All About GEP
-
Atan:
Hi Atan,Dear Parents,
Today, I met one of my DS's classmate (P3 HA class) who told me that she will no longer be taking the same ECCA as my DS as she needs to go for her GEP prep class .
I wonder if I am putting my DS in a unfair position without 'GEP training' versus his peers in the GEP test this year...
On the other hand, I am afraid of the psychological impact on him in case he receive training and does not get into GEP prog at the end of the day.
Would appreciate your kind views on this.
First and foremost, you need to understand what the gep programme involves. If, after you have found this out, you think your child is cut out for it, can benefit from it and will thrive in it, you can next ask yourself whether you want to leave it to effectiveness of the testing or \"help\" your child along in getting selected. Having said this, please remember that we live in an imperfect world where testing is not 100% accurate.
If you do not know what the programme entails, my suggestion is not to \"help\" your child but leave it to the testing.
It is natural to want our kids to be what we think is the creme de la creme and the gep children are supposed to be the top 1% of the cohort but if your child is not cut out for the programme but artificially helped along, he/ she is quite likely to struggle.
Gep is not about aceing exams. The ability to process information at a higher level and faster pace is presumed in the programme so that certain skills can be taught. If a child is helped along to get into the programme, he/ she is most likely going to struggle just to keep up with what is presumed in the first place. How will he/ she then be able to cope with learning other skills? Add to this the risk of demoralising the child such that it affects his or her psle results.
Gep parents, please correct me if my comments about the gep are inaccurate. My dd was not trained for the gep and is not in the programme but I have done some soul searching in this area on my part. -
My girl didn't attend any prep class for gep but she got in. She used to complete her mainstream homework in minutes but now she took hours to do her gep worksheets. At least I can tell she is enjoying her lessons and is up to the challenges so far.
millan:
If he is there, he is there..my view is a trained GEP will not be beneficial in the LT..Atan:
Dear Parents,
Today, I met one of my DS's classmate (P3 HA class) who told me that she will no longer be taking the same ECCA as my DS as she needs to go for her GEP prep class .
I wonder if I am putting my DS in a unfair position without 'GEP training' versus his peers in the GEP test this year... On the other hand, I am afraid of the psychological impact on him in case he receive training and does not get into GEP prog at the end of the day.
Would appreciate your kind views on this. -
ctct61t:
Beg to differ, ctct612t, I think it is too general a statement to say that \"many GEP students are sent for such pre class ...\". We know that there are prep classses and there are P3 kids who went for the prep class, but eventually how many of these make it through 2 rounds and get into GEP, we really don't know.As I know, many GEP students are sent for such pre class, and can have the chances to go in GEP classes, which will be more benifit both for kids and parents.
Who knows where can find such good GEP pre class... :oops:
my DD gets into GEP without going through any prep class, and if we follow this thread, there are other parents (like Allamanda) whose DD/DS got in without going for GEP prep classes. -
TREX8:
somebody please pick up the phone and call the GEP prep class people to find out their success rate - you can find out how may got in because they will be proud to proclaim their success rate to entice you in. get that number.
Beg to differ, ctct612t, I think it is too general a statement to say that \"many GEP students are sent for such pre class ...\". We know that there are prep classses and there are P3 kids who went for the prep class, but eventually how many of these make it through 2 rounds and get into GEP, we really don't know.ctct61t:
As I know, many GEP students are sent for such pre class, and can have the chances to go in GEP classes, which will be more benifit both for kids and parents.
Who knows where can find such good GEP pre class... :oops:
my DD gets into GEP without going through any prep class, and if we follow this thread, there are other parents (like Allamanda) whose DD/DS got in without going for GEP prep classes.
now you know each GEP cohort is 1%, so it is ranging from 410 to 450 (no more 500 of the old days, birth rates are low, confirmed by MM Lee)
get the difference and presto, you know how many went for prep class or otherwise -
This GEP prepatory class debate has been a hot topic off and on in the ksp forum for the longest time. There are two clear groups.
The first, parents who are anxious for their children to gain admittance into GEP, in order to maximise their potential, to reap the ‘benefits’ that are supposed to come with GEP status. Some of these parents do not consider their children’s abilities, believing their kids can be trained to ace the GEP selection test and hence gain entry. Others are convinced of their child’s abilities but want to insure their entry by preparing them. After all, they say, if other kids are prepping and you’re not, you’ll lose out even if you’re ‘gifted’.
The other group of parents are the ones who are fervently against GEP training, believing that if you have it, you have it. And if you train your kid just to get into GEP, he/she will suffer during the programme, unable to keep up with his peers, lose his self-confidence and self-esteem, and in the worst case scenario, under-perform such that he/she does not get any DSA offers and also does not do well at PSLE. So he suffers through 3 years of GEP and does not reap any of the "benefits".
If you read through the ksp postings over the years, you’ll find the anti-GEP training parents telling those contemplating training to seriously think about their actions and what they’re setting their children up for. But more often than not, the friendly advice falls on deaf ears, because parents are kiasu. And so the coffers of these GEP prep classes continue to grow as they pander to the hopes of anxious parents.
Why I’m writing this is because over time, I realize there’s no convincing someone why they shouldn’t go for GEP training. It’s the innate kiasu parent kicking in. So to each his own. And good luck! -
Following on from jtoh's post about insuring by sending to prep classes, sometimes unforeseen events may still happen. In my kiddo's case, she came down with a week long high fever which broke two days before the gep 2nd round. Someone somewhere was trying to tell me something! :lol:
-
I suppose those contemplating sending their kids for prep classes are of high ability to very high ability ones.
Gifted kids are a gift from above and such innate quality cannot be produced thru attending classes. Why not let the system do the filtering notwithstanding any imperfection. In the event that your kids are not chosen, any disappointment should be temporary. Bless those chosen ones. Believe the gifted ones shall grow up contributing to society in important positions. Many of these gifted students don’t even want to mention about it at jcs, unis and workplace. Many do not brat about it and just want to make a difference to the society which they belong. For the high ability/talented ones who were not selected, your turn for recognition shall come. This can happen during PSLE/ upper sec/jc/unis/workplace. You will not lose out.
No worries. -
INNOVATE:
I believe that even if the child doesn't get selected, the training would not have been a waste. The training is useful.I suppose those contemplating sending their kids for prep classes are of high ability to very high ability ones.
Gifted kids are a gift from above and such innate quality cannot be produced thru attending classes. Why not let the system do the filtering notwithstanding any imperfection. In the event that your kids are not chosen, any disappointment should be temporary. Bless those chosen ones. Believe the gifted ones shall grow up contributing to society in important positions. Many of these gifted students don't even want to mention about it at jcs, unis and workplace. Many do not brat about it and just want to make a difference to the society which they belong. For the high ability/talented ones who were not selected, your turn for recognition shall come. This can happen during PSLE/ upper sec/jc/unis/workplace. You will not lose out.
No worries. -
i received "mind strecher"s news brochure yesterday…they offer P3 GEP prep lab, anyone has any constructive comment for such lab? i am in indecisive whether i send my dd there or not…
-
Constructive comment??? hehehe. This is a hot topic and it is really your personal choice. I can understand parent anxiety about if 2 kids being equal, will my kiddo lose out if not go for preparation?
From what I know for Mind Stretcher, they open up pre-GEP in their Bishan branch, and the other one is at Bukit Panjang. Before admitting the kiddo, they will conduct a trial test for your kiddo first. I think similar to branded one like Learning Lab. One pre-requisite is that your kiddo must already score like 85 and above in all subjects (I hope I got it right) i.e. already a HA calibre. So u see, they already filter out the rest, and focus on HA.
You can try to sign up to their GEP talk and decide for yourself. You will get more info during the talk e.g. the GEP selection process, % filter rate etc. Do note their fee is like twice or three time that of normal tuition. Regardless, do note such talk is STILL MARKETING talk... they can say whatever they wanted and there is no guarantee for your kiddo.lizhi:
i received \"mind strecher\"s news brochure yeaterday...they offer P3 GEP prep lab, anybody has any constructive comment for such lab? i am in indecisive whether i send my dd there or not...
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