2013 PSLE Discussions and Strategy
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jumpety:
Do send her to creative writing class during the school holidays to improve her compo.
My daughter is not good in English generally and she did not do well for othere components too. I have asked her to read more storybooks these few days. Hopefully it helps. Tks!mummy so kiasu:
Agree with happy heart, vocabulary can't be build over night. She needs to read more to expand her vocab. Since English paper consists of many components, she needs to depend on her compo, compre & oral to pull up her score. Make good use of the school holidays to pick up. All the best to your DD. :rahrah: -
jumpety:
Do send her to creative writing class during the school holidays to improve her compo.
My daughter is not good in English generally and she did not do well for othere components too. I have asked her to read more storybooks these few days. Hopefully it helps. Tks!mummy so kiasu:
Agree with happy heart, vocabulary can't be build over night. She needs to read more to expand her vocab. Since English paper consists of many components, she needs to depend on her compo, compre & oral to pull up her score. Make good use of the school holidays to pick up. All the best to your DD. :rahrah: -
hello everyone!
Does anyone have any experience or feedback on MindChamps? Are they good for any particular subjects?
:thankyou: in advance -
mummy so kiasu:
I can understand your stress, the parent of one of my students also expressed the same problem last week. So maybe, the following tips might be useful to help build vocabulary and grammar. They are fun an engaging so its a good way to sneak in some English practice.jumpety:
My P5 daughter failed badly for her English SA1 and SA2, esp her vocabulary sections. Is there a list of words that the students must knows? There are so many vocabulary assessment books and i don't know where to start from as there is not much time left. Can anyone help?tks!
Agree with happy heart, vocabulary can't be build over night. She needs to read more to expand her vocab. Since English paper consists of many components, she needs to depend on her compo, compre & oral to pull up her score. Make good use of the school holidays to pick up. All the best to your DD. :rahrah:
1) Movies, radio shows and sharing.
What kid doesn't love a good movie? I find that any kind of exposure to good language, not only just reading and writing helps build on core verbal and grammatical skills. Pick movies that provide some lesson learnt with ample dialogues (not something where all the kids hear are bangs and sound effects). I also love the podcasts that BBC has for kids. They talk about interesting people, hobbies, different parts of the world and all things that kids love to learn about. Beginners and students with problems with the language may have difficulty understanding the language through the British accent. So start them off with movies and work your way up. Some good movies are Finding Nemo, Brave and Up.
Also, sit down with your child and ask him why he liked the movie and make sure he uses good English when telling you about it. This is the most important part. I try and incorporate sharing sessions about movies kids love, radio shows I let them listen to before class and get them talking about it in class. When the language they use is not grammatically correct, I say 'Sorry, I didn't understand that. Could you maybe repeat what you said with proper grammar?' I have some of my students so well trained with this that all it takes some times is a raised eyebrow and they giggle and switch to proper grammar immediately. However, it can get tiring for both the kid and you if you pick out every single error. Stick to correcting sentences with colloquial and slang in them (i.e. Singlish)
This technique when applied consistently and together with proper grammar skills drills, can help to improve a child's English fast.
2) Speech and Drama lessons
Find a good speech and drama teacher who is fun and teaches the children to learn to love expressing themselves. If you can, find a course where the class works towards a play, drama or poem recital at the end of the course. This would mean that the student works on developing his language and works towards a fun goal. It also a great way for kids to de-stress once a week.
3) Sneaky tests
Both parents and teachers will find this one useful. Over the years, I have discovered that children love to do crossword puzzles. I give them a 'cheat-sheet peek' before starting a crossword game. The 'cheat-sheet peek' is just a vocab list with new words to learn. Students are allowed to pair up or get into groups of 3 and pour over the list for 5 minutes before the lists are taken away and crossword puzzles are given to them. The first group to win then gets a small present or treat. This is much more fun than getting students to learn vocabulary over the weekend or keep word banks.Also, they are forced to learn the spelling of the new words because otherwise it doesn't fit in the crossword. I use commonly tested words that I collate from past year papers and will post some of them in the next post.
Although the above are alternatives to reading, they are never meant to replace. The processing and learning of language requires that students read amply. These are however fun ways to 'trick' your picky readers into learning.
Hope it helps.
Miss Raja -
Goodluck8:
So true! And over time you can give your child more difficult problems. I like the Andrew Ser books for my students.peapot:
Hi my gal didn't do well in her math too but I m just wondering is it her or the tutor? This is her 3rd tutor.
I come across a tutor who gave me a way to improve maths. He said Maths is a subject which needs consistent practice. If a child gets to do 5 problem sums per day, in one month he/she will finish at least 150 problem sums (of course with understanding). If this go on for a certain period of time, the child will be able to identify which method is use to solve which type of questions.
I agree with him. My DD spends around one hour everyday to do Maths and she shows extremely good result during this SA2 -
janet_lee88:
Hi, Janet_lee88!Hi jumpety,
English is getting more difficult...when I compare between this year and last year's PSLE. Wonder if it has anything to do with dragon batch of kids.
If your daughter needs help, get tutor before they are unavailable. Once term starts, tutors will have tight schedule. March, June and Sep holidays are usually confirmed way in advance. After June, tutors do not take anymore students.
In fact, we are trying to get one experienced English tutor for her but not able to get any good recommendation. Can anyone recommend a good English tutor? I'm staying in the east.Tks! -
Hi jumpety, I am also looking for an English tutor. Let me know if you received any recommendations!
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Goodluck8:
Do parents notice that next year children day will be on 11th october 2013? Does this mean that our DC PSLE written paper will start from 3rd October ?
I heard PSLE written papers will start from 26 Sep 2013. -
Hi all
Do all know when the 2008-2012 psle papers are going to be released in book form? My mom wants to let her tuition kids do.
Thanks -
janet_lee88:
so fast! :nailbite:Goodluck8:
Do parents notice that next year children day will be on 11th october 2013? Does this mean that our DC PSLE written paper will start from 3rd October ?
I heard PSLE written papers will start from 26 Sep 2013.
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