GEP Preparatory Program

[sunflower]

nansk:

If they do away with the perceived advantages (DSA and EESIS) of GEP, then perhaps they will succeed in locating all the truly intellectually gifted ones and no others.

Haha…I guess the perceived “benefits” do not comprise only the DSA, but small class size, “best” teachers and “exclusive” materials as well.

[sunflower]

CayennePepper:

To a certain extent I do agree with this. The idea of providing differentiated learning for gifted learners is somewhat out of sync with its original intent if we can actually coach kids into being identified as gifted. If there are no 'benefits', real or imaginary, we can go back to the good old days. I miss those days when GEP wasn't a dirty word associated with prep classes and coaching.

Yah, sad that the GEP has now been misunderstood from its original intent, so much so that it created an industry for people to milk money from GEP prep courses.

[nansk]

sunflower:

I guess the perceived “benefits” do not comprise only the DSA, but small class size, “best” teachers and “exclusive” materials as well.

True. I don't know much about the way these classes are conducted, but from all my online research, a GEP class seems like a wonderful place to learn. From what I've read, the teachers treat the students with respect; almost as peers, their opinions and ideas are sought for, listened to, valued, and discussed, and they are given ample opportunity to express themselves and demonstrate their learning through various media. And all this without the parent lifting a finger or paying a single extra cent. Which parent would not want such a rich learning environment for their child?

[BeContented]

nansk:

sunflower:

I guess the perceived “benefits” do not comprise only the DSA, but small class size, “best” teachers and “exclusive” materials as well.

True. I don't know much about the way these classes are conducted, but from all my online research, a GEP class seems like a wonderful place to learn. From what I've read, the teachers treat the students with respect; almost as peers, their opinions and ideas are sought for, listened to, valued, and discussed, and they are given ample opportunity to express themselves and demonstrate their learning through various media. And all this without the parent lifting a finger or paying a single extra cent. Which parent would not want such a rich learning environment for their child?

Sometimes the GEP kids are not really kids - They have the mind of ~14yo inside a ~11yo body. Sometimes they 'challenge' the parents/teachers & one will have to really reason out with them (not so easy to handle IMO). My friend's DD same age as my gal & when both are handling issues, you can really see the difference. All of a sudden, my gal seems like real kiddy. but I think more cute & easier to handle than 'little adults'.....anyway they will grow up soon, so I rather wait a bit.

[sunflower]

nansk:

sunflower:

I guess the perceived “benefits” do not comprise only the DSA, but small class size, “best” teachers and “exclusive” materials as well.

True. I don't know much about the way these classes are conducted, but from all my online research, a GEP class seems like a wonderful place to learn. From what I've read, the teachers treat the students with respect; almost as peers, their opinions and ideas are sought for, listened to, valued, and discussed, and they are given ample opportunity to express themselves and demonstrate their learning through various media. And all this without the parent lifting a finger or paying a single extra cent. Which parent would not want such a rich learning environment for their child?

Frankly, any competently trained teacher would be able to deliver his/her lessons in the manner as described above, and I believe there are mainstream teachers doing so. That’s why I subscribe to the opinion of having all teachers upgrade themselves continuously and be trained in the ever evolving teaching methodologies.

I believe the GEP curriculum serves to stretch, and not to overload a student. This can only happen if the right kind of students with suitable aptitude are selected for the programme.

[metz]

sunflower:

nansk:

[quote=\"sunflower\"]I guess the perceived “benefits” do not comprise only the DSA, but small class size, “best” teachers and “exclusive” materials as well.

True. I don't know much about the way these classes are conducted, but from all my online research, a GEP class seems like a wonderful place to learn. From what I've read, the teachers treat the students with respect; almost as peers, their opinions and ideas are sought for, listened to, valued, and discussed, and they are given ample opportunity to express themselves and demonstrate their learning through various media. And all this without the parent lifting a finger or paying a single extra cent. Which parent would not want such a rich learning environment for their child?

Frankly, any competently trained teacher would be able to deliver his/her lessons in the manner as described above, and I believe there are mainstream teachers doing so. That’s why I subscribe to the opinion of having all teachers upgrade themselves continuously and be trained in the ever evolving teaching methodologies.

I believe the GEP curriculum serves to stretch, and not to overload a student. This can only happen if the right kind of students with suitable aptitude are selected for the programme.[/quote]Very well said. In fact, my son encountered such a teacher in his previous school. He was given a chance to share his understanding of fractions to the class as well as an opportunity to craft questions for a class test. The teacher even fulfilled his earlier request to visit the school's eco-garden before they were dismissed for the school holidays. These are just some of the things that the teacher did and they made a great difference for my son.

[Kiasucy]

BeContented:

nansk:

True. I don't know much about the way these classes are conducted, but from all my online research, a GEP class seems like a wonderful place to learn. From what I've read, the teachers treat the students with respect; almost as peers, their opinions and ideas are sought for, listened to, valued, and discussed, and they are given ample opportunity to express themselves and demonstrate their learning through various media. And all this without the parent lifting a finger or paying a single extra cent. Which parent would not want such a rich learning environment for their child?

Sometimes the GEP kids are not really kids - They have the mind of ~14yo inside a ~11yo body. Sometimes they 'challenge' the parents/teachers & one will have to really reason out with them (not so easy to handle IMO). My friend's DD same age as my gal & when both are handling issues, you can really see the difference. All of a sudden, my gal seems like real kiddy. but I think more cute & easier to handle than 'little adults'.....anyway they will grow up soon, so I rather wait a bit.

Heard the GE classes are very noisy and some have discipline problem too, fight with teachers when being punished or just walk out of classroom, but then medal winners you know when comes to competition.

[metz]

CayennePepper:

metz:

But if you are lucky to speak with some parents, their kids can even remember the questions and answers.

Although he was tired, my ds was so excited after the tests that he was drawing diagrams, tables and figures, and scribbling questions in the car on the way home. I was amused that he only talked about Math and GA. English is not quite his friend.
He didn't finish the Math paper though.

Mine didn't complete all the papers too. Some he wasn't confident of, and one or two questions he was clueless or too tired to think. But he had time to lay his head on the table and rest. :skeptical:

[sunflower]

Kiasucy:

BeContented:

[quote=\"nansk\"]
True. I don't know much about the way these classes are conducted, but from all my online research, a GEP class seems like a wonderful place to learn. From what I've read, the teachers treat the students with respect; almost as peers, their opinions and ideas are sought for, listened to, valued, and discussed, and they are given ample opportunity to express themselves and demonstrate their learning through various media. And all this without the parent lifting a finger or paying a single extra cent. Which parent would not want such a rich learning environment for their child?

Sometimes the GEP kids are not really kids - They have the mind of ~14yo inside a ~11yo body. Sometimes they 'challenge' the parents/teachers & one will have to really reason out with them (not so easy to handle IMO). My friend's DD same age as my gal & when both are handling issues, you can really see the difference. All of a sudden, my gal seems like real kiddy. but I think more cute & easier to handle than 'little adults'.....anyway they will grow up soon, so I rather wait a bit.

Heard the GE classes are very noisy and some have discipline problem too, fight with teachers when being punished or just walk out of classroom, but then medal winners you know when comes to competition.[/quote]Haha…perhaps it’s better to “confine” these students in the GEP classes, rather than have them create mayhem and disturb all the “guai guai” students in mainstream.

[Moonsun55]

I am 1 of those who think GEP & IP schemes with their privileges are unfair, but I also won't bother to prep them for these otherwise I will put undue stress on them & bring up a toad in the well who only know how to study & nothing else. To prep for GEP, one has to start your kids early, heard friends start as young as K1, engaging those ex-GEP teachers to coach, & they are very effective indeed!. My kids will be going overseas for their U, I already set aside about half a million $ for each of my kid for their oversea U studies. I have the benefits of overseas U studies & I can see the tremendous benefits that come with such exposure.


P/S: talked to a friend just now & was told to set aside $800k per kid because of inflation.

nansk:

Nebbermind:

So are we talking about the kids (whether coachable or not), or the selection criteria?
Anyway, I think it's difficult to have absolute fair selection criteria. Take for example psle....

You keep changing the topic to PSLE, and I am talking about prep for the GEP selection test, and whether an applicant can guage&meet the selection criteria.
What I concluded from the blog post I linked to, is that it is possible to be coached and prepared for the selection test, in Eng, Maths and General Ability. This possibility of coaching, leading to success, means that the moneyed kids have an edge. The MoE maintains that the test is not coachable, but the facts prove otherwise.

That is what people have found and that is what they aim for when they plan GEP prep for their kids. And then, of course, when their kids (whom they see as deserving of a GEP spot) don't get in, they vent here that the selection criteria are not fair/transparent.