2013 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[JohnYeo]

wonderm:

How old are your kids? They are lucky to have a concerned dad

When my kids were young, we sit with them in the evenings to do some revision or go through their work. The division of work between me and hubby was not by subject, mostly me with DS1, and hubby with DS2. On days either of us were out of town for biz trips, one of us supervised both of them in the study room.

They are Sec 3 and JC 1 now. Starting from Sec school, they are more or less independent with their studies. I still monitor them (so that they don't spend too much time on computer) but I don't actively teach them or go through their work anymore. Whenever they have questions, they approach either of us depending who is available at the moment. We don't really divide by subject (except for Chinese, they usually approach mummy if they need help).

While we tried to let go starting Sec 1, it was not always smooth sailing. When we noticed a problem in certain subject, I would give a little bit more help until they were on track again. It is easier for me to do that since I am a SAHM now.

I'm just a normal dad...really...my DD1 is 3 y.o and DD2 is going to be 1 soon...hehe...think I KS so I better start asking and learning parenting tips from experienced parents like yourself...hehe....

So before your child is in Sec 1, are you working full time? how did you cope then? Sorry many questions...cos now, when our kids are young, we find the time spent with them is so limited and so stretched...so really worried about the future when they go into pri and sec school...

think I must change my name to KS John...;p

[sharonkhoo]

JohnYeo:

Wow, surprise quiz...hehe...like surprise class test...it is also very interesting like to get kid to check their work and to understand their mistakes...


what kind of mistakes in particular? lets say for math, most parents will just say careless mistakes....how do you group them? what i can think of is maybe wrong calculation or wrote wrong number...hmmm

letting go is hard n u did it...\"impressed.

Every parent has to do it sooner or later. It's nothing to be impressed about. I'm actually impressed that some parents can handhold their kids so long as I don't have the patience. My older girl was a real challenge for me as I was trying to let go years before she was ready.

I don't say 'I'm going to give you a quiz...', I'll just ask what the latest topic in that subject is, whether it's interesting/difficult etc, and just let them talk about it. If they seem unclear, I'll ask them to explain more, and eventually explain to them if necessary. We also tell them what the most common errors or misconceptions might be etc and how we made those mistakes ourselves in the past.

Mistakes - I ask them to analyse the mistakes for themselves and tell me what went wrong. Then we try to find ways to avoid them. Eg. for copying errors, I tell them to double check the figures before they proceed to the next step to avoid wasting time. For calculation errors, we teach them to check the answers by using a different method, or estimation etc.

[sharonkhoo]

JohnYeo:

Thanks for sharing...letting go by midway through P1! Wow, I must say the parent must have alot of trust in the child le...like really trust trust...some parents say trust their kids but can't let go.... Your P1 child must be amazing!

I guess it depends on what you mean by letting go. For this child, by midway through P1, I stopped telling her when and how to do her homework as we already had a fixed routine, and I had already shown her how to learn spelling etc. and she knew what her teachers expected in terms of homework. I didn't check her work, but would always remind her to ask if she needed explanation or help. I would peep over her shoulder every few days to see how she was doing and see if she made mistakes (after the teacher had marked). If necessary, we would go over a few things. Except for the first couple of weeks of P1, I have never sat beside her to make her work, but I was usually within call. But I think she is probably an exception, and most kids might need to be a bit older. My older girl was much later to be independent, so I guess as a family, we are about average!

[wonderm]

JohnYeo:

wonderm:

How old are your kids? They are lucky to have a concerned dad

When my kids were young, we sit with them in the evenings to do some revision or go through their work. The division of work between me and hubby was not by subject, mostly me with DS1, and hubby with DS2. On days either of us were out of town for biz trips, one of us supervised both of them in the study room.

They are Sec 3 and JC 1 now. Starting from Sec school, they are more or less independent with their studies. I still monitor them (so that they don't spend too much time on computer) but I don't actively teach them or go through their work anymore. Whenever they have questions, they approach either of us depending who is available at the moment. We don't really divide by subject (except for Chinese, they usually approach mummy if they need help).

While we tried to let go starting Sec 1, it was not always smooth sailing. When we noticed a problem in certain subject, I would give a little bit more help until they were on track again. It is easier for me to do that since I am a SAHM now.

I'm just a normal dad...really...my DD1 is 3 y.o and DD2 is going to be 1 soon...hehe...think I KS so I better start asking and learning parenting tips from experienced parents like yourself...hehe....

So before your child is in Sec 1, are you working full time? how did you cope then? Sorry many questions...cos now, when our kids are young, we find the time spent with them is so limited and so stretched...so really worried about the future when they go into pri and sec school...

think I must change my name to KS John...;p

You really don't need to be so worried. Don't be stressed about primary and secondary school, 船到桥头自然直。Your children are just a baby and a toddler, they are so cute, aren't they? Enjoy them as much as you can because they grow up really fast.

It would be great if your spouse is a SAHM so she can spend more time with the kids but many working parents are coping well too. I think there are pros and cons to each arrangement, we can't have the best of both worlds. As for us, maybe we are just fortunate, so far we enjoyed different phases of our boys growing up, both when I was FTWM and now SAHM.

[sharonkhoo]

JohnYeo:

I'm just a normal dad...really...my DD1 is 3 y.o and DD2 is going to be 1 soon...hehe...think I KS so I better start asking and learning parenting tips from experienced parents like yourself...hehe....

This may not be the right thread for you then. Here, parents are discussing the nuts and bolts of preparing for PSLE. For your kids, start laying the foundation - developing attention span, loving books, asking questions, delaying gratification, developing tidiness and organisation skills. If those are in place, the academic skills will fall into place much more easily when the time comes.

[JohnYeo]

wonderm:

JohnYeo:

[quote=\"wonderm\"]
How old are your kids? They are lucky to have a concerned dad

When my kids were young, we sit with them in the evenings to do some revision or go through their work. The division of work between me and hubby was not by subject, mostly me with DS1, and hubby with DS2. On days either of us were out of town for biz trips, one of us supervised both of them in the study room.

They are Sec 3 and JC 1 now. Starting from Sec school, they are more or less independent with their studies. I still monitor them (so that they don't spend too much time on computer) but I don't actively teach them or go through their work anymore. Whenever they have questions, they approach either of us depending who is available at the moment. We don't really divide by subject (except for Chinese, they usually approach mummy if they need help).

While we tried to let go starting Sec 1, it was not always smooth sailing. When we noticed a problem in certain subject, I would give a little bit more help until they were on track again. It is easier for me to do that since I am a SAHM now.

I'm just a normal dad...really...my DD1 is 3 y.o and DD2 is going to be 1 soon...hehe...think I KS so I better start asking and learning parenting tips from experienced parents like yourself...hehe....

So before your child is in Sec 1, are you working full time? how did you cope then? Sorry many questions...cos now, when our kids are young, we find the time spent with them is so limited and so stretched...so really worried about the future when they go into pri and sec school...

think I must change my name to KS John...;p

You really don't need to be so worried. Don't be stressed about primary and secondary school, 船到桥头自然直。Your children are just a baby and a toddler, they are so cute, aren't they? Enjoy them as much as you can because they grow up really fast.

It would be great if your spouse is a SAHM so she can spend more time with the kids but many working parents are coping well too. I think there are pros and cons to each arrangement, we can't have the best of both worlds. As for us, maybe we are just fortunate, so far we enjoyed different phases of our boys growing up, both when I was FTWM and now SAHM.[/quote]Thanks wonderm. Yes, they r very cute. Looks like it is a life-time prep and commitment to cultivate the right habits and attitude for life challenges which include the PSLE prep and any big or small tests/ exams which come along the way.

[JohnYeo]

slmkhoo:

JohnYeo:

I'm just a normal dad...really...my DD1 is 3 y.o and DD2 is going to be 1 soon...hehe...think I KS so I better start asking and learning parenting tips from experienced parents like yourself...hehe....

This may not be the right thread for you then. Here, parents are discussing the nuts and bolts of preparing for PSLE. For your kids, start laying the foundation - developing attention span, loving books, asking questions, delaying gratification, developing tidiness and organisation skills. If those are in place, the academic skills will fall into place much more easily when the time comes.

Thanks slmkhoo.

I'm really very impressed and at the same time, wondering if daily cultivation and enforcing of the right habits like loving reading, asking questions (and parents being very willing to answer them patiently) and developing tidiness and organisation skills play a part in helping children including the P6's to face and manage the challenges, which come along with the PSLE, with the right mindset.

IMHO, i think how the parents bring up the kids since young, what kind of values and habits the parents teach the kids etc can really help a kid in coping with the PSLE challenges.

Although tecnical instructions such as how to solve the Math questions using this or that technique (let's say in regards to Math) will come in handy, the child will also need to be taught the right mindset so that he can be in a positive state to tackle all these hard Math questions while telling himself that it is ok to explore different ways, it is ok to fail and it is ok to just move on to another solution.

And looks like this mindset is quite similar to how parents teach the children since they are young...

My 2 cents,
John

[janet88]

Build foundation from young…start from P1 especially languages.

[ngl2010]

This thread is very quiet. Recently the forumers that posted here are not those that have DC sitting for PSLE this year. Where are you all?

[JJ1111]

Maybe all preparing their dc SA1. ; p