It is natural for parents to be concerned about their children’s PSLE performance. Anxiety among parents is starting to build up, especially as the big date is coming close. This week, we are dedicating some time to answer some questions that worried parents may have on how to help your child prepare and do well in his/her PSLE. This is not an exhaustive list. If you have more questions, please feel free to send it to us at info@handsonlearning.com.sg.
Question: My boy's grades are not ideal and he is not worried. What should I do?
The first thing a concerned parent should do is to reflect why the boy is not worried. There may be several reasons for this. He might have put in his best effort, but is still not able to reap the results you expected. Thus, he is given up and allowing nature to take its course. He may also not be motivated in studying as he had not have an ideal school in mind to work towards. Alternatively, it may be that he has low expectations and is satisfied with his current results, despite your high expectations.
It is important to jointly address this issue with your child and try to motivate him, by helping identifying the underlying factors. One good framework to leverage is the POWER framework.
1) Plan – Discuss with him what he wants to be in the future and understand the motivations behind that goal. Once you understand his ambitions and aspirations, you can help him plan how to work towards the goal. For instance, if he wants to be a musician, you can help him identify the steps he needs to work on to get there.
2) Organise – Work together with your child to identify how you can achieve the goals, including finding the right secondary schools, researching their areas of excellences, affiliation. For instance, you can accompany him to the open house of School of the Arts and talk to teachers to understand the programme better.
3) Work on it – Help your child identify the entry requirements and guide your child to develop a plan of attack to achieve the results that can get him into his first choice school, School of the Arts. Seek help in subjects where he is weaker.
4) Encourage – It is important to provide the right support your child to work towards his goals, but do not take over the whole process. You should provide opportunities for him to achieve the goal and not force him to attend programmes you think will be helpful. For instance, let him know what enrichment classes are available to strengthen his portfolio, encourage him to select one that he likes and could do well in.
5) Review – You should continuously review his progress and praise him when he scores well in his tests or does well in his enrichment class. Whenever you give feedback, remember to be constructive. When you receive the news of his successful entry, congratulate him and ask him to think of the next steps and what he will do in the year ahead. If the application is not successful, do not reprimand your child. Instead work with him to identify alternatives.
Throughout the discussion, you can also help him to discover his strengths/talents and how these can help him in his studies now and in his life in the future. It is important to note that your role as a parent is critical to help your child do well. There are 3 tips that we would like to share with you:
1) Instead of exerting too much pressure on the child, generate enthusiasm. You can stress that PSLE is a mean (not an end) towards his secondary education. Discuss the "fun" and new challenges that he will be experiencing when he's in secondary school. In this way, the child will look forward to rather than dislike PSLE
2) Be realistic about your child's abilities when selecting secondary schools. When your child genuinely believes that he has a chance to meet the goal, he will be more willing to try. Motivation requires optimism and optimistic children are confident that if they work long and hard, and apply enough creativity, they will, in fact, succeed.
3) Reluctant learners are unwilling to learn for a reason. They often have been wounded by comments from friends or adults about their perceived abilities. Isolate the reasons behind your child's reluctance and work on them with positive encouragement and reinforcements.
Next week, we will talk about how to select the right pre-school for your child. Stay tune!
By Ms Brenda Yeow and Ms Angeline Tong
About HandsonLearning
- HandsonLearning Strategies
- HandsonLearning is a leading education consultancy specialising in inquiry-based experiential learning. Founded by Harvard trained specialists, we have in-depth experience working with educators both in Singapore and the United States, providing end-to-end services from concept and curriculum development to training and evaluation to assist education institutions, teachers and parents create enriching learning journeys for all learners. Our education partners include the Asian Civilisations Museum, the National Museum of Singapore, the Peranakan Museum, the Singapore Discovery Centre and the Singapore Science Centre. Last but not least, we are a pro-children organisation!!