Mychildren:

Sad to say some CCA, choose you instead of you choose them. One mummy told me his son wanted to join badminton in p3 but was not selected. They chose those that are already good at it.

pepper spice:

coast:

Agree. Some parents underappreciate the value of play. They think that primary school kids are \"big\" enough that they do not need to play much especially outdoor activities. I feel that play is critical for healthy development for children.

Fully agree, this is such an understatement. Not only play, CCAs are also equally important. On CCAs, I used to think that it is the schools that choose certain students with potentials to help win medals etc, but recently, I realised that there are parents who advise their children to sign up for CCAs which the school already had won many golds and medals instead of choosing one that the children have interest in.

jtoh:

Then you have the students (and parents) who really want to get into certain classes like GEP. And when they don't, they tell everyone that they purposely fail it because they don't want to get in. Too much face-saving going around.

kiddo:

Chenonceau:

My DD's boyfriend was identified for Math Olympiad training in primary school. He said he purposely failed his eval so that he would have time to play. The really smart kids dun mind breaking Dad's ego to protect playtime!!


:rotflmao:

Ego extension!! :rotflmao:

Our future 'thinking out of the box' smart boy :boogie: :boogie:

Bravo !!! SG .........got hope liao :hi5:

pepper spice:

coast:

Agree. Some parents underappreciate the value of play. They think that primary school kids are \"big\" enough that they do not need to play much especially outdoor activities. I feel that play is critical for healthy development for children.

Fully agree, this is such an understatement. Not only play, CCAs are also equally important. On CCAs, I used to think that it is the schools that choose certain students with potentials to help win medals etc, but recently, I realised that there are parents who advise their children to sign up for CCAs which the school already had won many golds and medals instead of choosing one that the children have interest in.

pepper spice:

Fully agree, this is such an understatement. Not only play, CCAs are also equally important. On CCAs, I used to think that it is the schools that choose certain students with potentials to help win medals etc, but recently, I realised that there are parents who advise their children to sign up for CCAs which the school already had won many golds and medals instead of choosing one that the children have interest in.

coast:

Agree. Some parents underappreciate the value of play. They think that primary school kids are \"big\" enough that they do not need to play much especially outdoor activities. I feel that play is critical for healthy development for children.

Nebbermind:

a ex-teacher friend ever told me that the schools see themselves less of an educator...and more as a facilitator now....it was 6 yrs ago when he said it. Not long after, he left MOE. :evil:

ksi:

I hope school teaches and just have the interest of the children at heart and the results come automatically through motivation, no need to try all these CORPORATE strategies for quick results because it goes against the grain of education mission, driven by wrong KPIs.

coast:

Agree. Some parents underappreciate the value of play. They think that primary school kids are \"big\" enough that they do not need to play much especially outdoor activities. I feel that play is critical for healthy development for children.

Busymom:

The main issue perhaps, is how some schools have been setting their papers, which could be demoralising for the students if the papers are set too difficult. At times, it may also be a case of students requiring some time to digest the concept before they are being tested. I still remember a time when almost my entire class failed our first A Math test... but everyone did well in the end.

coast:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"jtoh\"]

I read these articles about top P6 students who study 5-6 hours or 8-9 hours daily in the run-up to PSLE and I wonder where's their childhood? And some of these students also attend music lessons and I wonder where do they find the hours in a day. When do they have time to play? I tell my dd about the schedules of my P6 neighbour and she says I was a good mother for not stressing her out during PSLE.

They perform better when they get to play enough. And their development in other important areas is not stunted either.

ksi:

To be fair, I find that MOE/SEAB sets questions that ARE COVERED conceptually in the classroom. The difference is the questions may not be seen before in any 10-years PSLE series but that is rightfully so if we want to see new emerging little scholars to place them in the right schools.

Chenonceau:

jtoh:

I read these articles about top P6 students who study 5-6 hours or 8-9 hours daily in the run-up to PSLE and I wonder where's their childhood? And some of these students also attend music lessons and I wonder where do they find the hours in a day. When do they have time to play? I tell my dd about the schedules of my P6 neighbour and she says I was a good mother for not stressing her out during PSLE.

They perform better when they get to play enough. And their development in other important areas is not stunted either.

ksi:

try:

I should have phrased \" MOE does not provide adequate material if SCHOOLS are setting exams which are much harder than what are in textbooks.\"

I agree with ksi that \"MOE/SEAB sets questions that ARE COVERED conceptually in the classroom\". But more and more schools are setting school exam papers which are of the top ten primary school standard. Many schools are using these top ten school papers as preparation(mock papers) for PSLE preparation on top of past PSLE papers which is understandable as all PSLE students are competing against their own cohort.

Yes actually for the top 10 schools, I don't think they teach every kind of questions too, those kind of application questions are really for the children to think about it themselves. If we all agree that concepts are covered in school, then really whatever the questions are as long as they cover the concepts, it is a \"may the best student shine\" approach. Then of course parents try to level that up by providing alot of additional help in their own creative way. As parents we need to recognise if our kids have concepts issue. If concept is an issue, then every question will appear like a new question. So we need to ascertain further if the concept is not taught properly in school or our kids simply have a mental block on certain concept. If a concept is not taught properly in school as in the majority of the class is struggling, then it can be raised as an issue. I really do not expect all kinds of questions to be taught to my child to mean that she has been prepared well for PSLE. Perhaps for PSLE she is so-called prepared well if all kinds of questions are taught but in handling life, I think she is severely handicapped. JMHO.

jtoh:

I read these articles about top P6 students who study 5-6 hours or 8-9 hours daily in the run-up to PSLE and I wonder where's their childhood? And some of these students also attend music lessons and I wonder where do they find the hours in a day. When do they have time to play? I tell my dd about the schedules of my P6 neighbour and she says I was a good mother for not stressing her out during PSLE.

coast:

\"unhealthy amount\" ... if we are talking about primary school academics, then it might not be a question of aptitude but mindset. I chanced upon this article \"Neighbourhood schools producing top PSLE students\" just a few minutes ago :-

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/neighborhood-schools-producing-top-psle-students-023150377.html

\"Her parents cite her independent study attitude and constant revision that played a significant role in her academic achievements.\"

\"began studying intensely for 5-6 hours a day in June, and the days leading up to the exams placed so much stress on her that she once screamed in tears.\"

\"Even though she always does well in school, she still goes for tuition for Science and Malay subjects.\"

A top scholar from RGPS has tuition in all 4 subjects.

http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201112121502-297019.html

ST also interviewed some of the PSLE top scholars and some (or at least one) said she studied 6 to 7 hours daily after school.

I am not judging these kids as they could be leading a happy childhood, enjoy studying long hours or doing this only in the final months of PSLE prep ... but it is sending a wrong signal that our PSLE top scholars require tuition and many hours of study daily for months. It is \"unhealthy\" to me but unlikely a question of aptitude.

ksi:

coast:

Thanks :oops: You are right to use \"probably\". Every child is unique. These are the 3 things that matter most to me for my DS: Good Health, Happy, Good Character. He is doing very well so far but as parents, we have to keep learning and adjust our parenting style especially in this global world and fast-changing society. I suppose things will work out well when there is a strong parent-child bond

I completely agree with the line in bold.

ksi:

Yes you are exactly right to know what I mean. It takes wisdom in a parent to recognise and acknowledge how their kids tick to steer them correctly. You are right to point out that working hard alone is not the only criteria, it requires many accompanying factors. And diligence to me is effective diligence. If a person spends an unhealthy amount of time to try and do well in something, sacrificing many things along the way, then aptitude needs to be checked.

ksi:

coast:

While it is good to teach our children to work hard, we have to understand that results are dependent on various factors, some of which are beyond our control Some students or parents also take \"extra efforts\" to extreme and the poor kids spend hours and hours on study, neglecting a balanced life. But I know you don't mean that Just want to point it out in case other parents read it and use it to \"inspire\" their kids to put in even more hours on their studies

Yes you are exactly right to know what I mean. It takes wisdom in a parent to recognise and acknowledge how their kids tick to steer them correctly. You are right to point out that working hard alone is not the only criteria, it requires many accompanying factors. And diligence to me is effective diligence. If a person spends an unhealthy amount of time to try and do well in something, sacrificing many things along the way, then aptitude needs to be checked.

coast:

Thanks :oops: You are right to use \"probably\". Every child is unique. These are the 3 things that matter most to me for my DS: Good Health, Happy, Good Character. He is doing very well so far but as parents, we have to keep learning and adjust our parenting style especially in this global world and fast-changing society. I suppose things will work out well when there is a strong parent-child bond