Help! My daughter is scoring Band 3 for her Math and Science! :(

"Help! My daughter is scoring Band 3 for her Math and Science!"

I met up with an old friend for lunch and this was our topic for the meal. A mother's plea for help.

I told her to take a closer look at the paper and see if her girl had any particular weak areas. Brush up these areas during this holidays and prepare her for CA2 when the school reopens.

I also shared about what I do in my private tuition and asked her to try out some of the strategies with her daughter.

After chatting for about fifteen minutes, she was taken aback by how much I shared. She told me not to share such precious strategies with any other parents. Her rationale is "If the parent can do all the teaching, then the parent will not need me as a tuition teacher."


"Don't share all the strategies! Parents will not need you if they can do all these!"


However, it is not so simple.

1. When I start to talk about learning strategies, I can blabber for hours because teaching is my passion. I could not stop talking about it!

2. The strategies I talked about could all be found in books and websites. I did not create them. They were widely available.

3. I speak of this with pride. You are not me. I can give you all the tools and materials but you will not be able to teach like me. It is simply different.

4. My tuition slots are very limited. If the parent terminates my service, the parent will need to rejoin the waitlist if he/she wants to engage my services again.


"I can give you all the tools and materials but you are not me. You will not be able to teach like me. It is simply different."


Ultimately, I just could not stop talking about teaching and learning. It is especially so when they are linked to motivational strategies for young children. I am just so interested in motivating young children.

We ended the conversation with her asking me about the pricing of my services. I am fully booked, but I will let her know if I open up any new slots.

------------------------------------------------------
What to do if you are in the same situation:

1. Do not panic. Go through your child's paper carefully and identify the gaps.

2. Close the gap by teaching the concepts again.

3. Let your child practice and see if he/she has understood.

4. Reteach if necessary.
------------------------------------------------------

If the situation persists, it is best to engage a private tutor for your child. I would select someone who is NIE-trained and is familiar with the MOE syllabus.

I teach because it is my passion and more importantly, it is my calling in life.

I had a previous blog on motivating children to learn but it was too technical for some parents. I hope this blog will be more digestible and implementable for parents.

Stay tuned!

(Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/WDj6j for monthly tips on how to motivate your child to study. A free ebook is included in the newsletter.)