PSLE preparation? What are the ways to help your child?
Every year, the PSLE alters the pace of life in Singapore. Everything becomes PSLE – news, discussions, daily activities, even sleeping – everything is punctuated by this exam. As a parent, you’re under a lot of pressure to fully participate in the process.
Here are 4 ways you can help your child:
- Targeted practice
- Practice is necessary but make it specific. As the exam date approaches, make sure your child is concentrating on areas where he or she can make a difference. It is truly too late to learn new abilities and methods for exam tasks on which they have performed poorly. Instead, look at tasks where they only get a half-decent grade. These indicate that there is a solid knowledge base to build on.
- Exam skills vs language
- Your child’s language skills are as good as they will get for the exam in the weeks leading up to the big day. Don’t have them memorize word lists or answer models. Instead, insist on time limitations whenever they undertake assignments from practice books — buy an egg timer or utilize the countdown timer on their phones. Setting a time limit, doing the exercise, checking the answers, reflecting on the answers, resting, and then repeating helps time management and breaks up the revision into more manageable chunks.
- Read, read, read
- Reading time is spent learning how to write time. Encourage your children to read widely even at this late stage can have a good impact if you help them reflect on what they read. There are numerous model texts available that cover each task in Paper 1.
- Embrace the good
- Whether you have the academic skills to be more hands-on during the final revision period or not, it is beneficial to do your best to ensure that your child feels as confident as possible on exam day. Children who enter an assessment room just thinking about their flaws are already on the defensive psychologically. Every child has a skill that they excel at when compared to other duties. Take the time to find out what these are by talking to your youngster. Looking beyond the exam, understanding, and reminding your child of their skills in other areas will help with confidence.
Resource:
https://www.britishcouncil.sg/five-ways-prepare-psle
