2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy
-
Hi Everyone
I’m back again, this time with what worked for us for Science.
I realised that there were 2 main parts that had to be tackled for Science. The first was Content and the second was answering skills.
For Content, DD was trained from the start [P3] to memorise the Science Statements to word perfection. I explained along the way why we had to do this and showed her numerous examples when we used other words and lost some accuracy because of our choice of less definitive terms. After some time, DD accepted that memorising the Science Statements that appeared in all the assessment books, textbooks [even the ones we found least useful] and notes was a simpler way to achieve accuracy; so we seldom deviated from these Science Statements. Teachers like to term this as the use of ‘key words’ but somehow DD understood better when she was convinced how concise and accurate these Science Statements were compared to some of the language she used. As in math, Language skills play an important role in doing well in Science too.
If you read below what we did for Content, I am quite confident that these tips are general enough to help most children. However, what we did to boost DD’s ability for the second part – answering skills was/ is unorthodox; so please do carefully consider if this is suited for your child.
a.\tOur own notes from P3 onwards
We discovered early on how limited our textbooks were and since we did not find them useful [ the “i-science” series we found less useful than the series published by Perfect Match], we created our own ‘textbooks”. These were simple plastic folders for each Science topic. I had purchased the “usual” Science assessment books published by EPH [ we used 3 : 3-in 1, Science Companion and Science Revision, simply because back when DD1 was in P3 these were the most readily available] and then trawled through them to put together one set of notes for each topic. Material which was duplicated throughout the 3 assessment books was culled and consolidated into one piece (instead of appearing 3 times in our files) and such parts of each of the assessment books which were beneficial eg certain tables and diagrams which presented the information better/clearer, would all be put together into a single file. As we progressed, we ‘collected” questions we had problems with and had researched answers to, and also put these into the files. We put in our “inherited” notes from enrichment centres that did an excellent job of putting together the Science Statements and we also put in notes from school which collated these same Science Statements by topic. Everything was topically filed. We had a Common Science Misconceptions List the school issued and I re-photocopied/cut this and placed them into each individual file by topic. I think you get the general idea here – everything on that topic was filed into one place. We tried to be judicious in what we put into our files because ultimately this became our final revision file for that topic for PSLE. For every Science exam, these files were what we revised, so by the time DD was in P5, a lot of the P3 and P4 topics' Science Statements [ based on our files] had already been committed to memory. I must say that while I required DD to rote learn, we did so only after there was understanding on her part. I always taught the topics ahead of school so that DD had no excuse not start practicing on the many exam papers I had purchased.
b.\tPast Year Papers from Schools
From P3 to P5, DD did the 3 assessment books published by EPH [ now re-invented into Lower Block and Upper Block versions] but I made her do this primarily for content practice and to ensure that her foundation in the Science Statements was strong. The questions in these books are not similar to what I knew DD would encounter in PSLE. School did some worksheets from MPAH [the Tests series I believe] but when I assessed these, I also found them not terribly similar to PSLE questions either. We thus largely practised using the past year papers from other schools [purchased from Jeremy] as they were the closest thing I could find to the PSLE questions.
c.\tCorrections Are Crucial
I said this before in relation to Compo but I think it applies across the board for all subjects. Again I disagreed with how the school did the corrections [DD tended to copy the model answer without a clear understanding of why what she had earlier written was not acceptable] so we spent a fair bit of time going through DD’s answers and explaining to DD why her answers merited less marks or none at all, and why the “correct” answer merited more marks. DD usually did about 70+ % on the practice papers but often the corrections for the last 30% took as long as the duration of the whole paper to “go through”. This was largely because, instead of providing the correct answer [ not useful since we seldom saw questions repeated], DD had to verbalise her thought processes [this sometimes took what seemed then to be forever] and I “scaffolded” with leading questions. I think you will agree that school has no time to do this so I guess that’s why so many of our kids go for tuition and there is a proliferation of supp classes. You can’t really short cut this process too much for most kids.
\t
One other note about the papers we did; I knew we would have no time to revise/look at them in the run up to PSLE so I made sure that as we went through the papers, we did them thoroughly. DD also circled the questions she was unsure of and in addition to the ones she got wrong, we went through the ones she guessed right. Once the paper was “done”, we junked it. Our final revision was to ‘revise” our files of notes
d.\tThe mystical “correct answer”
I had this problem particularly for Science. Math answer keys are mostly accurate; English I was confident enough of my own answers but for Science, the answer keys were notoriously dubious. This was a problem not addressed by the assessment or guide books I could find and it took excellent answer keys like those done by the RGS teachers and many emails with DD1’s teachers before I found some footing here. The problem is compounded by “poorly set” questions. I am sorry if I offend anyone by saying this but I point this out because sometimes parents think it is them who are at fault when they can’t explain the answers to their kids. It is not always the case; I had a stack of questions which I ran by an MOE Science Curriculum Specialist in 2009 and she largely agreed [very diplomatically and in a very politically correct manner] that the questions I ran by her “could be improved and better set”.
From having looked at so many questions and answers, it struck me that after all the “bells and whistles” in this game, if I took a 100% correct paper [ eg answer sheet from RGS] and looked only at the answers and not the questions, I realized that the answers looked amazingly like the Science Statements DD had been memorising. Galvanised with this discovery, I stopped trying to second guess and mind read the teachers and instead, focused on strenghtening DD’s Science Statements and then analysing the questions with her – ie I asked her which part/topic of the Science Statements did she think was being tested by the question. This meant a process of not even looking at the questions as such [ applies for both MCQ and OE sections] but examining all the data that was supplied to us in the question [ note -- data can come in many forms and not just through the words – it can be pictoral, graphical, data listings, combinations of these]and then discussing what were the Science Statements related to that topic. More often than not, the topics tested were the same ones which came out time and time again but they were presented in many forms [we did quite a lot of papers and I do not recall any clear repetition/duplication of questions]. I call this process – questioning the question, and this is a higher order skill in my books as I only learnt this effectively at tertiary level [what I can say – I was a slow learner].
There is a resource I looked at this year which sets out this process in a far more succinct and clear way. It’s sold by an enrichment centre called Science Heuristics and it’s a series of books called “LISC”. (By the way, I just realised that some of you might think I am ‘promoting” these resources because I have some sort of affiliation/relationship with these places; but really, hand to heart, I paid in full for all these resources and gladly did so because the resources turned out useful.) I only came across this resource this year so it was mostly validation for me more than anything else, but if you are at the starting blocks, I do recommend a good look at this series of books. It’s expensive though and I only explored one in the series but I think it’s a useful resource. I did not use this method exactly because by the time I read it, I had already settled DD into my hotch-potched method of Science Statements and Questioning the Question.
There is another resource I briefly browsed at AFTER the PSLE [habits are hard to break and assessment books still call out to me every time I pass a Popular outlet] and this has been highlighted in this Forum too – it’s the SAP series of NAIL THOSE MCQs. I like this book’s concept – you do need to explain to the child why the MCQ choice is the best amongst the 4 given choices and just as importantly, you need to explain to the child why the other 3 choices are wrong. That said, I haven’t examined this book in detail but I do think the way this book is set up is good.
After we questioned the question and DD figured out which topic/concept was being tested, we had both our question parameters and our content [Science Statements] and DD would then write out her answers based on these. The last part of her efforts was “linking” [applying specifically] the final answer to the first 2 parts of question parameters and content [Science Statements]. This is where we deviated from all that was recommended.
Early on in our Science journey, we started off by feeling really frustrated that we couldn’t read the teachers’ minds, because we could never arrive at the teacher's answers exactly. Well, let’s just say that even by the end of the PSLE, DD should not be looking for a career in mind reading anytime soon. We never got this last part to look anything like the teacher’s model answer and I eventually realised this was because I was dealing with a child with a child’s thought process [ more literal and linear] and not one with an adult’s thought processes. So I let DD explain it in short clear sentences but she almost always took more words to say it then the teacher’s succinct summary. But to my mind, this skill of being able to succinctly summarise is another higher order skill [that’s why they teach you to write compositions first in primary school, before you move on to do summaries in secondary school] and DD did not have it yet, so I did not push it. Instead, I worked with this “constraint”.
The downside? Time. DD’s answers would always exceed the number of lines given [even after taking into consideration her rather large handwriting] and the comments her teachers would make was always, “try to shorten your answer” but accorded her the marks anyway because it was correct and logical. This was very important too because it helped build DD’s self-confidence without ‘cramping her style’ but gently reminded us that there was room for improvement.
In 2010, I worked with a Science trainer [ a Science HOD who has since retired I believe] and once again sent her DD’s P5 SA2 paper for critique; she came back with the validation that DD’s answers were clear and correct and would be accorded the full marks. I only needed to ensure that DD had enough time to finish the paper. Between that and teaching DD another higher order skill which she probably would mature into in due course, I chose to train her to manage her time. Again, we did not go with the conventional/school's recommendation that the MCQ be done and checked in 45 minutes. DD had only 30 minutes for 30 MCQs with 5 minutes to check and she had 30 minutes for OE Life Science and 30 minutes for OE Physical Science with 5 minutes to check. Like I said earlier, this is not for everyone and you really need to take a good critical look at what works for your child before you implement something like this.
DD’s target for Science – max 2 MCQ mistakes [this was the maximum allowance but the aim was for full marks since the marks were ‘easier” to score in the MCQ secion than in the OE] and at least 16 out of 20 for each of the OE sections. Not a terribly high level but this was the consistent target and DD worked very hard to exceed the target.
I never found a resource which had questions which were close to what I found in the PSLE books [ by PSLE books I mean the S$2/- past PSLE questions books every school gets each P6 child to practice with] but with the above, DD came back with an A*,Mummy’s hare-brained schemes and hotch-potched methods notwithstanding.
Chenonceau has shared what helps her son do well in Science, and I do think that her recommendations are certainly worth a good look since they are infinitely more fun than what I put DD [and myself] through.
DD did like reading Science encyclopedias and magazines and there was one which was published by EPB : (http://www.panpaceducation.com/panpacdoc/console/DocumentDetail.aspx?id=44329&viewType=) which we found really useful [it was very syllabus focused, had lots of pictures of the organisms DD learnt about and was written by a parent --my guess is that he/she no doubt put one or more kids through PSLE!]. But somehow, DD fared better within a structured environment, so we did Science the tedious way.
Side Note
I’ve had some questions asking me about Secondary School and I have also been asked particularly if I continued to support DD1 and will continue to support DD2 in this same way as they rise. The answer is a categorical “No”. DD1 is 2 years ahead and in 2010 when she started school, I simply told her to call on me if she needed help. Over the 2 years, I’ve had to re-fresh my memory on 3 occasions [quadratic equations, valencies and DNA replication] to help, but I no longer take charge of DD1’s studies. DD1 found that whatever we had done in the run up for PSLE for math and science was “good enough” through to the first half of 2011 [even in a higher ability class] with minimal help from me.
I would add though that while I did not take charge of DD1’s studies, I did maintain the position that I know my children best; so when DD1 was not faring well in a subject and I suspected it was not a case of lack of effort on her part, I did take the issue up with the powers that be [which made me highly unpopular as you can well imagine]. The story has a happy ending though: inspite of having been shocked by my methods, the teachers helped and a couple of emails later (including one where I did a piece of homework with DD1 and the teacher kindly critiqued it) plus a 1-on-1 session with the teacher, DD1 “improved” 3 grades for the subject and learnt in the process not to accept ‘labels” [especially those from the “you are no good at [●] “ category]. By sharing this with you, I am not advocating anarchy, but I hope that it will encourage and empower you to journey along this road with your child, critcally thinking what is best for your child always, even though not every one or for that matter any one else, subscribes to it.
All the best! -
Dear psle2011mum,
What you have posted are the type of infor that I was unconsciously looking around. My DD1 will only be in P1 next yr but I have 3 kids and I really need to plan ahead..........plus DH is hinting number 4 which I'm :faint: and hope he was only joking......
So once I find mummies who are sharing the type of information I need, I will bookmarked and file for future use. I doubt I will have time to research later on.
Thank you very much, very much for all your sharing. -
Dear psle2011mum,
I've been a silent reader of your post, and am really amazed at your hands-on working side by side with your kids. How do you find the time to do this, with a full-time job and to learn (the 4 subjects yourself) and coach your kids, not to mention going thru' all the markings, explaining etc. You are truly amazing!!! :udawoman: -
Dear psle2011mum,
You are simply amazing! Thanks again for sharing. It really gives me some footings on coaching my ds2 towards his PSLE next year;) -
psle2011mum, your sharing on Science has been impressive. You actually cracked the LiSC all by yourself in the \"hodge-podge\" way according to you... but which I had thought extremely cogent and structured at first read, and even the 2nd read.
I dun think people should go my way for Science because mine is really unstructured and I can do it only because I started my son from age 2 on doing experiments just for the sheer joy of seeing things explode. I think the methods need to differ depending on the time you have left to the PSLE. Yours is a wonderfully structured method that will benefit many children. All I have been able to advise is to \"let your child do experiments\". Not helpful, that.
Man! You must be brilliant to have cracked into the methodology for all 4 subjects whilst holding on to a full time job... and managing to protect your child from labelling.
:udawoman: :udawoman: :udawoman: -
Chenonceau:
...Man! You must be brilliant to have cracked into the methodology for all 4 subjects whilst holding on to a full time job... and managing to protect your child from labelling. ..
Totally AGREE on above !
psle2011mum, you have my respect ! To date I read the LiSc thrice, I am still not quite getting it. WOW! The way you put together the Science files since P3 !
I better stop whining and roll up my sleeves...as the saying goes : better late than never !
-
buds:
Buds, I like the similes you usedpsle2011mum:
Will put up my post for Science next - stay tuned.
:drool:
:rubhands:
-
Hi Everyone,
I didn’t recognise myself in all those accolades you gave me.
Thank you all very much but in all honesty, if I made it, every one of you can too! Just glad no one died of boredom reading the posts.
A few more postings to share - English ( Main Paper), Oral ( English and Chinese) and Chinese; will get to it soon.
Have a great night ahead everyone! -
psle2011mum:
:thankyou: :thankyou: :thankyou: Really great. Very fortunate to have a willingly sharing mummy. Great job.Hi Everyone,
I didn't recognise myself in all those accolades you gave me.
Thank you all very much but in all honesty, if I made it, every one of you can too! Just glad no one died of boredom reading the posts.
A few more postings to share - English ( Main Paper), Oral ( English and Chinese) and Chinese; will get to it soon.
Have a great night ahead everyone! -
Psle2011mum, thanks so much for sharing. :udawoman:
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login
