PSLE - New Format for Maths
-
atutor2001:
I agree with you. I remember my younger girl who was the top student in Science in her school Prelim Exam. Wow! But you know what? She did not get an A* in the PSLE! Otherwise she would have got into a better school. Nonetheless, she is now in a top but not very top JC Hehehe. :celebrate:justsay:
My DD has lost 18 marks already...
Hope this won't affect her chance of going to her dream school.... 
This is a factor that angered some of my friends. They fear missing their dream school because of the math paper.
There is no humans subject in PSLE. But some of the bright students excel more in humans subjects than sciences and math. Most top A level students are from the \"humans\"
Is the system not penalising these group of bright students with a disproportionately difficult math paper? They have no way to counter the advantage that students good in the sciences are having in PSLE.
Moral of the story - PSLE is not the end of the educational pursuit. There are many more chances to achieve your dream along the way up the educational ladder if you stay positive and work hard and smart.
-
kiasiparent:
I agreed with you, I remembered the method for solving the geometry question because one of my kids ever asked me exactly the same question while training for maths olympiad many years ago. However, only selected GEPs and a few from the express had the benefit of such exposure.Some of the students are trained in maths olympiads. These kind of questions were not too difficult for them. Believe it or not, there were some students who complete the maths paper 2 in just 40 mins and have nothing to do after that.
Geometry questions: Look out for equal lines (common sense)
Speed question: Maths olympiad style (Some students can solve it in under 5 mins, believe it or not)
balloon question: Test on LCM. Almost every year, a question like this(LCM or HCF) came up.
cookies, curry puff: Well, these kind of questions also came up in psle last year.
I feel that if MOE wants to find out who are the really brilliant by including such questions to identify them, they can adopt the format used in my kids' former Sec sch.
Their math paper has a few \"optional\" questions at the end of the paper. Maximum mark including these \"optional\" questions is 110%.
For computation of their aggregate, the total is still taken as 100% even if one managed to score a full mark of 110%. So kids have the choice of trying the optional questions or not. With this system, a normal kid can still obtain full 100% without attempting the \"optional questions\". A brilliant kids will only get 100% even if their actual score is more than 100%.
This system fixed the level of difficulty of the paper for normal students. However, it also allows the school to identify the super brilliant for math without affecting the performance of the other students. Maybe for PSLE, they can give a A** for those with above 100 marks as a form of recognition but the T-score will still be computed based on 100 marks.
My concern is that if the PSLE paper will to continue with the current trend, our future students will be forced by parents to take up tuition for Math Olymiad questions. In a few years time, the question will become even tougher. When will it end? At the end we have more children hating math and a bunch of so call \"intelligent\" kids memerising hundreds of different math solving strategies and approaches. -
//Editor's note: Topic selected for Portal publication.
As parents, I understand we want the best for our children. We can help by giving them full support and have realistic expectations from them. My 2 elder boys are average students and I don't push them to be top scorers. Though they don't take the university road, they are doing well in their own capacity. I'm very happy that they are well rounded and decent citizens with no vices.
My youngest boy however show great potential and is among the top scorer for maths in school. He's a genius in maths and represents his school in competitions but weak in Chinese. I have to add that I didn't help him much in Maths and many have the misconception that I trained him. In fact, he's better in Maths than me. :oops: He was stunned by the angle and sweets questions but confident that he did well for the rest. He had 40mins left to think but somehow couldn't break out of the box and solve them. Worse, on reflection (with some prompting from me), he realised that he could have solved them. He realised he had made a careless mistake and got the curry puff question wrong. Of course I encouraged him to move on. The consolation was those top scorers in his school didn't do better either cos everybody seems to be floored by the same questions. To him, the paper is difficult but he's happy it's not easy as he tends to make careless mistakes with easy questions and perform well in difficult tests compared to easy ones. :? The reason I share this is because I hope that if your child is an average performer, he or she will not take it too hard and if he/she is a top scorer, there's company. Moreover, being good in Maths plays only a small part in getting into top schools. One has to be good in all four subjects. If your child is good in Chinese, my son has no advantage over him/her cos overall they may have the same T-score, so take heart.
I am also a tutor and I also find that letting children use calculator is more of a detriment than help at primary level. Most of my students have become too lazy to calculate mentally and don't even know their timetable. They are actually taking one step backwards cos they are so dependent on calculators instead of doing simple mental calculations. I ban calculators during tuition and allow them to use only for complicated sums. My advice to all parents when helping their children in Maths are:
1. Cultivate an interest in Maths first. Without passion, your child will never love and do well in the subject. Worse, they'll hate it when they can't solve the sums as they become disheartened.
2. Give encouragement and moral support by finding ways to help them e.g. find creative methods or looking at the sum at another angle.
3. Simplify the concepts taught to help them understand
4. Take one step at a time. Many parents insist that I teach their children how to solve difficult sums despite the fact that their children have yet to master the concept. Make sure that your child know the basics well and proceed from there. Give me a child who understand the concept thoroughly and I give you a child who can solve any maths questions.
5. Last but not least, practice and more practice as practice makes perfect. Most students forgot what they've learnt cos lack of practice. There's no room for laziness. Some parents mistaken that if a tutor has reinforced what is taught in school, their children should do well. However, from my experience, pupils who do badly in Maths are those who don't do their assignment cos they are too confident that they can remember how to do a particular sum just cos they did it before.
Regarding the Maths paper, I agree that it is difficult because there are too many complicated sums compared to previous years. Given the time constraint and exam pressure, I can understand that they won't perform as well compared to normal circumstances. However, children have been taught and drilled in all aspects and have the capability to solve them. They knew the requirements for every question, e.g. for the speed question, they have no doubt that it implied that the cyclists are cycling at a constant speed although we know that it is practically impossible to to so. I think the reason why parents find the sums difficult themselves is cos they are not exposed to such questions. My husband who boasts to be a top scorer in Maths in his school days can't answer any of the questions and has totally given up. :stupid: So cheer up parents and children, all is not lost. :love: -
endingteen:
actually i hae no idea why they introduced the use of calculators into the PSLE. i mean i do not see the point in making tough questions to cater for the use of the calculator. i remember my psle being a test for us to use your mental calculations and the 'model' method to solve questions. calculators are actually only needed in the upper secondary years.
Some people children cannot count mentally, so must help them lah :oops: -
Vanilla Cake:
If you were to take this answer and work backwards, will it work? mine ans is 44Hi kohjl,
Q18 of paper 2 (last question) is something like this and I think that your son has got the right answer ( 68 ).Here it goes (not in exact words):
Q18
Jim bought some chocolates and gave half of it to Ken. Ken bought some sweets and gave half of it to Jim.Jim ate 12 sweets and Ken ate 18 chocolates.The ratio of Jim's sweets to chocolates became 1 : 7 and the ratio of Ken's sweets to chocolates Ken became 1:4.How many sweets did Ken buy?
Suggested solutions
Draw a model to show \"after eating\" scenario, \t\t
\t\t\t
Ratio of Jim's sweets to chocolate (1:7)
Sweets []
Chocos [][][][][][][]
Ratio of Ken's sweets to chocolate (1:4)
Sweets [] +12 (+12 refers to the sweets eaten by Jim)\t\t\t
Chocos [][][][] (+12x4) - x 4 times
\t
Both amount of Chocolates are the same,so
(7-4) units = (12x4) + 18 (18 chocolates were eaten by Ken)
3 units = 66
1 unit = 22\t\t
\t\t\t
Amount of sweets bought by Ken->(unit +12)x2=(22+12) x 2 =68
Or use algebra which is easier.
Assume that sweets that Ken bought was S and chocolates that bought by Jim was C.
Before both of them ate, they had:
Ken -> 0.5C + 0.5S
Jim -> 0.5C + 0.5S
as each of them gave 1/2 to each other.
Jim ate 12 sweets and the ratio of Jim's sweets to chocolates became 1:7.
(0.5S-12)/0.5C = 1/7
3.5S-84=0.5C
Ken ate 18 chocolates and the ratio of Ken's sweets to chocolates became 1:4.
0.5S/(0.5C-18 ) = 1/4
(0.5C-18 ) / 0.5S = 4
0.5C-18 = 2S
3.5S-84-18=2S
3.5S-2S = 84+18
1.5S = 102
S = 102/1.5 = 68
Amount of sweets bought by Ken-> 68
since both Jim and Ken did not eat the stuff that they bought, their ratio at the start and at the end would be the same isnt it.. correct me if i am wrong..
-
Dear all,
One of the problems here in Singapore for PR 6 pupils - algebra is not enough taught. They teach a ratio, but do not teach them that A/B=C/D is the same as AxD=BxC and the same as A/C=B/D. Every time when I was trying to teach my gal how to solve the problems using algebra, she was telling me \"No, the teacher did not solve that way-by algebra\". Not teaching algebra they / I mean MOE / did not give them a chance to choose the method. Models, models and again models. Algebra is an abstraction for the pupils here. Yes, I know, for PSLE, its important to get the correct answer-the method is not important. But how to use algebra like a method if you are not confident enough with it? The other problem-geometry, again insufficiently taught.
One more thing. Why the Maths Paper is not published yet ? Anybody to answer ? In my country, even under the blackout- 25 years ago, it was possible to see all of the MATHS Problems from the Paper and their solving in the newspapers on the next day, published by Ministry of Education. So I am waiting to see 48 Maths problems and there solving in The Newspaper.
Best to all of our Pr 6 children today for the Science paper! -
No worries.....they will do some moderations to the final score. Anyway, this is not the end of anyone's dream. Cheers!
eddie tan:
i think most p6 student NO HOPE to go to their dream sch already ready to go to lousy sch :love: :love: :love:
:shock: :shock: -
Come to think of it, in our primary school days, our maths questions were not that tough. And we never fail to \"produce\" doctors, lawyers, architect...etc...etc.... :celebrate:
No worries, kiasu parents, all your children definitely can make it to their choice of schools
And if you don't, not the end...not the end.....don't give up !!! All we want is to see our kids happy. And when they are happy, they can do wonders.
Cheers! -
Mandy-Alex:
Some people argue for the teaching of Algebra in primary level, just like some people argue for the use of calculators years ago, and one day it may just come true and then the floodgates for new problem sums types involving Algebra will be open, and P6 students might end up practising Additional Maths type of questions in PSLE. So be happy that Algebra is not required for problem solving, for now.Dear all,
One of the problems here in Singapore for PR 6 pupils - algebra is not enough taught. They teach a ratio, but do not teach them that A/B=C/D is the same as AxD=BxC and the same as A/C=B/D. Every time when I was trying to teach my gal how to solve the problems using algebra, she was telling me \"No, the teacher did not solve that way-by algebra\". Not teaching algebra they / I mean MOE / did not give them a chance to choose the method. Models, models and again models. Algebra is an abstraction for the pupils here. Yes, I know, for PSLE, its important to get the correct answer-the method is not important. But how to use algebra like a method if you are not confident enough with it? The other problem-geometry, again insufficiently taught.
One more thing. Why the Maths Paper is not published yet ? Anybody to answer ? In my country, even under the blackout- 25 years ago, it was possible to see all of the MATHS Problems from the Paper and their solving in the newspapers on the next day, published by Ministry of Education. So I am waiting to see 48 Maths problems and there solving in The Newspaper.
Best to all of our Pr 6 children today for the Science paper!
-
Since it’s over just let it be. Don’t blame MOE for setting ‘difficult’ papers. Exams are to differentiate the calibre of the breeds. If he can’t score, that means your kid isn’t what the system has defined as the cream of the crop. So spare your wishful thinkings that he should go to a good school, when he’s not even qualified. What parents should do now, after the science exam, is to give their kids a nice break. Comfort and assure them that they have had a tough time and deserve a good rest. I think kids at this age aren’t really bothered by the grades for getting into a good school, as they wouldn’t even know wad a good school is! They are upset because they failed to meet their parents’ expectation. And here on the other hand, parents are blaming this and that. They point fingers at everyone else except themselves.
No wonder nowadays the kids I taught blame everyone else for not getting good grades, except themselves. I see effective parenting here; learn from the parents.
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