As the students prepare for this year’s PSLE, it’s not only them who are under stress and pressure, parents equally are facing the anxiety related to the preparation and the results of the exam. No matter how much a child is prepared to appear for PSLE, some amount of nervousness is always there until the results are not out and it’s obvious to have this anxiety as after all, PSLE is one of the major exams a child appears for while studying in Singapore.
Many parents are more stressed about their child’s score in Mathematics and try their best to support them either by starting PSLE tuition for their child at the pre-school level or by themselves devoting more time to help their child with the subject preparations. Parents start focusing on their child from as early as pre-school, in the hope that a child can ace the PSLE mathematics paper.
The journey is not that easy for the parents who believe their child is not even average at mathematics. Now the question arises, “is it right to create a pressure on the child at this tender age just because he or she is not so well versed with the subject?” or “just let them be and not to make this PSLE look like a kind of monster to them”. Well, the answer to this lies somewhere in between. Since PSLE is one of the important milestones in a child’s educational journey, a child can prepare for a difficult subject like mathematics as early as P4 or P5. This early preparation will create a more positive approach and therefore, students will not have a lack of interest towards a subject like mathematics.
Also, every child is different from others and so is their learning capabilities. What may be an easy problem for one student, might be difficult for the other? Therefore, for teachers as well as parents it’s important to understand, how significant their role is as parents to be patient with the child and work on the fundamentals that are necessary to imbibe the confidence required to be comfortable with the subject.
The best way to start is by keeping a track of your child’s performance in mathematics. Tell them not to give up if they can’t score well in classroom exams. There is always a scope to perform better and learning can’t be stopped if a child doesn’t score well. Understand the problems a child face while learning the subject, take necessary measures to help them. Let them know, how learning can be interesting by helping them to solve their math problems, giving them rewards with each new assignment they complete. If required, can take the help of online assessment tools designed specially to analyze a child’s performance in mathematics and accordingly assisting them to understand the subject with much more ease and less confusion. This will not only motivate them but also infuse confidence required to appear for PSLE.
Apart from a child’s hard work, a rational approach is required from parents to cope up with this unnecessary phobia of PSLE. Set realistic goals for your child and encourage them to achieve them. Don’t create more anxiety for a child by repeating questions like “you have to get the good grades in PSLE”, “You are poor in math, what are you going to do in PSLE”. Your child is already under the stress of uncertainty when it comes to PSLE so show them you trust their abilities, guide them, help them to first work on fundamentals, celebrate their efforts, be in touch with the teachers and try to get feedback whenever required. Let PSLE not be a dark tunnel but an enriching learning experience for your child.
Thanks for the points, as a parent, we need to spend time with kids to understand their understanding of each type of questions and teach them the techniques and apply.