2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[niza6666.028774hotmail.028774com]

fifiyeo:

Was wondering how you parents out there feel about supplementary classes?


My DS had supplementary classes this year starting from middle of term 2. Since then, he was always so tired and there was just time only to do school homework (he goes to bed at 9.30pm). In fact, this year is the first year we hardly did any out of school revision after CA1. I'm amazed how we even survived it though they were very poor results.

Was thinking of NOT allowing him to do any more of those supplementary classes next year since I can't see any benefits. Perhaps hiring a tuitor might be a better option than staying in school. ???

Hi fifiyeo,

Yes, my ds was always tired after the long day with supplementary classes. For him the Teacher cover school's curriculum and not doing anything extraordinary. Good idea if you hire a tutor to coach him.

[mother777]

Chenonceau:

On our end we're doing a 2 Week Chinese Boot Camp. DS has to process 4 China Compos everyday + 2 Compre Passages + 1 Chapter Ting Xie. Hopefully, this'll give him a booster shot in Chinese for next year. :xedfingers:


He's usually done by 3-4pm, and then he likes to read short stories on the internet because he wanna try writing a short story. I rented Kung Fu Panda today but he refused to watch!! I had to MAKE him because I didn't wanna waste $5/=.

Hi Chenonceau,

pls advise what you mean by \"China Compos\" and where to get them?
sorry i am clueless

cheers

[psle2011mum]

Hi Everyone


I have to say that pulling my DD out of the Supp classes did have the effect of the teachers/HOD sending me long emails about how important the Supp classes were and also an offhand remark made in class to the students about how Supp classes will help them in the PSLE so they should attend.

I think the main reason these didn’t bother me was mostly because I was very hands-on and also somewhat more "courageous" having been through a 2009 PSLE; so I really knew what they did [ and didn’t do] at the Supp classes.

I do know of some children who don’t like missing out on the Supp classes because it makes them different from the rest of the class [ DD was the only one of two students who didn’t attend and the other child had a legitimate excuse ] so this route is not for everyone.

I wasn’t too concerned about "missing syllabus" because I taught DD almost everything before the school did [ so that she had no excuses not to do the full papers for practice at home] and also went through all the work my DD did before it was handed in and after the corrections came back, so I guess Supp classes really would not have been useful for us.

I’m supposed to be at work now [ I work full time] so I’m afraid I can’t share more in this post but will look for time this weekend to share more.

[janet88]

Sun_2010:

And HPB also tells us that staring at thing far away is good for the eyes too :evil:


This is the period for PSLE next year kids to not just revise but to more importantly recharge .
So do let them take time to stand and stare.

Oh yes, staring at something GREEN is good for the eyes after working on the computer or studying.

All of us need to day dream once a while...it's nice to sit down and day dream. :imcool:

[janet88]

Flowermonaster:

I have bought quite a number of assessment books during the Popular book fair & get DS to revise P3 to P5 now so that next year he won't be so stressed with PSLE. Am expecting lots of revision from school so not going to double stress him, we have decided not to send him for tuition except swimming lesson & MOS trainng. Yes, We know we r going against the flow of many parents. Sometimes, I do ask myself if I am doing the right thing since next year is really an important year for him.

Asked son's FT regarding pull-out of suppl class next year and she said some teachers are offended if the kids do not attend the suppl class. Really don't see the reason because parents are the ones who will bear the responsibility.

I've been pushing him quite a bit every day for 2 hours...plan to slow down when school reopens because I don't want to burn him out. It's quite scary to pull him out, but if the school can inform us parents what/how the teachers will be revising for PSLE, I might change my mind.

[janet88]

mn:

janet_lee88:

[quote=\"mn\"]Finally DS completed P3 & P4 Science topics. Moving on to P5. Hopefully we can complete!

Wow, done already ? We are in the midst of both...alternating between lower and upper block.

Hi mn,
For P3/4 MCQs, my son is able to score full marks (95%)...however, can't say the same for P5 topics. Our target is ZERO mistakes for MCQ. Got him to do Cycles OE just now (P5) and result was rather disappointing...so have to highlight and underline the keyword while marking.

Yes Janet,
My son does well for P3/4 MCQs but when it comes to P5 he is struggling. Thanks for the tip. Now have to pump a lot for P5 and pre-read P6 topics. Sigh... sometimes ds complains a lot of work but what to do. So I must work on motivational tactics too! :frustrated: So many things to look into! [/quote]Yes, my son complains too but I don't have a choice because I don't wish (also don't have money) to send him for Science class...a friend whose son just finished PSLE told me key words are very impt...even enrichment centres are also telling kids to remember key words.
A mum told me to use carrot approach...so I am trying it. Told my son if he can get the topic on Systems OE with a score of 95%, then he doesn't need to do MCQ tomorrow morn. I'm going to mark it now.

[BeContented]

I usually dun tell my kids ‘if u score above xx%, u can skip the next worksheet’…cos I dun want them to skip any.

My method is more towards
‘if u score <75%, I deduct 1 hr of computer time for Fri/Sat/Sun, 76-85% add 15mins, 86-94% add 30mins, >95% add 1 hr’. So it’s up to them to work hard to earn the extra playtime. But of course that’s be because they value their computer play time a lot.

[niza6666.028774hotmail.028774com]

Sometimes you have to show carrot to win your kids. I try to give more play time and bring him out to eat his favourite foods or for a movie. :moneyflies:

[janet88]

mn:

Sometimes you have to show carrot to win your kids. I try to give more play time and bring him out to eat his favourite foods or for a movie. :moneyflies:

I have to dangle more carrots like play time, yummy food/ice cream, some shopping to give me quality work for Dec. Come Jan, it's not really possible.
For MCQs, he is able to focus and be more careful but not the case for OE. Although I also have Science P3/4 OE assessment, I have no intention to start it. Prob is past year exam papers may not have reliable answers sometimes :frustrated:

[Apricot]

Flowermonaster:

I have never think of taking my DS out from the suppl classes as the teachers really do cover topics that suppose to cover during curriculum but lack time. Agreed that the 1.5hrs might not be fully useful as the teacher might spent some time getting the class in order (depending how rowdy the kids were that day) so left not much time for going through the lesson. Overall, I still think it's still good for my DS to go as he wont miss anything taught during suppl class no manner how minor it is.

I have bought quite a number of assessment books during the Popular book fair & get DS to revise P3 to P5 now so that next year he won't be so stressed with PSLE. Am expecting lots of revision from school so not going to double stress him, we have decided not to send him for tuition except swimming lesson & MOS trainng. Yes, We know we r going against the flow of many parents. Sometimes, I do ask myself if I am doing the right thing since next year is really an important year for him.

I, too, never thought of pulling my dd out from suppl class when my dd was in P6. The school was covering syllabus that were not taught in class due to time constraint during school hours. In fact, sometimes, the teachers gave additional useful notes that were outside the syllabus (came out during exams). My dd came back quite exhausted at times, but I felt that this is part and parcel of the stressful education system in Singapore and so she has to learn to cope. It will probably be worst when she goes to secondary school as the subjects will double.

As a parent, I helped her to cope by ensuring that she managed well whatever free time she has by helping her to set her priorities right. Realistically, it is difficult to do much during the school weekdays. So weekends and holidays are quite fully utilised. At the same time, I try to support her physically and emotionally so that the stress do not get to her.

For those who are thinking of pulling your kid out of suppl classes, perhaps you would like to ask yourself the following questions :

1) Is it really that the suppl lessons in your kid's school are not useful and hence unnecessary ?
2) Can you or the tutor do a better job in teaching your kid than the teachers ?
3) How does your kid feels ? Does she feel that she is losing out by not attending the class or uncomfortable with such arrangement ?

At the end of the day, what I felt was most beneficial for my dd was ensuring that she did the TOP schools and other topical assessment papers esp for Maths and Science. For these subjects, mere studying the textbooks cannot help the kid to score well but it's knowing how to apply thru answering questions in assessment papers that will help the kid tremendously. After doing many papers, the child will be able decipher and give `standard answers' even when questions are phrased differently. I realised the `standard answers' pattern after marking many of her papers.