you are uncomfortable with sharing, it's really fine.

To be honest, the upper primary Maths standard is shocking now. The questions are grossly tough. You will be surprised to find students who received only 25 marks for their P6 SA1. I am trying to avoid such scenarios.

For now I do not worry about my son's exams. In fact recently he told me that the test papers (SA1 top school papers) I gave him were rather easy. Secretly I was pretty happy when he told me that

Though we have a schedule, I'm flexible to change it when I see that he is tired or plainly not interested. Somedays, he would rather read storybooks than do English creative writing. I can see from his face when he is reluctant to get any work done. On such days, I allow him to read his story books and tell me the stories. He loves to tell stories :imcool: He will also ask me the meaning of the unknown words. I find that he actually increases his vocab in that way.

For Maths, there are days where he is annoyed with model drawing and will ask to do questions on other topics. I have no issues with that. On days when he is in good mood, he can do a good number of problem sums.

For Chinese, he rarely complains as it is his favourite subject.

My son does not do any academic work on public holidays and weekends.
DS enjoys his weekends and public holidays.
He goes swimming and shopping. DS also enjoys fixing jigsaw puzzles and Lego. Weekends are basically free and easy. We also visit the library every week. He usually finish reading the books very fast. We also watch movies regularly. We do not have rigid plans for the weekends.

[Love Clouds]

As a working mum, I can’t coach my DD2 during weekdays. I can only ask her to do a few pages of assessment (more pages if exam is near) if there is no sch hwk on that day. After that, she can play whatever she likes which motivates her. Then on Sat, I’ll mark and go through the mistakes. I’ll set a few more similar questions to those mistakes and test her understanding. Sunday will be a family day, so all including myself can relax!