Parenting Views

My views on education, mutilingual parenting and other parenting topics
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November 30, 2012

Preparing for Primary One- Questions and Answer Round Up

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Parenting Views, Recommendations Preparing for primary one, primary 1, Questions and Answers, Singapore education

Primary 1 series 2012

For the past three weeks I have been sharing with you what I have been doing to prepare Doggie boy for primary one. Today in the final installation I will be answering questions that were asked by my readers in regards to preparing their kids for primary one.

Question #1 –How much pocket money is consider as enough for P1 kids?

My answer: $1.50-$2 a day. The price of food has increased over the year. It costs anything between $0.70-$1.20 for a plate or bowl of food during recess. Your child would be able to save a bit if he brings his own water bottle and do not buy drinks.

Question #2 – How much parental involvement is involved? Do you help with packing the schoolbags, or do you let them handle it themselves, and not bail them out if you forget something? How much homework supervision is healthy?

My answer:
In the initial few weeks I do check his bag after he has packed it. I let my kid do all the packing of the school bag by himself. I won’t bail them out if they forget to bring a book/item to school. He has to face up to the consequences if he doesn’t pack his bag properly or forgets to bring an item.

I do check my child’s homework after he is done and do check with the teacher off an on how he is performing in school.

Question #3- what are the things the child needs to learn by K2 in prep for P1 (Not talking about the KS type of over preparing the kid but if the child needs to know for e.g. Number bonds by then, this would be good knowledge) and for the various subjects please

My answer: I have covered this over at my Preparing for Primary One (2011)series

English

Vocabulary

Classification of verbs (eg. jump, walk, crawl) and nouns (eg. aeroplane, house, shopping centre)

Grammar and Punctuation

Singularity and plurality, adjectives, pronouns, possessives
Present and past tense

Written Expression

simple descriptive sentences for composition writing (Eg, Jane is wearing a red blouse and blue jeans.
penmanship- legibility of words written given a specific passage. (I’m personally not too concerned if Monkey Boy’s writing is not print perfect. It is more important to me that he and the teachers understand what he is writing. )

Oral and Show and Tell:

Formal tests involving:
- Reading of a passage in the presence of the examiner
- Discuss the events depicted in a picture with the examiner
- Develop and present materials for a presentation to the class based on topics chosen by the teacher (eg. “My Favourite Toy”)
- Having a dialogue with the examiner based on a given scenario.
  ( *This is something new which will be slowly introduced to the students to prepare them for the changes which will be implemented during PSLE in the coming years. )
- Students will be graded based on clarity of delivery and content.

Mathematics

Addition and Subtraction up to 20
Multiplication in 2s, 5s and 10s
sequencing and number bonds
completing 2 step questions and problem sums

Question #4- P1 classes are typically much larger – 30+ to 40 pax. This may intimidate a child. What can a parent do to ease the child into it?

My answer: It depends on which kindergarten your child has been to. Some like PAP have bigger groups with 20 kids or more in the class so they may have already been used to big groups. As a parent you can bring your kid out to events for their age or sign them up for holiday camps with activities for groups of 30-40 people so that can get used to being around a larger group of kids.

Question #5- How would you handle bullying? If your kid is bullied, how do you help the child to tell him / her that it is NOT OK and what the child needs to do?

My answer: I will advice the child to approach the teacher or an adult if he feels that he is being unfairly treated. He should tell the person to stop or go away from the aggressor. It is not okay to keep his feelings to himself but approach an adult for help if cannot stop the unwanted behaviour on his own.

Do you have any other questions which you want me to answer?

Do put them in the comments below.

Post in this series

November 21, 2012

Preparing for Primary One – Preparing yourself mentally as a parent

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Parenting Views, Recommendations Preparing for primary one, primary 1, Singapore education

Primary 1 series 2012

Doggie boy and me

Having a child going to Primary One the 2nd time around my feelings this time is different from the time I felt when Monkey boy was entering Primary One. This time being experienced I feel that I am more relaxed and not as anxious as before. I do know the regime and what will be expected of Doggie boy once he starts his new school year in January. Even though you try your best to fully prepare your child you too need to prepare yourself too as a parent We will never know if our child will be able/ be unable to cope until he enters school proper.

Instead of stressing about the unknown there are some ways which you as a parent can prepare yourself mentally for this major milestone in your child’s life.

Here are four tips for all parents.

Learn to let go slowly.
They are now of age to go to a “Big Boy” school and it’s time to let them exert their own independence. You cannot serve them hand and foot as they are old enough. They should be able to go to the toilet on their own and feed themselves.Let them try and do things by themselves and remind yourself that you need to have a “hands off” attitude in certain areas.
Implement changes one at a time
Going to Primary One need not be a traumatic experience for the parent. Do not make changes all at one as it can be really overwhelming. Do give allowances for impending changes in your schedule and if necessary do a dry run during the school holidays before term starts.For me Doggie boy will be in the afternoon session next year so I do not really have to wake him up earlier then usual but he will have a different study schedule come 2013. There will be study sessions before and after school for him and he will be on the schedule which Monkey boy is currently on. I’m slowly getting him accustomed to the new schedule by putting him on the schedule come December.
Test things out
Give yourself time to get use to the adjustments which you may need to do with your own schedule. Sometimes your original schedule or plan may not work out and you will need to iron out the kinks in it to ensure that your plan flows smoothly come the new school year.
Remind yourself that it’s important for you to be calm and focusedKids are ultra sensitive and do feed off both our positive and negative vibes. It is important for them to know that you have confidence in them and they will be able to take care of themselves in school. With them knowing that you believe in them and are confident that they will do well they too will believe in their abilities and perform as expected.