Category Archives: Articles

Preparing for Primary 1- A Four Part Series

June 4, 2011 – 2:26 pm

*The kids and I are on vacation this week so instead of the normal posting schedule I’ll be running a short series which has been requested by our readers who are looking for a better understanding of our
Singapore Schooling System.

Monkey Boy with his gift from his form teacher.

Six months ago I was asked by a reader on how to prepare her son for Primary One. Her son is currently 4 yrs old and would have to register for primary school in two years time. She was interested to know what were the requirements in terms of education level and syllabus which her son had to cover in order to be on par with his peers before he enters primary school.

At that time I hesitated to answer her query. I wanted to give her a more detailed account with my first hand experience with Monkey Boy as he goes through the first semester as a Primary One student.

In this four part series I will be tackling the following issues

Stay tuned!!

Tags primary 1, singapore school system | Comments Off

Weekend Reflection- Planning Ahead

October 30, 2009 – 10:00 pm

Welcome to Weekend Reflections, a weekly blog meme which is for reflecting on the events which happened over the week that made an impression on your life. If you would like to participate, grab the button from our sidebar and enter your Weekend Reflections link on Dominique’s Desk Blog Link below. Come on and join us this week.

As the year is coming to an end I can’t help thinking about Ryan and that he will be in K2 (Kindergarten 2) next year. 2010 will be the year that we will be registering him for Primary One . I have already decided on which school to place him in and that is less one hassle for me.
My students just finished their end of year examinations and I had the opportunity to look at the Primary 1 papers. It seems that Ryan is up to par in the preparation for transition from Kindergarten to Elementary school. I just need to give him more practice in Mathematics.

I also took a look at the Secondary school selection which was given out to the Primary Six students. Scanning through the various pages which listed the achievements of the different secondary school it got met thinking about what I will have to do after the kids enter primary school.

The emphasis nowadays is on a holistic environment and overall development of the child. I intend to let Ryan and Roy try out all the different sports they are interested in and then choose a sport or two to master.

Do you also plan ahead?

Tags Education, meme, Primary school, Singapore | Comment (1)

Preparing for exams- 3 Tips for Parents

October 8, 2009 – 12:43 pm

This month being the month of Examinations here in Singapore I am writing a short series on Preparing for Exams as a guide on how parents can help their kids during this stressful period

Photo by Flickr

With the exams just around the corner for most Singaporean kids most of their parents have caught the ” Examination Fever”. Twice a year when their kids sit for the Semestral Assessment parents get very anxious and stressed up and they themselves feel as it they too are sitting for the exam.

Here are some tips on how to make the examination period a less stressful time for both parent and child.

Have a regular study schedule for your child.
It would be more beneficial if your child studies and does revision for each subject on a regular basis. Cramming at the last minute maybe overwhelming for your child as he may not be able to remember everything at one go.I suggest to let your child start revision at the end of the topic or two topics.This would ensure that your child truly understands the concepts and theories thought to them. Any misconceptions or queries on that topic could be timely addressed and cleared promptly.
Do not have unrealistic Grades expectation of child.
Expecting your child to get at least a score of 95 marks out of 100 puts unrealistic demands on your child if he isn’t a high performer. You child can suffer from low self-esteem if he is unable to meet your expectation even though he has tried his best.It is more advisable to peg the targeted grade to about 5- 10 marks above what he is capable of achieving depending on the perceived difficult of the upcoming exam. This will make your child more motivated to work hard as they feel that the result is attainable.
Do not be harsh or impatient towards your child while you are coaching him.
The most demoralizing thing for a child is him perceiving himself as “stupid” as he is constantly being scolded for making mistakes or not understanding what is being taught.If your child believes that he is useless in Maths and will never be able to pass the subject he would have given up even without trying. This would be exasperating for both parent and child.

A child would do better if the parent is constantly encouraging him to try his best and give the relevant support that he needs to reach his potential in academic excellence.