Achieving good grades in P5 & P6

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Fri, 15 Nov 2019 07:28:17 GMT

mummygeneration — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 07:28:17 GMT

Thanks "Chenlaoshi" for your advice. Actually I find my son’s Chinese is very weak. Even though he is P4 now. But I think his level is P2. He seldom speak Chinese and every time I tried to switch to Chinese cartoon / TV shows, he got so upset. I really at my wits end. He doesn’t seemed to care about his Chinese Grade too. Hope the new chinese tuition centre can help. But I also think 1 week once is not possible to create miracles.

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Fri, 15 Nov 2019 05:18:54 GMT

lee_yl — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 05:18:54 GMT

Based on your son’s good results for EMS, I think you can continue with the current $150 tuition. I do not think you need to resign to help him as he is doing well except for his Chinese.

As for Chinese, I suggest you enroll him with 2 Chinese tuition (which I did for my kids). One is for main paper (e.g. Tien Hsia) and the other is for compo/compre/oral class. One parent suggested Chenlaoshi, you can check if he has the compo/compre/oral class. Let’s be realistic, 2 hours of lesson per week at TH is not sufficient. 1-1 tutor is also good provided can find a reliable one.

As for P5, you don’t need to worry too much, mid-year results dip because of the jump in difficulty level but the kid will subsequently adapt and do better at SA2 exam after they have gotten used to the P5 standard and pace.

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Fri, 15 Nov 2019 04:45:07 GMT

chenlaoshi — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 04:45:07 GMT

Thanks for the kind words, zac's mum.

To add to phtthp's advice, I would suggest brushing up on your DS's verbal and communication skills.

Of the various components, LC and Oral tend to be the 'easier' ones to score in. These 2 sections account for 35% of the total marks and their importance will be 'enlarged' in the AL system where every marks count. Alas, the difficulty level in Oral component has increased as it's less routine/'fixed' as compared to the previous pictorial format and is more tiered towards actual life conversation style.

Start by expanding his range of vocab - nouns, verbs, adjectives; as well as getting him to converse in grammatically correct sentences in daily life, light-hearted communication.

Accumulative learning and consistency + frequency is important. Jia you! :rahrah:

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Fri, 15 Nov 2019 02:52:35 GMT

mummygeneration — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 02:52:35 GMT

Very thankful for the valuable advices. I left very little time to brush up his Chinese. I also just enrolled him in Tien Hsia hopefully this tuition centre can help him score at least 70% for his PSLE Chinese. Felt very anxious now because I realised AL banding can pull down his overall grades a lot. Just hope he can make it for Express stream in Secondary school.

Another friend, her child was scoring quite well for her Chinese (95%). But her other subjects are average (around 65% to 70%). This is why mothers are so stressful. Have to handle work stress and academic stress.

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Fri, 15 Nov 2019 02:21:00 GMT

ngl2010 — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 02:21:00 GMT

I don’t think all kids will experience drop in P5. Don’t worry so much about it. And even if their grades drop, logically other kids’ grades will drop too, right? So, they are not alone and after a couple of months their grades will be back to the previous grades. So, just need to work VERY hard on Chinese and a bit harder on other subjects to get above 90.

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Fri, 15 Nov 2019 00:40:39 GMT

zac's mum — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 00:40:39 GMT

mummygeneration\" post_id=\"1946508\" time=\"1573745195\" user_id=\"174296:

Thanks for the mummies' advice here. Maybe I should send him for a more reputable tuition centre, hopefully can improve all his grades. Yes, he is under the new PSLE score. I'm not so sure how it will work. But from the report book, I saw his English - 1 pt (90%), Science - 1 pt (85%), Math - 1 pt (94%), Chinese - 4 pt (44%). Yes, I know his Chinese is going to pull down his score. Worried he not able to enter a better secondary school.
...
...

My P3 son is under AL system too. I dunno why our school report books are still indicating the old “band 1, band 2, band 3, band 4” system. That is very very deceptive to parents.

Here is the MOE AL banding system that PSLE will use. I calculated for my son and nearly fainted. I hope u will strengthen your heart becos it doesn’t look good for your son...Please realize that his Chinese 44/100 that is failing and will drag down the entire score. So work on the Chinese first. Check what are the weak areas. Try contact Chenlaoshi from KSP, I think he gives very good advice and his teaching methods are very logical.

https://postimg.cc/d7mVRMNW

https://postimg.cc/bGjv2YgD

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Thu, 14 Nov 2019 20:03:24 GMT

phtthp — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 20:03:24 GMT

mummygeneration\" post_id=\"1946331\" time=\"1573694924\" user_id=\"174296:

Though he score quite well in his Math / English / Science (Band 1 - 85% to 90%). Only Chinese is Band 4.

Under new 2021 AL new PSLE system, once your son's Chinese score go below 80 marks, is very easy to \"clock up\" AL (4 or 5) points, just for 1 subject Chinese, alone. This will definitely pull down his overall Total AL points.

Is high time, to find a reliable Chinese tutor one-to-one attention, not a group tuition anymore, to bring him up to gear.

You could also have met up with his Chinese school Tr, identified and list out all his weakness, one by one, for every single Chinese component, during the parents-meet-Tr-session that ended just this week, before Term 4 closure, work hand in hand together with his Tr, how to help him improve.

Eg.

Let your son write one zuowen taken from his school's past year exam SA2 papers, and ask his Chinese Tr to help to mark his zuowen, and give comment

If you have a supportive internal school Tr who can help him, even better still. No need to hire any external tuition Tr, whatsoever.

Have to fix the issue quickly, because when 2020 start, more Chinese vocab to tackle, more Comprehension expectation grow higher.

And languages, is a slow process, bit by bit accumulation build-up, over time. There is no overnight, immediate antidote (magic pill, \"xian dan\"), to improve Chinese overnight. Takes time

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Thu, 14 Nov 2019 17:26:10 GMT

manorway — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 17:26:10 GMT

For every SAHM with kids who score well, there are also many SAHMs with kids who are struggling. Not all parents can teach or will want to teach. I know many SAHMs whose role is driving kids to tuition. They do not teach.

There is a big jump in difficulty from P4 to P5. So yes, many kids’ grades will drop.

My own view about tuition fee… there is no such thing as cheap and effective tuition, unless the tutor is giving tuition as charity work. Tutors have limited time, so if he is effective, he will be fully booked and highly sought after. So demand vs supply, logically, his hourly rate must increase over time.

That said, I do NOT mean expensive means good straightaway. So you must be discerning to pick an effective tutor. Best way is to get recommendations from friends.

If you go tuition centre, must know your child’s own standard and problems. Not every centre is suitable for every child. Good luck.

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Thu, 14 Nov 2019 17:19:14 GMT

cherrygal — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 17:19:14 GMT

AL banding is different from the Band 1 Band 2 u see on the report book.

For the new PSLE AL banding, 90 and above is AL 1, 85 - 89 is AL 2…20-44 is AL 7.

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Thu, 14 Nov 2019 15:26:35 GMT

mummygeneration — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 15:26:35 GMT

Thanks for the mummies’ advice here. Maybe I should send him for a more reputable tuition centre, hopefully can improve all his grades. Yes, he is under the new PSLE score. I’m not so sure how it will work. But from the report book, I saw his English - 1 pt (90%), Science - 1 pt (85%), Math - 1 pt (94%), Chinese - 4 pt (44%). Yes, I know his Chinese is going to pull down his score. Worried he not able to enter a better secondary school.

I also worried he may not be able to maintain 85%-90% scoring in P5 as I heard many horror stories that grades going to drop by 20% to 30% in P5. But based on my sister in law children, her kids from P1-P5, all can get awards every year. Maybe it’s really based on the children’s aptitude & attitude like what "cheerygal" said.

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Thu, 14 Nov 2019 13:33:56 GMT

ngl2010 — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 13:33:56 GMT

mummygeneration\" post_id=\"1946331\" time=\"1573694924\" user_id=\"174296:

Though he score quite well in his Math / English / Science (Band 1 - 85% to 90%). Only Chinese is Band 4.

Chinese cannot Band 4 lah. Is your son the first batch of the new PSLE scoring system? If I am not wrong, with the new PSLE scoring system the kids can't have 1 weak subject as it will pull down his overall score by a lot. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Thu, 14 Nov 2019 13:05:32 GMT

peasants — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 13:05:32 GMT

cherrygal\" post_id=\"1946336\" time=\"1573696205\" user_id=\"9754:

Was working and sent elder to after school care till P6. This kid is able to handle own studies even in secondary school.

Kids' results don't depend on you being at home. Depends on aptitude and attitude. The general misconception is that all SAHM are great tutors to their kids. If you can't teach or are better off working then just send them to a good after school care centre and professional tutors.

Do not leave kids with indulgent grandparents or nonchalant helpers.

To add, u may want to change your kid's Chinese tutor...

Agree with student care. After effect is obvious in secondary schools.

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Thu, 14 Nov 2019 11:56:09 GMT

anxiousmumny — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 11:56:09 GMT

mummygeneration\" post_id=\"1946331\" time=\"1573694924\" user_id=\"174296:

Hi dear mummies,

May I ask how your child achieve good grades in P5 & P6?

Should I quit my job to help him in his studies? Actually I did send him for tuitions this year ($150 for 3 subjects)

Instead of quiting yr job I suggest u invest a bit more in experienced tutors who specializes.
Because even if u hv the time doesn't means u can teach.
But that means it can easily be $400 per month. But then still better than u dun work n no income rite?

Reply to Achieving good grades in P5 & P6 on Thu, 14 Nov 2019 01:50:05 GMT

cherrygal — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 01:50:05 GMT

Was working and sent elder to after school care till P6. This kid is able to handle own studies even in secondary school.

Kids’ results don’t depend on you being at home. Depends on aptitude and attitude. The general misconception is that all SAHM are great tutors to their kids. If you can’t teach or are better off working then just send them to a good after school care centre and professional tutors.

Do not leave kids with indulgent grandparents or nonchalant helpers.

To add, u may want to change your kid’s Chinese tutor…