2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[softcoach]

beanbear:

She has no problem in handling homework, she has her secret weapon :evil: whenever she hs opportunity in school she would do her homework..

Oh beanbear, how I wish your DD can share with my DD2 her secret weapon. My DD2 is really just the opposite of your DD. She is alone at home till abt 6.30-7pm on weekdays as hubby & I work and DD1 is in sec school till quite late in the evening. She usually completes less than 1/3 of her HW before I return (I don’t think she does any of her HW at school). She starts getting kan cheong and rushes thru her school work only after dinner. Even then, I literally have to sit next to her to ensure that she focuses on her work.

I feel so bad because DD2 and I have had so many heated discussions regarding the need for her to be more focused and work on her time management skills. Both of us are so frustrated and upset after these sessions. I can see that she seems to sian and tired of doing the endless pile of worksheets from her teachers. She also tends to get many questions wrong due to untidiness, carelessness, teacher never teach concept yet, wrong way of answering science questions, high HMT/EL compo standard, etc.. Thus, she has the added burden of doing tons of corrections, in addition to her tons of HW. Seems like a vicious cycle of mounting corrections and HW. However, what I don’t understand is that she usually does pretty ok for her exams (she even received the 5% edusave sch award for P5 last year). But her HW standard now is in quite a bad shape. I don’t wish for her to start to losing her confidence for PSLE (frankly I feel so bad that secretly, I think I may doubting her abilities too…)

[softcoach]

sorry beanbear … the quote is actually from blessed777

[Flowermonaster]

Herbie:

If stop cca before the june if attendance is

less than 75% it will not be recorded in the
report book.

And will this affect dsa application?

Wow! Your child's school so strict with the P6pers huh? Those P6pers already spent so much time preparing for SYF so hopefully the teachers can be more lenient & let them stop as early as possible. Furthermore, the kids might not be able to turn up for CCA due to supp classes. According to my DS's teacher supp class for all P6 supersede all activities. So school cannot penalize students due to that.

[Herbie]

My dd’s sch has no supp class just remedial classes for the weaker students for the various subjects. But she is busy with syf training, mo training and the various project work.

I really dun think her cca teacher will let the p6s stop their cca after syf… She is srict and always go by the book.

[junrahmat]

Dd attends supp class 3X a week on top of sports CCA 2X a week, which falls on 2 of the supp class days. That means dd would go for CCA straight after supp class which also means that on these 2 days, she would be in school from 7am-6.30pm. On top of that, she would come home with tons of hw, and she's not coping well, struggling to keep her eyes open just to try to finish her hw. Most time, she couldn't


Got dh to write in to form teacher to excuse her from one of the supp classes. Her reply was that the supp class is used to give pupils extra help to further understand the syllabus better. I don't understand how this is going to help when the child is already very tired; and why can't they do this during curriculum time. If they really want to help, I think a remedial class would be better off than a supp class. She also said that she would need to get clearance from her hod first. But dh and I are pretty adamant about this and will still pull dd out of one of the supp class irregardless of what the hod is going to say. I'm not interested in your KRA, I'm only interested in my child's well being!

[beanbear]

softcoach:

She is alone at home till abt 6.30-7pm on weekdays as hubby & I work and DD1 is in sec school till quite late in the evening. She usually completes less than 1/3 of her HW before I return (I don’t think she does any of her HW at school). She starts getting kan cheong and rushes thru her school work only after dinner. Even then, I literally have to sit next to her to ensure that she focuses on her work.


I feel so bad because DD2 and I have had so many heated discussions regarding the need for her to be more focused and work on her time management skills. Both of us are so frustrated and upset after these sessions. I can see that she seems to sian and tired of doing the endless pile of worksheets from her teachers. She also tends to get many questions wrong due to untidiness, carelessness, teacher never teach concept yet, wrong way of answering science questions, high HMT/EL compo standard, etc.. Thus, she has the added burden of doing tons of corrections, in addition to her tons of HW. Seems like a vicious cycle of mounting corrections and HW. However, what I don’t understand is that she usually does pretty ok for her exams (she even received the 5% edusave sch award for P5 last year). But her HW standard now is in quite a bad shape. I don’t wish for her to start to losing her confidence for PSLE (frankly I feel so bad that secretly, I think I may doubting her abilities too…)

Dear softcoach, I'd like to share what HW system I've used for my 3 older children (P1, P5 & P6). My system involves the use of a digital timer and consistent follow-through.

First I establish the system when I am physically around first so that I can ensure the children understand how the system works. My timetable builds in work-time, breaks, snacks. For eg, a lower-primary child will do work in timeslots of 30mins followed by 15 mins break time/snacks then followed by another 30mins of worktime. I tell them what I expect in the 30mins of work. They sit in a specific place, have all stationery & water in front of them. They cannot move once the timer begins and they complete what is achievable in 30mins. The 15 mins break is also timed. I write the timeslots like 9.30am - 10.00am - Work, 10.00-1015am - Break - Free play, 10.15-10.45 - work. They must use a timer. These are examples for weekend timetables. For weekday timetables, the timetable must be customized for the specific child from the time they return from school. The schedule will follow from the time they reach home until they go to bed. Once the system is in place, they naturally know what to do without having to keep checking the schedule on the paper.

They are rewarded for every piece of work done via star stickers. If they don't follow through, there is immediate \"discentives\" eg shorter break, deprivation of TV time, etc.

Once the children understands how the system works, I enforce the system when I'm away from home. Before I leave the house, I talk with the child about the timetable, explain again the rules of using timer, doing work at a specific place continuously without interruption, rewards & discentives.

I leave the home and then I call back later to check if they are following through with the system. If they didn't, immediate discipline is taken when I return eg No tv, no computer, etc. I then reinforce the system again when I'm physically around and try again when I'm absent.

Once the child \"gets\" your system, it's really automated. These days, my 3 primary school going children follow my system very few issues. There's the occasional hiccups but Parental follow-up is important. The key is follow-though. You must check that they follow your system exactly. If you have maids, maids must use your system. My maids & husband copy my methods & rules exactly. So there is consistency The use of the timer and immediate reward/discentives are key to success.

Be clear what you want and create a system for compliance. My children actually finds security in having this system because they know what's expected of them and when they can achieve it, they feel good about themselves.

My DD2 has ADD and dyspraxia which means she has short attention span and generally poor organizational skills. We accomodate by making sure her HW timeslots are 30-45mins long and she gets to do something physical like bouncing balls, chew gum, jump for 5mins before she starts on the next segment of HW.

If you notice that your child has persistent issues with time management and carelessness, you may need to find out whether there is a learning difficulty somewhere.

[Chenonceau]

Beanbear… you’re amazing!! The idea is simple but the implementation is challenging. It’s impressive that you were able to carry this off.

[fifiyeo]

Hi Beanbear, always tot that I was the only mad person around setting timers for kids, rules and regulations with conditions attached. My ILs always feel that we were "crazy" too rigid with the kids and never respected our methods. So glad to know that I’m not "insane".

[janet88]

fifiyeo:

Hi Bearbear, always tot that I was the only mad person around setting timers for kids, rules and regulations with conditions attached. My ILs always feel that we were \"crazy\" too rigid with the kids and never respected our methods. So glad to know that I'm not \"insane\".

Hi fifiyeo,
My schedule for son this year is hardly followed...no thanks to the crazy load of homework given. But on certain days when there is little hw, I will squeeze in 1 practice like cloze or comprehension. Since I have tutors, I should have faith and trust.

[fifiyeo]

Hi Janet_lee88,


I don’t follow to a study plan as we have to flow along with the HUGE amount of homework from school. Wish I can though.

But I do put on the timer and set DS to complete task within given time and then like Beanbear’s DD, my DS gets to scooter around the house or play during the interval break time. I make DS put the timer in his pocket during his break and come back to the room to continue his work when the timer sounds. I feel it works well as he can free his mind for a short while and focus better.