Try exposing your kids to robotics this weekend. Problem solving skills, creative thinking, science and programming all in one!

http://bit.ly/1rqhnnQ

Alchemist:

Talking Straight:

My girl got 271 and my boy got 268.


my girl got into RGS & my boy got into RI

Congrats on your kids' results. i thought may be you had twins. I saw your profile said one child in Jan 99 and another in Dec 99. That's amazing, the first time I have come across that. I am sure you get a lot of this reaction - but really that's so cute .........

Congrats! That's amazing. Four years later, they will most probably be classmates again! (I hear schools like to put siblings together.)

According to Wikipedia, Finland (widely recognized as having one of the best education systems in the world) has a nine-year compulsory basic comprehensive school (starting at age seven and ending at the age of sixteen) that is not based on selection.There is no selecting, tracking, or streaming students during their common basic education.


If we could have this system in Singapore, it could mean that the children’s first major exam comes at 16 instead of 12 when the late-bloomers (usually more boys than girls) would have matured sufficiently to treat their studies more seriously. This might give our young ones more time to develop their soft skills at an earlier age instead of having to prepare for their PSLE.

Of course, the downside of this could be that it might give the high achievers or those with learning disabilities less specialized assistance to reach their full potential.

As a parent of two toddlers, I dread to think of the day when I will be preparing them for PSLE when their childhood should be one that is more carefree.

Chenonceau:

I can't stress enough on independent learning. I think the t-score is less important than this criteria. If the child has a high t-score because he/she has had her entire PSLE steps defined by parents and tutors... then it is likely his/her grades will plummet in IP.

Well said. I won't be surprised if some of those who dropped out even before taking the A levels (5% according to Sandra) scored above 265 due to intensive tuition.

But then, even in the old system, there are people who fail to complete two years of JC or flunk their A levels from the top 5 JCs. Just not sure what the percentage is and if we can make a meaningful comparison between then and now.

On another note, there is no mention of the number of students who are 'retained'. If I'm not wrong, each student can be 'retained' or repeat up to two years in their 6 years of secondary education. Meaning, once in first 4 years and once in JC. I'm sure there are quite a number who suffered that fate in the IP as well. Hope the MOE can give us these figures too.

Thanks once again for the answers. I wasn’t sure about the thermal physics question until I saw your answer. Didn’t think they would distinguish between heat capacities at constant volume and that at constant pressure as it wasn’t mentioned in most JC’s lecture notes. Sure some students will be confused.

Thanks for the answers! Looking forward to paper 3 and paper 1.

Hi, when will your solutions for O level Physics Paper 1 be out? My tuition students are keen to find out if they did well but I can’t get my hands on the paper (even though I tutor Physics myself) since I’ll be having my well-deserved holidays overseas!


Perhaps we can collaborate next year!

Have you considered what you are going to do during the first 8 months of next year before your admission to university? That is, unless you are due for your National Service. How about offering private tuition in your free-time while allowing yourself to explore your own interests during the day? This way, you get to save up for your university days and you might even begin to discover a new passion in teaching.


Therefore, register with us now at http://www.tutorscentre.com (an online tuition agency) for FREE and let your juniors know of your availability as a tutor by \"liking\" your own profile on Facebook. Tuition assignments are available all over Singapore.

One word of advice though: you might want to be realistic about the fees you can charge. Please refer to the tuition rates table under the column for undergraduates (Yes, you are about to become one).