Preparing for Primary One- Meeting Expectations
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| Photo by Photoxpress |
Now that you are aware of the registration process it’s time to do a check to see if your child has met the requirements for a smooth transition to primary school.
As a primary one student they are expected to be able to do the following
- take pride of their own attire and belongings.
- raise their hands and ask questions
- feed themselves during recess and go to toilet on their own.
- communicate with their teachers and peers.
- work together as a team and individually.
- follow instructions and carry out tasks assigned to them.
Academic Challenges
Even though many schools have done away with the formal semestral examinations in Primary one and two, they are replaced by byte size assessments carried out all through the year. I personally find this more tiring and difficult for the child. He has to ensure that his grades doesn’t slip for all subject as marks are taken from every single assessment carried out instead of just from one test/exam per semester.
I find that the new system expects the child to carry out continuous revision on his part and cramming last minute wouldn’t help. Every fortnight or so they are tested on a component I.e: Show and Tell, Composition etc and there are more tests to prepare for overall.
The past six months I have been doing daily and weekly revision with Monkey Boy. When he returns home from school I would monitor him as he completes his homework and give him exercises as revision from the assessment book collection which we have at home.
If he is having difficulties in any particular component I would let him do additional worksheets or exercises which just focuses on his weak areas. I believe in having him fully understand each topic before moving on so that any queries or weaknesses are immediately addressed.
Even though he is having holidays at the moment but I’m still continuing with coaching him in composition writing for both English and Chinese as they will be having composition writing from next term onwards. I have to ensure that he is able to keep on track with the pace the teachers set in school or even be slightly ahead of school at this stage as they will be going at a faster pace once school re-opens.
Social Challenges
These six months I have learned quite a bit about my first born and adapting to the ” Big Boy School”. He is able to socialize well with his peers but he has difficulty accepting others ideas and opinions during group discussions. I guess that a part of it has to be due to the fact that he is the first born and had been used to getting his own way before his siblings come along. Another factor is that we as parents are more inclined to giving in to our kids when they are very young that they assume that they SHOULD get everything done their way.
It has been a learning process for him to get along and accept others and their opinions and not insisting on being the leader or dictating the direction the group should follow. I too have been learning how to guide him on how to express himself clearly while at the same time excepting others point of view. It is healthy to engage in discussions and have different points of view and he too has to know that his view may not be acceptable all the time. I guess that this is one of the areas which I still need to work closely on with Monkey Boy.
