daisyt:

Start to think about it, why schools are asking the kids to spend 6 hours of CCA per week ? Its really a lot of time ..... :? I wonder ....

lizawa:

phankao:

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Lizawa - how old are your children?

I think the most important is still interest. And aptitude?

Our 15yo doesn't have all that much idea what she wants to do either. So she selected her combination for sec 3 based on her ability/interest.

Hi phankao,

My children are 13 and 11.

My 13 year old boy is telling me he is interested in Humanities now, after 4 months into Sec 1. He has better results in Science and Maths. It's exploration stage for him now. I will guide him and provide advice along the way. Luckily, he / we still have plenty of time to think about it.

So is your daughter happy with her decision ?

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?

kohjl:

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

daisyt:

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

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.

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.

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?

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.

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:

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.

kohjl:

phankao:

But yeah, if the child wants to be a doctor, and doesn't take Biology, then he/she probably cannot go into medical school. But...if that child is not very good in biology in the 1st place....shouldn't think of taking that subject, much less go to medical school ! That's why i say ... let them choose the subjects that they are good in.

From the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in NUS:
\"What subject combination must I have?
To be eligible for Medicine, candidates must have Chemistry at 'A' level and either Biology or Physics in addition to Chemistry. The 'triple science' combination is no longer required for Medicine, and candidates who present the 'triple science' have no advantage in the admissions process. \"

So CHEMISTRY is the absolute necessary subject in order to study medicine; not Biology....for the info of all aspiring doctors out there....

But I get phankao's point, which is, choose the subjects that you are good in. I fully agree with that.

Interest in the subject is very important too. My eldest son who is in RI (Sec 4), chose the combination of Chemistry, Physics and Geog. Maths is a compulsory subject. He is doing Chem and Geog at the harder RA (Raffles Academy) level and he chose to do these subjects out of pure interest - so that's what keeps him going when the workload gets really heavy.

phankao:

But yeah, if the child wants to be a doctor, and doesn't take Biology, then he/she probably cannot go into medical school. But...if that child is not very good in biology in the 1st place....shouldn't think of taking that subject, much less go to medical school ! That's why i say ... let them choose the subjects that they are good in.