Primary ONE English Assignment
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Lilac66:
To me, whether the work is to be done in school or brought home makes no difference. Whether or not it is graded does not make any difference as well. This is P1. If parents want to do their kids' work for them and submit perfect pieces for perfect marks that is their perogative. They are not helping their kids but harming them. Teachers and parents themselves will not truly know if the child understood and is able to apply what they have been taught.Funz:
I voted yes. That is assuming the teacher would have gone through with the kids what is intro, body and conclusion and would have done a few exercises with them.
It also depends on what is the extent to which you expect the kids to be writing. At P1, like someone suggested, a single sentence intro would suffice, a body with 2-3 sentences and a single sentence conclusion would be considered complete.
If your kids' schools practise journal writing, this is not that much different, just put into a more structured format.
If the teacher is grading base on the basic capabilities of children this age (basic grammer, sentence structure, spelling, basic vocab), I will have no issue with it. But if the teacher is grading it based on comparison with higher abilities children, I will have issue with it.
My kids are doing this at K2. They start with mindmapping followed by putting their ideas into structured sentences. We cannot keep thinking that the kids cannot and not even expose them to the task. A lot of parents balk at the idea as they themselves expect a complete piece of work that includes an intro that captivates, a body that elaborates instead of just relate and an indepth conclusion the provokes or emotes. We forget that kids have to start somewhere. They do not suddenly start writing without the 1st few tentative, fumbling steps.
We have to confirm if the assignment can be brought home. If indeed so, it's anybody's guess who'll end up being the main \"contributor\" of the piece of work.(Not saying all parents huh) It's then utterly unfair if they are graded . The problem comes a full circle again. With external help (tuition, parents etc) , these kids will score better. :siam:
The less priviledged children who may not have access to such help or who may not even have presch education (due to parents' ignorance as it's not compulsory, or cost becoz they are already living from hand to mouth). With some of these kids struggling to pick up reading in P1, it's really a tall order to tackle such assignments. I'm thinking along the line of the lower-income group families.
The assignment is not the bone of contention but the timing. P1 is still a transitional period for many kids, we do not need to rush the process. Maybe end of P1 will be a more ideal time or leave out the grading?
There will never be absolute fairness in any system. There are processes in place to help children who are lagging. We, in fact, will not be fair to the children if we do not expose them just because we are afraid for a few who may not be at that level yet. I am talking about exposing and teaching, not about expecting high or perfect grades. -
Funz:
To me, whether the work is to be done in school or brought home makes no difference. Whether or not it is graded does not make any difference as well. This is P1. If parents want to do their kids' work for them and submit perfect pieces for perfect marks that is their perogative. They are not helping their kids but harming them. Teachers and parents themselves will not truly know if the child understood and is able to apply what they have been taught.
There will never be absolute fairness in any system. There are processes in place to help children who are lagging. We, in fact, will not be fair to the children if we do not expose them just because we are afraid for a few who may not be at that level yet. I am talking about exposing and teaching, not about expecting high or perfect grades.
No offence here. Just my thoughts..
Yes, whether parents want to do it for the kids , it's their prerogative. But I hope the P1 kids (from all backgrounds) will enjoy their first formal education w/o too much of an unneccesary stress.Maybe I'm out of touch of the current P1 syllabus, but my hunch is that it'll not be a piece of cake for most kids.
Well I agree and disagree on \" We, in fact, will not be fair to the children if we do not expose them just because we are afraid for a few who may not be at that level yet.\" To be absolutely fair to all the children, they should just expose them to such assignments w/o the need for grading.
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Lilac66:
If you're championing that more should be done to bring weaker students up-to-speed, I'm with you. If you're suggesting that preferably there'll be no grading for P1's, I'm open to the idea as well; though I know many P1 parents who will be anxious to have a gauge on how their kids are performing relative to cohort. A very reasonable request from their pt of view.
The less priviledged children who may not have access to such help or who may not even have presch education (due to parents' ignorance as it's not compulsory, or cost becoz they are already living from hand to mouth). With some of these kids struggling to pick up reading in P1, it's really a tall order to tackle such assignments. I'm thinking along the line of the lower-income group families.
?
There was also some disquiet about how the schs' expectations should be streamlined smoothly across all levels and not be mini-quantum leaps between P2 to P3, P4 to P5 and so forth.
In view of these [sometimes contradictory] goals, how does MOE design a programme that fits all? It's not quite right to say that MOE are the \"experts\" and that's their problem. Whoever comes up with the solution will get my vote [sounds familar this one, don't know where I read it from.] :scratchhead:
However, if anyone should suggest that we artificially lower the std so that even the weakest students will feel good about themselves, then to me that's just not the way to go. It's quite protectionist and not sustainable in the long run.
In addition, as many parents in this thread has alluded, the stronger pupils have as much right as the weaker ones for a good education - an education which will challenge and motivate them [x2]. This is an impt principle which we either agree fullheartedly or don't, no two ways about it. It's from our principles that we derive our course of action.Lilac66:
And what happens at the end of P1, there're still weaker students who are not able to grasp the concept and do the assessments? If these kids are disadvantaged at K2, most likely it'll be status quo at P1. Postpone the assessments to P2? Where do we draw the line?The assignment is not the bone of contention but the timing. P1 is still a transitional period for many kids, we do not need to rush the process. Maybe end of P1 will be a more ideal time or leave out the grading?
I still think that the way forward is to provide help directly to the weaker students rather than tinker with the \"formula\". Think there's a programme [can't recall the name now] kids at P1 do to gauge their competency. Those weaker ones will be selected for additional coaching.
Now if you're saying that this programme is not good enough, I'm all ears. -
As mentioned in my last post, the last thing I want is for the std to be brought down artificially to accommodate the weaker ones. By all means go ahead and expose the kids, this is the time for them to be exposed to diff fun things and pick up skills that were not taught before. But this is also a period that they are adjusting to formal school life, quite unlike presch, esp some montessori programs which are much more child-centred. Now they have to adhere to more rules, learn to be more indep like buying their own food, having diff teachers for diff subjects...
The grading , which is my peeve, need not come at this time. In time to come (P3), they'll be segregated based on their academic abilities, no worries about that.
As for LSP, frankly I don't know that much about it to comment on whether it is a sufficient prog to help the kids. But if remedial and supplementary classes are indeed useful, I would be inclined to believe that not many weak struggling kids will still need to external coaching (Ah, I hear some parents already yawning :snooze: , but pls bear with me ). I feel if a teacher is not very efficient in her teaching in class, or kids don't really take well to her, remedial lessons by the same teacher may not be effective. As for tuition, we can go on a hunt, if this tutor isn't yielding results, just move on to the next.
Thanks for hearing me out.. I'm also holding my vote in my handing wwwwaiting (for the record, it was cherryc who talked about the all-impt vote)
btw, on a last note.MOE/teachers/parents must really have the heart to want to hear one another out. Working together will be like a 3-legged race, we may be wobbling at first, but with more time , practice and coordination, we can all seek to finish the race nicely and confidently. -
I was told that students who attend English Learning Support Programme in P1 are those who cannot recognise ABC.
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Lilac66:
:hugs: love your gentle, nurturing and encouraging nature.As mentioned in my last post, the last thing I want is for the std to be brought down artificially to accommodate the weaker ones. By all means go ahead and expose the kids, this is the time for them to be exposed to diff fun things and pick up skills that were not taught before. But this is also a period that they are adjusting to formal school life, quite unlike presch, esp some montessori programs which are much more child-centred. Now they have to adhere to more rules, learn to be more indep like buying their own food, having diff teachers for diff subjects...
The grading , which is my peeve, need not come at this time. In time to come (P3), they'll be segregated based on their academic abilities, no worries about that.
As for LSP, frankly I don't know that much about it to comment on whether it is a sufficient prog to help the kids. But if remedial and supplementary classes are indeed useful, I would be inclined to believe that not many weak struggling kids will still need to external coaching (Ah, I hear some parents already yawning :snooze: , but pls bear with me ). I feel if a teacher is not very efficient in her teaching in class, or kids don't really take well to her, remedial lessons by the same teacher may not be effective. As for tuition, we can go on a hunt, if this tutor isn't yielding results, just move on to the next.
Thanks for hearing me out.. I'm also holding my vote in my handing wwwwaiting (for the record, it was cherryc who talked about the all-impt vote)
btw, on a last note.MOE/teachers/parents must really have the heart to want to hear one another out. Working together will be like a 3-legged race, we may be wobbling at first, but with more time , practice and coordination, we can all seek to finish the race nicely and confidently.
Just to share ok.
My son's school has LJs. I actually see the benefit of them and like them. The child likes them too actually. But I must say I too wonder if I'm not here for him if he can manage on his own. No doubt, he will probably 误闯误撞and get it finished eventually with teacher's help in class when school reopens, but I suppose that will have an effect on the enjoyment factor a kid derives from the process then. In P1 it was Boat Making, P2 Chinese Tea appreciation. Both very well thought out, well planned. Last year's LJ assignment even had rubrics attached.
But you see the school's intention IS for parents to get involved because it is supposed to be a school holiday assignment. The teachers don't have much time to go into such detail, although I believe they really do try keeping the task completed in school if possible.
So in P2 this year, my son had a good time with his LJ. Did some research during school hols on the net and using books from the library, which I think is accessible enough for most. Then in school, the teacher split them into Groups for teamwork to design a brochure. Everything was done in school. I was very impressed, not so much by how outstanding the result of the brochure was, but by the fact that these small, opinionated, argumentative 8 yr olds managed to agree on the different roles to play, and the tasks to complete. I didn't think it was possible, but it was.
The P1 assignment was actually more difficult. It involved making a toy boat prototype during the school hols. Understanding the parts of a boat and drawing it was possible, again from the Internet and library books, but building the boat involved looking at YouTube videos etc. sure we both learnt, but those without parental help would be quite lost. No prizes again for guessing whose boats generally looked nicer, and got chosen for display in school lah. One parent who was browsing the display actually asked me,\"So nice, P1 boy make one meh?\" I shared, cos I was aware, (not my son's though) that, \" No lah, this one was done with the boy's daddy's help.\" the lady said,\"Like that also can ah?\" and walked off. She didn't speak as eloquently, so one can guess how she felt.
I too don't know what is best to do, but it did help that my son's school did not allocate marks to the school hol projects. Took some pressure off I suppose.Not that I'm against pressure and testing. I thought the kids were just as serious about them. And I personally preferred the Group work, cos the kids learnt so much more other than the subject matter itself. They learnt how to organize themselves, improvise, negotiate. Loved it. -
Limlim - just curious, but pls don’t change anything ok. Just wondering, since the options are not mutually exclusive, we can vote more than 1 answer to your poll? Because some kids do have both parental help at home and tuition/enrichment. So let’s say the answer is Yes, kid can do the assignment without help, the poll participant should click all 3, meaning Yes, Yes can do with Parent help and Yes can do with enrichment/ tuition help? Just wondering. Thanks in advance.
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Lilac66,
I know that you're not proposing the lowering of std to accommodate the full spectrum of students. Whatever things I said about that issue was to preempt others from doing so [unless they have strong justification, that is].
I've a confession to make. I'm totally with you on not grading P1's. :hi5: In fact, I do one better. I don't even want P2's to be graded, serious [son's in P2 currentlly]. However I was advised by many other parents that it's better grading starts earlier so that there's ample time to react, and I accepted my fate as the sacrificial party.
While parents like us won't touch any form of grading for lower pri with a nine-foot pole, I've known of others who would go to the extent of bickering with the P over grading at ... get ready for this ... P2 level. This in front of an audience of a few hundred people hor. :yikes:
A perfect illustration to show the practical difficulties faced by schs. -
If this is a show and tell, maybe yes with some parental help but still the instruction is too wordy and contains too many bombastic words for P1. With tests like this, you can differentiate those who are from better background and those who are not. Some poor kids will have their self esteem and confidence hit from day1 ! Concurrently, some middle or upper income parents will scramble for tuitions seeing how difficult the curriculum has become. (if they have not already done so). These parents will also tell their friends to expect very high P1 standard.
There is a weightage of 10% so if this is a test, then it will be unfair if they have not done similar exercises in school. It just means they are testing what the kids have learnt outside the school and not what they are taught in school.
I would prefer teachers to go through with them, hold their hands in P1, let them do in class and correct them accordingly. If they expect all the P1s to be able to write detailed reports or give detailed accounts, I think they can jolly well skip P1 and go straight to P3. -
My comments are based on my observations of my 3 kids. I know small sample size. But kids’ self-esteem and confidence are not so easily damaged. I’m not saying that it’s alright to "trash" them but they are not so fragile too.
As for the bombastic words, I think it’s for the parents’ "reading pleasure".
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