New teachers, new environment, new friends and new ways of learning... These can be overwhelming for our children who are well assisted and cared for at their own pace and comfort zone. Thus, anxiety in your child becomes inevitable.
Sharon entered Primary with fear and much anxiety. This resulted in fear and anxiety. She became deluded and quiet in school and isolated in class and in school. Her parents were also clueless in helping her settle in to Primary school. Means and ways were tried to encourage her to speak and participate in class activities, but to no avail. School teachers gave constant feedback that they are unable to fully access her with her not speaking and incomplete work.
This June, her mother came to our centre and enrolled her for our Holiday programme. After our 2 weeks camp, she being to be more confidence and began to talk. This was possible after integrating into our fun-filled learning activities and encouraging teachers and friendly peers. She became familiar with the environment and began to speak and participate in class. Sharon wasn't the only one who suffered from Primary school anxiety.
"The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced one of its biggest shake-ups to the schools and exams system on Sept. 28 2018."reported Mothership.
"The “Learn for Life” plan will take effect in 2019, and is aimed at encouraging students to excel in areas other than academic results."
Primary 1 and 2 students will not have to sit through any weighted assessments, including the P2 year-end exam.
https://mothership.sg/2018/09/moe-no-exams-report-card-reactions/
The Straits Times reported, "Starting next year, there will be no more exams at the Primary 1 and 2 levels, but pupils' progress will still be assessed through bite-sized pieces of work such as worksheets, class work and homework.
Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said earlier this week at the annual Schools Work Plan Seminar: "We know that teaching and learning comprise three important components - curricular goals and content, pedagogy and assessment, and together they form a triangle.
"Today, the three components are not balanced. As we overemphasised assessment, we inadvertently reduced the time available for schools to focus on teaching and learning. We need to redress this balance."
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/no-exams-in-p1-p2-progress-will-be-measured-in-other-ways
So why do we fret over getting our child ready for Primary school?
Herein lies the problem and challenge; the learning components – curricular goals and content, pedagogy and assessment. Parents are so used to rote learning in a systematic way with just getting assessment books and achieving your passing or even distinction results. With these “new” learning components, parents become lost in what should their children learn to be able to adapt to this new curriculum.
Children who have been exposed to integral learning possess more critical thinking skills in them. They are sociable, expressive and adapt to changes quickly. These children will be at the advantage and appear as smart and confidence, thus gain favour with teachers and peers. Hence, the ones who are deluded and quiet no longer stand out. They quickly lose confidence and fail to participate in class. On top of that, with the frequent assessment and practice paper, it stresses them.
Thankfully no exams for P1 and 2, but what happens in P3? Will my child cope? Is his foundation laid well? Will he/she be competent for PSLE?
Such questions are most parents’ concern and these are very legit questions and concern. Our MOE's integral learning is indeed a wholesome model but many of our parents and family aren't familiar or in similar learning environment. Wholesome learning wasn't the culture in the early 70s or 80s and parents born in the 90s are confused as to how learning would best be introduced and taught.
With both parents working, children are thrown to grandparents who are illiterate and are totally adamant to our English language school curriculum. Children who are transited from childcare centres are at an advantage to the wholesome learning. However, with the diverse family profile, it makes teaching in class challenging and futile. Getting your child ready and making sure a good wholesome learning is imposed is still vital to a healthy and stress free school life.
At Lydia Literacy World, we create an encouraging and affirming environment for the children. They learn through fun and engaging ways in the school subjects; English, Math and Chinese. We give parenting talks to prepare the parents psychologically and give constant feedback on the progress of their child. In this way, there will be consistency in home-school environment. Learning becomes less intimidating but fun and stress-free. Now Sharon delights in learning and begins to show prominent result in school.
Prepare your child early. We prepare our pupils when they were in K1. Not only does our curriculum include Phonics and reading, but also emotional stability and wholesome mindfulness. Good characters are re-enforced, affirmations empowered. We worked closely with parents and give constant feedback on your child's progress.
