All About GEP

[fruitplus]

Hi vlim,


Wow, your son made the decision himself!! Actually, it is good to join the debate team.

For my son’s case, he was not chosen by the teacher. My son told me the debate team in his school are trained by someone from RI. If I remembered correctly, everyone in the debate team got confirmed offer for DSA into RI.

[TwaTau]

KSmom8:

Just to clarify - the P4 GEPpers have to select between IvP and FPS by end of this year???

That is what I remember, as they were informed beginning of this year on who get what. The school will probably brief them on IvP and FPS near the semester end, then they can decide on what they want to take up.

[wwcookie]

fruitplus:

By the way, the GEP teachers are very well-trained and the students are encouraged to ask questions and participate actively in class discussions. Due to small class size, the teachers know every students very well. They can pinpoint their weakness very easily and the teacher/student rapport is really very good.

So, it is a very different style of teaching compared to mainstream class. When my son was in P4, I helped in Parent support group and I found out 1st hand that they are very 'nosy' (they asked so many questions!!!), very confident, very cheeky, compared to mainstream class. I personally think that it is very difficult to teach such classes, and the teachers are all great.

Oh, after a year in GEP class, my son became more 'cunning', more vocal, and more cheeky. He always tries to find 'loop-hole' in what I said, he is not as obedient as before. Well, I guess that is how it goes...

I just remembered 1 of the Interesting (and humorous) Maths worksheet he did in P4. The kids loved it!!! They get to count M&Ms, then did some groupings and answered some observations. I remembered Instruction 1 said: Open the M&Ms, BUT DO NOT EAT THEM. The last instruction on the worksheet said: NOW YOU CAN EAT THE M&Ms!

Don't you think it is a very enjoyable way to learn Maths??! My daughter from mainstream was so envious!!

I almost forgot. The other things that the kids would learn is : Filing.

There is no textbooks for English, Maths, Science and Social Studies, just lots and lots of worksheets. The kids are given content page every term, they have to file the worksheets and test papers accordingly. The filing contributes to 10% (I think) in the final results.

I think this is to encourage the kid to be organised and systematic.

Shouldn't all classes be conducted in this manner? GEP or otherwise? I'm sure all children will benefit from such creative ways of teaching, not just the gifted ones. MOE should strive to nurture creative and confident children, regardless of whether they are in the top 1% or not, and not just exam-smart children.

[jtoh]

KSmom8:

Just to clarify - the P4 GEPpers have to select between IvP and FPS by end of this year???

:

Some schools offer more than just IvP and FPSP. Your child should have received a comprehensive briefing already. Selection and assignment for the RS should be at end of P4.

[cluelessmama]

KSmom8:

Exams are finally over (well ... almost... DS still has listening compre next week). DS is now happily playing with his Wii :lol: Will let him know about IvP and FPS ... perhaps ... next week.

Yep, only left with listening compre - doesn't need to prepare. My kid played Wii shooting game with me (mum needs to relax too) Now, I'm glad that the exam is so early, coz it ends early ... Yeah!

[vlim]

fruitplus:

Hi vlim,


Wow, your son made the decision himself!! Actually, it is good to join the debate team.

For my son's case, he was not chosen by the teacher. My son told me the debate team in his school are trained by someone from RI. If I remembered correctly, everyone in the debate team got confirmed offer for DSA into RI.

How I wish my ds like to join the debate class..but he doesn't like it..and so cannot force him..

[vlim]

cluelessmama:

KSmom8:

Exams are finally over (well ... almost... DS still has listening compre next week). DS is now happily playing with his Wii :lol: Will let him know about IvP and FPS ... perhaps ... next week.

Yep, only left with listening compre - doesn't need to prepare. My kid played Wii shooting game with me (mum needs to relax too) Now, I'm glad that the exam is so early, coz it ends early ... Yeah!

me happy too ...but the younger one having exam in 2 weeks time..so is like marathon..and the worst thing is this week is her oral exam week but she is sick for the whole week...

[Zann]

cluelessmama:

KSmom8:

Exams are finally over (well ... almost... DS still has listening compre next week). DS is now happily playing with his Wii :lol: Will let him know about IvP and FPS ... perhaps ... next week.

Yep, only left with listening compre - doesn't need to prepare. My kid played Wii shooting game with me (mum needs to relax too) Now, I'm glad that the exam is so early, coz it ends early ... Yeah!

Yes, good to end early indeed and able to really enjoy PSLE marking days holiday this year. In the past, PSLE marking days were stressful week to prepare SA2, but now yeah can do vacation plan liao... :rahrah:

[cluelessmama]

Zann:

cluelessmama:

[quote=\"KSmom8\"]
Exams are finally over (well ... almost... DS still has listening compre next week). DS is now happily playing with his Wii :lol: Will let him know about IvP and FPS ... perhaps ... next week.

Yep, only left with listening compre - doesn't need to prepare. My kid played Wii shooting game with me (mum needs to relax too) Now, I'm glad that the exam is so early, coz it ends early ... Yeah!

Yes, good to end early indeed and able to really enjoy PSLE marking days holiday this year. In the past, PSLE marking days were stressful week to prepare SA2, but now yeah can do vacation plan liao... :rahrah:[/quote]Great minds think alike (don't bother to continue with the next part of this saying... hee...) :grphug:

Enjoy the PSLE marking days!

Hmm, time for us to start baking cookies again, yeah!

[ngbrdad]

fruitplus:

Hi smurfette3,


I was also in your position 3 years ago. My son is in GEP P6 now.

My son was from a neighbourhood school, 15th position in top class. Only 3 students from his school selected (Position 1 and 3 and 15) for GEP that year, all from his class. DS is easygoing, friendly, the happy go lucky type. He doesn't look like those exceptionally bright students (you know, the smart look), he looks like every average boy, though he likes all them mind games (eg. Rush hours) and Lego.

Hubby and I were very surprised that our son got selected. Hubby joked that, \"Did they send the letter to the wrong address?\"

I talked to a few persons before making the decision to let DS try for GEP. I think we made the right decision. Beside considering we shouldn't let the chance go and regret, I was thinking about the advantages of the EESIS scholarship for GEP students (I didn't know about DSA advantages then).

DS is still very playful, and not very matured. It was worst 3 years ago.

First half year was very tough for him in terms of Social studies (SS) and Higher Chinese (he took Normal Chinese from P1 to P3). He totally enjoy Science and Maths. Expectation of English teacher was very high, too. But he manage to struggles through.

I have a daughter 3 years older than DS, so I just happened to flip through her history text book and found that the topics were similar to Sec 1 history. So I bought a Sec 1 History assessment book - History Study Guide by CASCO -- from Popular book store. His results for SS was 60+ in P4. By P5, he has improved to 80+ (SS portfolios played a big part, too -see below).

The SS portfolios (I think they contribute to 30% or 40% of the overall results, I can't remember the exact figures) were very tough for him in P4 as he wasn't matured enough to tackle the issues, I pushed him very very hard (I scolded him badly, as a result, he cried a few times because he didn't even want to start doing) as he didn't even want to start researching for his portfolios. By P5, I only helped him in vetting thru his grammar and some work in his artefacts. By P6, I only helped him in his artefacts.

I also put him in Eduplus Higher Chinese tuition classes (1 for oral, 1 for composition) from 2nd term of P4, his chinese improved slowly.

I asked him a few weeks ago, whether he like his previous school work (P3) or the GEP school work. He said the GEP school work are more interesting. They even get to discuss wether the laser sword in Star Wars really will work in real life, and many many interesting topics.

If your child is creative, inquistive, and given the chance to join GEP class, you should really let him/her try it out. Almost all kids that are not trained for the GEP selection test will do well in GEP class. It will broaden their mind (especially SS) and experiences.

Besides, for DSA in IP schools, GEP students have better chances. For RI, HCI, as long as the overall average for all the subjects is 80% or above, they don't need to sit for the General Ability Test; for DHS, it is 75%.

Overall average for all subjects in P6 or thruout the 3 years of GEP ?
Not easy to get 75% and above.