SA2 2009

[MdmKS]

Working parents,


Do you take leave to do revision/ coach your children before and on exam week ? If not, why and how did you manage? If you do, are you worry that your kids will become reliance on you in future in his/her study? :?

[mickeyhmh]

I didn't take leave to coach/revise with him. Basically just told him \"you need to study hard, focus & not be careless doing the paper!\". Also told him if he doesn't come back with 100% for each subject, he'll not get to watch TV for the whole of next year!!! :evil: (just joking )


I realised his school & student care had been giving them papers & mock tests to try out - so I didn't think he needed the extra 'pressure' from mommy. He's only in P1! Just made sure he slept well last night & drank his chicken essence this morning - he's taking the 1st subject today : English! :xedfingers:

[schellen]

I took leave but primarily to go for my check-up and to spring-clean with DD. Since I’m already on leave, and she needs help in Chinese, I did supervise her while she did revision papers.


Yes, the school gave her past year papers to do too and so did my MIL. Since my DD enjoys the challenge, and doesn’t complain (except for Chinese but that one die-die must coach), we just give it to her to give her more practice with the questions, being careful with her answers and checking.

[caroline3sg]

Someone complained about having compo for P1 SA2.


[quote]Pri 1 pupils tested on composition

MY YOUNGEST son, who is in Primary 1, will be sitting for his final examinations next week.


I was surprised to learn from a school circular that Primary 1 pupils would be tested on English composition, which contributes to 10 per cent of the score for English.


I checked with friends who also have children in Primary 1 at other schools, and composition is not part of the English examination. Is the school raising the bar too high for Primary 1 pupils or is this required by the Ministry of Education?



My elder son who studies in the same school was tested on English composition only from Primary 3 onwards.


Ms Koh Li Png

[/quote]

[quote]Exam too tough for primary one?

In a letter to my paper published on Monday, Ms Koh Li Png wrote that her son, who is in primary one, will be tested on composition in his final examinations next week. According to her, the composition component of the exam paper will contribute 10 per cent of the score for English.

She was surprised because her elder son, who studies in the same school, was tested on composition only from primary three onwards. She also checked with friends, who say that their children were not tested on composition in their schools.

Finally, her letter questioned, \"Is the school raising the bar too high for Primary 1 pupils or is this required by the Ministry of Education?\"

Shin Min Daily approached five schools to find out if English composition was a requirement for primary one students at their schools. They found that it was not a requirement by the Ministry of Education, but some schools included it in their syllabus.

Canossa Convent Primary principal Miss Christina Teo said teachers would give the students proper guidance on how to write a composition before the examination. For example, they tell the students stories, and ask them to share their opinions on the stories; then they will write a story together as a class before writing in groups; and finally, write their own compositions.

She says that the children love to share their stories, and the English paper only requires them to write eight to 10 sentences to describe a picture, so it is definitely within their ability.?

Chongzheng primary school principal Mrs Jasmail Singh Gill said that the school lets the students go through different experiences in the course of their learning. When answering composition questions based on pictures, the students can base their compositions on their experiential learning.

At Tao Nan, primary one students are asked to construct one sentence for each picture that they are given. Tao Nan School's principal, Mr Tony Tan felt that students should be tested on composition only at primary three.

\"To test them on English composition at primary one is expecting a little too much,\" he said.


[/quote]

[Emelyn]

MdmKS:

Working parents,


Do you take leave to do revision/ coach your children before and on exam week ? If not, why and how did you manage? If you do, are you worry that your kids will become reliance on you in future in his/her study? :?

My HB took leave last Friday...but it was to bring the boys for swimming in the morning, and then fishing at Sembawang Park in the afternoon. And then at night, my fren's 2 boys came over for sleepover...... well.. .they slept at 1am and woke up at 6am on Saturday. :x

I didn't take leave. But most of my colleagues do.

One of them took afternoon leave for the whole of last week, and then 2 afternoon off this week. Lookingat her, I kinda feel guilty that I didn't do so for DS1 (P4) and DS2 (P2).

But like mickeyhmh, the school and student care already giving my kids lots of practices, I don't want to stress them further.

Also, I believe in consistent work.

[MMM]

I worked from home for most of last week. During this period, I asked the kids do do top school papers. Then I would mark them and ask them to do correction by themselves.


The focus was on areas that I feel that they've issues with. Eg. They had their english paper yesterday. I told them the golden rule :
* Read carefully
* Copy correctly
* Check your answers

Both of them came back last evening and said they think they have 1-2 wrong answers. They checked after exams. Well... if only it's 1-2. In my mind maybe 1-2 is 5-6 or more???? Just that they didn't realise :shock:

I am keeping revision light this week. I feel that we've already done whatever we can last week and they have been consistent in doing their work every evening after school. I think we (kiddos and me) have done our best. What will be will be. After all, they are only P2 and P1. :lol:

Tomorrow is the last paper. So we are looking forward to 2 months of enjoyment before we start to work hard again. Well, I will still expect them to do their enrichment class work,etc... but iso 2 hours per nite, I will change it to 1 hr so that they can enjoy the 9pm show after that.

[hashroop]

My P4’s SA2 started this Tuesday and last paper is on Friday. I used to take leave during exams when he was in P1-P3. Same for his older bro, i take leave as well. His older bro just sat for his PSLE 2009 and because the main focus was on the PSLE boy I kinda neglected the P4. I was too tired and stress out, needed a breather after PSLE, so we went to Batam for the weekend 24oct-25oct! Imagine P4 exams were just a few days away! Till today its hard for me to believe that we actually went for a "holiday" during this period. PSLE took a great toll on most of us and I for one really neglected my P4’s studies and exams. I am hoping he does well.

[MdmKS]

hashroop:

My P4's SA2 started this Tuesday and last paper is on Friday. I used to take leave during exams when he was in P1-P3. Same for his older bro, i take leave as well. His older bro just sat for his PSLE 2009 and because the main focus was on the PSLE boy I kinda neglected the P4. I was too tired and stress out, needed a breather after PSLE, so we went to Batam for the weekend 24oct-25oct! Imagine P4 exams were just a few days away! Till today its hard for me to believe that we actually went for a \"holiday\" during this period. PSLE took a great toll on most of us and I for one really neglected my P4's studies and exams. I am hoping he does well.

Do you think it is good for parents to take leave from work or better let them learn to be indepent in their studies and take responsibility?

[mummyjoyce]

My hubby and I want my kids to be ready for test/exam anytime without major different from normal days revision. We dont want them to get stress thinking that exam is different from class test, mock test etc.


We dont change our schedule in term of studying during exam period just cutting down on going out for dinner or watching TV pgm. My kids still watch TV pgm during exam periods and sleep at normal time (9pm) likes normal.

We dont believe in last min preparation as this is stressful to both parents and child.

[kiasimom]

jesschan:

moonee:

results normally take a dip in p3, thats when i started more enrichment classes for my grl, could then identify her weak areas

My boy is in P3 this year. I think what happens is that in P1 & 2, the kids basically do tppics that were taught in most pre-schools. So if the kids have a solid pre-school foundation, they will breeze through P1 & 2. In P3, teachers will start to introduce harder topics like Science, more difficult comprehension passages and composition etc... so the so-called \"headstart\" gained in pre-schools will be less.

My boy hardly study for his tests and exams in P1 & 2 but this year, they are streamed into different classes of different abilities so he experiences more stiff competition from his classmates and that actually motivates him to be more serious in his studies. He also realises that he needs to revise his work consistently in order to do as well as his peers.

In fact, this time round, he voluntarily asked me to put up a daily revision checklist and he dutifully goes through each and every item. I think he feels more confident that he has done some proper revision for his exams. And I kept drilling in the idea that he does well in his studies not by chance or pure smartness but rather because he puts in enough effort and is more focused in his studies.

Our son are alike

He breezed through P1 and P2 easily.
But the real challenge came in P3 when they are introduce to more in-depth learning.
My boy took a \"bochup\" attitude for SA 1 and he did not do very well.
It comes as a wake up call for him and right now, he is seriously taking his work.

So parents, if your children are going to P3 next year, please prepare them adequately.