Depressed over p3 results

[BeContented]

ammonite:

janet_lee88:

i just went through daughter's science worksheet...the MCQ questions are challenging for a p3...the open-ended questions are no walk in the park either...had the chance to see her classmate's worksheet bcos she borrowed it home to copy the answer. one of the open-ended question required the student to write out the steps to 'prove' that water/moisture is required to grow mushrooms using 2 petri dishes :scared:
is my daughter expected to memorize the answer and many many more to pass her SA1 ?

You cannot memorize, you have to understand. Trying to tackle science through sheer memorization won't work! My son has a good general knowledge and he can do the mcqs cold by himself through deduction. If he has to memorize everything, I don't think he will survive at all.

I agree fully with the bold part. How much can one memorise? There is so many different permutations & it'll be crazy to memorise. In the short term, it may take more effort/time & many repetition to get the child to understand, but it will definitely help in the long term. Once u understand, also easier to remember.

Similar for Maths. Dd had an ex-classmate who was scoring high band 1 in P1&2. However her weakness started to show in P3 & P4. Her Maths was slipping. Apparently, the gal did not understand via concepts. She would memorise methods & simply apply when she see something similar. A slight twist & she'll be stuck. The gal is having 2 different Maths tuition since P5.....but as they are in different classes, I am no longer aware how the gal is doing. The last I knew, she can manage normal Maths that are very straightforward type but still struggling with the more challenging questions.

Of course, all these are easier said than done. But I guess I just want to emphasize that understanding of the concepts is important as a child moves up.

[janet88]

agree with you…important thing is to understand concepts…no way of memorizing.

[ammonite]

janet_lee88:

not possible to memorize...or else cannot survive when she progresses to p4, p5 and psle. she is only in p3...but i find myself having to focus, repeat and revise several times more...how to be her cheerleader as she goes on? my energy level is quite zapped up.

Did you do experiments with her? Walk around the nature reserves, tinker with magnets and circuits, she will surely get it then. Both my kids can set up a simple circuit in preschool. Create the environment and it will be an enjoyable journey. My sons reared caterpillars and we catch bugs. They build their own contraptions and elder one is good with gears. He is angry that his teacher is doing so little science with the class.

[TheAnswer]

janet_lee88:

kaitlynangelica:

Yes. I have a friend who is a science teacher.


According to her, science is not difficult to grasp but unfortunately, the kids have difficulty scoring.

yes, agree...scoring in science is tricky.

btw, tutors and enrichment centres...please do NOT send me private messages to get my kids to attend them.

I also have some PMs asking me to recommend them to my students. They get no response from me. Freaking annoying.

Some are from other tutors, some tuition agencies, some tuition centers.

[janet88]

i visit this forum as a parent…but always getting PMs to get kids to join their centres. irritating.

[SarChar]

kaitlynangelica:

Yes. I have a friend who is a science teacher.


According to her, science is not difficult to grasp but unfortunately, the kids have difficulty scoring.

I find that Science topics in school text books are very brief n simple but the test questions set are so much more difficult.

[ChiefKiasu]

TheAnswer:

janet_lee88:

...

btw, tutors and enrichment centres...please do NOT send me private messages to get my kids to attend them.

I also have some PMs asking me to recommend them to my students. They get no response from me. Freaking annoying.

Some are from other tutors, some tuition agencies, some tuition centers.

If you receive unsolicited PMs from anyone selling you their services, please PM me or the moderators immediately. We will ban those accounts and block their services.

[TheAnswer]

ChiefKiasu:

TheAnswer:

[quote=\"janet_lee88\"]...

btw, tutors and enrichment centres...please do NOT send me private messages to get my kids to attend them.

I also have some PMs asking me to recommend them to my students. They get no response from me. Freaking annoying.

Some are from other tutors, some tuition agencies, some tuition centers.

If you receive unsolicited PMs from anyone selling you their services, please PM me or the moderators immediately. We will ban those accounts and block their services.[/quote]Chief,

I didn't know that I could PM you for help I asked for recommendations from parents but I got chunks of PMs from annoying agents/centers/tutors instead :rant: :nunchuk:
I will sort my emails and PM you. Should be late this month. Busy period now.

[junetan76]

science is a subject where the children should get to explore a lot.

e.g. identifying water plants.
if the child had only seen lotus in pictures or worse, only in words, can he remember that really observe and explore what it is.

almost everything in science needs lots of exploring before more understanding…

and science is all around us
- why is there steam coming out of the hot coffee?
- why is there echo in the bathroom?
- why do I see mould growing in the bathroom or on the bread?

all these could be discovered and discussed between the parents and children.

[mumbyfaith]

weatherbee:

kaitlynangelica:

Hi Mummyofthree,


Yes thanks. I am getting in a full-time tutor today for maths.

Damn ex tho.....$45 an hour because she is an ex-MOE teacher.

This one got to trial and error. Try out the tutor and see how. Maybe can ask your daughter for some feedback.

Hi there,
Just wondering how the tutor worked out...I just chanced upon this thread today and can totally relate to how you feel. My DS dropped quite drastically from P2 SA2 to P3 SA1. I don't even know what band he's in except that he's not band 1..what's the marks for band 2 & 3?

Am in two minds about sending him for tuition..cos he has difficulty with the difficult 'killer' problem sums--which ironically the school didn't quite teach. Generally I know he blanks out when he has to solve a sum he's never encountered before. That's why I try to practice more with him. But this SA1 despite all the work, we were totally caught off-guard.

Now he's rather demoralised, and I\"m torn between boosting his confidence with easier sums (which won't help much with the killer questions that slaughtered him) and giving him harder ones to prep him for future papers.