Plan of career path for your children

[kohjl]

Fairy:

Wow, he must be really good at them to get selected for the RA Programme. Btw, can you share with us how your son cope with the heavy workload and jam-packed schedule of a Rafflesian? My son is in Sec1 and already, his June holiday is burnt by all the conflicting demands ranging from CCA camps to the numerous holiday projects. It is not enough having Intellect alone; one needs to have lots of Energy.

Hi Fairy

Frankly, I also don't know how my son copes! As it is, this June holiday, he said that he had \"double-digit\" number of projects to do, and they are all team projects. Yet, I still see him playing computer. But as long as he maintains his grades, I don't rein him in as he can manage himself very well.

To get into RA, one needs GPA 4.0 for that particular subject, and an overall GPA of 3.6 and above for all subjects. Then you go for selection test/interview as well to be selected into RA. Pretty stringent so I guess if the RI administrators think that he cannot cope, they would not have selected him. The programme is very demanding.

This son seems to be able to do it and natural intellect does play a part.
Interest counts A LOT to carry him thru. I've asked him if he ever regretted taking RA (more projects, more difficult tests, etc) but he said NO cos he said otherwise he would be bored.

Good study habits are important too. He doesn't study for long hours at a stretch but his concentration is definitely 100%. I am amazed. And as I had mentioned, self-management and self-discipline are very important. Don't ever let addictive computer games suck your child in.

Energy-wise...yeah, I believe in children sleeping early and also drinking chicken essence. When he was in Sec 1, he told me that he was the only one among his friends whose mother insisted must sleep by 10pm! Now in Sec 4, this has generally \"degenerated\" to between 11-11:30pm.

[Fairy]

kohjl:

Fairy:

Wow, he must be really good at them to get selected for the RA Programme. Btw, can you share with us how your son cope with the heavy workload and jam-packed schedule of a Rafflesian? My son is in Sec1 and already, his June holiday is burnt by all the conflicting demands ranging from CCA camps to the numerous holiday projects. It is not enough having Intellect alone; one needs to have lots of Energy.

Hi Fairy

Frankly, I also don't know how my son copes! As it is, this June holiday, he said that he had \"double-digit\" number of projects to do, and they are all team projects. Yet, I still see him playing computer. But as long as he maintains his grades, I don't rein him in as he can manage himself very well.

To get into RA, one needs GPA 4.0 for that particular subject, and an overall GPA of 3.6 and above for all subjects. Then you go for selection test/interview as well to be selected into RA. Pretty stringent so I guess if the RI administrators think that he cannot cope, they would not have selected him. The programme is very demanding.

This son seems to be able to do it and natural intellect does play a part.
Interest counts A LOT to carry him thru. I've asked him if he ever regretted taking RA (more projects, more difficult tests, etc) but he said NO cos he said otherwise he would be bored.

Good study habits are important too. He doesn't study for long hours at a stretch but his concentration is definitely 100%. I am amazed. And as I had mentioned, self-management and self-discipline are very important. Don't ever let addictive computer games suck your child in.

Energy-wise...yeah, I believe in children sleeping early and also drinking chicken essence. When he was in Sec 1, he told me that he was the only one among his friends whose mother insisted must sleep by 10pm! Now in Sec 4, this has generally \"degenerated\" to between 11-11:30pm.

Thanks for sharing. You must be a very proud parent. Btw, does he spend a lot of time commuting to/fro school? Has he got a demanding CCA? Is he involved in more than one CCA? I remember during the Subject Talk for Sec1 parents organised by the parents' association, the head of RA mentioned specifically that they are not looking for muggers! Your son must be really talented in the subject areas in order to cope so well. Congrats.

[kohjl]

Fairy:

Thanks for sharing. You must be a very proud parent. Btw, does he spend a lot of time commuting to/fro school? Has he got a demanding CCA? Is he involved in more than one CCA? I remember during the Subject Talk for Sec1 parents organised by the parents' association, the head of RA mentioned specifically that they are not looking for muggers! Your son must be really talented in the subject areas in order to cope so well. Congrats.

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, we are very proud of him because he has learnt to be very independent and he manages himself well.

Thankfully, we live quite close to RI, so commuting is not a problem.

When he was in Sec 1 and 2, he had one sports CCA and one academic CCA. During competition periods, it can get very demanding as they can have sports practice 3 times a week with 2-hr duration each time; otherwise it's twice a week. He gave up the academic CCA when he went to Sec 3. My son does not have tuition in any subject (and never did) except for Higher Chinese, so I guess in that sense, he has \"more\" time on his own which he manages. He even found time to act in last year's Dramafest - which was basically for fun cos he is not doing English Lit....and that had many l-o-n-g hours of practice! As I said, as long as he maintains good grades, and teachers give me good comments, I leave it to him to manage.

As for mugging - sometimes I wish my son would do a little more of it! But I remind myself that he is doing well enough, and also happy and well-adjusted in a very stressful environment; what more can I ask for?

[kiasuson]

kohjl:

Fairy:

Thanks for sharing. You must be a very proud parent. Btw, does he spend a lot of time commuting to/fro school? Has he got a demanding CCA? Is he involved in more than one CCA? I remember during the Subject Talk for Sec1 parents organised by the parents' association, the head of RA mentioned specifically that they are not looking for muggers! Your son must be really talented in the subject areas in order to cope so well. Congrats.

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, we are very proud of him because he has learnt to be very independent and he manages himself well.

Thankfully, we live quite close to RI, so commuting is not a problem.

When he was in Sec 1 and 2, he had one sports CCA and one academic CCA. During competition periods, it can get very demanding as they can have sports practice 3 times a week with 2-hr duration each time; otherwise it's twice a week. He gave up the academic CCA when he went to Sec 3. My son does not have tuition in any subject (and never did) except for Higher Chinese, so I guess in that sense, he has \"more\" time on his own which he manages. He even found time to act in last year's Dramafest - which was basically for fun cos he is not doing English Lit....and that had many l-o-n-g hours of practice! As I said, as long as he maintains good grades, and teachers give me good comments, I leave it to him to manage.

As for mugging - sometimes I wish my son would do a little more of it! But I remind myself that he is doing well enough, and also happy and well-adjusted in a very stressful environment; what more can I ask for?

Thanks for sharing. Like Fairy, my son is in Year 1. We used to ensure our son sleep at 9pm during his primary school days. This year, we could not do so due to his homework and CCA. He sleep about 10.30pm.

I might need some advise from you. I have some parents telling us that if you do not receive any letter from the teacher to meet them, your child should be doing alright. There are also some parents who encourage us to meet up with all the teacher to ensure your child is doing well. We are also worried if we meet up the teacher and this will discourage my son. I hope you can share experience with us.

So far, the teachers comment has been alright.

[daisyt]

kiasuson:

Thanks for sharing. Like Fairy, my son is in Year 1. We used to ensure our son sleep at 9pm during his primary school days. This year, we could not do so due to his homework and CCA. He sleep about 10.30pm.


I might need some advise from you. I have some parents telling us that if you do not receive any letter from the teacher to meet them, your child should be doing alright. There are also some parents who encourage us to meet up with all the teacher to ensure your child is doing well. We are also worried if we meet up the teacher and this will discourage my son. I hope you can share experience with us.

So far, the teachers comment has been alright.

Hi kisasuson, I have similar experience as you. The teacher would only meet parents for kids with some issues. But I insisted to meet the teacher and we did meet up. I told my girl I need some advics from teachers on improvement technique and she has no comments. And it was indeed a fruitful meet up.

[daisyt]

Hi kohjl, I really envy you, you have a perfect child that all parents would dream of ..... :love:

[kohjl]

kiasuson:

Thanks for sharing. Like Fairy, my son is in Year 1. We used to ensure our son sleep at 9pm during his primary school days. This year, we could not do so due to his homework and CCA. He sleep about 10.30pm.

I might need some advise from you. I have some parents telling us that if you do not receive any letter from the teacher to meet them, your child should be doing alright. There are also some parents who encourage us to meet up with all the teacher to ensure your child is doing well. We are also worried if we meet up the teacher and this will discourage my son. I hope you can share experience with us.

So far, the teachers comment has been alright.

Hi kiasuson
Sleeping at 10:30pm for Sec 1 is still pretty good. There are kids that sleep very very late and I heard from my son that in the day they actually nod off to sleep during lesson time! I don't see how they can be alert and learn when they are halfway to dreamland....

Yes, we were also told from Year 1 about it - ie if you don't get the dreaded \"pink\" letter, then no need to meet the teacher as your son is doing all right. We have not gotten the pink letter (yet). So far, we have only met the teachers twice in the whole of 4 years and both times were in the initial years. We met only the form teacher and the Chinese teacher (as Chinese is his worse subject). We wanted our son to know that we take an interest in him and WILL go meet his teachers IF there is a need to. Thereafter, as he continued to prove himself, and based on teachers' good comments in his report book, we decided there was no need to meet the teachers. So now, when he tells us that there is no need to meet his teachers and that everything is fine, we say ok, and that's it.

Whenever my son tells me that there is no need to meet his teacher cos everything is fine, on his own he will always say that it's ok with him if we choose to go. So I know that IF I choose to go, he will not take it the wrong way. That clear understanding between parent and child is very important.

Frankly, as this is your son's first year, I think you SHOULD go. You need to touch base with at least his Form Teacher, and maybe one or two teachers of the subjects that he is weakest in. But before that, I would recommend that you have a gentle talk with your son to assure him that as a parent, you have his best interest at heart and that's why you need to meet his teachers. It's not because you distrust him. Any intelligent child (and I am sure your son must be) will understand that and respond positively to this care and concern.

Just my suggestion; you best know your son! Hope that helps.

[kohjl]

daisyt:

Hi kohjl, I really envy you, you have a perfect child that all parents would dream of ..... :love:

Thank you, daisyt....ah.....but you don't know about my other two younger sons..... :x Not so \"kwai\"! Every child is different and I guess our role as parents is to help each child reach his/her potential.

[kiasuson]

kohjl:

Just my suggestion; you best know your son! Hope that helps.

Thanks for the advise. We have met the form teachers but still considering meeting the other subject's teacher to understand his progress in RI. Can I know if your son is a GEP student?

[kohjl]

kiasuson:

Thanks for the advise. We have met the form teachers but still considering meeting the other subject's teacher to understand his progress in RI. Can I know if your son is a GEP student?

Yes, my son was a GEP student.