Wednesday, October 30, 2013

18/20


After my rant about the school's efforts on teaching composition writing skills to Primary 3 pupils, I decided even if M were to come home with a marginally passing grade for his Chinese composition in this year's SA2 (final year examination), I would not be unhappy.

I concluded it was not his fault. He tried his best. If the teaching was lacking in the first place, and I did not spot this problem earlier, I could not and would not fault him. At least, not for this round of exam.

Even though it would be reasonable to expect more from his English writing, I  figured anything above 15/20 would be a true bonus, given his lack of practice.

So I was at peace. Not at all worried about the final grade. For I knew I did my best to help him in the last four weeks before the exams, when I discovered to my horror how LITTLE teaching took place in the school lessons, especially with regards to writing skills.

I do not believe in memorizing model compositions. Instead, I believe strongly that writing skill can be taught. But we had very little time left.

What followed was my countless nights of staying up to plan and strategize my lessons for M, so I could coach him effectively in the little time I have with him after school. During weekdays, we had only about an hour a day when the toddler was napping, for me to review his mistakes, show him how to write better and get him to practise new pieces, which I marked that night after the kids were in bed and my chores were done.

We could not write daily either, due to his unusually heavy homework load that month (he did more homework in this Sept alone than he ever did the entire year!). In all, he wrote about 6 pieces for English and another 8 in Chinese with me.

It was a tough one month, for me at least, with barely 5 hours sleep on most days. But with the adrenalin pumping, I felt good. I taught him what I could in the little time we had. The rest was up to him.

So imagine my joy when he came home with a 18/20 score for both his English and Chinese composition!! The boy could not stop grinning. Neither could I...

A small victory. YAY!!

Upon closer examination of his scripts, there is still room for improvement. That, we will work on in the coming months. For now, we just focus on showering more love....





Thursday, October 24, 2013

The Many Faces of Playing

Where is my index finger? (with index finger bent and hidden from my sight)
Magic, magic, DING! (index finger 'magically appeared'!)

followed by a hearty laugh....





The Fish Eye
I am a fish, I have big eyes... 

I am going swimming with my goggles

I am busy building something. Look I have glasses to protect my eyes.




Mama, where is mei-mei? I am hiding!



Monday, October 21, 2013

Sunday, October 20, 2013

The Worm



I found this fascinating drawing, on a slightly scrunched up used paper (an old worksheet), in M's school bag one night.

Not only did the illustration intrigue me, it also evoked a slight fear and wonderment in me. It was hard not to admire the details that he had painstakingly included, which is a very typical style of his drawings.

I cannot help wondering and marveling at the way his mind works. He may only be 9 years old, but his mind certainly works very differently from mine, whether when I was at his age or even now. In all honesty, I don't think I will ever be able to produce a piece like this in a million years.

He told me the next morning that this was not a new drawing at all. In fact he completed it months ago, over many days, during the pockets of free time he had during lessons (after he finished his class work). That was why the paper was slightly scrunched up, after all the handling and placed hastily in between books and files.

It was simply named 'The Worm'.


Wednesday, October 16, 2013

GEP 2013

The GEP, or the Gifted Education Programme (more details here) Screening Test was conducted in August. The entire Primary 3 cohort of Singapore was invited to sit for the test, which comprised of two papers: English and Mathematics.

About 4000 pupils, approx 10% of cohort, are selected after the Screening Test (commonly known as Round 1) to sit for the GEP Selection Test (known as Round 2) in October. 

In late Sept, M came home with the news that he got through the Screening Test, together with another 11 from his class. In fact, over 90 kids from his school were successful in Round 1. That is a whopping 34% of the school cohort!! 

To think that the school discourages any form of preparation for the tests and the teachers certainly made no reference to the GEP or the screening tests, the high success rate is mind-boggling to me. But this also pinpoints to a clear fact that this school is attracting a high % of academically-driven parents/kids. Many of M's school mates are familiar with some of the top-of-the-market tuition centers, so needless to say, a lot of resources have been invested in the kids. Perhaps I should not be so surprised after all. 

Anyway, the Selection Tests (Round 2) are supposedly much tougher, comprising three sections covering English, Math and General Abilities (paper 1 and 2), to be tested over two days. Out of the 4000 pupils sitting for Round 2, only 500 (slightly over 1% of cohort) will be eventually invited to join the GEP. 

The GEP is known to be a highly demanding programme and only those whom the programme is meant for (i.e. those who pass the English, Math and GAT tests with flying colours on his own merit) breeze through the three years and still achieve excellent PSLE results at Primary 6.

While the mainstream students begin revising and preparing for PSLE at Primary 5, the GEP students only do so two months before PSLE. They are kept so busy with the GEP curriculum, which teaches/exposes them to content/skills that are not related to or tested at PSLE, that that they won't have extra time to revise ahead anyway. Hence, there are GEP kids who struggle daily with the advanced curriculum, and having to have tuition for multiple subjects just to catch up with their peers throughout the three years. These kids also ended up faring poorly at PSLE, some much worse than their friends who remain in the mainstream classes.

I always feel sorry for these kids whenever I hear about them. I can't help but wonder if these kids were hothoused and/or attended the GEP preparatory classes in order to be selected. If they were truly gifted academically and hence suitable for the programme, they should find it challenging but still manageable and excelling at PSLE even with little preparation, unless of course it is a case of the selection process gone wrong.

So even though the GEP is a coveted programme, we are only interested if the programme truly matches the needs of my child. We did not prepare M at all for both the screening and selection tests, nor send him for any form of GEP preparatory classes as we believe that he should be tested on his true abilities.

Day One of the Selection Test took place today. 

As usual, M can't remember the questions. He finished both papers though and found the English paper easy despite the length, but he is unfamiliar with the types of questions in the GAT. He thinks he should still do alright as there were only a few that he had to think for a few more moments. 

After the tests, many classmates of his commented that the GAT was very easy and they had done these questions before in the intensive GEP preparatory classes. He asked me innocently (with his typical double blink and a small pout expression) afterwards how come he did not get to attend such classes. While it was not a complain or grumble, but his unspoken words 'that his friends now have an unfair advantage' did send an instant pang of guilt through me and for once, made me rethink my stance. 

There will always be those who attend such preparatory classes and be successful in the selection tests because of that instead of their true abilities. These kids may struggle later, but that is their problem and a consequence that they should be dealt with. However, the other real problem is for every place that goes to such a child, someone who truly deserves it will be deprived the experience.

Tomorrow, he will sit for the second day of the test. Whatever outcome it may be, I shall be strong for him. Focus on the experience gained and remember that being the top 10% of cohort is already not a mean feat, so he should be proud of himself.








Monday, October 14, 2013

Little Missy, Big Hat


She saw the hat in my wardrobe.

She couldn't resist.

After a full minute of laughing out loud, I finally captured this shot.

I must say, I enjoy every bit of her girly nature. Every single bit.



Thursday, October 10, 2013

Wanting It ALL!

It may have started out as casual discussions over dinner with several Singaporean mothers who are currently residing overseas. Given our passionate beliefs and strong personalities, the exchanges were very quickly turned into some friendly but nearly heated debates. The subject matter is close to the hearts of most Singaporean parents, especially mothers, if I may add.

There were good points raised by all in the exchange, and over the weeks, I have felt compelled to 'pen' my thoughts on the blog, a method I used often in the past (when I had more time) to achieve clarity of mind. The post has been delayed, but I realized over the weeks that their arguments did nothing to alter my persistent views. In fact, I begin to wonder if their scorn was just pure sour grapes.

It is human nature to want the best for our offspring.

Who wouldn't want their children to grow up in a carefree, no-stress, no-exam environment, for them to have an all-rounded education with hours per week dedicated to sports, music and hobbies and still excel in academics? At young age, they are exposed to world class learning methods that aim to groom them with the crucial life skills that will set them apart from their peers globally. And all of these at a really affordable cost.

To me, this is the ideal scenario that is unlikely to materialize for the majority of us (and I don't mean just Singaporean kids).

The reality is, a child has only 24 hours a day. Unless he is equipped with superb learning capabilities and pushy parents or chaperons, this idealistic scenario can only be a dream.

So it all boils down to choices. Parents' choices, really, since kids are too young to decide on the schools they are enrolled in and the kind of childhood they will get.

No matter what the parents choose, there are always opportunity costs.

A school with a 8am to 5pm school day, that offers the opportunities for a child to play 10 different sports, exposure to different musical instruments, multiple languages but lacks a rigorous academic programme (seriously it exists), for instance, may be highly valued by some but scoffed at by others.

The latter, like me, who doesn't think it is a big deal to be exposed to many sports, be able to play a little of many instruments and learn a foreign language or read Latin, appreciates a school with a more rigorous academic programme and shorter school day to allow my child the flexibility to choose how he would spend the rest of his day.

I am not convinced that just because a child dabbles in many sports and is exposed to numerous instruments, it will turn him into a more well-rounded individual. You often hear people say they want their kids to turn out more well-rounded than be just a dull Jack who excels academically. My guess is the term 'well-rounded' has already been overly-hyped, misused and misunderstood.

Here is another point which I often find hard to resist arguing with: if one has never played softball or tennis during his school days, he can pick up the sports at his leisure hours in future if he likes. But if he is not trained well academically during his schooling years, he may miss out on a lot more in the years to come and playing catch-up later may not be as easy, especially if one is just an average student.

That said, I do think there is merit for a young child to be involved in some sports. I spent a good part of my school-going years being involved in many kinds of competitive sports and the benefits are undeniable. But those were hours after school which I chose to spend on sports instead of being glued to a screen or chained to a desk. For my kids though, I would prefer they focus their time and effort to be a specialist (i.e. to be really good in one or just a few) than a Jack of all trades and master of none. Just think the 10,000 hours rule which applies to just about everything and definitely to sports and music.

And is having regular assessments and exam-stress necessarily a bad thing? Is being schooled in an environment where every educator has only compliments and never a harsh word, homework is simply a pile of worksheets that provides no challenge and assessments are non-existent or non-consequential, necessarily a good thing?

I am not sure if I want my kids to grow up thinking that everyone is a champion and there are no losers and failures. Where is the reward to put in your best effort and go the extra mile? In life, there are always successes and failures, winners and losers. I prefer to teach my kids that you can't always choose success over failures and win all the time, but in most cases, by putting in your best effort and going the extra mile, you may just greatly improve your chances.

It is not about going to the best school or just being top of the class. It is more about gaining knowledge, getting stretched academically, achieving excellence through perseverance and resilience and developing a positive work ethic.

Even if we are not living in exam-crazed Singapore, I don't think for a moment that I will forsake the learning of the Chinese language in favour of other foreign language. We are Chinese after all. But should I choose French or Japanese instead, will I belittle the Singapore education system for the high expectations and importance it places on the learning of Chinese during the Primary and Secondary school years as a mother tongue? Nope. Neither will I be questioning the wisdom of other parents whose kids are 'slogging' over Chinese and labeling them as being 'kiasu'.

Perhaps the ones who truly want it all (i.e. the stress-free schooling that demands nothing strenuous and yet produces the best students who will enter the Ivy Leagues, who later have sterling careers for life) are the truly 'kiasu' ones. Or are they just plain delusional? Or am I missing something?

Of course, I am just speaking my mind, and of my expectations for my kids. Not everyone thinks the same and that is fine.








Wednesday, October 2, 2013

A Week of Groceries


I chanced upon this link that shows photographs of what a week of groceries looks like in different countries. It's fascinating!

As I learn more about nutrition over the years, I have become even more conscious of what I choose to feed my family. It is safe to say that unprocessed and fresh produce account for over 90% of my groceries.

But the husband pops into the supermarkets several times a week too, and his shopping habits are unfortunately heavily influenced by his previous lifestyle in the U.K. He still seeks out the familiar brands of convenience and highly processed food that he grew up on. Despite my protests, such food would constantly appear in our kitchen and my kids' plates more often than I like.

While I am tempted to take a photo of my own household's weekly groceries just for fun and to satisfy my own curiosity, it is simply not as easy to do (at least for now). One day, maybe when I have more time to kill, I would.....

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Teaching NOT Enough


The school curriculum only requires the Primary 3 kids to write 6 English and Chinese compositions this year, which I think is grossly insufficient to teach and prepare them for the expected level of competence.  Despite the few writing assignments, I was still hoping the teachers will do a fabulous job in the 9 months of schooling to teach the necessary writing skills.

Teaching, in my opinion, should be more than just imparting the basic skills, but also stretching the individual's ability to write, so every child should be making improvements by the end of each term. And we should be able to see significant differences when comparing the pieces done in January and 9 months later (i.e. by end Sept, time of the end-of-year assessment or the Semestral Assessment 2 composition exam).

Of course, I am not expecting the teachers to customize the writing assignments for individuals or to have 1-to-1 sessions with every child. Since every assignment needs to be assessed and marked by the teachers anyway, their comments on the assignment could be a valuable way to help each child understand how he could make improvements.

Unfortunately, this was just NOT the case.

By end August, a month before the SA2 composition exam, only two Chinese compositions were marked and returned. It turned out the kids had only completed 4 (out of the required 6) Chinese compositions in school by then. The class wrote the last two pieces in school in the final week of Sept. Assignment 6th was written on the last Friday before the exam and returned the following Monday, ONE day before the exam.

Frankly, I am just so flabbergasted by the execution of the teaching process.

First of all, I wish the assignments could be more spaced out throughout the year instead of concentrating majority of them in August and September. With only 4 weeks left to the exams, and to be returned only 2 graded pieces means parents are also unable to accurately grasp the teacher's assessment of their child's level of competence. In our case, I just didn't know if M was doing well enough to require coaching.

All the 6 pieces were supposedly to teach the kids how to write different scenarios, each with a different style. However, by introducing the last 4 pieces so late and returning the graded assignments literally days before the exams, means the kids would have very little time to understand and learn from their mistakes and make significant improvements.

Is it also realistic to expect an inexperienced writer (this school does not start Chinese composition writing in P1/P2) to learn the writing techniques sufficiently in a few short weeks, after only 6 practices, and with each practice targeting a different scenario?

A quick check with friends whose Pri 3 kids are in other schools revealed that they did between 10 and 15 Chinese compositions this year. Some were given as homework, while the majority was completed in class. Now, that sounds like a reasonable amount of practice in a year to hone a child's writing skills. So indeed, some teachers are working MUCH harder than others.

Secondly, the teacher's comments on the returned pieces were largely general and useless to help the child understand how he could improve. What good is it to be told 'language expression is lacking'? It will be more effective if the teacher could demonstrate by including or editing specific sentences and show how the paragraph could be rewritten.

The model compositions provided were again, in my opinion, ineffective as they were filled with sentence structures and phrases that were never taught, which seemed to be more for Primary 4/5 levels. The teacher did not go through the model compositions in class either, so I imagine most average P3 kids without tutors would find it hard to understand them sufficiently to even benefit much from them. Some kids may ended up memorizing the phrases and entire paragraphs in order to regurgitate at exams, but that can hardly be called teaching, can it?!

While I lament the lack of teaching, here is another classic example:  the kids were given a stack of notes (about 20 pages) sometime in May. At least in M's class, this stack was handed out but never ever mentioned again in class. The teacher must be expecting the teaching and learning to be done outside the classrooms.

It was not that much better for English writing either. Six compositions a year, general/useless feedback and worse, no sample model compositions provided at all!

Naturally, the lack of practice and delayed assessments by teachers would not pose a big issue for those kids who are attending tuition classes. It is common to hear that they write 30 - 40 compositions a year. So a child, like my friend's daughter for instance, would have had written at least 50 (15 in school and 35 in tuition) Chinese compositions, whereas M had only written 6 (or 12 including those he wrote with me at home)!

It is tempting to avoid the association, but according to M, all those who consistently scored 17 and above (out of 20) for both Chinese and English compositions attend tuition classes, whereas those kids who are borderline cases or failed (a boy was given a 5/20 for his 6th compo!) do not.

Granted, M is not anywhere near as bad; he scored between 12 - 15/20 and 15 - 17/20 for Chinese and English respectively without tuition. And since I did not start our coaching at home till late July, which is when I saw the grades of the first composition done in school, it is safe to say he achieved these grades on his own merit.

But I still find it extremely disheartening and disappointing that he is not learning much from school. I wish the English lessons would stretch him further and the Chinese lessons strengthen his foundation more. But alas....  looks like we just cannot depend on the school to teach the necessary academic skills. Though I can coach him myself, I still can't help feeling the irony.

Now that the English and Chinese composition exams are over, I must admit after this round of experience, I considered recently to enroll M for classes, just so that he would get consistent exposure/practice (and to take the pressure off me to provide the weekly coaching). But on second thoughts, I question if I want to subject him to so many hours of tuition/work per month in exchange for just an additional 2 or 3 marks. Nope, I decided. Not yet, anyway.

He may not be the best writer in class, but for now, these grades shall suffice. Moving forward, I shall assume and expect even less from the school teachers and work out a way to fit in more consistent practice with both boys (Chip shall start in P2!).









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