2016 PSLE Discussions (Born in 2004)

[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.

[Steadyberry]

nansk:

Giggler1:

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

Thank you.

Steadyberry:

Instead of getting your dd to do schools' science papers, you can try assessment books. My friend has the same prob. Then we went popular and browsed the content page of all assessment books. We found a few books that doesn't combine few topics together. The individual topics are fungi, materials... instead of diversity, life cycles...

Thank you, too! This is very helpful. Can you recommend any specific assessment book? My friend bought a Conquer Process Skills book at the last Popular sale. Was the book you found something that said \"Process Skills\" in the title?

Hi nansk

Let me chk with my friend and get back to you. This method works fine at least for my friend and her ds. She will ask her ds what he did in sch for science. Then she will let her ds do that particular topic only. She also bought those branded schools' past yr papers but she said too tedious for her to pick the que.

[Sun_2010]

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..

DS 'c school has stated the new pattern.

The new method, imho, is going to be more general. Not something that can be put in a template like - SPARO , etc.
It is going to be real world like. When it comest to content, it is going to be based on how knowledgeable the child is and how good is he at expressing that. So no enrichment centre or tutor or parent will be able to cram that into a child. That is the good and bad to it.

The practise we can do will be in expression, body language and poise, being confidant. Not easy that.

[Steadyberry]

Hi sun_2010


Yes, agree with you. The child needs to be knowledgeable in a way. So to me, this new format is not easy at all. My dd2 & dd3 don't really like to read much except Princesses, Barbie, Winx club... I have a feeling they will find this format more difficult.

[Steadyberry]

Steadyberry:

nansk:

[quote=\"Giggler1\"]http://sg.news.yahoo.com/nus-scholar-found-dead-in-utown-campus-185329134.html

Thank you.

Steadyberry:

Instead of getting your dd to do schools' science papers, you can try assessment books. My friend has the same prob. Then we went popular and browsed the content page of all assessment books. We found a few books that doesn't combine few topics together. The individual topics are fungi, materials... instead of diversity, life cycles...

Thank you, too! This is very helpful. Can you recommend any specific assessment book? My friend bought a Conquer Process Skills book at the last Popular sale. Was the book you found something that said \"Process
Skills\" in the title?

Hi nansk

Let me chk with my friend and get back to you. This method works fine at least for my friend and her ds. She will ask her ds what he did in sch for science. Then she will let her ds do that particular topic only. She also bought those branded schools' past yr papers but she said too tedious for her to pick the que.[/quote]Hi nansk

My friend bought the following books by Teachers@work (SAP):
-Nail those MCQs by Shirley Tay
-Science Process Skills by Angeline Tan
-Conquer Science by Vicki Wong

Think you can view sample pages from SAP website. There is another book by another publisher but my friend can't remember it.

[Steadyberry]

JohnYeo:

Steadyberry:

[quote=\"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[/quote]Hi johnyeo

Thanks for yr advice.

[JohnYeo]

nansk:

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.

You are welcome....I think it is important to be aware that having more hands-on review may not necessary mean good...what matter most is you make every \"slow, hands-on review\" of yours as effective as possible.... I know of some parents with little time but they plan very short and effective reviews...work well too.

[JohnYeo]

Steadyberry:

Hi johnyeo

Thanks for yr advice.

No worries...glad to help...just feel free to update us or let us know if you need more info....i personally feel while learning should be enjoyable, the teaching part (by the parent) should be as stress free as possible. sometimes, it is a great discovery process of how your child really learns..it is not easy but when the process becomes more stress-free, the ability to learn will shoot up....it's a form of relaxed concentration of learning...you know you are focusing but you are relaxed too .....

[nicnac]

Hmm, I just checked the math text… They are only doing Money. I think topics like volume, area, etc are in the Part B text instead. They are using Shaping Math…