Hi jaime_maxel,


From my experience, children seldom lie.

If indeed that a child lies, there is nothing to be angry or disappointed about.

It could possibly be due to the following reasons:

1. The child is stressed and lies to get out of the situation.

2. The child is under pressure from academic pressures and competition and lies to make teachers and/or parents feel better about them. This is especially so when it comes to marks, where children tend to like to inflate their actual marks scored.

Basically, a child will lie to get out of any stressful situations or trouble, where fear is the primary emotional driver.

To reduce a child from lying, parents and teachers have to communicate to the child and ensure them that they are safe by telling the truth with no risk of punishments or any negative repercussions.

As for a child's success, there is no definite formula. Each child is different and parents have to accept this as a fact.

What's important is not telling children which directions are right for them, but to guide and coach them to find their calling in life. This is not an easy thing to do because the career or life they choose may not be what we want them to choose. Nevertheless, as long as the child is happy with his or her choice and there is no harm in making that choice, then I feel that parents and teachers should give them their fullest support.

Society has a way of dictating which professions seem to be better than others, usually in the monetary sense. However, not everyone is cut out for those paths.

In my opinion, passion usually plays out better than any other factors when it comes to determining one's life calling.

I hope that the above helps.

Warmest Regards,
Patrick
http://www.patricktay.wordpress.com

Hi mummysniper,


Your child may have a shorter attention span than most kids, which is not surprising - considering today's emphasis on multitasking, multi-channel cable surfing and the likes.

Such children are not suited for seated learning in class for long periods of time. They will usually drift off, fidget, tinker with items on their desks or simply start to move around.

You can consider the following within the home setting:

1. Have him stand while doing work, while taking short rests at times. Some children with shorter attention span like to do this and do not find this tiring. Being in a seated positions sometimes makes them drowsy or sleepy.

2. Have him engage in something while doing hiswork, such as having some biscuits to eat.

3. At time, allow him to rinse their face with water as that will wake him up - for a while.

4. Let him learn by doing, such as asking him to spell words, asking interactive questions such that he needs to respond at certain intervals, asking him about his personal experiences such that it drives his interest to speak more. Of course, being an English teacher, my techniques are limited to lingustic learning. More methods would need to be sought for other subjects he is studying.

5 Talk to your child and ask him what his distractions are. This is the most direct method to address the issue.

Within the class settings, certain things mentioned above cannot be implemented. Your child might be driven to learn through group interactions or hands-on activity. You might like to seek the advice of your child's teachers based on their observations.

I hope that the above helps.

Warmest Regards,
Patrick
http://www.patricktay.wordpress.com

Hi relax mum,


I believe that dads and mums play different roles in a child's life. This is especially so for daughters than sons, where the former tend to look to their fathers as authority figures, who instruct and provide them with directions in life. Nevertheless, regardless of the child's gender, dads' role in a child's life is instrumental to his or her life development.

Fathers are often portrayed as masculine, directive, confident and mature.

Nevertheless, I believe that men do have their softer sides, or there wouldn't be terms such as \"Sensitive New Age Guy\" (SNAG) or \"metrosexuals\" coined by the media in recent years. Masculinity is merely being overtly expressed in males (be it intentional or compelled by societal expectations) and the softer sides of males are often being ruthlessly suppressed.

Man are often expected to be alpha males, to be assertive rather than passive, to be directive rather than servile , to be confident rather than cowardly, to have an inner drive rather than an idler. These are all qualities that ladies look for in the dating arena, isn't it? For such males are perceived to be great father figures for their offsprings, yes?

But humans, regardless of gender, possess both ends of the personality spectrum. And the opposites of strengths often do not imply weakness. Passive individuals are thought leaders who think before they act (and get into less trouble). \"Coward\" is merely another term for meticulousness and discernment, which are criteria for success in life. An idler is merely a late developer who has yet to find his or her footing in life.

So, dads are great mentors and guides in a child's life - including their academic ones. This is true regardless of which personality they possess.

Warmest Regards,
Patrick
http://www.patricktay.wordpress.com

Thanks much to Skyed and Han Seo for letting me see the perspectives of GP teaching from both the student’s and teacher’s perspectives, respectively.


I have enquired as I have a flair for research and an intense interest in current affairs. And GP seems to be a profession that is able to blend the two.

It would be great if someone is able to enlighten me on the specifics of the admin work required for a GP teacher.

Cheers!

Warmest Regards,
Patrick

Hi gisele924,


Thanks much for sharing your thoughts on art.

I share the same sentiments with you. Yes, art is a form of self-expression, in the same way that writers write and dancers dance just for the sheer delight of it.

Pursue your interest(s) in art, in whichever artistic fields which may interest you. Take your pick: charcoal drawing, canvas painting, sculpturing, photography, image editing, pottery, batik painting, ballet dancing..have fun!

Trust me, you will love the artistic world, of which the sciences have long been dominating it.

It's time for the arts to shine their brilliance upon this world, with you as one of its advocators.

Warmest Regards,
Patrick
http://www.patricktay.wordpress.com

Hi karenmok,


You have given a very interesting viewpoint on the essence of the language accent.

With all due respect, I won't equate accent mastery to success but to a certain degree, it does change one's perception of a person in certain situations or circumstances, such as a language school making a hiring choice between two English teachers - a native speaker and a non-native speakers.

However, when it comes to the workplace, communication skills (which goes beyond an accent to include EQ, collaborative skills, presentation prowess, an ability to relate to people and teams of diverse backgrounds and personalities etc) are a more important determinant of success, alongside the fact of working with a capable and empathetic boss who has a knack for grooming potentials.

Not to digress too much, English mastery - be it pronunciation, persentation, writing or reading - doesn't rest much on accent mastery but on syntax familiarity.

Much as there are many seasoned native speakers, there are also an increasing number of great non-native English speakers, even in Asian countries. Granted, native speakers may be more fluent in the pronunciation and diction components of the English language. Nevertheless, non-native speakers are also able to master these over time.

Cheers!

Warmest Regards,
Patrick
http://www.patricktay.wordpress.com

Hi sparks,


You can consider trying the following:

i. Encourage book titles for your child to read. Depending on his or her level of language proficiency, you can consider the following titles which are popular with children his or her age (e.g. Geronimo Stilton, Percy Jackson etc.)

ii. Read with your child to stir up his or her interest. Always leave some time at the end of the story to discuss the plot, characters etc. Immerse your child in the story by having him or her role-play a character and act out his or her actions, and then discuss the possible consequences. Reading is more than just understanding the story. It's also about analysis, imagination, creativity and critical thinking.

iii. Have your child check words he or she do not understand using a dictionary. Alternatively, you can have him or her look out for words they are unsure in other sources without checking the dictionary, and then try figuring out the words. The latter might be time-consuming but it helps in answering inferential questions later on - in the O Levels comprehension questions, specifically.

iv. Have your child speak as frequently as possible in English (this increases articulation over time). Let them watch English movies with English subtitles (this helps in their pronunciation of words and the subtitles improves their spelling over time). If your child is auditory by nature, let them listen to audio books available for loan in public libraries. Also, expose your child to reading and watching videos and check which is the preferred medium. Then adapt accordingly.

v. Youtube EDU has tons of educational videos for your child (https://www.youtube.com/edu). At the age of 12, maybe Sesame Street may still be of interest (https://www.youtube.com/channel/HC-r1FlvvNFs0/search?query=sesame+street)?

I hope that the above helps.

Warmest Regards,
Patrick
http://www.patricktay.wordpress.com

Hi Mondster,


You can do the following to come up with some creative ideas:

i. Purchase \"Time Out\" magazine and see what are the happenings in Singapore (http://www.timeoutsingapore.com/)

ii. Check out hungrygowhere.com (http://www.hungrygowhere.com/) for good dining venues.

iii. If you and your wife are artistically-inclined, you can check out the receptionist counters at major shopping centres such as Marine Parade Shopping Centers or VivoCity for catalogues of upcoming or recent performances at the Esplanade or Marina Bay Sands.

iv. Most people travel abroad. You can do that, or you can do a \"staycation\".

v. If you and your wife are the sporty type, go to East Coast for a jog or just rent a bike or rollerblade. If both of you are swimmers, go do some sea sports.

vi. If you and your wife are avid photographers and/or designers like myself, go shoot some pictures. Landscape , street photography, portraits , macro photography are all possible with the right lens. If you run out of places, check for events, such as the bi-annual Singapore Garden Festival, coming again in 2014 (https://www.singaporegardenfestival.com/)

Move around, be creative.

Have fun, and merry Christmas !

Warmest Regards,
Patrick
http://www.patricktay.wordpress.com

Hi,


I would like to enquire if there are any GP teachers or ex-GP teachers in this forum?

If so, please advise on the daily routine of a typical GP teacher teaching in local JCs, including both lesson planning as well as administrative responsibilities.

In addition, are only job candidates with a good pass in their honours degree eligible to be a GP teacher in local junior colleges?

Thanks much!