The Alternative Story (TAS) - Discussion

[stressedT]

glendt:

Dont think there is oral coverage. They do cover quite a lot of components already but mainly compo, compre, synthesis and vocab

Thanks glendt:)

[cheetian]

stressedT:

hi,


I have recently enrolled my kids at TAS and find their teaching style very good. My kids now are interested in writing and in doing compre. Their passages and questions seem quite tough though and I am pleasantly surprised that they can cover quite a fair bit in that 2 hours. Would just like to find out if they cover oral when the exams are nearer?

Hi May I know which branch are your kids at? which standard? Nice to hear that your kids are happy there and learning well :))

[Yong HL]

Hi tas parents


My dd told me she was required to memorise the compo and the teacher will test them in the next lesson. Any parents here with the same experience? May i know whats the rationale for this? TIA

[hquek]

Yong HL:

Hi tas parents


My dd told me she was required to memorise the compo and the teacher will test them in the next lesson. Any parents here with the same experience? May i know whats the rationale for this? TIA

I take this to have twofold purpose:
1. get kids to absorb compo phrases via memorisation. After a few sessions, DS1 was able to use some of their key phrases in his own work and he still does nowadays. Smacks to me of factory churned output but then it's becos I've seen it before.
2. it's dictation - so spelling etc all covered.

but that doesn't mean I like it very much. I see DS1 going a bit green around the sides having to memorise all that dictation. But the interesting bit was that once his written output was slightly different from teachers but they just mark correct. Not sure if to 'expose' him by asking teacher, or if they were okay as long as the passage sounds quite correct.

[Yong HL]

hquek:

Yong HL:

Hi tas parents


My dd told me she was required to memorise the compo and the teacher will test them in the next lesson. Any parents here with the same experience? May i know whats the rationale for this? TIA

I take this to have twofold purpose:
1. get kids to absorb compo phrases via memorisation. After a few sessions, DS1 was able to use some of their key phrases in his own work and he still does nowadays. Smacks to me of factory churned output but then it's becos I've seen it before.
2. it's dictation - so spelling etc all covered.

but that doesn't mean I like it very much. I see DS1 going a bit green around the sides having to memorise all that dictation. But the interesting bit was that once his written output was slightly different from teachers but they just mark correct. Not sure if to 'expose' him by asking teacher, or if they were okay as long as the passage sounds quite correct.

Thanks for the explanation. i do not like it very much too but i guess you are right. This is the only way to make them remember of the phrases. Lucky thing now is the compo is still short and manageable..

[flametree]

May I know how often are they required to

memorise the compo? And is it for the whole compo?
My kid , P3 only needs to memorise one paragraph, maybe once a month and it wasn’t even tested in class!!! I feel the emphasis isn’t so much on compo…

[stressedT]

cheetian:

stressedT:

hi,


I have recently enrolled my kids at TAS and find their teaching style very good. My kids now are interested in writing and in doing compre. Their passages and questions seem quite tough though and I am pleasantly surprised that they can cover quite a fair bit in that 2 hours. Would just like to find out if they cover oral when the exams are nearer?

Hi May I know which branch are your kids at? which standard? Nice to hear that your kids are happy there and learning well :))

One is P4 and one is P4, actually my P4 is in the Bukit timah branch- his grandparents bring him from their place on weekends as we put him there and my P2 is at AMK.

I noticed that they have to do memorisation too but I think it helps them to internalize the phrases faster. And my kids find it easier to write their compos as well.

[coolit]

flametree:

May I know how often are they required to

memorise the compo? And is it for the whole compo?
My kid , P3 only needs to memorise one paragraph, maybe once a month and it wasn't even tested in class!!! I feel the emphasis isn't so much on compo..

It the beginning of the year, I notice that at certain times, they may be focusing a lot on compre to get the children up to standard as the compres are quite hard and they really want to teach the children to get the techniques. But in my experience, they do cover compo every week, and the memorisation helps the child to 'get' the phrases and after a while, they will teach the child how to apply and not depend so much on the memorisation but I find that without the memorisation, the child will struggle to apply the phrases next time.

[Yong HL]

coolit:

[the compres are quite hard

Yes, i agree that the compre can be very hard. My dd so far only get a 5 or 5.5 :razz: she has just started with tas so will see how things are moving.

coolit:

[But in my experience, they do cover compo every week, and the memorisation helps the child to 'get' the phrases and after a while, they will teach the child how to apply and not depend so much on the memorisation but I find that without the memorisation, the child will struggle to apply the phrases next time.

sighz.. so much work to be done yet so little time... still have to spend time memorizing.. well, what to do?...

[hquek]

For compo, they will memorise different parts for different lessons. Dun be surprised if weeks down the road if kids have to come up with the whole compo (I believe that one can do in one’s own words).


Also, teacher is alternating. Some weeks dictation (compo) and some weeks spelling.

I thought DS was doing badly - his compre marks…aiyoh. but then teacher told me that he is doing fine, and that this year they are pitching it harder so it’s alright if they don’t seem to do as well (at least for his class). As long as DS is happy inside, I’m fine. I did however give him a lifeline by telling him that it’s okay with me if he wants to step back and take a slower pace. so far he hasn’t taken up on my offer.