2016 PSLE Discussions (Born in 2004)

[nicnac]

Wow, some of the schools are starting their sa1 real early. Ours will start with oral next week, then one week break before they start on their written papers.


Actually, I am not even sure which topics are covered in their sa2. I don’t remember seeing homework on volume so not sure if they have done that in class. My dc said they are behind schedule in maths and ahead in science, thus teacher once used the sci period to do math instead. It doesn’t help that the teacher is current away…for 3weeks!! I am not sure if the relief tr is doing any teaching at all?!

My dc does not see the urgency, even though I’m constantly reminding her that the exams are round the corner. She can be extremely careless and with her "no-need-to-check" mentality, it is sometimes really frustrating. I am most worried about her EL paper 2.

[JohnYeo]

Steadyberry:

JohnYeo:

Hi Steadyberry,

3 more years...still got time to solidy and strengthen the foundation....when you say weak in maths, which area is he specifically weak in? and weak means what? not being able to understand, or can understand but can't apply or have absolutely no idea what's going on?

lets see if we can explore solutions from these new inputs...

Hi johnyeo

I am not sure which area he is weak in. In p1, most of the tests he scored above 90. In p2, he can score as low as 60 and below average. During ptm, his ft said not sure what exactly happened to him too. For this yr ca1, he scored above 90. The mistakes that he made can be anything, no specific question or topic and he doesnt really repeat the same mistake again. Eg. For calculating time. He added the time up without thinking that 1 hr is 60 min and not 100 min. Or calculating shaded area. He calculated the non-shaded area instead. Since I am not able to pin point which topic or type of question he is weak in, I would normally let him do ca & sa papers. :scratchhead:

Hi Steadyberry,

Sounds like it is not the whole topic. And I think you did a great job in pin pointing exactly what his mistakes or room for improvement are...I think maybe it is related to application and also understanding the concept of time and shaded area (in this context).

You may want to segregate out the practice time to just working on one or both concepts by letting him do questions on these two concepts and observing closely. Does he hesistate when it comes to reading the question or working out a solution? Maybe he understands but he can't solve it or he can understand and solve it but he misread the question?

Once you know the details, you can choose two questions related to these two concepts and let him do daily. It is still a habit afterall and we need consistency to develop a new habit which is to correctly solve questions testing on these two concepts.

Continue this process for about a month...New learned habit takes sometime to form and stay ingrained in a person...

My 2 cents,
John

[janet88]

nicnac:

Wow, some of the schools are starting their sa1 real early. Ours will start with oral next week, then one week break before they start on their written papers.


Actually, I am not even sure which topics are covered in their sa2. I don't remember seeing homework on volume so not sure if they have done that in class. My dc said they are behind schedule in maths and ahead in science, thus teacher once used the sci period to do math instead. It doesn't help that the teacher is current away..for 3weeks!! I am not sure if the relief tr is doing any teaching at all?!

My dc does not see the urgency, even though I'm constantly reminding her that the exams are round the corner. She can be extremely careless and with her \"no-need-to-check\" mentality, it is sometimes really frustrating. I am most worried about her EL paper 2.

facing same headache here. her orals are just next week...after school hours and she doesn't sense any urgency...instead kept complaining why orals are held after school hours...followed by compo (eng and chinese) the week after. written papers 3rd week of may. our dear friend here is careless...copied wrong numbers for prob sum and of course it is wrong all the way and can't even divide.

[JohnYeo]

nansk:

For my dd in Maths, I found that she needs regular (almost constant) review, only then does she retain the material taught and can do well when tested.

Hi nansk, regular and constant review is normal. It is the learning process.

In fact, the cycle is like this.

Learn -> Application -> Feedback --> and back to Learn and repeat

In your case, the review is considered part of application if she still remembers what she had learnt and how much of it and the result of the review will give you feedback on how much she had retained and how well when tested.

And the memory curve vs time is in fact a down slope curve and as every day passes by, what we have learnt yesterday will be forgotten and it is only with review, this curve goes up again but it will still be down sloping...

Maybe you want to have a review system that works best for your kid. For some parents, the children can verbalise the workings and the concepts and they can remember.

For others, they are more auditory and they need to listen. For the rest who are visual learners, they need to read their notes or look through the questions which they had done previously. There is a last group which belongs to the kinesthetic group and they can remember by doing and working on questions and feeling the success of getting these questions solved.

Different review works for different children....and you will need to find out what works best for your child...

John

[JohnYeo]

Giggler1:

I also at a loss with my dd, weak in all subjects, esp Maths and Science. Printed out P2 exams papers for her to do and she cant even do them. Sigh

Hi Giggler1,

For math paper, she can't do all of them or most of them or just some of them? :?

I suggest you can break it into batches of 5 to 10 questions and let her do it and identify those gaps or concepts she's lacking...I can feel that it can be discouraging for the adult and the child when the child can't perform up to expectation.

The next step is to narrow down the number of questions so that we can identify the exact concepts / topics/ questions which she can or cannot do.

[JohnYeo]

Giggler1:

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/nus-scholar-found-dead-in-utown-campus-185329134.html

read from another local forum he's the head of the club from university scholars programme...so they were guessing it's not academic related.

[nansk]

JohnYeo:

Hi nansk, regular and constant review is normal. It is the learning process.

In fact, the cycle is like this.
Learn -> Application -> Feedback --> and back to Learn and repeat
In your case, the review is considered part of application if she still remembers what she had learnt and how much of it and the result of the review will give you feedback on how much she had retained and how well when tested.
And the memory curve vs time is in fact a down slope curve and as every day passes by, what we have learnt yesterday will be forgotten and it is only with review, this curve goes up again but it will still be down sloping...

Hi John,
Thank you for your reply.

JohnYeo:

Maybe you want to have a review system that works best for your kid. For some parents, the children can verbalise ..For others, they are more auditory ... For the rest who are visual learners, ...last group ...the kinesthetic group

Thanks again. I know my dd is visual+kinesthetic, but there is not enough time during the school calendar to do more hands-on review. I will plan for slow, hands-on review with manipulatives during the holidays.

[mother777]

Hi Guys,

did any of your children’s school introduced the new format of compo and oral for the english?
for my DD school they are still following the old pattern for picture description and orals…
I did hear the new english compo testing format and oral is introduced for P4 cohort starting this year itself…

wonder why P3 is left out? the longer they practice, the more proficient they will become right? just wondering about this…

[janet88]

mother777:

for my DD school they are still following the old pattern for picture description and orals..

I did hear the new english compo testing format and oral is introduced for P4 cohort starting this year itself..

wonder why P3 is left out? the longer they practice, the more proficient they will become right? just wondering about this..

not that i know of...no change for oral.
already struggling with science, math and chinese. pls do not implement anymore changes.

[janet88]

http://www.edvantage.com.sg/edvantage/features/hottopics/opinion/1760636/Will_changing_PSLE_make_for_happier_children_.html


Will changing PSLE make for happier children?
quoted from article.
Yet, what stood out for me was not a suggestion, but a question one father raised: \"We all started wanting our children to be creative, carefree and happy, but what happened along the way?\"

His question, for me, hit at the valid point of how much of the stress children feel was a result of the education system, and how much of it came from parents?

That said I can empathise with parents who feel the need to make sure their children excel at the PSLE.

For example, if you don't do well at the PSLE, you won't be able to get into an integrated programme school, which more or less sets you on a direct path to university. Or don't do well enough and be labelled Normal by the school.

There is indeed something in the system that needs to be looked at, but if the session last Wednesday is any indication, it is not going to be easy.

Do away with PSLE, then how do we decide who goes to which school?

Tweak it to reduce its weightage, and make co-curricular activities a part of secondary school admission, and you could take the fun away from it.

Replace it with continual assessments, and every test becomes becomes scrutinised.

to me, carefree and happy days is a thing of the past. our children will not be able to enjoy such a childhood. my hubby and i were not aiming for son to enter IP school...without tutors last year (psle), he would not have been able to even get into express stream.