Articles Contributed at KiasuParents.com [This article was written in 2009.]
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/are-you-hiring-competent-tutor
Just to share my experience so that parents can take note also.
I currently have a few P6 students whom I'm giving private tuition to and this incident is about another tutor whom the parents of one student hired as additional help to the child.
From what the parents and student tell me, this tutor is a young tutor who is doing her diploma currently. She claims that she is very good in Maths and can teach the student 'shortcuts' to answering questions. She goes to their place on weekends to help the child with work that he does not understand.
I was very happy for this student as I know they have limited budget and the parents managed to get more help as I personally feel that the student really need alot of help. I did offer free lessons at my home for him (my place is a few bus stops away from theirs) but the parents refused as they do not want him to travel just for tuition (I can understand because travelling can cause the child to be quite tired).
I really thought that this tutor is a blessing to the student until I marked this student's assignments (worksheets that were given by me), and I got a shock! The questions were all answered using simultaneous equations (not suitable for this primary school boy and definitely a longer way to answer the questions I gave). And when I asked my student if he understood the method she taught him, he said that the tutor told him the questions I gave are for secondary school, not primary school!
The maths syllabus has changed and now they use calculators at P5 and P6 and they also learn more topics in depth (area of circle, algebra). I was shocked that the teacher said that to him as the questions I gave are definitely P6 maths questions which my ex-colleagues (current P6 teachers in top schools) told me that such questions may come out at PSLE.
And due to her comments, this student now thinks that all questions are too difficult for him and he is not able to understand. Those are basic speed and distance questions which I have taught him before. He managed to solve the question correctly the first time with the method I taught him but the tutor told him it's wrong and taught him simultaneous equations (but the final answer is the same). Using simultaneous equation can be accepted but based on this student's level of understanding, he cannot comprehend how simultaneous equations work!
And this tutor also taught him a few other questions on area of hexagons in which she even got the method wrong. The worst part was her teaching him percentage and she simply deducted the percentages although they were percentages of different items!
I was quite upset that the tutor taught the student the wrong methods as it now means that he is very confused. I did feedback to the parents and they were not aware that the other tutor taught him differently and even told him that those were secondary school questions and he should not be doing them.
As a tutor, I will advise all parents to screen your tutors carefully. Check on your child's progress and work done during tuition. Do not leave it 100% to the tutor. If there are questions that the tutor claims cannot be done using techniques which are taught to P6 students, get your child to bring the question to school to ask the school teachers.
Do check carefully and hire a competent tutor for your child. Else, it'll be a waste of money, time and effort for your child to learn the wrong techniques.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Building Composition Skills
Articles Contributed at KiasuParents.com
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/more-composition-writing-tips
My suggestions to parents (things that I usually do with my tutees):
Make them start a journal
If they are the type that do not know what to write, give them a topic a day. I usually start off with giving them pictures (can be anything under the sun!) with some questions as prompts. Then there'll be a list of helping words/phrases related to the topic.
Depending on your child's age, you can get them to start with 10 sentences per day (P1/2) and slowly get them to increase the number of sentences. It's ok if their sentences seem very random & do not link at the beginning.
Start off with correcting basic grammar & spelling. Then if you spot a sentence that can be improved with better vocab or phrase, teach them & get them to jot it down in their journal.
You can also let your child take pictures whenever you go out & use those pictures as the topics. It'll be easier for them this way as they have personally experienced what they saw in the picture. You can also use photos from family trips, childhood photos, etc.
Read out loud
Children who do not like to read usually have problems with the words, which makes them hate reading in the first place. Ask your child to read out loud to you. If they are shy, start off with you reading 1 sentence, then they will read the next and alternate.
They feel less self-conscious if you are also reading with them & once you note pauses (meaning they do not know the word), quickly help them before they start to feel frustrated. Praise them & assure them that they are doing a good job. Not only are you encouraging reading, you are also encouraging them to practice their oral skills! Where to find so many passages to read?
You can buy model composition books or buy comprehension books & read the passages (the latter is better as the topics are usually general knowledge topics & it will help them in cloze passages & comprehension). Discuss about the topic of the passage you read. Prompt them with questions like:
"Do you think ___ did the right thing?"
"Was he brave/courageous by doing that?", etc.
If you spot difficult words, search the dictionary with them. It's a good skill to learn - searching the dictionary for meaning of words. It makes them curious & they are always amazed at how some words can have so many meanings!
Play a game
Play word games with your child. Start off with a word & the next person must give another word that has the same meaning or is related (e.g. butterfly -> wings -> colourful -> rainbow -> green -> leaves). Keep going till someone is stuck. It's very fun & their competitive spirit will spur them to learn more words. It also trains their minds to link objects/descriptions.
You can also write down the words (encourage them to spell) & make use of the words to form a sentence or story! Although the sentences/stories may seem 'crazy', it's really fun & gives them something to think about.
Self questioning technique
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
Usually we will teach children to write 3 paragraphs - Introduction, Body & Conclusion. But do the kids understand what is expected in each paragraph?
This is what a typical story would be like:
Introduction -> Who is in the story? When/Where did it happen?
Body (can be more than 1 paragraph) -> What happened? Why did it happen?
Conclusion -> How was the matter resolved? Closing sentence.
Sample written by my P5 student [Topic - Describe what happened when you were late for a very important event.]:
Perspiration was trickling down the sides of my [WHO] face, every step causes a drop that was dangling at my chin to splatter on the tar road. It was the day of my PSLE examination [WHEN] & I was on my way to school [WHERE]. I was pushing myself to run as fast as my legs could take me as it was 10 minutes before my first paper was about to start. As I was running, I started to reflect. I knew it was entirely my fault that I'm late, but I could not help but hold resentment towards them. The two immature & spoilt children whom I have to call my siblings [WHO].
I woke up this morning thinking it was six in the morning. The room was dark, the air was fresh and most importantly, my trusty clock had it's shorter hand pointing at six and its longer hand in the opposite direction. A quick check with the living room clock and my heart skipped a beat. It was actually 8am! I scurried back into my room, fantically changing my clothes, suddenly noticing my two younger brothers giggling at the bedroom door.
"What are you laughing it? I'm late for a major exam that determines the rest of my life and the two of you are giggling! You must have something to do with this!" I yelled in frustration. I guess my tone was nasty as my youngest brother started crying.
"We played with your clock last night after you feel asleep and we thought it would be fun to make you late for school since you slept so early," my youngest brother mumbled feebly with his knees shaking. [WHAT/WHY]
So it was them. I should have gotten my parents to wake me up. I should have gotten my friends to ring me in the morning. I cannot help but smack myself in the head, ignoring the fact that I'll be killing some much-needed brain cells. It was my fault for not making back-up plans in case the clock fails, but why must they play with my clock of all days?
I made up my mind to grill my siblings on the barbeque or tie them up on a tree after my examinations. For now, I'll have to run harder. The school gate was in sight! I dashed past security, past the school office & up into the school hall. 300 pairs of eyes suddenly suddenly looked up at me, all sweaty & disheveled. I had arrived in the nick of time, the teachers were just about to start the examination. I quickly took my seat and focused on the paper in front of me.
After the paper, I went straight home & called my parents. I was too tired with deal with my brothers physically. I told them everything over the phone and took a nap. When I woke up, I could hear screaming and crying. "Piak!" came the sound of the cane. I ran out of my room to take a look. My parents were caning my brothers for their mischief. My heart ached as I saw the cane land on their bottoms.
I quickly ran over to shield my brothers. My brothers clung to me like koala bears on a tree. Their faces were smeared with tears & mucus, their hands riddled with cane marks. Although they did cause me to be late for my examination, I still loved them. I begged my parents to stop as I've already forgiven them. After drying their tears & comforting them, I told them about the dire consequences if I had been a little later. They apologised and promised never to be mischevious again. [HOW] I also made a silent resolution to ensure that I have back up plans whenever I have something important [CLOSING SENTENCE].
May not be the best compo, but she managed to use some techniques I practised with her in which I'm pleased as this is a student who used to fail composition.
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/more-composition-writing-tips
My suggestions to parents (things that I usually do with my tutees):
Make them start a journal
If they are the type that do not know what to write, give them a topic a day. I usually start off with giving them pictures (can be anything under the sun!) with some questions as prompts. Then there'll be a list of helping words/phrases related to the topic.
Depending on your child's age, you can get them to start with 10 sentences per day (P1/2) and slowly get them to increase the number of sentences. It's ok if their sentences seem very random & do not link at the beginning.
Start off with correcting basic grammar & spelling. Then if you spot a sentence that can be improved with better vocab or phrase, teach them & get them to jot it down in their journal.
You can also let your child take pictures whenever you go out & use those pictures as the topics. It'll be easier for them this way as they have personally experienced what they saw in the picture. You can also use photos from family trips, childhood photos, etc.
Read out loud
Children who do not like to read usually have problems with the words, which makes them hate reading in the first place. Ask your child to read out loud to you. If they are shy, start off with you reading 1 sentence, then they will read the next and alternate.
They feel less self-conscious if you are also reading with them & once you note pauses (meaning they do not know the word), quickly help them before they start to feel frustrated. Praise them & assure them that they are doing a good job. Not only are you encouraging reading, you are also encouraging them to practice their oral skills! Where to find so many passages to read?
You can buy model composition books or buy comprehension books & read the passages (the latter is better as the topics are usually general knowledge topics & it will help them in cloze passages & comprehension). Discuss about the topic of the passage you read. Prompt them with questions like:
"Do you think ___ did the right thing?"
"Was he brave/courageous by doing that?", etc.
If you spot difficult words, search the dictionary with them. It's a good skill to learn - searching the dictionary for meaning of words. It makes them curious & they are always amazed at how some words can have so many meanings!
Play a game
Play word games with your child. Start off with a word & the next person must give another word that has the same meaning or is related (e.g. butterfly -> wings -> colourful -> rainbow -> green -> leaves). Keep going till someone is stuck. It's very fun & their competitive spirit will spur them to learn more words. It also trains their minds to link objects/descriptions.
You can also write down the words (encourage them to spell) & make use of the words to form a sentence or story! Although the sentences/stories may seem 'crazy', it's really fun & gives them something to think about.
Self questioning technique
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
Usually we will teach children to write 3 paragraphs - Introduction, Body & Conclusion. But do the kids understand what is expected in each paragraph?
This is what a typical story would be like:
Introduction -> Who is in the story? When/Where did it happen?
Body (can be more than 1 paragraph) -> What happened? Why did it happen?
Conclusion -> How was the matter resolved? Closing sentence.
Sample written by my P5 student [Topic - Describe what happened when you were late for a very important event.]:
Perspiration was trickling down the sides of my [WHO] face, every step causes a drop that was dangling at my chin to splatter on the tar road. It was the day of my PSLE examination [WHEN] & I was on my way to school [WHERE]. I was pushing myself to run as fast as my legs could take me as it was 10 minutes before my first paper was about to start. As I was running, I started to reflect. I knew it was entirely my fault that I'm late, but I could not help but hold resentment towards them. The two immature & spoilt children whom I have to call my siblings [WHO].
I woke up this morning thinking it was six in the morning. The room was dark, the air was fresh and most importantly, my trusty clock had it's shorter hand pointing at six and its longer hand in the opposite direction. A quick check with the living room clock and my heart skipped a beat. It was actually 8am! I scurried back into my room, fantically changing my clothes, suddenly noticing my two younger brothers giggling at the bedroom door.
"What are you laughing it? I'm late for a major exam that determines the rest of my life and the two of you are giggling! You must have something to do with this!" I yelled in frustration. I guess my tone was nasty as my youngest brother started crying.
"We played with your clock last night after you feel asleep and we thought it would be fun to make you late for school since you slept so early," my youngest brother mumbled feebly with his knees shaking. [WHAT/WHY]
So it was them. I should have gotten my parents to wake me up. I should have gotten my friends to ring me in the morning. I cannot help but smack myself in the head, ignoring the fact that I'll be killing some much-needed brain cells. It was my fault for not making back-up plans in case the clock fails, but why must they play with my clock of all days?
I made up my mind to grill my siblings on the barbeque or tie them up on a tree after my examinations. For now, I'll have to run harder. The school gate was in sight! I dashed past security, past the school office & up into the school hall. 300 pairs of eyes suddenly suddenly looked up at me, all sweaty & disheveled. I had arrived in the nick of time, the teachers were just about to start the examination. I quickly took my seat and focused on the paper in front of me.
After the paper, I went straight home & called my parents. I was too tired with deal with my brothers physically. I told them everything over the phone and took a nap. When I woke up, I could hear screaming and crying. "Piak!" came the sound of the cane. I ran out of my room to take a look. My parents were caning my brothers for their mischief. My heart ached as I saw the cane land on their bottoms.
I quickly ran over to shield my brothers. My brothers clung to me like koala bears on a tree. Their faces were smeared with tears & mucus, their hands riddled with cane marks. Although they did cause me to be late for my examination, I still loved them. I begged my parents to stop as I've already forgiven them. After drying their tears & comforting them, I told them about the dire consequences if I had been a little later. They apologised and promised never to be mischevious again. [HOW] I also made a silent resolution to ensure that I have back up plans whenever I have something important [CLOSING SENTENCE].
May not be the best compo, but she managed to use some techniques I practised with her in which I'm pleased as this is a student who used to fail composition.
Right Brain or Left Brain?
Articles Contributed at KiasuParents.com
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/right-brain-or-left-brain
Being a teacher, tutor and mum, I've encountered this 'right brain or left brain' discussion many times.
My personal view:
Teachers in school do try to use a variety of teaching methods to ensure students with different learning styles will benefit from the lesson. Gone are the old days of chalkboard & textbooks. Welcome to the new generation of PowerPoints & videos. However, there are also limitations with 40 different students in each class.
'Brain training' may be good to stimulate your child's mind, but I personally feel that there's no need to make a big hoohaa over it by spending hundreds of dollars on it when there's no scientific proof that it does increase a child's academic or mental capabilities. I've attended many trial lessons with my boy and was rather 'disappointed' at the activities. The activities done can actually be carried out during normal play at home if parents are willing to make the resources (cards) or buy them. If you are not sure of what activities or resources to prepare, there are many books in the library with simple instructions and lessons planned out for parents. If you can't read English, there are many Taiwanese books on this topic at Popular.
Don't mistaken that I'm not encouraging parents to send your kids to classes, my boy attends many different enrichment classes but I personally feel that 'brain training' is something that can be done easily at home through incidental learning instead of during a structured lesson.
The activities in are exactly what I've been doing with my boy since he was born. It's also a form of parent-child bonding & some activities can even be done in the car travelling from 1 place to another! My parents used to do it with my siblings & me to pass time (so that we do not fight in the car). It's fun & they don't realise that it's a 'lesson'!
Anyway, I feel that discovering the individual child's learning style is more important than brain training.
If your child is a visual learning (like me), bright pictures/colours will help alot. Use of flashcards & posters around the house will definitely help.
I only 'discovered' my learning style in S3 when one of my teachers told me to try to close my eyes & visualise the textbook I've been studying from for over a year. I realise that I can actually picture the book in my mind & flip the book & search for info in my 'virtual textbook'. From there, I actually decided to use different colours to write/highlight different types of information & organised everything using colours & colourful Post-It notes. It helped alot. Even at higher education, I was still using this method. People think that I'm mad when I close my eyes to focus during exams but only I know what I'm doing: I'm digging for answers in my brain. My parents did not send me for any brain training classes, it just came naturally & I learnt to tap on it.
I have a friend who is a audio learner. She remembers better when she listens to someone read information. How did she study? Pay attention in class & ask her mum to read her textbook to her. While others were busy writing notes during revision, she created audio notes. She read out important information/concepts and recorded them. Played them back to listen while she's doing her homework and whenever she's free. I find that her relationship with her mum is really very strong although she's working in Aussie. She told me how she'll still hear her mum reading to her when she misses her mum while working alone in Aussie
My sis is someone who has no 'logical thinking'. She has poor sequencing & this resulted in her poor calculations. She learnt to add & subtract through 'rote learning'. Repetition & constant practices. She requires all workings to be worked out neatly, we can't skip any steps when teaching her Maths. And at each step, there can only be 1 change.
Example:
Normally I would just do this:
140 - 5 x 8 + 50 - 40 x 2
= 140 - 40 + 50 - 80
= 70
With my sister:
140 - 5 x 8 + 50 - 40 x 2
= 140 - (5 x 8) + 50 - (40 x 2)
= 140 - 40 + 50 - (40 x 2)
= 140 - 40 + 50 - 80
= 100 + 50 - 80
= 150 - 80
= 70
At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself as parents: What do you want for your child?
Do you want a brainy child who will be a Phd holder in future but does not have 'heartware' or family bonding? Or do you want an all rounded child, even if he/she may not be the top in our society?
Every parent's expectations are different. As long as you know that you've given your best to your child by loving your child, that's all that matters.
My expectation of myself as a parent is to give my boy the opportunity to explore & discover himself, thus the exposure to different learning opportunities in forms of enrichment classes (swimming, music, art, etc).
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/right-brain-or-left-brain
Being a teacher, tutor and mum, I've encountered this 'right brain or left brain' discussion many times.
My personal view:
Teachers in school do try to use a variety of teaching methods to ensure students with different learning styles will benefit from the lesson. Gone are the old days of chalkboard & textbooks. Welcome to the new generation of PowerPoints & videos. However, there are also limitations with 40 different students in each class.
'Brain training' may be good to stimulate your child's mind, but I personally feel that there's no need to make a big hoohaa over it by spending hundreds of dollars on it when there's no scientific proof that it does increase a child's academic or mental capabilities. I've attended many trial lessons with my boy and was rather 'disappointed' at the activities. The activities done can actually be carried out during normal play at home if parents are willing to make the resources (cards) or buy them. If you are not sure of what activities or resources to prepare, there are many books in the library with simple instructions and lessons planned out for parents. If you can't read English, there are many Taiwanese books on this topic at Popular.
Don't mistaken that I'm not encouraging parents to send your kids to classes, my boy attends many different enrichment classes but I personally feel that 'brain training' is something that can be done easily at home through incidental learning instead of during a structured lesson.
The activities in are exactly what I've been doing with my boy since he was born. It's also a form of parent-child bonding & some activities can even be done in the car travelling from 1 place to another! My parents used to do it with my siblings & me to pass time (so that we do not fight in the car). It's fun & they don't realise that it's a 'lesson'!
Anyway, I feel that discovering the individual child's learning style is more important than brain training.
If your child is a visual learning (like me), bright pictures/colours will help alot. Use of flashcards & posters around the house will definitely help.
I only 'discovered' my learning style in S3 when one of my teachers told me to try to close my eyes & visualise the textbook I've been studying from for over a year. I realise that I can actually picture the book in my mind & flip the book & search for info in my 'virtual textbook'. From there, I actually decided to use different colours to write/highlight different types of information & organised everything using colours & colourful Post-It notes. It helped alot. Even at higher education, I was still using this method. People think that I'm mad when I close my eyes to focus during exams but only I know what I'm doing: I'm digging for answers in my brain. My parents did not send me for any brain training classes, it just came naturally & I learnt to tap on it.
I have a friend who is a audio learner. She remembers better when she listens to someone read information. How did she study? Pay attention in class & ask her mum to read her textbook to her. While others were busy writing notes during revision, she created audio notes. She read out important information/concepts and recorded them. Played them back to listen while she's doing her homework and whenever she's free. I find that her relationship with her mum is really very strong although she's working in Aussie. She told me how she'll still hear her mum reading to her when she misses her mum while working alone in Aussie
My sis is someone who has no 'logical thinking'. She has poor sequencing & this resulted in her poor calculations. She learnt to add & subtract through 'rote learning'. Repetition & constant practices. She requires all workings to be worked out neatly, we can't skip any steps when teaching her Maths. And at each step, there can only be 1 change.
Example:
Normally I would just do this:
140 - 5 x 8 + 50 - 40 x 2
= 140 - 40 + 50 - 80
= 70
With my sister:
140 - 5 x 8 + 50 - 40 x 2
= 140 - (5 x 8) + 50 - (40 x 2)
= 140 - 40 + 50 - (40 x 2)
= 140 - 40 + 50 - 80
= 100 + 50 - 80
= 150 - 80
= 70
At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself as parents: What do you want for your child?
Do you want a brainy child who will be a Phd holder in future but does not have 'heartware' or family bonding? Or do you want an all rounded child, even if he/she may not be the top in our society?
Every parent's expectations are different. As long as you know that you've given your best to your child by loving your child, that's all that matters.
My expectation of myself as a parent is to give my boy the opportunity to explore & discover himself, thus the exposure to different learning opportunities in forms of enrichment classes (swimming, music, art, etc).
Help Your Child to LOVE Homework!
Articles Contributed at KiasuParents.com
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/help-your-child-love-homework
My boy has started at a new kindergarten for N1 and he has weekly homework plus reading tests. Just share what we have done to show some positive results.
I was so worried when the school told us that there's homework cos I was worried that he'll resist doing homework that we had a 'plan'. It was tough cos we wanted him to love homework and did not want him to feel forced.
First homework came on Wednesday. It was a writing practice on the number '1'. Then came the 2nd piece of homework, a writing practice on small letter 'a'. And there were flashcards for him to practice reading (both English & Chinese).
My hb, maid and I figured out a 'plan':
Get a nice comfortable table for him (new one). Told him it's his table for doing written work (allowed him to take rough paper to scribble and colour using the table before school started)
When he gets home, get him to empty his bag & when he takes out the homework, make the homework sound exciting ('Wow! You've got some writing to do! It's going to be fun! Mummy/Daddy/Auntie will do it with you after lunch ok?' or 'Clever boy is going to show Mummy/Daddy/Auntie how clever he is when he writes nicely!')
When it's time, get him to help set up the table (take his pencil case with his pencils and colour materials)
Allow him to do some coloring (either on the worksheet if there are pictures to be coloured or on another colouring sheet), then once he's enjoying it, ask him to write '1' to show us.
Allow him to do as many as he like (there were around 15 boxes of '1' he had to trace), he stopped after around 8 of them. I just let him take a break and told him to drink some water, have a biscuit (of cos wash his hands first) and continue after nap. Wake up from nap, he watched some TV, had his milk and snack and continued with his writing. Finished his homework on the same day.
As he did his work, my maid & I were praising him on his nice handwriting. Sometimes he did not trace properly, I'll just ask him if that looks nice and he replied 'it's not perfect!'. He took the eraser and attempted to erase (I say attempted because he did the action of rubbing the paper but the pencil mark was still there cos he does not know how to erase properly). Then he made sure all were perfect and we got him to put it back neatly into the folder and keep it into his bag immediately.
The next day we actually got him started on the next piece of homework: writing 'a'. The start of the worksheet has some colouring activity (colour all the apples). So he started colouring (he chose the colour and colours out of line but we just let him be).
Got him to start tracing and he finished everything at one go. He was so pleased with himself! He got stickers as reward from me. After that, he actually went to his bookshelf, pulled out the book which I bought for him (tracing lines and small letters) and requested to do it too!
He's hooked!
We started allowing him to have the freedom to draw, colour and scribble in his book (I bought many exercise books for him) or on rough paper (I have a stack of recycled paper for him). Inspired by TAMARIND's girl He liked drawing/writing exercises and this made the transition to 'HOMEWORK' much easier. Plus he sees students at my place doing their work quietly at the study table, and it helps me to explain to him that everyone has to do homework so they'll be clever. You can create this by 'doing work' yourself! It could be just simple a word search or word puzzle or Sudoku! It's good to exercise our minds too.
If your kids are still young, do try to make it fun for them. Make them LOVE HOMEWORK. I keep telling my boy that he's so smart and clever because he managed to finish his homework. I think all kids want to hear that, whether their homework was well done or not. It's a good start cos they'll learn to take pride in their work.
If your kids are already school going children, do make the effort to praise them and reward them for doing their homework. It may not be very well done but you can still praise them for completing their work on time and tell them to try harder the next time so that they will feel proud of their work and themselves.
If we, parents, give a positive vibe about homework, I'm sure the kids will start to love it too! Let's start creating a love for homework in our kids!
P/S: I hated homework when I was in Primary school. But when I was in Sec school & my mum allowed me to redecorate my room & allowed me to choose my own study table, I started to love doing homework. It gave me a sense of pride to be sitting at MY TABLE - the table I CHOSE and LOVE - doing homework.
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/help-your-child-love-homework
My boy has started at a new kindergarten for N1 and he has weekly homework plus reading tests. Just share what we have done to show some positive results.
I was so worried when the school told us that there's homework cos I was worried that he'll resist doing homework that we had a 'plan'. It was tough cos we wanted him to love homework and did not want him to feel forced.
First homework came on Wednesday. It was a writing practice on the number '1'. Then came the 2nd piece of homework, a writing practice on small letter 'a'. And there were flashcards for him to practice reading (both English & Chinese).
My hb, maid and I figured out a 'plan':
Get a nice comfortable table for him (new one). Told him it's his table for doing written work (allowed him to take rough paper to scribble and colour using the table before school started)
When he gets home, get him to empty his bag & when he takes out the homework, make the homework sound exciting ('Wow! You've got some writing to do! It's going to be fun! Mummy/Daddy/Auntie will do it with you after lunch ok?' or 'Clever boy is going to show Mummy/Daddy/Auntie how clever he is when he writes nicely!')
When it's time, get him to help set up the table (take his pencil case with his pencils and colour materials)
Allow him to do some coloring (either on the worksheet if there are pictures to be coloured or on another colouring sheet), then once he's enjoying it, ask him to write '1' to show us.
Allow him to do as many as he like (there were around 15 boxes of '1' he had to trace), he stopped after around 8 of them. I just let him take a break and told him to drink some water, have a biscuit (of cos wash his hands first) and continue after nap. Wake up from nap, he watched some TV, had his milk and snack and continued with his writing. Finished his homework on the same day.
As he did his work, my maid & I were praising him on his nice handwriting. Sometimes he did not trace properly, I'll just ask him if that looks nice and he replied 'it's not perfect!'. He took the eraser and attempted to erase (I say attempted because he did the action of rubbing the paper but the pencil mark was still there cos he does not know how to erase properly). Then he made sure all were perfect and we got him to put it back neatly into the folder and keep it into his bag immediately.
The next day we actually got him started on the next piece of homework: writing 'a'. The start of the worksheet has some colouring activity (colour all the apples). So he started colouring (he chose the colour and colours out of line but we just let him be).
Got him to start tracing and he finished everything at one go. He was so pleased with himself! He got stickers as reward from me. After that, he actually went to his bookshelf, pulled out the book which I bought for him (tracing lines and small letters) and requested to do it too!
He's hooked!
We started allowing him to have the freedom to draw, colour and scribble in his book (I bought many exercise books for him) or on rough paper (I have a stack of recycled paper for him). Inspired by TAMARIND's girl He liked drawing/writing exercises and this made the transition to 'HOMEWORK' much easier. Plus he sees students at my place doing their work quietly at the study table, and it helps me to explain to him that everyone has to do homework so they'll be clever. You can create this by 'doing work' yourself! It could be just simple a word search or word puzzle or Sudoku! It's good to exercise our minds too.
If your kids are still young, do try to make it fun for them. Make them LOVE HOMEWORK. I keep telling my boy that he's so smart and clever because he managed to finish his homework. I think all kids want to hear that, whether their homework was well done or not. It's a good start cos they'll learn to take pride in their work.
If your kids are already school going children, do make the effort to praise them and reward them for doing their homework. It may not be very well done but you can still praise them for completing their work on time and tell them to try harder the next time so that they will feel proud of their work and themselves.
If we, parents, give a positive vibe about homework, I'm sure the kids will start to love it too! Let's start creating a love for homework in our kids!
P/S: I hated homework when I was in Primary school. But when I was in Sec school & my mum allowed me to redecorate my room & allowed me to choose my own study table, I started to love doing homework. It gave me a sense of pride to be sitting at MY TABLE - the table I CHOSE and LOVE - doing homework.
Why I sent my boy to ChildCare at 18 months old :)
Articles Contributed at KiasuParents.com
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/why-i-choose-sent-my-boy-childcare-18-months-old
I sent my boy to childcare at 18 months old.
Although I have a maid and my dad can help to look after during the day, I still sent him to childcare. Why?
At home, there's hardly any 'meaningful activity' during the day. He just plays on his own while my maid is busy with housework and preparing his food/clothes/etc.
My dad is not trained in education and does not know how to teach or what to teach. All he will do is play with my boy, bring him down for walks and let him watch TV. Nothing much learnt at home during the day when we are at work.
At childcare, my boy learnt to interact with other children. He learnt to share (something which is quite hard to teach at home since he's the only child at the moment). He learnt to be more vocal and verbalise his needs. He learnt to feed himself (something which may not happen with my maid and dad spoiling him at home). He learnt to pack up after himself (must put all the toys back at original place; though we enforce this at home, it's hard for him to carry it out. At school, all the kids do it together, so there's some peer pressure). He also learn to stand up for himself and defend himself when bullied. They also taught him to be very hygienic (must wipe up or wash up immediately after getting dirty).
Alot of 'softskills' which is hard for us to teach at home due to doting grandparents is taught in childcare.
Then there's academic knowledge too. They have storytelling everyday, song & dance, flashcards, art & crafts, etc etc. Their day is so fun filled. My boy enjoyed it very much.
Of cos the usual concerns of falling sick easily, getting HFMD, etc was there too.
We chose a SMALL childcare, not crowded, well seperated classes, good hygiene practices. In my boy's 1.5 years there, he got HFMD once but it was from church, not from childcare.
Before we started him in the CCC, we started him on some supplements to help boost his immune system. Probiotics, colostrum and multivits (due to his poor appetite at that time) were given 2-3 months before he started CCC.
He did not fall sick often like what others would mention. He only fell sick twice, once with HFMD, once with flu (got it from me & my hb).
Since we have extra help at home, my parents will take turns to pick my boy up at 5pm everyday instead of waiting till closing time, 7pm. My hb starts work rather late, so he sends my boy in at around 9+am everyday.
Now that my boy is older and easier to manage (more independant, will spend his time doodling, writing, playing on his own), we send him to a kindergarten (few hours a day). It's more academic focused, which is what hb & I want.
It's really up to individual needs and wants, plus how much your family can chip in to help
I think since it's SAHM or WAHM, for 3yo kid, can find a preschool for few hours a day instead of CC (Pre-nursery like my boy).
I know of SAHMs who send their kids to half day CC to have some 'alone time' and some time to catch up on housework. Some of them have A FEW kids at home (young babies), so they send the older ones to CC so that they can manage the baby in the day.
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/why-i-choose-sent-my-boy-childcare-18-months-old
I sent my boy to childcare at 18 months old.
Although I have a maid and my dad can help to look after during the day, I still sent him to childcare. Why?
At home, there's hardly any 'meaningful activity' during the day. He just plays on his own while my maid is busy with housework and preparing his food/clothes/etc.
My dad is not trained in education and does not know how to teach or what to teach. All he will do is play with my boy, bring him down for walks and let him watch TV. Nothing much learnt at home during the day when we are at work.
At childcare, my boy learnt to interact with other children. He learnt to share (something which is quite hard to teach at home since he's the only child at the moment). He learnt to be more vocal and verbalise his needs. He learnt to feed himself (something which may not happen with my maid and dad spoiling him at home). He learnt to pack up after himself (must put all the toys back at original place; though we enforce this at home, it's hard for him to carry it out. At school, all the kids do it together, so there's some peer pressure). He also learn to stand up for himself and defend himself when bullied. They also taught him to be very hygienic (must wipe up or wash up immediately after getting dirty).
Alot of 'softskills' which is hard for us to teach at home due to doting grandparents is taught in childcare.
Then there's academic knowledge too. They have storytelling everyday, song & dance, flashcards, art & crafts, etc etc. Their day is so fun filled. My boy enjoyed it very much.
Of cos the usual concerns of falling sick easily, getting HFMD, etc was there too.
We chose a SMALL childcare, not crowded, well seperated classes, good hygiene practices. In my boy's 1.5 years there, he got HFMD once but it was from church, not from childcare.
Before we started him in the CCC, we started him on some supplements to help boost his immune system. Probiotics, colostrum and multivits (due to his poor appetite at that time) were given 2-3 months before he started CCC.
He did not fall sick often like what others would mention. He only fell sick twice, once with HFMD, once with flu (got it from me & my hb).
Since we have extra help at home, my parents will take turns to pick my boy up at 5pm everyday instead of waiting till closing time, 7pm. My hb starts work rather late, so he sends my boy in at around 9+am everyday.
Now that my boy is older and easier to manage (more independant, will spend his time doodling, writing, playing on his own), we send him to a kindergarten (few hours a day). It's more academic focused, which is what hb & I want.
It's really up to individual needs and wants, plus how much your family can chip in to help
I think since it's SAHM or WAHM, for 3yo kid, can find a preschool for few hours a day instead of CC (Pre-nursery like my boy).
I know of SAHMs who send their kids to half day CC to have some 'alone time' and some time to catch up on housework. Some of them have A FEW kids at home (young babies), so they send the older ones to CC so that they can manage the baby in the day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)