What to do at Cingjing? Check out this website.


http://www.cingjing.gov.tw/ins.php

It is best to get tutors via word of mouth from friends or neighbours instead of via cyberspace.


If the tutor or centre has a website, see if the testimonials are handwritten by parents or typed out by the centre itself. I tend to be more cynical. As for personal tutors, I asked to see educational certificates and proof of teaching experience if I engage school teachers.

There were already a few cases highlighted in the press or KSP forum about tutors whose claims about their qualifications were false.

Nothing personal but I always seem to read posts from new forum members when there are new courses.


Just read the negative feedback about this PSLE tutor who was raved about last year. Nearly wanted to send my DS to her last year after reading the feedback hence was shocked to read the tonnes of negative feedback about her. Lesson learnt: be more discerning when we read the feedback from parents. Go to the website and see if there are handwritten testimonials from parents instead of typed testimonials by the tutor or centre.

MisterFlyingPenguin:

Hi all!


I'm from the batch of 2012. I was in 6R and was taught my Mrs Chan(whom I believe is still teaching 6R this year). I just wanted to offer a younger perspective about PSLE and preparation for it.

After SA1 results are released, Mrs Chan and most other teachers, I believe, would likely have an idea of their students' academic standard.

After the holidays, the workload does increase tenfold. I admit, I often had to stay up till around 11 to finish the work given. Even the top pupil and our head prefect did. However, I believe all the teachers are forgiving. I'm sure they'll give extensions when provided with a valid reason.

I don't know about other teachers, but Mrs Chan believes that to be well-prepared, we need more than enough practice. The workload seems to be immense, but I wish to bust any myths about the teachers not going through the homework and the work being 'unnecessary'.

I'm sure the teachers put in a lot of work to plan lessons, and Mrs Chan herself stays up very late to mark our worksheets and give her own model answers. I can safely say that we aren't in much of a position to complain against the teachers, since they have to put in just as much as or even much more effort than their students.

Sometimes teachers might not go through the worksheets, but I'm sure they have valid reasons. They might have forgotten, or time simply isn't enough.

And yes, quality over quantity. The quantity of the work IS indeed accompanied by quality, IMO. The teachers wouldn't give their pupils an irrelevant worksheet or teach an irrelevant topic, would they? I don't think so, especially not RL teachers. They do put in thought before handing out a homework assignment.

Mrs Chan often told us that we need to be familiarised with all types of questions for all subjects. We don't know what questions PSLE might attack us with. Better safe than sorry, right? An increased amount of exposure decreases the chances of us being stumped by a seemingly unseen question during PSLE. The workload is justified.

And about the teaching methods, every teacher has his or her teaching style. We as students have to learn to adapt to it and change our own learning style. When teachers let us copy from the answer key, we are expected to absorb the information and ask when we have doubts. As sensible and mature 12-year-olds, we all have the ability to do so. We DO have a choice whether or not to learn. We have to take initiative, too. When we are unsure about a topic or question, it never hurts to ask the teacher. We need to understand that we oughtn't only do something when told, and that our teachers aren't scary monsters that'll eat us up.

The bottom line is--hard work will bear fruit. Instead of focusing on the teachers being cruel and unfair, we should concentrate on understanding the rationale behind their actions and act accordingly.

Mrs Chan's does have her reasons. This is shown in the fact that the entire class scored above 250 and scored A* in Mathematics last year, and around 30 students scored A* for English and Science respectively. This alone is proof that her abilities need not be doubted, and neither should any of the other teachers'.

No teacher teaching the P6 cohort is bad. All our P6 teachers have seen many batches of students come and go, and are, of course, experienced teachers. We benefit from listening to them.

Thanks for reading this entire chunk above! I wish your child the best of luck in PSLE. Only a few months left

Have a nice day!

When I first read this, I was wondering if it was written by a 13-year-old kid. You can definitely write well Wonder why this post came about since there were no previous posts on any particular RL teacher.

Different people have different perspectives. I guess as a parent, I would expect the teacher to mark the open-ended questions for at least school revision papers so that my child will know whether he or she is wrong instead of merely copying answers from the answer key. If the child realises that his or her mistake is wrong and the teacher explains why certain answers are wrong etc then learning takes place. I am ok if the additional papers from other schools are not marked.

Were there complaints about any RL teachers in KSP recently? Just curious.

But definitely heartening to hear words of appreciation from the younger generation.

Dnls_mum:

The one in London is not a theme park. Just movies sets. The one in Islands of Adventure in Orlando is a theme park. So it depends on what you want. I am not sure if they have place in LA to build one too. But they seem to be expanding the one in Orlando to include Diagonal Alley on the Universal Studios Jaws site, based on rumors.


We just came back from Orlando, and being Harry Potter fans and I must saw the theming including merchandise and F&B are fantastic, it is not only rides but a total experience. It is like you have walked into the movie or book.

Agree with Dnls mum! We love the overall experience. If you go to orlando, you should check the theme park out.

ST Lee:

Read through 143 pages of forum abt Rulang. Read a lot about mindless drilling for top classes for upper primary especially P6 R and U classes for last two years comments; not much for last year. How is the situation now ? Still carry on with mindless drilling??

Haha. Like the phrase \"mindless drilling\". Sometimes, I wonder if doing more is good for the children.

From what I heard from my friends, I know that a number of teachers teaching the top classes in various schools pile them with lots of homework. Is this the way to go? I really wonder.

Personally, I prefer quality over quantity. But as parents, we also know that teachers probably don't have time to look through the questions and tell the pupils to do selected questions only. It is easier for them to tell the pupils to do ALL the questions. But is it really necessary?

Just read about this attraction, Baby Boss, where kids can try out various occupations. Any feedback?

starlight1968sg:

BeContented:

Like to find out more on the life of a P6 in Rulang. Hope some P6/ex-P6 parents can shed some light.


DD will be P6 next year. Heard that P6 gotta stay back at least 3 times a week. Is that right from the start of the year or nearer exam/PSLE? Do they still need to come back on Sat? Currently DD attends some tuition on weekdays & already time seemed tight. So I am looking at either dropping some or reshuffling to clear up her weekdays for more rest.

Hope to hear some feedback. Thank u.

Dd used to be in 6R.
I recalled kids would stay back during one of the days for extra lessons.
The form teacher has advised her students right from the start, to drop enrichment classes or tuition because her work would be enough to drown them
The form teacher would also purchase the past \"good\" school exam papers for the students to do. So parents, you may want to wait for a while before rushing to buy.
Most of the p6 topics would be covered around mid year. From term 3 onwards, most of the time would be spent on doing papers, worksheets and revision.
Hope it helps.

The P6 pupils stayed back every Thursday in Semester 1 for extra lessons. In semester 2,CCA stopped and all P6 pupils stayed back one extra day, Monday, for extra lessons. Mine is in second class so like starlight1968's child, did not stay back on other days. Which is good. I can teach him by myself. My DS's teacher was on MC very frequently so I had step in to teach him by myself. Was not surprised as I had a neighbour whose daughter was taught by the same teacher a few years ago and had the same feedback. My DS had much less work than his friends in first class. I hope there was slightly more but not as much as the first class. I guess it is difficult to have a balance. The teachers have to teach more than 40 pupils. As I was mentally prepared that I had to step in and be more active this year, I just sighed and chose the more challenging questions for him to do as I wanted him to have time to revise his work. Heard from my friends that their children in the first class hardly had time for revision. Always rushing work. Never believe that quantity will result in good results for all pupils. May work for some pupils but not all. For my DS, definitely not. A number of my friends have kids taking PSLE and some are in other schools. Many complain that the teachers piled them with other school prelim papers in August and September. The teachers would then just tell them to copy the answers. Is this teaching? I would rather the teachers select some questions and go through them in detail.I know that the top class pupils were given many papers until some fell ill. Sometimes,I wonder how these kids cope. From what I know, a number of them also have tuition. I asked my friend why nobody told the teacher to cut down. She said the kids were too afraid to say anything.

PSLE year is a challenging year. I think my DS has survived although results are not out yet.

lim72:

@Pinky Piglet, jedamum, Nebbermind


Haha are we all trying to compete to see who is more kiasu? :rotflmao:

I have not really preparing my ds for PSLE, but having said that, I have been using Science PSLE book since P3, P5 Cl compo and P5 Grammer/Vocub as well as P5 Synthesis & transformation.

I am using all these books for practical reasons. For P5 Cl compo, I realised that his Cl ft's requirement for the class is quite high, so when I was going through the assessment books, I realised that the standard of book that matched what his teacher is asking for is at P5 level.

As for the EL assessment books, although he has no S&T questions so far except for this year SA2 pp, I have started him on this since P1. And I realised that the books are quite similar as compared to each level. So I will usually buy the higher level and use it for two years as I also do not think he can finish 1 book in a year. As for the the Science PSLE book, as you all know that all those yearly text books are obviously insufficient, so supplementary text for Science subject is a must. And this book can be used for 4 years isn't this value for money?

So I guess I will be seriously looking at some PSLE books for other subjects especially Maths.

I think after my PSLE experience with my eldest one this year, I am going to make sure I spend more time coaching my second one from next year onwards. P4 next year. It is never too early to start. People may think I am KS but I have left my eldest one alone till P6.

Anyone tried serena greenhouse? Saw the centre when I walked past xue er you this morning. Saw many pairs of shoes outside but no poster outside the centre.