So I have been dead quiet recently on the blogging front
besides some giveaways. The main reason is that P3 has taken a toll on both me
and the kiddo where I sort of lost my blogging mojo with the larger scheme of
things.
In January this year, I attended a Parent Teacher Briefing with
the hubs where we saw the kiddo’s new form teacher for the first time as she
was with the same teachers and classmates for the past 2 years. The new form teacher
shared on what they will be doing for each of the subjects and *dang dang dang
dang* the amount of daily homework.
The homework load was something which I have heard about
from well meaning friends but experiencing it, trying to manage the kiddo’s
schedule and encouraging her to attempt the work properly is an entirely
different matter.
We were told that MOE’s guideline is that the kids’ homework (at this level) does not exceed 1.5 hours at this stage. On the average, if the kiddo has homework
for 2 subjects daily, it will come up to 1.5 hours as she’s still learning to
focus on the task at hand (read: taking longer than usual to clear!). Added to
the fact that I am anal about vision breaks, the work sometimes can take more than
2 hours for her, with 3 subjects. Plus, our engines were a tad cold when we started the
year; everything has been slow to start. It has been trying and I have been doing
remote control parenting – calling to ensure that she’s started on her work. This
is because if the work is not completed before I get home, it will be a mindless mad rush when I get home!
Now that we are into week 9 with last week being a tad mad
with all the CAs (for all 4 subjects), I think we both have finally settled
into our new routine (without me having to nag much. Phew!)
Here’s sharing some tips which work for us:
- Have an hour break after school for some R&R plus lunch time before attempting to clear any work
- Getting the kid to list down all the items she needs to complete and then crossing them out when she’s done (it gives her immense satisfaction to cross them off the list too)
- On this note, my earlier challenge is that she does not have a habit of listing down the homework in her daily journal. *sweat* So there were instances where she completely forgotten about some. So I started some reward programme for her to record her homework and being a stationery lover, here's what I bought as some of the "rewards":
- For the kiddo, her focus and energy wane a bit after some time so I always get her to work on the “harder” stuff first
- Get your kiddo to place a clock / watch on the table so that he/she is able to manage his/her time better. This is also where I have been getting her to set targets for herself to finish by a certain time. This is our clock LOL
- Vision breaks after 45 mins for at least 15 mins. During this time, she’d make / take a drink, call me, head for bath room breaks, etc. before she starts the next task.
Having said that, with some new classes she has decided to
take on, this also means that we needed to work out a new weekend schedule but it has been a good balance of sports versus interest
versus work so far.
How’s your kiddo coping with the new academic year?
I’ve been trying to teach Sophie to take responsibility for her own learning whenever it comes to tests but I think she needs a lot more nudging. I’m a firm believer that when they have an ownership of their own learning, they will see the fruits of their efforts and that sense of responsibility is what will see them through life. Not looking forward to mountain of school work in P3…
ReplyDeleteHi Susan, you are not alone! Ideally they are more "gan cheong" than us but in reality... *sweat*. But I do think that it is a learned behaviour so it will take a while. Hugs and hang in there!
ReplyDelete1.5 hours a day?? And what are the MOE guidelines on how many hours of play they should have huh? *roll eyes* :D
ReplyDeleteLOL! Would you expect anything on this from MOE? :p
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