Chongfu Primary

[Snow1976]

lynnettepoh:

my daughter just started P1, & boy, am i so pissed. although the school claim to be holistic, but i feel the expectation are quite high (maybe it's just me). 1st week already bought back list of spelling words including words like elbow, shoulder & 1 line dictation.


i thought 1st year is supposed to be honeymoon period? by the time i reach home & settle down after dinner it's already 8pm, & my daughter has to sleep by 9pm otherwise next morning can't wake up at 6am for school bus. (thankfully we don't live in tampines/Jurong or some obscure corner in singapore)

sigh. sorry for the long rant, but i just feel like i'm drowning. how is it that my own parents can be so laissez-faire during our time, & now i'm so stressed? i don't even expect my DD to be top, i only want her to blend in, average can keep up good enough, no need to be singled out for punishment for not handing in homework, getting big fat ZERO for spelling etc?

any suggestions from experienced parents how to smoothen children's transition into P1?

Hi Lynnette,

Which class is your daughter in? My daughter is also in P1 this year. She got her spelling list only in this week.

The words you mentioned and 1 line of dictation are similar to my daughter's spelling list. So I guess they are the same. However, my daughter crossed-out the dictation and those words on the right hand side of the list. Hence, not much words to learn.

Different class/ teacher, different requirements?

[Imp75]

lynnettepoh:

my daughter just started P1, & boy, am i so pissed. although the school claim to be holistic, but i feel the expectation are quite high (maybe it's just me). 1st week already bought back list of spelling words including words like elbow, shoulder & 1 line dictation.


i thought 1st year is supposed to be honeymoon period? by the time i reach home & settle down after dinner it's already 8pm, & my daughter has to sleep by 9pm otherwise next morning can't wake up at 6am for school bus. (thankfully we don't live in tampines/Jurong or some obscure corner in singapore)

sigh. sorry for the long rant, but i just feel like i'm drowning. how is it that my own parents can be so laissez-faire during our time, & now i'm so stressed? i don't even expect my DD to be top, i only want her to blend in, average can keep up good enough, no need to be singled out for punishment for not handing in homework, getting big fat ZERO for spelling etc?

any suggestions from experienced parents how to smoothen children's transition into P1?

I am in the same boat as you, come home after work, settled down at 8 and my gals would be off to bed by 830 so within half an hour, mad rush to help them pack their bags, review completeness of homework, read/acknowledge school's letters etc before the cycle starts again.

Regarding the spelling list, even in kindys the kids are already having spelling so I wasn't surprised that the school gives weekly spelling, what's interesting though is that my gals spellings (both Eng and Chinese) are on Wed, which do not quite make a lot of sense, as Tue is their long day at school. Nevertheless, don't be so worried and gancheong, I think the spelling words are reasonably-set and not difficult, shouldn't take too long to get prepared if the child is already reading well. Based on the volume of work that they are given, I think it is still very manageable but do expect the volume of homework to increase as the child progresses. Now that they are in the morning session, I find that they have a lot of time to do hw, unlike in prior years where they don't really have much time in the night to complete their homework before parents head off to work the next morning.

Bottom line, chill, the child has just started school, just make the transition enjoyable. Don't put presssure on acing the spellings or assigments!

[lynnettepoh]

she’s in 1 Obs class. no dictation ho sei la. i already sibeixian after having to keep her up to speed on maths, and the spelling. the chinese haven’t come in yet. sigh.

[Imp75]

No need to get worried, you can always prepare your kids for spelling during the weekends, leave the weekday for homework to make sure she completes it.


P1 Maths still ok, just monitor her progress and see if she needs help with her hw.

[lynnettepoh]

OK. thanks, much more reassuring to hear that. i nearly freaked out last night when i saw what’s expected.

[gaffy]

Hi lynnettepoh,


I’m a SAHM so my routine is different. My friend who is a FTWM also has the same problem that you have, just like all other FTWMs. What she does is she gets her child to complete all the HW before dinner. When she returns, she’ll help her child to check her HW, especially if the child has some questions that she does not know how to do. Then the child packs her bag and gets ready to sleep at about 9pm or sometimes 9pm plus. Hope this helps.

[ImMeeMee]

I went from a FTWM to a PTWM now.I find that when I was the former, it was difficult to get my gals to complete their hw by themselves. Maybe because they still need supervision in completing their work. Now I sit down with them on most days and work through their hw with them.

[Imp75]

Hard to find pt work now, you must be really lucky

[mandysaurus]

Hi,


This is the norm. I believe consistent revision is necessary to be avg in Chongfu.

Where do u stay? 6am bus sounds early.

[G-Clef]

That's life in CFS. Other schools do not have exams in P1 and P2 and they grade based on daily school work and continuous assessment. In CFS, there will be exams starting P1. I was originally shocked as well. But once I've got into momentum, everything is fine. Hence, initially you may need to spend some time to guide/coach your child with the homework. Once everything sets in, all will be fine. Don't worry too much and be positive