2016 PSLE Discussions (Born in 2004)

[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…

[janet88]

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...

daughter's school using 'discover math'...shaping math is a good textbook.

I do not need to wait till 2016 to get stressed...I am stressed with new Chinese exam format as it is.

[JohnYeo]

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...

wondering do u use actual scenario to get DC to learn the concepts of money...like using real money and also getting DC to buy stuff and calculate the exact change and expecting that to be pass into their hands by the cashier

and using real containers to teach volume...it does work better for children who are visual learners...

[nicnac]

Was reading the PSLE 2013 thread and I feel so sad that our education/society has come to this… Individuals wishing for others to falter so that they can outshine. Have we become so self-centred? Do we wish for a difficult paper so that it stumps the weaker/avg students? Must we boost our morale only by dampening someone else’s spirit?


Come 2016, I pray my dc will not hv such a thought… But instead, sincerely wish the best for everyone taking the exams. Or am I being naive?

[Dreamgear]

Wow 2016 discussion is already up! My DD will be in this batch as well. Good luck everyone for coming SA2…