MoonFlower:

My friend just shared a touching story with me. This taxi driver father has a dd who got bone cancer at 10. She lost her lower limb(not too sure exactly) due to the cancer and went through Chemotherapy.

Despite missing school for over a year, she still insisted to sit for this yr PSLE. She scored 1 B 3A, tscore of 237 express. Her teachers all cried at that moment receiving her result.
Although i don't know her, I feel the proudness of her parents. I pray she recovers soon and send my blessing to her and family. :love:

Reading this already brought tears to my eyes. How proud the parents must be. Wish her all the best in her life.

Need advice please. A friend’s dd got 194. She had C for Maths/English and B for Science. She’s hardworking though and has a good attitude. She doesn’t know where she should go and I am not sure what to tell her. Would it be better to go to a "good" normal academic school? What would her chances be of getting in? On what criteria would a school take in a student for NA when they are also eligible for express in other schools?

tutormum:

There is no English textbook or Science textbooks also. Assume they will be given notes instead.

I guess for science they will be using last year's textbooks. It's just that would like ds to do some lit reading during hols rather than playing xbox, switch to computer games, swtitch to tv, then back to xbox again...... :x
happymum8 mentioned macbeth. hope they don't change it.

Late reply. Thanks DaisyT. Looks like I won’t be able to clear much space for sec 2 books…

Jennifer:

I think parents must learn to let go.

I always tell my hubby we must let the child fails at some pt in time so that he learns to pick himself up. IMO the earlier we let go, the better since the stakes are not so high yet.

I agree absolutely! I didn't let go earlier and went into a frenzy when psle approached for fear he would be 'lost'. I leave him on his own more in sec 1 now partly because I can't help much :lol: and it's different than in primary school. So now my p2 dd will have to learn to cope!

DadOfGirl:

But you say your DS school force two maths & phy, chem... then there is no choice ... some more he is inclined to study maths , science ... then must go for it. One humanity is must History or geo

Yes, that's right, he has no choice. So just as well he seems inclined towards that direction. As mentioned I was concerned about the chances of entry into U. But after what you've said, well, we'll see what happens then. Thank you.Keeping fingers crossed.

[quote=\"Lock\"]Erm...after reading all the posts, I am still confused. So without tuition can or cannot make it for PSLE.

quote]

At the end of the day I would say it depends on your child's capabilities. From primary one I refuse to have tuition for my ds wanting to coach him myself. He did ok scoring well in lower primary. But towards the middle part of p5 his marks went south and i didn't know if i was teaching him right. so at p6 i was not taking chances and had a cousin (who was a tutor before) to help him with maths and mt for the whole of p6. He scored his 1st A* ever at p6. 2 months before psle, i became even more frantic and hunted for a tutor to help with section B of science as I didn't know how to explain in that area. She made him practise assessement papers upon papers. My ds scored well for his psle gaining 3 A* for the first time in the subjects. It is really not to brag but my point now is had I not seek help, knowing my limitations, my son would perhaps have been shortchanged as, obviously, he was capable of a bit more. Now at sec 1 i stopped all his tuition (except maths - i'm clueless) to try to let him be more independent and learn on his own. So far he has been able to cope with the new subjects too. I can't really teach him anymore, just supervise and check his work and make sure all is done. I monitor all the time. But I can say this now, come sec 3 and 4 i will probably take out my kiasu hat and get him tutors for subjects he can probably score more in! ...sorry for the lonnnnggg story. just want to share...

Thank you, DadOfGirl for the information. Honestly I would have preferred ds to me more literary and go for the arts but he seems to be inclined towards maths and science. Don't think he wants to be a doctor, nor a dentist. and engineering seems to be popular. So, here's a silly question, will the 'competition' for entry into U for these courses be tougher if more students apply for it? And geography for engineering, really? My ds scored better in history! so subject combination all in a mess!

lizawa:

Thanks prancingpony for the good pointers. I think this does not only apply to english reading, we should also encourage them to read widely both in English and Chinese. Maybe start with reading newspapers on a daily basis

You're absolutely right, lizawa. Newspapers to start off with, though it will not be an easy task. I have to, more often than not, sit with him and flip through the papers together to find articles that will be of interest to him. And I can guarantee, halfway through, he'll say he's tired already. Hais...why don't they love reading? Should have followed the example of Mrs LKY. Put shelves of books in their bedroom when they were young and ban tv.