2014 PSLE Discussions and Strategy
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To tuition or not to tuition? That is the question.
I'm a FTWM, so tuition is something like me compensating for not being there to revise my DD3's work with her, and making sure she follows-up on her revision. My DD3 is definitely not an independent learner, she needs to be prodded, scolded, shouted at and threatened before she picks up her books. Also, I'm totally hopeless in Science, and feel helpless when my DD3 turn to me for help. So tuition is totally necessary for her, otherwise she will put in the bare minimum to get just her daily schoolwork done.
At the end of the day, the tuition must add value to the child's education. The tutor must give that something extra to the child that the teacher is not able to give. One is of course the individualised attention, another is learning customised to the child's style and ability, another could be extra notes (especially for Science) that will help score in tests and exams, and yet another could be just to give encouragement and motivation.
But I'm not obsessed over tuition. I hv 2 older kids and I only started them on tuition when the oldest was in P5 mainly for Math. In secondary school, they had no tuition except for MT last year, which I stop this year coz they hated it (even though the tuition helped pull up their scores). This year, because my DD1 is taking O levels, I gave in and let her have tuition because she wanted it. Again for Math, and Physics & Chem. Same thing with my DD2 in S3, she also wanted help in E Math (nearly failed last year but mainly because of her CCA).
Tuition is not necessary if exams are not part of the child's life, especially one as crucial as PSLE. But that's not possible, is it? So unless we're satisfied with our child just coasting by with a B or C average (which is still ok, but we wouldn't be kiasu parents in that case, would we
), tuition is a necessary evil that will take some time to wear off. -
http://www.seab.gov.sg/index.html
still showing that PSLE exam dates are tentative with a statement ...
\"The examination timetable will be made available by 24 February 2014.\"
Mmm ... -
umaisarah:
how to wear off tuition? it is not an evil if kids benefit. just 2 nights ago, hubby coached son in science...a topic which son just didn't understand at all. it's not just psle which is crucial...every exam is crucial because it contributes to the total at the end of the year...so we make do with what the kids really need.To tuition or not to tuition? That is the question.
I'm a FTWM, so tuition is something like me compensating for not being there to revise my DD3's work with her, and making sure she follows-up on her revision. My DD3 is definitely not an independent learner, she needs to be prodded, scolded, shouted at and threatened before she picks up her books.
even as a sahm, my kids need tuition because hubby & myself are unable to provide the coaching and expertise tutors can provide. At the end of the day, the tuition must add value to the child's education. The tutor must give that something extra to the child that the teacher is not able to give. One is of course the individualised attention, another is learning customised to the child's style and ability, another could be extra notes (especially for Science) that will help score in tests and exams, and yet another could be just to give encouragement and motivation.
But I'm not obsessed over tuition. I hv 2 older kids and I only started them on tuition when the oldest was in P5 mainly for Math. In secondary school, they had no tuition except for MT last year, which I stop this year coz they hated it (even though the tuition helped pull up their scores).
son in sec 2 has tuition for eng, math and Chinese...he asked for them because he just can't manage on his own...that's about it. i'm glad he is willing to study the rest on his own.
Tuition is not necessary if exams are not part of the child's life, especially one as crucial as PSLE. But that's not possible, is it? So unless we're satisfied with our child just coasting by with a B or C average (which is still ok, but we wouldn't be kiasu parents in that case, would we ), tuition is a necessary evil that will take some time to wear off. -
:offtopic: :offtopic:
I am seriously very put off by people who ply their trades in the wrong thread. It is anti-climax and breaks the train of discussion.
Please, service providers, ply your trade in the correct thread. Parents know where to look if they need the resources.
No offend to anyone, just wanted to air my displeasure with such tactics. -
this thread is for parents to discuss psle…not a place to advertise.
to go for tuition or not…that’s a question and headache many parents have.
at this crucial stage…not having tuition is a fear if our kids are able to achieve their potential…and regret after that. it seems like every year in school is about preparing for psle, isn’t it? -
Janet_lee88,
I so agree with you.
Personal experience : my DD1 has always been good at maths, though not 100/100, nearest was 98 / 100. Then it went nose-diving in mid P5 all the way through P6, to a range of 45 - 55. Imagine the confidence she lost. I was a wreck, very scared and worried. I offered her tuition. She rejected. So it was extremely nerve wrecking because to force tuition on her would break her and tip her to the point of a breakdown. My faith was shaking. I am the mum; I know her limits.
But I have been an involved parent since PV time, so I have been talking with teachers and all, and we were told the math standard in her school is very high. Their average ability would equate to a high ability for math compared to other schools in the neighbourhood. I also know my child's standard - no way she would fail PSLE, just how well she will score.
In the end, we just bit our tongue and hung on. PSLE results and grade were in line with our expectation.
After this first experience, I have more faith in our PSLE system - it is not out to kill our children; so unless the child has major learning difficulty, and is bordering the range of 15 - 20 even for foundation papers and not improving, they will pass PSLE.
I hope my sharing will calm some nervous nerves.
DD2 is taking PSLE this year. 4S+H, coaching for H only. We rejected her request for tuition - she doesn't need it, not in the A* range, but I am happy with the effort she is putting in for her studies. If she doesn't make it to her dream school, there would be no regrets. -
BlueBells,
it’s a horrible decision to make right?
when son was scoring 80s for math in p4 and dived to 20 in p5, hubby couldn’t take it. it was quite late to start tuition in may then because he was only having foundation built then. the whole of p5 was a nightmare…I was so worried he would fail his math in p6 but he got a B. on the whole for psle, he got results which were not that fantastic because we thought we could coach him ourselves from p1 (only cl tuition)…it’s too late but I still feel that tinge of guilt.
how to make a balance between too much and insufficient? that is indeed a grey area. -
http://www.seab.gov.sg/examTimetable/20 ... etable.pdf
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BlueBells:
Does not seem reasonable to set a standard that is so high that high ability children actually end up failing. It never ceases to amaze me that these things are actually happening in schools! Surely this school and others like them were driving the standards up leading to ridiculously hard MAth papers in the years preceding 2013.Janet_lee88,
I so agree with you.
Personal experience : my DD1 has always been good at maths, though not 100/100, nearest was 98 / 100. Then it went nose-diving in mid P5 all the way through P6, to a range of 45 - 55. Imagine the confidence she lost. I was a wreck, very scared and worried. I offered her tuition. She rejected. So it was extremely nerve wrecking because to force tuition on her would break her and tip her to the point of a breakdown. My faith was shaking. I am the mum; I know her limits.
But I have been an involved parent since PV time, so I have been talking with teachers and all, and we were told the math standard in her school is very high. Their average ability would equate to a high ability for math compared to other schools in the neighbourhood. I also know my child's standard - no way she would fail PSLE, just how well she will score.
In the end, we just bit our tongue and hung on.
Why would educators who are supposed to enhance children's confidence level go all out to destroy it instead? -
janet_lee88:
how to make a balance between too much and insufficient? that is indeed a grey area.
Indeed that is a million dollar question.
dd sat for PSLE last year and we \"over prepared\" her for maths. She wanted to \"improve her problem solving skills\" so we sent her for additional maths camp during June hols. She has been in the 80s range in school. She fell sick after 1st day of camp but because the camp was so expensive, we managed to get the centre to give her a replacement class.
After PSLE, she told us that she didn't use the techniques taught. She managed to get A* and heard from ds that level mgr told the P6s that around 1/3 of the school cohort scored A* for maths last year. For ds, I don't think I will send him for the camp this year. I think back to basics is critical like what dd FT kept telling the parents since P5 (eg. the concepts, being very careful, don't over-rely on calculator that the kids struggle for paper 1 and the ability to solve some of those typical tricky questions. I hope with this skill sets, he will be able to \"survive\" maths paper.
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