Why do you have to be like the others?

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:44:49 GMT

corneyAmber — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:44:49 GMT

The education system has come a long way and has moderated itself to extend to a wider group of learners. Certainly it can still improve but I am at least now content to say that the progress is commendable.

As for the academic rat race, it is people who implemented the guidelines, the parents, the children and definitely education service providers that make the race seem somewhat stressful.

Schools vary significantly in their approaches even though they are given the same guidelines from MOE. Why? Because the neighbourhood schools are trying to establish themselves as much as possible as to become a premium school while the established ones try to differentiate themselves in different ways. In doing so, I personally find the neighbourhood schools more goal-getting in terms of academic drive…hence the school pushes harder in this case.

For the established or elite schools, the parents push harder than the school as their ambitions, expectations and aspirations are higher considering that they would take the trouble to send the children to elite schools. So the stress is mainly generated by the parents.

As for the children, the competitiveness is instilled in them since young depending on parents and type of preschool education, So when such children go to school, they also push themselves harder.

Service providers providing all the brain enhancement services are definitely guilty of pushing the stress level to a higher level. Most people who invested will try to see their return of investment as such investments are typically hefty. All these outsourcing strain the purse-strings and increases the stress level.

Regarding the streaming of children to the same ability, I too feel that it is necessary for effective learning. Easier for the teacher and children. I thought MOE has solved this issue when they abolish the EM3 streaming system? Children who are strong in a certain core subject will gather in a virtual class to study together while still remaining together in a fixed class of mixed ability children for non-core subjects. So in effect they can potentially have 4 different sets of classmates. Some schools have now done away with P3 streaming for top classes by practising this model. Having said this, as long as there is some form of streaming, parents will "cheong" to ensure that their kids are in the "best" class so the problem of stress will never go away whether they take away the best class streaming or not. Stress can only go away if we recognise the level of the kid’s ability and be contented that the child is learning and progressive.

It is also true that MOE has taken some higher levels curriculum like sec 1 syllabus down to P6, P6 down to P5…etc… However, this is also driven by the fact that parents are making the children smarter and smarter these days by attending all the preschool programmes at an early age and driving advance learning senselessly. MOE has to catch up with times too if so many "smart" kids are being churned out by the service providers and affluent parents these days. In some cases, for the super smart, hot-housed or naturally so, MOE has to resort to setting very tough questions to sieve them out.

The vicious cycle is in fact contributed by a group of super ks parents and some genuine parents with gifted kids. However, the majority is suffering if you want to compete at that level. If however, we are contented at our own level, i.e. competing with ourselves, the stress can be diminished because you know how to push yourself to your next level but it is much harder to push yourself to someone else’s next level to win them. Take for example DSA, if children qualifies for it, the stress is manageable but if children do not qualify for it, it puts on additional stress to prepare for it. Some parents prepare for it as young as preschool days intentionally.

Stress is contagious…no matter how nonchalant some parents may be…it will catch on them as soon as they realise that the ks ones have pushed things out of proportion and they have to start responding. So can the academic rat race diminish on its own with random mindset changes? No, because a vicious cycle already exists there.

Hence, people are looking to MOE policy help to send a decree to pace people better or invest in a budget to conduct seminars/workshops/true-stories wake-up call to bring parents to more realistic levels for a mass mindset makeover and to regulate the claims made by service providers who play up on the ks mindset of parents.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:12:11 GMT

pinkgorilla — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:12:11 GMT

I agree it is unfair to say that the Education here only focuses on the academic. There’s now SOTA, Sports School, etc for kids with talents to pursue their interest at greater depth. Sadly, many parents are too afraid to let their children go to these schools even when they qualify. Most of the time against their kids’ will. Most of the time, they’ll listen to rumours from the grapevine without even thinking about the kids needs and what the school is all about. Kids who are talented in an area wants to be with their kind. It does not mean that they don’t like the academics. It’s just that they want to pursue the activity they like even more than what a mainstream school can offer. These specialised schools are the best places for them as they can take care of their needs in balancing their interest and studies. Besides, 99% of parents misunderstand that going to sports school=becoming a sport person and going to SOTA=becoming a pianist/artist/dancer etc. The kids from these schools eventually have choices to go to polys, JCs and Unis just like any mainstream kids. In fact, they have such a holistic education they are usually welcomed in higher institutions which they wish to go later.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that as parents, we need to be insightful and not just follow people blindly. We listen to our children’s needs and help them to choose and not just choose for them. Let them decide if they want tuition. Let them take some ownership of what’s being done to their lives.

My friend’s relative move to Australia complaining that the education system here is too stressful for his daughter but once migrated. his daughter is attending lots of tuition and enrichment classes there. So, it’s not the country. It’s the culture of the people that makes the system. Once, an IBM educator said the government can spend millions of dollars on technology, education methods to improve the the system but one thing that it will have a lot of difficulty changing is the culture, ‘kiasu, kiasi’, cannot let go. ‘FEAR’ is a 4-letter word. To overcome this, we need another 4-letter word ‘LOVE’. Let whatever we decide for our kids be based on love and not our fear of the future because the future is certainly uncertain.

Ranking is good or bad depending on which side the kid is in. If the kid is bright, ranking is good as he gets a challenging environment. If he’s weak academically, then it’s bad. For teachers as well as the bright kids, being in a homogenous class is great for learning and teaching. At the end of the day, the conclusion is that the top is always better taken care of. Having a mix-ability class will make the bright ones elitist as they are always the top in class.

I agree that mini-tests are much better than exams. More time should be spend on exploring the subjects in relation to real life problems than just doing worksheets and assessment books.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:55:20 GMT

skunk — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:55:20 GMT

3greatkids:
Young children can be cruel at times as they have not learned the finer art of tact and thus, this kind of streaming is only going to hurt the self-esteem of the so-called \"poorer\" students and this may cast a shadow on them. Having a good mix of good and poor students can actually benefit the children more on character building in terms of understanding that everyone's abilities are different and not creating an \"elitist\" mindset in them.

I agree it's a good idea to have people of different capabilities learning together, however, the gap in ability cannot be too great, or else it's very difficult for the weaker ones to catch up, and the better ones will not be stretched to their potential....the practical implications are tremendous....i think it's easier said than done....for now it might just be a pipe dream.

As for the hurt to self-esteem, and elitist mindset, cruel as it sounds, it's just too bad. Those who are weak, must learn to be strong and disregard cruel comments, those who are strong, must guard against elitism, in case arrogance weakens themselves. This is a problem that children must learn to overcome sooner or later.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:59:58 GMT

3greatkids — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:59:58 GMT

I have never been a strong supporter of the Singapore Education system. However, in recent years, I do feel that they are making an effort for an all-rounder education as well as developing their talents, hence the setting up of sports school, School of science and technology etc…

It’s a little unfair to comment that they are focusing only on academic since DSA was set up to recognise students who are gifted in a particular area and to be placed in a school that can nurture the talent. The minimum requirement is a grade that will allow them to enter the minimum stream in the school. i.e. if the school only has express streams and the cutoff point may be 240 but as long as the student attains a minimum point to get into express stream for that yr e.g. 210 and has gain DSA into the school, the school will accept the student.

Some may argue that if the student scored 210 and joins a 240 cohort, he may not be able to cope with the work. But look at US, even if a student gets a football scholarship, he is expected to at least pass all his subjects otherwise he would be in danger of losing his scholarship.

As for special needs students, there are a number of schools that have been set up for children with special needs. For example, Anderson Pri has help for dyslexic students, Pathlight was set up for autistic students,etc.

Having said that, I do agree on certain points though, which is ranking of students. I know that some schools rank the students by their results and the students with the overall results are streamed into the "best" class whereas the poorest ones are all streamed into the "last" class. Young children can be cruel at times as they have not learned the finer art of tact and thus, this kind of streaming is only going to hurt the self-esteem of the so-called "poorer" students and this may cast a shadow on them. Having a good mix of good and poor students can actually benefit the children more on character building in terms of understanding that everyone’s abilities are different and not creating an "elitist" mindset in them.

Tests, exams and grades are nonetheless important still as it helps the educators to identify if a student understands a subject thoroughly. Therefore, it is still beneficial for students to have mini tests on topics and a final exam to see if they can identify the topic and apply the knowledge accurately.

Looking at MOE’s framework and the direction that they are moving in, it is an encouraging sign. However, educators themselves i.e. principals and teachers, must identify with the principles and ideology before we can move on to an all-rounder education. This is because if the schools do not subscribe to an all-rounder education and focuses only on pushing students to attain higher academic results to polish up their own report card at the end of every PSLE year, students will still be subjected to the stress academically.

But then again, why are schools results-oriented? That is because, we as parents, are results-oriented as well. It has always been human nature to compare yourself with others, therefore, knowingly or unknowingly, we may have compared the children academically as this is the most common yardstick to measure our children by. When we choose a school, do we choose one that is nearest or do we choose one that has produced excellent results? If we ourselves cannot stop comparing, then who are we to say that schools should not push children for better results?

To nurture interest in a child cannot be done in a short period of time. When parents don’t see results, they blame the school. Thus, schools can only focus on the only thing that is measurable, which are results. It is a vicious cycle and we as parents have to manage our own expectations as well before real change can take place…

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:54:58 GMT

daisyt — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:54:58 GMT

Fluffy:
My mum was not educated and she wanted to give me and siblings good education. However, she never pressure us to be top in class but she expected us to read widely and gain more knowledge. She saved to buy us a set of encyclopedia and encouraged us to read the newspaper for current affairs. I started earning my own pocket money every holiday since 13 years old and on reflection, I gain alot of experience and was more \"street smart\" than the average teenagers. By the time I graduated and started working in a MNC, I was able to handle human relationship in the office better than most colleagues. I enjoyed healthy relationship with both people of my age and higher level management.

Children nowadays are told to focus on their study and nothing else by parents, teachers and society! Is that healthy? Many lack \"Life Skills\". I fear for the next generation!

Fluffy, you have a wonderful mum ! I fully agree with her way of doing and she was doing the right way to educate and nuture her children. :celebrate:

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:49:37 GMT

ChiefKiasu — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:49:37 GMT

skunk:
the athlete who runs for the love of running, but never takes part in competitions, will forever be an average runner, because he/she is not stressed by the prospect of competition and will never be pushed to the limits.

the athlete who may not love running much (but cannot detest it of course), but is stressed by the prospect of competition, may actually accomplish more than the athlete who runs merely for the love of it, because he/she is being forced to the limits of capability and in doing so, actually expands his/her ability.

Of course, the athlete who accomplishes the most, is one who loves running and competition, both at the same time.

But how many of us and our children belong to the last category?

The abolishment of exams is the start to the decline of education. The Scandinavian countries have just started this policy...lets wait another 20 years to see the \"fruit\" of such a policy. It will inevitably lead to the decline of their education.

skunk, this is very insightful. Thank you! It echoes what our PM said about Singaporeans having to be on our toes all the time, despite the stress it brings, otherwise Singapore may degenerate back to a kampung.

But I would like to put forth another argument. We ourselves are the products of an educational system that has produced a few generations of hardworking and process-oriented worker bees, unparalleled in delivering high-quality products and services, but generally lacking in business agility due to the rigid system we went through. Will the changes we make to our educational system address the issue of us lacking in entrepreneurial creativity? Or are they intended to create more efficient worker bees?

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:36:58 GMT

skunk — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:36:58 GMT

the athlete who runs for the love of running, but never takes part in competitions, will forever be an average runner, because he/she is not stressed by the prospect of competition and will never be pushed to the limits.

the athlete who may not love running much (but cannot detest it of course), but is stressed by the prospect of competition, may actually accomplish more than the athlete who runs merely for the love of it, because he/she is being forced to the limits of capability and in doing so, actually expands his/her ability.

Of course, the athlete who accomplishes the most, is one who loves running and competition, both at the same time.

But how many of us and our children belong to the last category?

The abolishment of exams is the start to the decline of education. The Scandinavian countries have just started this policy…lets wait another 20 years to see the "fruit" of such a policy. It will inevitably lead to the decline of their education.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:19:07 GMT

mckenzy — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:19:07 GMT

This could also be one reason why so many singaporeans with average-ability kids want to migrate.

it is definitely policy. you hardly find this kind of crazy Primary level grading in developed countries…

i was talking to my wife about it last night… (she’s so stressed for my P5 son)…
she’s a teacher and she can’t figure out quite a number of the solutions to the P5 math this year… i was telling her… someone up there amongst the govt is not paying enough attention to this…

sure, our primary resource is people in this country… but if you develop so many academically proficient citizens with this type of educational system, what will you eventually churn out? you think they’re gonna want to work in Resorts World?

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:59:42 GMT

Fluffy — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:59:42 GMT

tamarind:
The top few students should spend more time developing in other areas which they are interested in, like arts, music, sports, etc. They should also gain a wide range of knowledge, instead of spending all their time doing countless assessment books of the same subject, just so that they can get perfect marks.

My mum was not educated and she wanted to give me and siblings good education. However, she never pressure us to be top in class but she expected us to read widely and gain more knowledge. She saved to buy us a set of encyclopedia and encouraged us to read the newspaper for current affairs. I started earning my own pocket money every holiday since 13 years old and on reflection, I gain alot of experience and was more \"street smart\" than the average teenagers. By the time I graduated and started working in a MNC, I was able to handle human relationship in the office better than most colleagues. I enjoyed healthy relationship with both people of my age and higher level management.

Children nowadays are told to focus on their study and nothing else by parents, teachers and society! Is that healthy? Many lack \"Life Skills\". I fear for the next generation!

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:19:39 GMT

pea — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:19:39 GMT

radiantmum:
Fluffy:
In Singapore, the education system is such that if you are in GEP, you are deemed to be gifted in all subjects and have to persue all subjects at a much advance and indepth level. In main stream, students have to be all rounded as this is reflected in the PSLE scoring system. Unfortunately, I have spoken to numerous parents who feel that their children have to spend more time working hard on the weaker subject at the expense of the subject they are more interested to develop further. I believe this education system may be one of the factor that driven many parents to engage tutors and enrol their children in enrichment classes. Basically, parents may not believe that the school is doing enough to help their children and perhaps this is another form of outsourcing help for their children especially both parents work long hours these days.

In US education system, kids are encouraged to focus and develop on their strengths. In S'pore's, kids are asked to work on the \"weaker\" subjects. Which comes more naturally and which will go further?

Not just in US. I read somewhere that some Scandinavian countries also have something very different from here - very little emphasis on exams in the early years. And they produce great scientists and researchers.

Well, at least MOE is doing away with exams for P1 and P2 soon.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:25:16 GMT

radiantmum — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:25:16 GMT

Fluffy:
In Singapore, the education system is such that if you are in GEP, you are deemed to be gifted in all subjects and have to persue all subjects at a much advance and indepth level. In main stream, students have to be all rounded as this is reflected in the PSLE scoring system. Unfortunately, I have spoken to numerous parents who feel that their children have to spend more time working hard on the weaker subject at the expense of the subject they are more interested to develop further. I believe this education system may be one of the factor that driven many parents to engage tutors and enrol their children in enrichment classes. Basically, parents may not believe that the school is doing enough to help their children and perhaps this is another form of outsourcing help for their children especially both parents work long hours these days.

In US education system, kids are encouraged to focus and develop on their strengths. In S'pore's, kids are asked to work on the \"weaker\" subjects. Which comes more naturally and which will go further?

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:21:29 GMT

tamarind — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:21:29 GMT

The top few students should spend more time developing in other areas which they are interested in, like arts, music, sports, etc. They should also gain a wide range of knowledge, instead of spending all their time doing countless assessment books of the same subject, just so that they can get perfect marks.

What is the use of having tops students with perfect scores, when they don't know anything else that is not examinable ?

I remember a couple of years back, a mainland Chinese student studying in Singapore, commented that Singaporean students are stupid. I believe he meant that our children are not \"street smart\", and I have to agree that this is true.

[quote]Basically, parents may not believe that the school is doing enough to help their children and perhaps this is another form of outsourcing help for their children especially both parents work long hours these days.[/quote]I heard in this forum, that students who score between 80 - 90 marks are told by the school that they need tuition teachers. How can 80+ marks be considered weak ? But if the whole class gets 90+ marks and above, then the child is weak compared to the rest. Is this kind of comparison really healthy ?

I heard somewhere that a child was sent to the Learning Lab to improve on her English. Her score was 96 out of 100 marks !!!

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:37:55 GMT

Fluffy — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:37:55 GMT

I am surprised that there are primary schools still adopting the ranking of all the students. I thought that school only practise rewarding top few students in class or cohort. I think this is healthy to encourage other students to work harder and to recognise students’ efforts. It is quite unhealthy to rank everybody especially for the students who are in the last few ranks of the class, they will feel very demoralise and embarass.

When my son was diagnosed with special needs, my sister in law tried to persuade us to bring him to Canada where she migrated. She feels that the education system in Canada is more supportive of special needs students and there are no excessive pressure to excel among the students and parents. Students who are talented in certain academic subjects, arts, music or sports are given opportunity to focus on the discipline they are keen and wish to develop and progress at advance level.

In Singapore, the education system is such that if you are in GEP, you are deemed to be gifted in all subjects and have to persue all subjects at a much advance and indepth level. In main stream, students have to be all rounded as this is reflected in the PSLE scoring system. Unfortunately, I have spoken to numerous parents who feel that their children have to spend more time working hard on the weaker subject at the expense of the subject they are more interested to develop further. I believe this education system may be one of the factor that driven many parents to engage tutors and enrol their children in enrichment classes. Basically, parents may not believe that the school is doing enough to help their children and perhaps this is another form of outsourcing help for their children especially both parents work long hours these days.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:02:33 GMT

tamarind — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:02:33 GMT

We must all remember that primary school is the place where we can cultivate a genuine love for learning in children. Competition is not going to make a child love to learn.

Changes in policy can help a big deal. If the parent don’t know exactly who is number 1, 2, 3, or 4, then
there is no need to push their kids to get that few more marks just to be better than the rest. A child getting very depressed because he scores 3 marks less than than the number 1 kid, is really not healthy. This is much worst than comparing toys and ability. The truth is that a child who scores 3 marks less than another child in maths, does not necessarily mean that he is less clever ! In polytechnics and universities, students only know their grades, not their exact marks.

There is no harm having competition only after 12 years old. In fact, there are many children who are late developers, and they will reach their maximum potential only when they are teenagers.

I remember reading that in China and Canada, there is no ranking of students in primary school.

I wonder why is it that so many parents complain about the stress in our education. But no parents want to do anything about it.

It is not that I am scared of competition. I used to be the number 1 student every year in my primary school (an average school). I still do not see how ranking can develop a love of learning in kids. In fact, too much competition is going to have adverse effects on the child, and may cause him to develop emotional problems.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:26:38 GMT

mummy of 2 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:26:38 GMT

Sometimes I wonder who is driving all these comparison? Is it the schools or the parents? From what some of you describe, it’s the parents who want to know how good the school is (in terms of academic results) and put pressure on kids. Of cos some stress is good, as it will motivate the kids to try harder, but beyond a certain point, I think it’s counter-productive. Maybe it’s easy for me to say all these as my kids are still pre-schoolers but I do hope I can retain my perspective and strive for a balanced approach even when my kids start school. JMHO.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:38:41 GMT

skunk — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:38:41 GMT

tamarind:

I have heard of a student who was ranked number 3 in one of the top primary school. She went around telling her friends that her parents would be very mad with her because she did not get the number 1 position.

The problem is that the stress is no longer in appropriate amounts in primary schools.

The problem doesn't lie with the system, it lies with human nature.

Even without open ranking, people who like to stress themselves in inappropriate amounts, will go around comparing no matter what, while those who like to run away from stress instead of facing up to it will have yet another excuse to run away from it all.

Don't say primary school, even toddlers compare toys and ability, the kid who can climb the highest on the monkey ropes, certainly earn some sort of admiration from some other kids, while the one who doesn't care, will \"escape\" the stress of such comparison but might never learn to climb the monkey ropes.

From the way i see it, it's a problem that cannot be simply overcome by mere changes in policy. Everyone must learn to handle it in their own way, but one thing is for sure, running away from it ain't gonna solve anything.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:29:32 GMT

tamarind — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:29:32 GMT

skunk:

Sooner or later they will compare anyway. Competition spurs progress.

Some children genuinely love to learn, but most love to just play, fool around or just do nothing. That's human nature. Stress in appropriate amounts drive progress.

I agree that competition spurs progress. I think it is fine to have ranking in secondary schools and above. If we want our kids to enjoy their childhood, and to really love learning, then there should not be any ranking of students in primary schools.

The students will still know their grades in each subject, so they know how well they are doing and whether they have made improvements. I think this is enough stress. There is no need to rank from number 1 to 40. If the teachers really need to know, they can still rank the students but keep the information to themselves only. There is no need to release the information to the parents.

I have heard of a student who was ranked number 3 in one of the top primary school. She went around telling her friends that her parents would be very mad with her because she did not get the number 1 position.

The problem is that the stress is no longer in appropriate amounts in primary schools.

The fact is that, in universities, polytechnics, and junior colleges, there are no ranking of students. I do not see any advantage in ranking students in primary schools.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:40:05 GMT

skunk — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:40:05 GMT

tamarind:
One thing we can do, is to stop comparing results.

In fact, I hope that MOE disallows primary schools to rank their students in terms of academic results. Every educator is talking about instilling a love of learning in our children. Then why bother ranking the students ? Is there really a big difference between a student that scores 90 marks, and another student who scores 99 marks ?

What is the advantage of identifying the top student ? So that he/she can get a prize ?

Children should learn because they love to learn. Not because they want to be the top student in class.

Sooner or later they will compare anyway. Competition spurs progress.

Some children genuinely love to learn, but most love to just play, fool around or just do nothing. That's human nature. Stress in appropriate amounts drive progress.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:12:27 GMT

tamarind — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:12:27 GMT

One thing we can do, is to stop comparing results.

In fact, I hope that MOE disallows primary schools to rank their students in terms of academic results. Every educator is talking about instilling a love of learning in our children. Then why bother ranking the students ? Is there really a big difference between a student that scores 90 marks, and another student who scores 99 marks ?

What is the advantage of identifying the top student ? So that he/she can get a prize ?

Children should learn because they love to learn. Not because they want to be the top student in class.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:40:43 GMT

jedamum — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:40:43 GMT

for discussion, let me give a different perspective and some of my personal views:

acforfamily:
I thought that I could be a parent who would let the kid progress without tuition or extra classes, only to be told by the school that he has to perform better. I was naive enough to think that the school would only expect the students to know only things that have been taught.

let me guess....is the student in a 'popular' school? would things be different if the parents have opt for a neighbourhood school?

acforfamily:
Imagine my horror when the teacher gave out sample compositions done by fellow classmates that indicated the use of vocab and phrases way beyond their years.

don't have to wait for teacher to give out sample compos. take a trip down to Popular Bookstore. Flip through 'Model Compositions for P1' will bring sweat trickling down your forehead; do most students really write that well?

acforfamily:
We seem to be living in a vicious circle. The schools set more and more difficult questions to differentiate the really good students. The average students find the questions difficult and go for enrichment classes, thus pushing up the standard. So the school has to set even more difficult questions.....

the schools did so cos MOE does that too; see the recent PSLE. the phenomenal of average students going for enrichment classes to push up the standard seems to be confined to popular schools - correct me if i am wrong. that boils down to the same question; the quest of parents yearly to seek limited vacancies in 'premium' schools, they should go in with their eyes open and not blame the system if they want to partake in it.

acforfamily:
We send our children to enrichment classes, tuition etc in the hope that they do not fall behind their cohort. But how many of us in our age group survived without tuition / extra classes? Aren't we all still doing well?
What would happen if one day, everyone stops going for all these extra lessons? Would we be worse off?

how can we compare current generation with ours? we have to look at relativity. the system will always value meritocracy. those who do not want to jump on the enrichment bandwagons have to look at motivating their own children to take ownership of their own studies and also adjust their own expectations; accept effort rather than results, and accept that those with enrichment background is likely to have a better advantage than those who doesn't.
on another note, looking at ourselves, if 90% of your colleagues don't knock off at 6pm sharp, wouldn't you choose to be like them?

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:58:31 GMT

tamarind — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:58:31 GMT

Right now my kids only attend one chinese enrichment class, which I plan to stop when they finish K2. They will not have any tuition in future.

I believe in teaching them to read very well, then they will naturally know how to write. By teaching them the most important skills of reading and writing, they will be well prepared for a life of learning ahead of them.

Instead of doing assessments and attending enrichment classes, they are reading all the wonderful children’s classics, as well as children’s encyclopedia. They are learning a wide variety of knowledge, as well as the beautiful style of writing of famous authors, and building up their vocabulary along the way. They are free to write anything that comes to their mind. Most importantly, they enjoy reading the books.

Kids can still have a happy and intellectually enriching childhood.

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:06:56 GMT

en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:06:56 GMT

The ads reminded me of Beethoven who continued with his music long after he lost his hearing. :love:

Why do we follows the other? Maybe we are afraid of our kids losing out or to see our kids struggle daily in school or simply making sure that our kids potential is fully realize?

Having said this, I'm still frozen in thoughts deciding which way to go. To follow or to just let it be. Well, I guess, I still needed time to think it through

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:12:09 GMT

Andaiz — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:12:09 GMT

mckenzy:

alas... we are in a forum whose title speaks for itself...

mckenzy, I disagree...we're KSP's coz we are KS in being good parents in bringing up our kids. The topics described here extend beyond the academics thankfully.

My gals have only swimming and dance as part of their out-side-of school curriculum, perhaps some music and drama at school (beyond school hours)...not the \"usual\" hothousing enrichments but we go to places with the children and aspire to expose them to different ways of dealing with others.

From the other forummers on this post, who are thankfully like-minded , we all agree goes to the development of the child as a wholistic person :love:

Reply to Why do you have to be like the others? on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:09:01 GMT

mckenzy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:09:01 GMT

i’ve mentioned in the forum before… that why not we try to discover what our children really would like to do and provide the means or opportunity to achieve those dreams?

alas… we are in a forum whose title speaks for itself…

i for one would like to know if my p5 son who is undergoing rigorous, never ending work to prepare for his exams this year, wants to do anything that he really likes…

the sad thing is that he simply has no time to even give it a think…