How to improve in Maths and English

[TJas]

Hi


I need help. My gg in Pr 5GEP. Not interested in studying, spend long times on computer. Poor in Maths and English. Anyone can advise how to improve in these two subjects.

[tamarind]

TJas:

Hi


I need help. My gg in Pr 5GEP. Not interested in studying, spend long times on computer. Poor in Maths and English. Anyone can advise how to improve in these two subjects.

You mean he is in GEP ? As in the gifted education program ?

[turquoise]

TJas:

Hi


I need help. My gg in Pr 5GEP. Not interested in studying, spend long times on computer. Poor in Maths and English. Anyone can advise how to improve in these two subjects.

Actually, I'm surprised that your daughter is poor in both Math and English if she's in GEP. There are some GEP students who are weaker in Math, OR weaker in English, never weak in both.

Does the school conduct remedial classes? That would be the most useful right now. Speak to the teachers and find out what her weak areas are and work on them during the holidays.

More importantly, I think her problem could be in her attitude. Find out what is bothering her or why she's not interested in studying and address those issues urgently. As she's in P5, she really needs to focus now.

[tamarind]

I thought "GEP" was a typo. How can she pass the GEP selection test if she is poor in English and Maths ?


Again, the problem is "spend long times in computer". The first thing you should do is remove the computer. If she needs to use the computer to do homework, then sit beside her and watch her as she does her homework. Lock away the computer once she has finished. Many parents do not understand how computer can seriously affect the kid’s interests and motivation to study. You must put an end to her addiction to computer, if you still want her to have a future.

This is another example of how kids can get addicted to computers and neglect their studies. Once you remove the computer, they have nothing better to do, they will study.

[TJas]

Hi all,


The baseline for GEP subjects are 70%, only for English is 65%. My dd maths and English are always just hit the baseline. I am not too sure whether my expectation is high since she passed the baseline. BTW, she is very good in these subjects before she joined the GEP. I fully agreed with the stopping of computer games but she claims she needs to disstress herself. She is always hooking on her storybooks even during examination period. What can I do?

[turquoise]

TJas:

Hi all,


The baseline for GEP subjects are 70%, only for English is 65%. My dd maths and English are always just hit the baseline. I am not too sure whether my expectation is high since she passed the baseline. BTW, she is very good in these subjects before she joined the GEP. I fully agreed with the stopping of computer games but she claims she needs to disstress herself. She is always hooking on her storybooks even during examination period. What can I do?

Hi TJas,

If your dd is hitting baseline for both English and Math, it really isn't very good. How are her grades for Science and Chinese?

If your dd was very good at English and Math before she joined GEP, I suspect it could be an attitude problem. It could be that she's demoralized and feels inadequate in her subject ability compared to her peers and is trying to avoid the situation.

You have to work on building up her self-confidence. Let her try exam papers from the top mainstream schools. If she performs alright in these, let her know that she can do alright in PSLE if she puts in the effort. Don't compare her to her peers in GEP.

Cut back on her computer time. Make computer time a reward for putting in x hours of revision.

[tamarind]

TJas:

Hi all,


The baseline for GEP subjects are 70%, only for English is 65%. My dd maths and English are always just hit the baseline. I am not too sure whether my expectation is high since she passed the baseline. BTW, she is very good in these subjects before she joined the GEP. I fully agreed with the stopping of computer games but she claims she needs to disstress herself. She is always hooking on her storybooks even during examination period. What can I do?

First, you have to solve the problem of her computer addiction. Cutting back computer time does not work. Because when she is not using the computer, she will still be thinking about the computer games and she will not be motivated to study. Let her use it strictly for school work only and under your close supervision, don't even go away for one minute because she will have a chance to switch to games. Then keep the computer once she has finished the schoolwork. She has to stop playing computer games completely for a long time before she can get rid of her addiction.

There are many other ways to distress. Ask her to pick up a hobby like baking, knitting, sewing, pottery, jewellery making, etc.

A gifted child does not need to study for many hours a day. All she needs is her motivation and interest back.

[TJas]

Hi All,


I fully agreed is attitude problems. She once told me all her friends are very hardworking and spend long hours of studying. But she claims this is not her style of studying. She rather reads tons of storybooks than spend long hours on revisions. She done well on mainstream top school maths and english papers and found them rather easy as compared to GEP. I should work on her confidence now but since very difficult. She has no problem with her science and chinese.

[turquoise]

Hi TJas,


Some GEP kids are very hardworking and self-motivated. But a lot of them are very fun-loving too. They spend a lot of time reading, on the computer and other activities too. But they still perform well in their studies. If attitude is the problem, and this is obvious to the teachers, and your dd’s results aren’t that good, she may face problems maintaining her GEP status in secondary school. Just something to watch out for.

[Bentan]

I was once contacted by a mother seeking help for her RGS GEP daughter. I tutored her daughter twice and she was OK for the whole Sec-1. She came back to see me again for 2 more sessions in Sec-2 and was OK again. I did not see her anymore but her mom told me recently that she completed her Sec-4 with full distinctions.


According to the mother, the father brought the who family to Japan when the girl was 5. When she returned at the age of 13, RGS gave her an entrance test and accepted her immediately for GEP program.

Her main difficulty was due to the fact that her school in Japan did not cover certain important concepts. Another important factor is the lack of exposure with Singapore education system. These 2 factors were important as she was very discouraged by the Math Teacher by the third month in RGS.

Without talking to your child, it is hard to draw any conclusion about your child. Drop me a message at http://singapore.math-chinese-tutor.com/contact-us/ if you need my help.