I hv a child in NJ and I can understand why some tuition ctr dun accept njc students. for LA, the testing of the reading skills aka compre is very diff format fr the O level qns and I find it difficult. They hv a Thinking module inside LA curriculum time (though is a separate subj n is gradedbut not reqd for promotion) which is like practically impossible to outsource. Then for Maths in Sec 1, nearly finish half of sec 2 syallabus. For Sec 2, they ask u to buy Sec 3, Sec 4 and A maths textbook. Sci by itself diff schools r teaching diff topics at diff times. Sec 1 already touching one Sec 3 topic. In short, will be hard for the tuition ctr to cater for NJ students unless they can form a grp specially for them. NJ yearly cohort is only 200 afterall. But on the bright side, think of it as saving money on tuition since hard to find. I am only speaking for the sec school section.

hi,my twins didn’t have maths tuition throughout pri school but both got AL1 for psle. I would say do not be just dependent on the questions the school set. I gave my kids throughout the year many many top schools exam papers to do to give them exposure to a variety of questions so that whatever the psle qns they throw out, at least my kids will at least have done something similar before and will not panic. But with 1 mth left before psle, not sure if it is too late to do that now.

Another method I tried with my kids is to give them the school oral reading passage, get them to highlight or underline those words that need to emphasize. One is on those in the speech tag. Another type is on words like "so, especially, but, however, definitely, certainly". For example if the sentence reads "John was so tired that he fell asleep on the table". We will need to emphazise on the word "so". after going through with your kids and getting him or her to highlight the words to emphasize for a few exercises. When they know what they should look out for, next try doing it without highlighing the words. These same words to emphasize works for the chinese equivalent also. The oral passage normally is not that complicated and might not necessarily have that many speech tags.

hi, I know someone posted this answer before but I need more detailed answers. my gal in JH1 now and till now they have not started any essay writing yet. and from what I see from the booklet, it seems like no essay writing will be done this year. I am concerned if the school preps them well for the A level GP in terms of essay writing and comprehension. I still think kids still need practice and whether the school is teaching them to skills to write well and if there is sufficient practice in school. their website also does not state much explicitly about the LA syllabus. if not I may have to outsource to tuition centre.

i would say do not be too conc on getting the kid into IP. also hv to see if the kid can perform well in IP. pace of teaching in IP is fast. Like in my gal’s school,they already going to teach finish the algebra stuff for Sec 2 in Sec 1 (algebra in Sec 2A textbook). only term 2, already got classmates failing subjects for WA. and IP sometimes have weird modules that are graded, and parents are unable to help much or difficult to find tuition. Less hand holding in IP also.

Yes the pros are no O levels to take and a near guaranteed place in a JC, but kid have to be motivated to do well which I m trying very hard to get my girl to do. my gal now is at most average in school only, no longer in the top few like in P6.
So not that one is better than the other. It is what suits your kid. One of my fren who is a teacher shared that she has seen student who has tuition in all subjects in sec school. Come to JC he does not know how to study by himself. in the end drop out of JC to go poly.

hi any NJ students or parent, my child in JH1 this year. scoring not well for the Thinking part of the LA subject. there are no materials given for Thinking and so far only 1 assignment given. but still doesn’t teach or say very clearly what to do. her next Thinking test is next week and both me and my child are at a lost. kindly help!! thanks!!

yes I did get her buy in before I wrote the email to the school. She did look thru what I wrote and say to go ahead to send as she also hope to see the school improve.


anyway I will close this chapter already and move on. thanks for all your advice.

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hi kaisuism, my gal did not hv any tuition for maths thru out pri school, only consistent tuition was chinese (bec we can’t teach). eng and sci we only started in P6. so not sure if is considered heavy tuition. i try to coach her ourselves as much as possible. tuition in p6 was more of a final push as we weren’t confident if i was teaching the right things =P

my hubby said the same thing as u, to hv confident in my gal. the issue is she came fr a neighbourhood pri school that of cos did not hv the best teachers or as many resources as the top schools. and now in NJ, i feel like we hv to go thru the same experience again and i m like "oh no, again?"