The Abolishment of EM3...Comes FOUNDATION!

last SG · 2008-11-01T21:46:46+00:00

Too much pressure in school? My son got a distinction in science in the NSW examination and a 53% in school. Maybe the school here is too good for him?

Poh Ah Pak SG

cos everything is his fault

That is too extreme.

In some areas Lee Kuan Yew has done well, in other areas not that well.

Lee Kuan Yew's reign has been a long one, almost 50 years, so his performance must be judge accordingly as well.

There is one period when he was acting as PM and another period as SM/MM.

Now he is still alive, all media controlled by state, so no choice, all glorify him, positive comments etc.

After he is dead, we will see.

ShrodingersCat SG

Don't you feel that your response to this situation is far from reassuring to your child?

This anger and sarcarsm is just going to teach your child that SHE is a victim too. The reality is that... no system is perfect (and trust me, I think MOE has a lot of serious issues that really need examining) but by allowing yourself to think that you are a victim of it (first by forcing your child to match 'standards' of the system cos you are worried about her future then overcompensating by lashing out at the system when she could not 'match' those standards) then she will also learn that when she meets problems, it is never her own.

No one is perfect. People have areas they are better in, and areas they are worse in. Does it mean that if they are not good at playing a game, then they reject the game? You can choose to play a different game - but it is a sad and insecure child that learns that if i am no good at something - then its the system that's wrong not me.

what if you transfer her to another school that's outside the MOE system and she STILL can't do well academically? what if you decide to quit your job and homeschool her and then learn that studying is simply not her forte? The message will be sending to her will be how IMPORTANT and absolute YOU think academic ability is - not reassuring her that its okay if you try your best and don't do well - you can still excel in other areas.

Again - I repeat that I disagree with many aspects of the current education system. I am merely commenting on how you may project your disappointment and frustration to your child.

kopiosatu SG

your child is only condemned if he/she thinks he/she is condemned.

4sg SG

That is too extreme.

Funny hearing this from you......

ShrodingersCat SG

your child is only condemned if he/she thinks he/she is condemned.

thanks for putting it so succinctly. hurhurhur!

Poh Ah Pak SG

Funny hearing this from you......

I already gave my assessment of Lee Kuan Yew long time ago already, that is 60% good, 40% bad.

I think that is fair.

furb SG

I already gave my assessment of Lee Kuan Yew long time ago already, that is 60% good, 40% bad.

I think that is fair.

Soon or later, the bad will outweigh the good I think.

oldbreadstinks SG

I already gave my assessment of Lee Kuan Yew long time ago already, that is 60% good, 40% bad.

I think that is fair.

alright who the hell are you,how did you get Poh Ah Pak's password?

Kimtan SG

To: kopiosatu & Evangel

From P1 to P5, her results had been on the borderline. She was never punished for failing her exams; I have always stood by her and encouraged her on.

It takes many years and patience to build a child's self-esteem and confidence; but what it needs is one day to clash them!

Why take away her chance to try out PSLE at standard? Whether she passed or failed, it doesn't matter. What matter is she is given a fair chance to try!

To: Poh Ah Pak

REFORM? Never in Singapore! What is said and voiced; the MOE turn a deaf ear. The only possible reform is ACTION from parents but how many parents have energy for ACTION?

Voiced from a father of 3

Do something about primary-school education (dated 23 Sep 2008)

"However, what really takes the joy out of having kids is not the period when they attend nursery and kindergarten, but the stress they encounter when attending primary school.

I hope the authorities can understand and appreciate the stress that kids and parents go through in trying to understand the primary-school curriculum.

I spoke to an acquaintance whose children are in international Indian schools, and he was shocked at the standard of the examination questions set for our primary pupils.

The difficulty level of the exams goes beyond what is required of 10- to 12-year-olds."

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20080923-89392.html

skythewood SG

so she has been borderline though p1 to p5, and will most likely be borderline in p6, PSLE?

so instead of stressing her with exams that has difficulty level beyond what is required of 10-12 years old, the principal is opting to let her go FOUNDATION?

ceecookie SG

And that's the dropping QC of our Education

Kimtan SG

MATHEMATICS

Take a look at her Mathematics result:

Section A - 15/20 (75%)

Section B - 14/20 (70%)

Section C - 14/60 (23%)

Section A & B results show that her basic knowledge for Mathematics is quite good.

The problem lies in the method of teaching! A simple formula for triangle:

1/2 x base x height

is taught as

Step 1: base x height

Step 2: take the answer divide by 2

Why complicant a simple formula?

How many parents who had learnt Algebra in secondary level can answer the question taught in primary level using bars comparison?

I'm wondering how much is taught in the classroom? Only the basic? And they expect a 10 - 12 year old to apply in a complicated and 'challenging' problems!

ENGLISH

English is another dumb-found. I still remembered my time, we learnt new words and their meanings. We construct sentences with them. We had spelling and dictation. We also learnt cursive writing.

From P1 - P4, she still had spelling once a week. But P5 spelling was abolished after a few months. She never have to do new words nor sentences construction. No cursive writing lession!

Really wondering what was taught!

SCIENCE

Look at the text book. They look very simple. Not one guidebook covers everything, you have to buy a few.

Questions on experiments. In the first place, were these children shown or done the experiments? Do you think enough is done to make them understand?

Ridiculous! What is holistic teaching?

HOLISTIC : treating the whole person rather than just the symptoms of a disease.

ShrodingersCat SG

Maths:
Section C is problem sums right? Could it be that it is her language that is pulling her down? Maths can't stand alone without understanding the language in which it can be used in context. That is why so many of us who used the older system find the current system very difficult - because language is AS important as maths.

For the models system - i understand what they are trying to start is to get younger students to learn how to use trial and error as well as logical analysis. Whereas algebra teaches more of simply 'steps' to get an answer - the current maths tries to teach why and perspective of looking at problems. This is to teach kids to try as many ways as possible to GET an answer and not just memorise steps to solve it. So, yes it is a lot harder because now you are required to really understand the concept - not just put x in the correct place.

Looks to me that your child understands WHAT to do - she just needs help to understand WHEN to do WHAT.

English:

What other thing does she have in place of spelling? Some educators feel that spelling is not a very appropriate way of teaching a language because it is very artificial, forced and often does not have long term benefits as children forget after the test. It also puts children away from learning a language by making it very technical. (how many of us hate chinese thanks to 'ting xie'?) On the other hand - SENTENCE construction is very important. Maybe you can help her by getting her to read more by bringing her to the library. To help her with her spelling, I suggest you can borrow this software from National Library Board called Spelltrack. As for cursive writing...err.. as long as she writes reasonably fast, it isn't all that important is it?

By the way, not stopping you from lodging all your feedback and all with MOE. But please do it with dignity and don't let them have the excuse of taking your feedback lightly because you were unclear and sarcarstic about it. Some people don't understand sarcarsm u know :P

skythewood SG

so her classmates all ok, but she has some problems.

so you have 2 options: identify and solve her problem, or complain the whole system is flawed, and request to change it.

somehow i have this nagging feeling that even if the whole system is changed, the problem will still be there.

ShrodingersCat SG

so her classmates all ok, but she has some problems.

so you have 2 options: identify and solve her problem, or complain the whole system is flawed, and request to change it.

somehow i have this nagging feeling that even if the whole system is changed, the problem will still be there.

ultimately all systems need to cater to children who need more time and more attention to learn. But if society always label these children as 'not good enough' without seeing it holistically (to borrow a word from TS). But taking the longer road doesn't mean you cannot reach the same (or further) destination. But labels are given by people - not the system.

loki_chaos SG

Actually, as a student after seeing this 'foundation' thingy, I think this filtering of the good, the bad, and the lazy cannot be avoided. Simply because...

All of us are different and we have different levels of learning.

Why not turn this foundation thingy around and see to it that it's a matched level for your child to adapt to learning to the fullest? And from there make full use of all the teachings to do her best in PSLE and not repeat the same mistake in P5.

Ultimately, EM3/foundation and all those streaming are merely just names. If your learning level is just there, then only your child can change her own learning level.

dibilo SG

there is a reason why your child is going to foundation and the rest of her peers are not. Its simply because your child cant perform as well as them. You know what that means? That means she is not ready for mainstream.

Going into foundation is not necessary bad. There, she can learn things at her own pace and really get the foundations right before progessing. After her primary school days, if you dont like her to enter a normal technical stream, you can do all the home tuition you like to prepare her for her O's. If she is really as genius as you think, then simply enroll her as a private candidate when the time comes.

Please do not blame the system. Its a dog eat dog world. If she underperforms, she drops down the rank.

angel7030 SG

So, what is the problem, i got frens who studied 3- 5 years in total more then meand still are very successful in life..they also graduated and landed in well pay jobs too.

Some kids and tennagers take a longer time to open up, just like some of us gals, at sec 1 already puberty, some at pri 5 already puberty, so relax lah.

Anyway education only form the basic and the foundation pillars of your life, but in working life, if you are smart enough, you still remain poor or strangling. Some only O level standard are already towkay liao, who employed U grad. And some honour or master holders are still strangling and trying to meet the end needs.

So education is only the 20% of your qualities, the rest 80% belong to your smartness, intelligent, daring and of course, hardwork

MyPillowTalks SG

THat is why those w/o good tuition suffer all the way up to sec school

LIke me, my fraction pulled me down, i onli manage to pass maths at sec 3 end of year

I cannot solve complicated p5p6 maths problem

and for eng wise, the sentence structure for my compo isnt strong

we were taught to use complicated, sophisticated sentence, with a variety of idioms- all was great but lack practices.

Foundation for english is important, you may understand what i am writing now because i have time and can slowly develop the sentence and the correct word to use in this sentence, however, when it comes to exam condition, it is hard or even impossible to come out with such long sentence while making sure it does not go out of point- which will lose marks in the tests.

Kimtan SG

Section C - problem sums

Yes, the children need to use trial and error, logical analysis and different perspective to understand the concept. But are they trained in the classroom? Time is needed, is 1hr 40mins enough for 16 - 18 Qs?

It is true that English is highly tested in Maths. Her spelling is great, but sad to say her vocabulary is not powerful. Anyway, I had already started her on 5-word-a-day to help build her vocabulary.

I'm not lodging feedback / complaint for them to change. MOE will never change for better, I rather they remain as it is, for fear of change cause more damage than good.

My main purpose is to fight for her to stay at standard because I believe she can make it in her PSLE next year.

Standard or Foundation; a child should be given a chance to opt for it.

The problem here is why MOE said it is up to the school principal to decide; and the school VP said it is the System that they must follow.

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