All About GEP

[Flowermonaster]

ezmummy:

2.46am on my notebook's clock, and I have just spent the last few days, and 2 nites till this hour to read through the 421 pages in this thread!


Hi hi, I'm a newbie here. Mummy to son who will be doing GEP in 2012.

I just want to say a big :thankyou: to ALLLLLL of you who have made this thread a wealth of information and resource for newbie parent like me. Answered many of the questions I have in mind. Certainly worth my late nights.

Can also see that the parents (and GEPpers) here are very closely-knitted and the thread is warm and welcoming. :love: Love the culture here :lovesite:

Think I will have questions as the year goes by. Hope to get connected with most of you in these coming years.

Meanwhile, :snooze:

Hi Rzmummy, wow! Reading all the pages in one night! It took me several days to read them all and at that time i had less pages to read. :oops:
Welcome to this thread & looking forward to your sharing. :love:

[Flowermonaster]

moltenglass:

I took the GEP test some years ago and only got through to the 2nd round. My sister will be taking the test next year and my parents seem intent on piling assessment books on her to \"help\" her... She is currently one of the top students in her sch and I believe she is a very bright student. However, I can tell that my sister is slightly stressed. I never had to go through these because I was the guinea pig...


Is there something I can do to help, or am I being a worrywart...? I know I should just leave this to my parents, but...

Moltenglass, you r such a sweet child. You must be very close to your sister. :love:
As a parent, I do understand your parents' action but would strongly suggest they don't pile her with assessment books as that does not help to get your sister into GEP. Just go for the test next year without preparation or stressing her. If she make it on her own then good for her, she is suitable for GEP. If she don't it's not the end of the world since she is already a top student in her school. Please don't put unneccary stress on the poor kid!
Yes, I agree that the program is good but if the kid don't enjoy, it's useless. Parents have to understand that it's not them joining the program. They have to respect their kids. Being in GEP does not guarantee success in life!

Moltenglass, have you talk to your sister on this before? If your sis feels stress do have a talk with your parents. Good luck to you. :hugs:

[Shoot]

a child:

Shoot:

a child,... may i what p5 GEP is like...?(next year for me...) ...just asking...:?

It follows a similar structure as P4, just more projects, more experimental learning. And also bigger and more complicated projects like the ISO. It will be fun as long as you don't procrastinate and leave stuff till the night before it's due and realize that god you still have 3 reflections to do plus every single second draft because you haven't done anything after the draft 1 deadline. Teachers are usually very reasonable and give weeks and weeks of time for projects but somehow we have a tendency to finish everything on the very last day. This is especially applicable to year-long projects like the ISO. Though you meet with mentors every week it's still up to you to do the work. If you want to it is amazingly simple to avoid being scolded by teachers despite not doing work. That shouldn't be the motivation. Rather think what'll happen if you try cramming every single part of your IRS in your last week. Not pretty. Time management's very very important, and it's the one skill teachers don't really teach. Everything else, the content knowledge and stuff, leave it to them. They know they're stuff.

And a note about the projects: though the style is similar to P4, but most likely the teachers won't hold your hand as often, so it's up to you to consult them. If you don't understand they're comments, seek them actively. They aren't mind-readers and they won't know if you don't understand. For one of the ERPs my teacher was going to have me re-do but I consulted her and we realized that it was only one part that needed editing. Time saved: hours.

P5 will certainly be one of the most engaging and thrilling years in the program. Other than the in-school curriculum there's also tons of other competitions and camps that you can participate in. If you have interest in any particular subject as well as (hopefully) an aptitude in it try to show it in class or by doing some extra preparation for competitions like Math Olympiad. It pays off. If you do well in the first few (like SMOPS, NMOS) that everybody's allowed to take most likely you'll be recommended for future competitions and programs and everything will flow from there. Likewise if you're missed by the teachers in the beginning of the year it is very difficult to make up for it later one, because based on my experience at least the pupils sent for competitions for a particular subject tend to be the same. Also don't think competitions = extra. Even though competitions =/= GEP it certainly is an integral component of it that few mainstreamers are exposed to. In the center I was from, during competitions where we have say a team of 6, 5 are GEPers and only one from mainstream. This is (for the more kiasu) also an important part of the DSA portfolio.

Good luck for next year! Many say it is THE YEAR of GEP which encapsulates everything that GEP ever stood for and the whole GEP spirit, and in a way it is: the year with most projects, competitions, activities, etc. Enjoy! (and at the same time attempt to get decent grades because you'll need those next year for DSA)

thanks, a child :celebrate:

[ezmummy]

Flowermonaster:

Hi Rzmummy, wow! Reading all the pages in one night! It took me several days to read them all and at that time i had less pages to read. :oops:
Welcome to this thread & looking forward to your sharing. :love:

Hi Flowermonaster, thanks for the warm welcome I took several nights actually

Probably won't have much to share with the group, but only questions

[cherry27]

hi everyone in this thread! im new here and im a hpps gep student, going to p5 nxt year. i just joined kiasuparents for fun but hopefully i can give some info about gep to some parents since i joined. nice to meet y'all!

[Flowermonaster]

cherry27:

hi everyone in this thread! im new here and im a hpps gep student, going to p5 nxt year. i just joined kiasuparents for fun but hopefully i can give some info about gep to some parents since i joined. nice to meet y'all!

Welcome Cherry27! So how do you find the program so far?

[cherry27]

Flowermonaster:

cherry27:

hi everyone in this thread! im new here and im a hpps gep student, going to p5 nxt year. i just joined kiasuparents for fun but hopefully i can give some info about gep to some parents since i joined. nice to meet y'all!

Welcome Cherry27! So how do you find the program so far?

the program to me is very fun and interesting, and very different from the mainstream coz we learn more stuff that are not from the textbooks. i also like the program cos we get to do experiments for science, as we can rarely do experiments in the mainstream. so i enjoy the program so far, although a lot of homework and projects hahas

[Flowermonaster]

cherry27:

the program to me is very fun and interesting, and very different from the mainstream coz we learn more stuff that are not from the textbooks. i also like the program cos we get to do experiments for science, as we can rarely do experiments in the mainstream. so i enjoy the program so far, although a lot of homework and projects hahas

Thanks for your sharing & glad that you enjoy the program. :love:
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you!

[cherry27]

Flowermonaster:

cherry27:

the program to me is very fun and interesting, and very different from the mainstream coz we learn more stuff that are not from the textbooks. i also like the program cos we get to do experiments for science, as we can rarely do experiments in the mainstream. so i enjoy the program so far, although a lot of homework and projects hahas

Thanks for your sharing & glad that you enjoy the program. :love:
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you!

merry x'mas and happy new year to you too!

[HAPPYH]

Hi all,


I am a newbie here. I could not finish reading all the pages yet. But hope to catch up in a week or so...

:lovesite: too. It is full of information. :thankyou: for all.