Things You Can Do To Help Your Kids Prepare For Exams

Direct School Admission (DSA) resurfaced as a hot topic of discussion in the education fraternity when the Ministry of Education (MOE) recently announced changes to admission guidelines. To give PSLE-taking students a fairer opportunity to enter elite secondary schools the likes of Raffles Institution, Dunman High, Anglo Chinese School and Hwa Chong Institution, general academic ability tests will be scraped in stronger favour of sports or arts talents.

Although adaptive parents have come up with ways to game the system – by enrolling their children in specialised sports coaching – this same bunch of students who successfully booked their places into their (parents’) secondary school of choice have reportedly struggled to keep up with their peers academically.

This just shows DSA has its drawbacks and academic scores still matter. Students still have to “mug” until they hemorrhage in the brain. Instead of pushing them two-dimensionally and aggravating their stress level, there is much room for you as a parent to play the supporting role in managing the exam madness. Here’s how to do it right without stretching them over a million tuition classes.

Enrichment classes

As if those endless tuition classes aren’t enough, parents are trying to make a Schooling out of their children. They spare no expense in engaging professional sports coaches so as to turn their little ones into sports champs. The DSA has, in no small part, contributed to this trend. As a result, children have practically zero space for a breather. The math, science, creative writing and other extra-curricular classes outside of school may effectively aid in the pursuit of academic excellence, but at what cost? This could be a case of too much too soon.

The ironic thing is, enrichment classes do nothing to enrich your riches. Course fees at brand name enrichment centres don’t come cheap. Tuition has become somewhat inevitable now, but that doesn’t mean you should sign your kids up for everything. You don’t need to be an economics major to understand the concept of diminishing returns. Do yourself a favour, save the thousands, and sign your kids up for only the subjects they struggle with the most.

As for the rest of the subjects, if you can help your kids DIY it, DIY it. When that fails, there’s always Mr Google to play tutor, right?

Be the academia version of Sun Tzu

What we mean is, strategise and plan early. There is almost one full year’s worth of time to prepare for the big exam and as much as it is clichéd, you are indeed setting yourself up for failure if you fail to plan. Your kids may not have learned to adopt a long-term approach to things, which explains why so many students like to take a shortcut known as “spotting questions” right before an exam.

Well, here’s our study tip: combine both. Start early and “spot” smart. Study past-year papers to get a feel of questions that frequently pop up, then work around it. At the same time, take some of the guesswork out by instilling in your kids the habit of writing a summary at the end of each completed chapter or topic. A little note-taking goes a long way in covering all the bases, compared to a major revision cramp at the last minute.

Manage expectations

In a way, Singaporean parents are just typical Singaporeans: they love to compare. But it is exactly because of excessive grades comparison that causes unhappiness and a niggling feeling of never being good enough in kids. On seeing top students score A’s like there is no tomorrow, expectations go haywire.

Remember not all of us are born the same. Some of us are late bloomers, which calls for a different strategy and pace. Refrain from feeding your kids unrealistic goals like becoming a Math whiz overnight, or imposing scary consequences for failing a test. The Tiger Mum shtick is fear badly disguised as motivation. Take some focus off the outcome (i.e. getting into good schools) and invest it into the journey. Work baby steps, build momentum and celebrate little achievements.

A good night’s sleep

You snooze, but you won’t necessarily lose. The sheer intensity of students’ workload nowadays is forcing them to sacrifice not just play time, but the amount of sleep as well. According to the NurtureSG committee, an advocate for children’s physical and mental well-being, nine to 11 hours of rest is recommended for children between the ages of six and 13. Insufficient rest could impair cognitive abilities, which is surely counterproductive to exam performance. If late bedtimes are due to excessive gaming or Facebook-ing, regulate it.

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