Chinese impt in secondary level?

[S-H]

Hi INNOVATE,


I need one more advise fm you. My ds is in sec 1 and is taking CL. Bcos of his good result, he is given a chance to take HCL in sec 2. However, from what we see, his standard of chinese is only average, he is more powerful in his English. I’m aftraid that he will be pressurised if he take up HCL in sec 2. DS also me that he doesn’t hv much confident too. We are in a dilemma. He is to give the teacher the answer not later than 25/10/2010. Hope you can give me some advice. Thanks.

[computerkid]

S-H:

Hi INNOVATE,


I need one more advise fm you. My ds is in sec 1 and is taking CL. Bcos of his good result, he is given a chance to take HCL in sec 2. However, from what we see, his standard of chinese is only average, he is more powerful in his English. I'm aftraid that he will be pressurised if he take up HCL in sec 2. DS also me that he doesn't hv much confident too. We are in a dilemma. He is to give the teacher the answer not later than 25/10/2010. Hope you can give me some advice. Thanks.

Hi S-H,
Your DS situation is quite similiar to my DS. My DS only took CL in PSLE. In the beginning of the year, the HOD CL held a dialogue seesion with the parent of kid taking only CL. We were told that the school \"\" Strongly advise us to change to HCL\"\". Because it is a SAP school.

HOD explain he will form a special class for the kids. The CL teacher is very good, he explain to us his approach. He will gradually move the student to HCL progressively. So this class do not join the normal HCL class.

The teacher is very motivating and my DS enjoy his class and coping well. By Mid year, he has been \"\"promoted to the normal HCL class\" his EOY exam for HCL is not excellant but coping well. And of course we arrange tuition for him.

My opinion is, what is the school approach for your DS. If they just put him together with the rest of the HCL class. Then I think it is very difficult for your DS to cope. Because HCL is very much more difficult then CL. Maybe you should have a chat with the CL teacher on this.

[S-H]

Hi computerkid,


My ds will be put to another class taking HCL. That’s another reason why my ds is against taking HCL bcos he has made quite a no. of good friends in this present class. We are also afraid that he cannot cope with it so we may ask him to continue with CL instead of HCL.

[computerkid]

S-H:

Hi computerkid,


My ds will be put to another class taking HCL. That's another reason why my ds is against taking HCL bcos he has made quite a no. of good friends in this present class. We are also afraid that he cannot cope with it so we may ask him to continue with CL instead of HCL.

For my DS case, he is still in the same class. But for HCL, it is split into 2 class. 22 students take the normal HCL. 18 student take the \"\" upgraded HCL class\", this class will get the special guidance from teacher.

The HOD CL has given us assurance that they will continue to monitor the progress, if by sec 2, the kid cannot cope. They will go back to CL .

If your DS school just put him together with the rest of the class taking HCL all along. All of them has been taking HCL since primary school. I would think it is very stressful for your DS.

[S-H]

computerkid:

S-H:

Hi computerkid,


My ds will be put to another class taking HCL. That's another reason why my ds is against taking HCL bcos he has made quite a no. of good friends in this present class. We are also afraid that he cannot cope with it so we may ask him to continue with CL instead of HCL.

For my DS case, he is still in the same class. But for HCL, it is split into 2 class. 22 students take the normal HCL. 18 student take the \"\" upgraded HCL class\", this class will get the special guidance from teacher.

The HOD CL has given us assurance that they will continue to monitor the progress, if by sec 2, the kid cannot cope. They will go back to CL .

If your DS school just put him together with the rest of the class taking HCL all along. All of them has been taking HCL since primary school. I would think it is very stressful for your DS.

That's true. if ds school is like your ds school, that will be better. He himself also worry, that's why we may ask him to stick to CL although 2 bonus points is very attractive.

[INNOVATE]

S-H


At lower sec level, its good to stress yr ds a little without affecting his overall grade. His results must be pretty good for his sch to consider him taking HCL. At this pt, its impt to provide you with a typical profile of a good 0-level student. A good O-level student has 8-subject combination which briefly can be summarised as follows:

English
MT
Double Maths
Double Science
Double Humanities
Plus CCA and HMT.

Generally able students are able to achieve good 0-level grade, excel in CCA and passed HMT. Many good students have 4 pts at their disposal, which is used for joint admission to jcs. Therefore, every single pt is vital and it can strictly determine the type of institution he is posted.

His comfort level at this pt in time is not vital. After all, he is still in the same school as his buddies. At the end of sec 2, you can than decide whether to continue with HCL. If he decides to drop, he will find CL relatively easy. Should he decide to continue, apart from 2 bonus pts, he will have approximately 4 hrs weekly free from H1 chinese in a jc which frees him for revision. At this junction, I have to remind you that the A-level is approximately 3x more difficult than O-level.

Go for it!

[S-H]

INNOVATE:

S-H


At lower sec level, its good to stress yr ds a little without affecting his overall grade. His results must be pretty good for his sch to consider him taking HCL. At this pt, its impt to provide you with a typical profile of a good 0-level student. A good O-level student has 8-subject combination which briefly can be summarised as follows:

English
MT
Double Maths
Double Science
Double Humanities
Plus CCA and HMT.

Generally able students are able to achieve good 0-level grade, excel in CCA and passed HMT. Many good students have 4 pts at their disposal, which is used for joint admission to jcs. Therefore, every single pt is vital and it can strictly determine the type of institution he is posted.

His comfort level at this pt in time is not vital. After all, he is still in the same school as his buddies. At the end of sec 2, you can than decide whether to continue with HCL. If he decides to drop, he will find CL relatively easy. Should he decide to continue, apart from 2 bonus pts, he will have approximately 4 hrs weekly free from H1 chinese in a jc which frees him for revision. At this junction, I have to remind you that the A-level is approximately 3x more difficult than O-level.

Go for it!

Hi INNOVATE,

Your advice is a real relief for me bcos my ds came back just a few minutes ago and told me he had signed up for the HCL! I am real shock by the news and he said that he will try his best. I am worry that he cannot cope bcos he did not do HCL since primary school and it is a disavantage to him when he joined the class that is doing HCL since primary school. Anyway, he had signed for it, we will support him.

[INNOVATE]

S-H


Glad to hear of his decision. He has made a right choice. As parents, we always want our kids to do their best at all times. Final result is independent of our love for them because our love is totally unconditional.

God bless!

[S-H]

INNOVATE:

S-H


Glad to hear of his decision. He has made a right choice. As parents, we always want our kids to do their best at all times. Final result is independent of our love for them because our love is totally unconditional.

God bless!

Hi INNOVATE,

Thank you so much for your advice and info. :thankyou:

[tiger262]

INNOVATE:

tiger 262, Sun_2010


Much have been said about A-level vs IB education in recent yrs, as such, I shall not dicuss on the merits of each as the discussion will merely be my own perspective at best. Instead, I shall outline the general grading system of each type which I think is more beneficial...............

..........In conclusion, parents know their kids best. Selection must be based on kids' attributes and peace of heart and mind. Let commonsense prevail!

Hi INNOVATE,

Thank you for a splendid analysis comparing the two systems - IB and A-level. I have to doubly thank you since you cared to post a detailed analysis in spite of the issue being 'out of topic' in this thread.

In a later posting, you had described the profile of a good 'O-level' student and the 8-subject combination undertaken by such a student. I learnt a lot. Excellent contribution. Your inputs are truly informative.

Thanks and Regards.