5 Ways to Help Your P3 Child to Love Science

Here in Singapore, students embark on the learning journey to discover the wonders of science in primary 3. While most students start off the journey filled with high hopes and excitement (after all, science truly is a fascinating subject filled with amazing discoveries), they may soon lose interest in the subject upon learning that their love and interest may not be enough to help them score well in the science exams.

So, what can you do to help your children retain their passion in the subject and motivate them not to give up hope? Charmaine Choo, Assistant Director of Curriculum and Training at MindChamps shares the following tips to help parents instill a love in science in their children from the start:

1. Make learning fun

The rule of thumb to spur your child’s interest in Science is to make it comprehensible, engaging and fun.

You can achieve this by conducting simple Science experiments with your child such as making slime with cornflour, creating static electricity or making ice lollies. On a good day, you can also “wander and wonder” together. This could involve a trip to a nearby park, the Botanic Gardens or the Science Centre. Alternatively, you can also introduce your child to Science games and/or simulations online.

See also: How to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read

2. Make science relevant

When children see how the knowledge learnt in school is applicable to their lives, they will naturally become curious and interested to learn more.

Watch Science documentaries on channels such as Discovery Channel Animal Planet and National Geographic with your child and ask him/her questions such as:

Q: Why is it common practice to spread and hang towels after using them?

A: This increases their exposed surface area, thereby increasing the rate of evaporation of water.

Q: Why is it necessary to brush your teeth before going to bed?

A: Some bacteria in your mouth respire anaerobically and produce lactic acid that causes tooth decay.

Q: Why is it important to exercise regularly?

A: Aerobic exercise makes the heart stronger.

Q: Why is it important to put fresh milk in the fridge?

A: Low temperature slows the growth of bacteria.

When you relate the things that are taught in school to what your child already knows, this helps to increase his/her retention of the new information.

3. Be supportive of your child’s efforts to learn

Form a learning partnership with your child where partners are equal rather than adopting an instructor/student (master/slave) model. Ask your child what he/she is learning in school and encourage him/her to “fill the gaps” by seeking clarification. Empower your child to understand that learning is a process, and that failure is an important part of that process. Also, focus on your child's strengths and recognise and celebrate your child's achievements (no matter how small) as these forms of positive reinforcement will keep your child motivated to learn.

See also: Top Ways to Encourage Your Child to Learn Chinese

4. Inculcate healthy study habits

This includes being ready for class, paying attention during class and revising the material that was covered in class as soon as possible. It is also important to help your child stay organised and in control of his/her work. You can help your child by setting up a system when filing his/her school papers and assignments, and drawing up a simple and realistic timetable to follow every day. With everything in place, your child will be able to take charge of the learning schedule without feeling overwhelmed, and in turn, he/she will be more motivated to learn.

5. Communicate

Encourage your child to express his/her opinion, talk about his/her feelings, and make choices together. Good learners have the confidence to be heard without the fear of being judged, put down, discouraged or ignored.

On the other hand, it is also beneficial to catch up with your child’s teachers every now and then. This will give you a better understanding of the school curriculum and activities and help you support your child better. A positive parent-teacher relationship also demonstrates to your child that he/she can trust his/her teacher.

 

Does your P6 child need help in PSLE Science? Find out more about our PSLE Success™ programme now and book a one-on-one PSLE Learning Strength Evaluation for your child. 

Top Ways to Encourage Your Child to Learn Chinese

How do you encourage your child to learn Chinese? The learning of Chinese has myriad benefits. First of all, in Singapore, it is an academic requirement for children to study and do well in a mother tongue for PSLE. And since Chinese has long been, and is increasingly a language for business expansion, trade, engineering, tourism and cultural understanding, the learning of the language transcends academic achievement to wide usage in many aspects. In fact, it is a known fact that Mandarin is the most widely spoken language in the world.

Some children may not enjoy learning Chinese, especially when some perceive it to be the more difficult of the two languages (the less difficult being English) and because Mandarin is an entirely different language altogether, with different intonation and writing system.

Let’s find some ways to encourage your child to learn Mandarin, so that he/she becomes inherently interested in the language and culture, not just because you told him/her so.

1. Lay the Foundation by Being Positive about the Language

Show your child how Chinese can inspire, especially in that it is a modern language of tremendous relevance.

Bring your child to Kinokuniya and show her the comic books that she can read. If you are taking Singapore Airlines on your next holiday, flip open the KrisShop catalogue that is choc-a-bloc with latest gift items for children, drawing her attention to the descriptions for the products that are written in English as well as Chinese. Read them together, possibly replacing some difficult words for her and to encourage her, buy her the right gift.

2. Teach Your Child About the Culture as well as the Language

The Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Dance Theatre Limited, SHHKD, for example, seeks to cultivate an understanding and appreciation for Chinese dance by developing Chinese dance as an accessible art form for the larger community of all age groups and abilities, from toddlers to adults.

Learning about dance is a fine way to introduce your child to the language as well, as the instructions will point her in the right direction, literally.

While we could devote hundreds of pages to Chinese cuisine, we will leave that to you and your child’s culinary pleasure. Instead, we suggest that you bring your child to authentic Chinese restaurants pertaining to different dialect groups, to enjoy delicious steamed fish with shallots, fried noodles, Hakka abacus dish and more.

To teach him the art of Chinese cuisine, you can also indulge in dim sum, from learning to use chopsticks to pick up dainty morsels to the unique way of tapping two fingers as a way of saying ‘thank you’ when the waiter pours the tea.

And since Lunar New Year is round the corner, why not let him be a vital part of lao yusheng (raw fish tossing)? Prep your kid to recite auspicious words as the family tosses away, teaching him to say kwaigao zhangda (to grow up quickly) and dajia yiqilao (let’s do it together!).

3. Help Your Child Develop Natural Literacy Skills

Research from Professor AE Cunningham, University of California, Berkeley shows that children who come from homes where parents have dedicated time to giving them regular, enriching reading and writing experiences have significant academic advantage over children who have not had these experiences.

It’s important to point out here that some parents believe that making their children memorise characters and isolated words (or ‘phonics’) is the way to introduce reading to their children. This is monotonous to the child.  In addition, this kind of learning simply makes children ‘decoders’ of what they learn, not a ‘reader’ who understands what he is reading or one who is excited about reading.

Consider this: “Research does in fact show that preschoolers who have better letter naming and recognition skills tend to become better readers later on [and] these skills are best developed through ‘natural literacy activities’, not drill and memorisation. There is no evidence that memorising alphabet letters out of context predicts later reading skills.” (Raver & Zigler, 2004)

Here are the top natural literacy activities that create the best readers and writers:

I. Read to your children every day – this exposes him to multiple language structures, a wide vocabulary and the sheer joy of language.

II. Engage in conversation with your child frequently – this expands her spoken vocabulary. Research shows that strong verbal skills are linked to strong reading skills.

III. Point out written language in your environment – For example, point out writing on things such Chinese shop signs, packaging and posters. This connects the written word with useful and important information.

IV. Arrange play dates with friends – This encourages social interaction and will expand your child’s Chinese vocabulary through negotiation, discussion and role play.

V. Ensure your child observes you reading – When you read in front of your children you are being a strong role model, communicating that you value reading.

VI. Make your home a ‘literacy rich environment’ – Ensure you have plenty of reading materials available at home such as a bookshelf of age appropriate books, in addition to other forms of reading materials such as magazines, newspapers , brochures and on computers, as e-books.

VII. Have a set of magnetic characters on your fridge – This encourages your child to spontaneously manipulate letters and begin forming words.

If you are not a fluent speaker of Chinese, why not take this opportunity to learn the language together?

According to Brian Caswell, MindChamps Dean of Research and Programme Development: “At MindChamps Chinese PreSchool, we cultivate the necessary skills within our pre-schoolers so that they can become enthusiastic life-long speakers, listeners, readers and writers. We also develop their confidence in both written and spoken Mandarin and English. Our approach is based on the latest scientific research into language acquisition and the importance of a child's engagement with language, rather than the discredited "drill and kill" approach.  As such, we have incorporated age and developmentally appropriate fun and engaging activities and programmes such as MindChamps Reading & Writing, The Love for Chinese Language and Chinese Cultural Appreciation.”

5 things parents should know about the Direct School Admission (DSA) programme

Is there another option besides PSLE that determines your child’s admission into secondary school? There is, and here are some factors to consider in acing that option, called Direct School Admission - Secondary, or DSA-Sec.

[caption id="attachment_11208" align="aligncenter" width="363"] Quell some nerves during PSLE by going the DSA route.[/caption]

What is DSA?   

A DSA-Sec participating school is one that offers your child the opportunity to secure a place in secondary school prior to Secondary One posting, after the release of the PSLE results, through the following considerations.

Getting onto the DSA route has several advantages. Firstly, by looking at past results, you can determine how well your child would fare in the PSLE. This has the effect of quelling some nerves. Secondly, DSA goes beyond academic results to consider your child’s chances in the areas of sports, music and drama, for example.

As with all important milestones in life, DSA is a programme that is supposed to work for you, but in cases of insufficient or ineffective planning, the situation could wreak havoc or be reduced to nothing instead.

Thus, we provide you with the following tips so you have a better idea of DSA and how it works:

Ensure you are not barking up the wrong tree

You can find out a with distinctive programmes participating in DSA-Sec Exercise. If your child has an interest or has already cultivated Community and Youth Leadership, Admiralty Secondary School might just be the school you want to target. Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) lists Speech and Drama, as well as Sports & Outdoor Education. East Spring Secondary School is into Environmental Science & Sustainable Living and Community & Youth Leadership, while there are several schools that list “English Language” as pivotal for applicants.

It’s prudent to have a school of choice in mind, with two alternative options when planning for your child’s DSA-Sec application. This may prove to be a piece of wise advice indeed.

 

Start Planning Early

Most agree that Primary 4 is a good time to start planning. Planning can begin by ascertaining your child’s potential for what’s to come. Say your child is a genius for debating on a wide range of subjects, but if he/she still feels uncomfortable with public speaking, then it’s something that he/she can work on.

DSA is not a haphazard accumulation of result slips, but rather, a compilation of proper documentation provided by the school, such as examination results or certificates to show your child’s persistent participation in the non-academic area of choice.

Academic wise, based on results beginning from primary 3, you can determine if your child is apt academically or otherwise, so that you can begin your efforts to encourage him/her to tread in the right direction. Do note that children who get into the DSA scheme are usually children from the top or second top classes in their schools.

What are the procedures?

Some schools require applicants to do a piece of writing, like “Why You Chose Our School”, while other schools get the hopefuls to sit through a test. Some schools will have the candidates undergo a selection process, like organising debates to determine the best speakers and winning teams.

There will likely be an interview with your child. This is the part that can be quite challenging for him/her.

The Interview

Another major way to overcome this is to seek help through specialised programmes such as the MindChamps Thinking Cap Programme. Apart from helping your child build self-esteem, confidence and motivation to study, the programme also leads to learning outcomes like improved ability in oral communication, increased ability to understand and express written English, synthesis and expression skills, and more.

 

To find out more, click here to book seats to our next complimentary workshop!