And so on to Primary Three...

On 11th Dec, I gave a talk to about 180 parents at Suntec City on making the transition from primary 2 to primary 3. The session also gave me an opportunity to talk about the primary 3 materials that I’ve worked on with Marshall Cavendish and a team of writers. Judging from the response and the questions asked, I could see that there was a lot of anxiety among parents about how the lower primary curriculum will prepare their children for primary 3. I empathise with them but I don’t think they should worry too much. From my own experience working with schools and with holistic assessment strategies, I am confident that students will be well prepared. Having said that, I would also add that what will probably vary is the degree of preparedness, and this is unavoidable since schools and teachers are never homogeneous.

What parents worry about is how well their children are trained for formal exams since there will be fewer such formal tests in the lower primary. I assured parents that teachers worry about this too. Learning the test format is not difficult. Learning to finish the tasks within a prescribed time will take a while but it’s not impossible. Knowing what to do is also teachable. What is most difficult is to ensure that students have the necessary basics that will enable them to do the exams and by this, I mean the literacy skills.

Students must have learnt the basic reading and writing skills in the lower primary to ensure a smooth transition into primary 3. The gap between primary 2 and 3 is considerable; just check the texts, tasks and learning outcomes stated. Without a sound foundation, children will struggle and they won’t be able to cope with the everyday tasks, let alone exams. Parents should ensure that their children are reading well by the end of primary one, although I must also add that children learn to read at different ages and there’s no magic age for when they should be able to read. However, if they are still not reading well by the beginning of primary 2, some intervention is crucial.

At the end of primary 2, students should also be able to write the basic sentence structures, and good writers will be able to use adjectives and adverbs to elaborate on their sentences. They will be able to write simple compound and complex sentences using appropriate vocabulary. Some students can write long stories at this stage but I don’t think that’s typical of a primary 2 pupil. The ability to write good sentences is a good goal to work towards; telling a story in sequence is a bonus. A child who can write a good sentence is already exhibiting good grammar knowledge. As long as the meaning of the sentences and the story is clear, I don’t worry too much about the grammar, especially the tenses. They have a whole school life to learn how to do that well and when adults still struggle with agreement and tenses, why should primary 1 or 2 pupils have to master these well at their age?

A knowledge of the basic letter-sound system is essential too and this means being able to spell the basic words or to approximate the spelling of these words. My teachers know that I always complain about the unrealistic spelling lists that primary school children get. They should learn and spell words that they need to write, not words that they don’t need. These words, e.g. surgeon, are unlikely to appear in their writing although they should recognise and read them. A word like surprise however, is more common and useful for writing and its spelling should be learnt.

Good penmanship is also important and the ability to form the letters correctly and well is the first step towards learning how to write in cursive. Cursive writing allows students to write faster and more efficiently. Children who are still printing letters in the upper primary will be hindered in the exams because they cannot write as fast. So parents should not neglect penmanship or do the handwriting tasks for their children.

The lower primary STELLAR programme focuses on a rich reading curriculum and a supported writing programme that builds on children’s oral language. Twenty five years or so ago, we had a similar programme called the Reading and English Acquisition Programme (REAP), and it has been the only literacy programme we’ve had that produced positive results that were documented in research papers. REAP was a revolutionary literacy programme that laid the foundation to much of the English curriculum in the later years. STELLAR brings back the best of the REAP strategies. But although STELLAR is a sound programme, its success is dependent on how well teachers are trained to deliver the contents. All teachers do get the necessary support but there are teachers and teachers. We must remember that the curriculum itself is inert; it’s the teachers who bring it to life. So, I would say don’t worry about the curriculum. Think instead of how teachers are teaching your child in class because no matter how hard the MOE works, there’s no way they can teacher-proof the materials. And I must add that just because a teacher is not doing what another teacher is doing does not mean that she/he does not know what to do. Good teaching is fluid, and it changes and flows with the rhythm of the classroom and the pupils.

As for the new holistic assessment (HA), I can only say that I support it. Having worked closely with a school on their programme, I can say that HA provides useful feedback for teachers and parents. Teachers are also guided by HA to know what they should be teaching. If HA goes wrong, it’s often because it’s not well implemented. Implementation requires careful thinking through of what the learning outcomes should be for each term and each year, and also what teachers should do to ensure that these learning outcomes can be achieved.

So, for all parents of young children, I will still say that you need to ensure that the basics are in place. By the basics I mean reading and writing skills and these in turn are dependent on a sound knowledge of the alphabet and the alphabetic principle. But these alone are inadequate. Children need to also develop a love for reading and learning, a curious and critical mind, the ability to ask and answer questions, to focus on a task at hand, and to have the discipline and attention span to see them through many different tasks. They also need the ability to work together with others, to have compassion and respect for those who are different, and integrity and honesty to make it through their little classroom and school world. These soft skills are increasingly more and more important for success in school and life and they should first be learnt at home.

At home, parents should focus on being parents first and not be too worked up about “teaching” their children. Regardless of our own educational backgrounds, there’s a lot we can do to help our children do well in school, and these do not even require textbooks or assessment books. For instance, reading and talking to your child are two very significant and useful school preparation activities. Remember, although you are your child’s first teacher, what you choose to teach him or her can make a lot of difference in your child’s life.

Finally, I must mention the Society for Reading and Literacy (SRL) whose mission is to promote reading and literacy in Singapore. SRL sells an old but useful DVD on how to read with your child. This made-in-Singapore DVD shows Singapore parents in action and includes some useful notes for those who are not sure what to do.

ADVERTISEMENT: Workshops for 2011

If you are looking to book a workshop for your school or your PSG next year, please refer to the calendar in my website here.



All Wednesdays in Semester 1 have been taken up; the earliest Wednesday is in late July. Other available slots are indicated in the calendar. Please book early to avoid disappointment. Thank you.

A Jakarta Jaunt

Last week, I went on a 3-day trip to Jakarta to officiate at the opening of the new Adam Khoo Learning Centre there.

I’ve been in and out of Jakarta before mostly on business so this is my first extended trip there and I was not disappointed. Immediately upon my arrival, I was whisked away to do a 2-hour interview which will be published in Kompas, the largest circulating newspaper in Indonesia. Being interviewed was a strange experience for me because it involved reviewing and recalling many personal aspects of my life, including memories of events that I have almost forgotten. The gentleman who interviewed me was very interested in my literacy work; apparently reading and writing are not taken seriously there.

I also conducted a workshop for teachers and visited some bookshops and an art gallery. The malls in Jakarta are huge and very impressive. Outside, the traffic crawled and horns blared loudly. Inside the malls, it was cool and full of lovely displays of expensive local and imported products. Indeed, Jakarta was full of pleasant surprises. The food was delicious, the service, friendly and the people I met were incredibly hospitable. I don’t think Singaporeans show the same level of hospitality that the Indonesians displayed; indeed, I would say we don’t understand what real hospitality means.

There are loads to shop for and the batik was especially lovely. Unfortunately, this was not a shopping trip for me so I will have to go back again. On the way to the airport, we stopped for a foot, leg, hand and back massage which went on for one and half hours and all for a princely sum of S$5.

I was glad to have made this trip. Although it was a short visit, it gave me some insight into the Indonesian way of life, and I came away with a deeper appreciation of the people and their culture. I know I am very glad to have made some new friends in Jakarta.

Cruising down the Yangtze

It's autumn on the Yangtze River. The leaves on the trees and bushes are turning a vivid red and yellow and by winter, the hillsides will be ablaze with red. A barge loaded with sand(?) chugs slowly down the now peaceful river.

On the way, we stop for a visit to the Fengdu ghost city. Its location on top of a hill is breathtaking but the ghosts were missing. I think they were visiting Haw Paw Villa.


An example of the amusing Chinglish found at Fengdu and elsewhere in China. The guide explained that the Chinese rely on Google for translation from Chinese to English. With interesting results, I must add.

Another cruise ship, much like ours, passing by. In the back, the steep hills of the gorge tower above the emerald green waters of the river.

Many villages and towns were "drowned" when the Three Gorges Dam was built. This is one of the new towns, rebuilt higher along the coast of the river.

A view of the Three Gorges Dam. It was a foggy day. The Dam is an amazing piece of engineering and everyone has their view about its impact on the region.

The ship locks where boats and ships enter and drop almost 100 metres to pass the dam into the next stretch of the river.


The world's fastest train. We travelled on it from Wuhan to Guangzhou. The highest speed reached was 345 kilometres per hour.

In the outskirts of Wuhan, we saw three dogs, stripped of their skins, hanging from a rack along the roadside, ready for the cooking pot. That took away our appetites but not for long. We had a dish of beef cooked in chilli and served drowned in chilli oil. Although it was fiery red, it was not hot and was the most delicious dish we had on the trip.

In Guangzhou, we stayed on Shamien island. This area has a distinctly European influence with wide leafy boulevards and little traffic. Beautiful life-like statues dotted the lovely parks there. Brides and models were out in full force that weekend.

Young people had their fun with the sculptures too. I had a great holiday. Three days and nights on the river with no Internet, intermittent TV reception, a pleasant cool nip in the air, and a ship full of Chinese tourists- well, maybe fewer Chinese tourists would be ideal but we had some interesting cultural exchanges over dinner and wine.

How To Study

Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life. Henry L. Doherty



I guess this post is a bit late because the exams are over and the holidays are here soon. Nevertheless, this can be information for you when thinking about your children’s study habits and may help you plan what you can do to help their learning in the coming year.

The New York Times published an article on Sept 6, 2020 entitled “Forget what you know about good study habits” and in it, Benedict Carey dismissed some long cherished notions about how we should study. Here is a summary of the key findings:

1. Psychologists have found no support for the belief that children have specific learning styles i.e. they are either visual or auditory learners or they are left or right brained learners. Catering to their specific learning styles does not help learning.

2. Studying consistently in a specific place, room or quiet corner of the library does not promote learning. Scientists found that students remember better when they study in different locations. They believe that with a change in contexts, the information to be learnt is enriched and that slows down forgetting.

3. Students who study different types of material or different subjects in one sitting recall more information than those who study just one subject at a single sitting. So, it might be better to do a bit of each subject than just all of one subject.

4. Intensive immersion in a subject does not help retention. It’s better to space out the studying, for example an hour a day, an hour over the weekend etc. Such spacing out of the learning allows the brain to pack the information in carefully and gradually. Students don’t have to put in extra effort and they end up remembering more.

5. Testing helps recall because tests not only measures knowledge but they change it. Students who studied some material twice, in back to back sessions, did well on a test given immediately afterwards but they also forget the material after a while. Those who studied the material once and did a practice test in the second session, did well on a test two days later and another given a week later. So there’s something to be said for the teach-test-teach model.

6. The harder the material is, the harder it is to forget. Don’t let difficult material scare your children.

These are interesting claims, and there may just be some truth in them. But some of you may say that we grew up with the old ways of learning and we did okay. True. Indeed, nothing can take the place of motivation and the hunger to succeed when it comes to getting good grades. Without the motivation, these insights may just well be a waste of time. But then again, these ideas may just be what your child needs to go the extra mile.

On a separate but related topic, read what Dr Marvin Marshall has to say about sitting up straight. This is taken from his newsletter Promoting Responsibility and Learning.


When you were growing up, your mother may have told you to sit up straight. She gave good advice because good posture helps you look confident and make a good impression.

It turns out that sitting up straight can also improve how you feel about yourself, according to a study in the October 2009 issue of the European Journal of Social Psychology.

Researchers asked college students to rate themselves on how good they would be as job candidates and employees. Those who were told to sit up straight before filling out a form gave themselves higher ratings than those instructed to slouch while filling out the rating form.

Once again, Mom was right.

Source: MarvinMarshall.com

Once again, we have much unlearning and re learning to do.

Mabuhay!

Miss Philippines and Miss Singapore at the parade of nations

I’ve just returned from a trip to Manila where I presented a plenary paper and conducted a workshop for teachers. That was not my first time there; indeed, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been there but this was probably the second time in Manila itself, and that means along Roxas Boulevard, the Orchard Road of Manila. The other times were outside Manila or in the suburbs.

I’ve known the folks at the Reading Association of Philippines (RAP) since my days in the Society for Reading and Literacy (SRL), and have kept up a friendship with them through my involvement in the regional literacy group, International Development in Asia or IDAC. IDAC is affiliated to the International Reading Association (IRA). The Philippines make many people nervous because of the many negative stories about terrorists and kidnappers. The truth is every country has its bad places. I remember the years when I lived in Oakland, California. Oakland was then known as the homicide capital of the US because of the number of drive-by shootings. But my family and I had a good stay there and never once met a bad guy, if you don’t count the homeless guys along Telegraph who only wanted a quarter for coffee.

Whenever I am in the Philippines, my friends there make me feel safe and I don’t do anything silly to endanger myself. It helps that everyone there thinks I am a Filipino. People don’t just come up and ask if I were a Filipino; they just speak to me straightaway in Tagalog. I am used to this having had the same experience in other parts of the world, even in Europe. My friend, Merlene, taught me a couple of Tagalog words to use as retorts like talaga, which means “really” or “is it?” which I toss out every now and then with the appropriate intonation.

The conference was held at Manila Hotel, which is the Raffles Hotel there. It’s historic and majestic with an old world charm. Filipinos are always warm and friendly and Filipino teachers show their appreciation by taking pictures with you. Filipinos are crazy about photo taking. So for the two days, I acted like a celebrity and was posing for photographs here and there. Some teachers also remembered me from my last visit there several years ago and that was gratifying although I had great difficulty responding to comments like, “Surely you remember me? I was the one who gave you the answer about comprehension.” Sometimes it takes me a while to recall a face; other times, I’m afraid this old brain has too many holes in it. Do forgive my lapses in memory.

Filipino teachers, as you all know, are not well paid but despite that, they participate actively in professional organisations. As part of the activities at the conference, I was able to help sponsor some literacy programmes as well as two teachers to become members of the International Reading Association. It made me think about how few Singaporean teachers find the need to join any professional organisation although they can well afford it and the subscription fees are low. Perhaps being an MOE teacher is already enough since MOE provides everything, but does this mean that professional organisations here like SRL and ASCD have no hope of ever growing a strong membership base among teachers? In a poor country like the Philippines, the Reading Association was able to celebrate their 40th anniversary and their past president, Sally Labanda has the distinction of being the first Asian board member at IRA.

We have such success at ASCD, and Dr Ang Wai Hoong and Miss Betsy Lim have been past board members at ASCD International. But we have a lot more support and resources than the Filipinos. Every time I am at an international event with them, I am constantly impressed with the way the Filipinos present themselves. You can’t mistake the sense of unity and fierce pride they have of their culture and country. Filipinos I meet often sigh with some envy and longing when they hear I am from Singapore; it’s the land of milk and honey for them. Sadly, when I am home, I hear nothing but grouses, whines and complaints.

At the opening of the conference, a group of adorable kids paraded in the costumes of the different nations. Miss Singapore, as you can see in the picture above, really looks the part. Check out the attitude. Miss Philippines also represented the country well. Check out the big smile and the costume.

My Writing Process or 8 tips for getting the writing done

It’s a great relief to be almost done with the books. I mean the textbooks and the supplementary materials that I’ve been working on for P3 pupils. I did enjoy doing them although there were tedious moments of reading and rereading the manuscripts. And it didn’t help that everything had a short deadline. But they’re done and now I am free, hurray, until we get started on the P4 books.

In the meanwhile, I’ve been thinking about this blog. I have many things to write about but I don’t always have the time. And sometimes when I have the time, I prefer to read a book. Writing is hard; reading is more fun and easier. But I don’t hate writing. I used to when I was younger, but after years of slogging at it, writing comes easier to me now. I also write to earn an income so I often have to write stuff that I won’t write under normal circumstances. But when I have to do that, I try to find the enthusiasm for it too and when I do, I feel good about the writing.

So after doing the books, I wrote a draft piece on writing for students. I did that in a weekend, and it was a satisfactory draft, considering that it’s about a dull subject like sentence structure. But since the beginning of the month, I’ve been working on a piece for a conference in early November. I’ve been invited by IDAC (International Development in Asia) a regional literacy organisation to be one of the plenary speakers at their conference in Manila on the theme Educating Teachers of Literacy.

I must admit that I have not written a long paper for a while. The longest piece I’ve written, in recent memory, is less than 2000 words, compared to the five to seven thousand word pieces I used to churn out in my other life. Writing a couple of thousand words isn’t that hard if I knew how I want to angle my paper. Unfortunately, that’s the hard part.

I began, like always, by looking up material that I might want to use or that’s related to my topic. So, I dragged out all my older publications, googled and checked out recent material on the topic. I had no intention of writing a serious research piece. Plenary presentations can be very boring for participants (I have been to many of these) and I thought something personal and a little light-hearted but with a couple of solid ideas should be good. Well, that’s easier said than done really. I finally wrote three versions, and versions 1 and 2 are completely different from the final version. I guess this is because I began with an idea in my head and I wanted to make the idea work and it wouldn’t. I tried two versions but I must add that within the two versions are numerous revisions. When the second version did not happen, I put the whole thing aside for a week and spent time with my sister who was visiting from KL. We cooked, shopped and chatted and I did nothing related to the paper for a whole week.

After she left, I began work on the student piece on writing. But on Saturday evening, I had dinner with my husband and over a Peranakan buffet, I told him about my paper and what I wanted to say. And suddenly, it’s all there. On Monday morning, I wrote 5 pages of my third version and there it was! Something like a plenary was finally shaping up. I put that aside for another week. You would have guessed by now that I have given myself a lot of time to work on this paper. I thought about bits of it on and off while doing my other chores, and on Saturday, hurriedly jotted down two points which came to me in a flash while brushing my teeth, and rushed out to town for an errand.

On Sunday, I printed out a draft but got distracted by a book I had begun reading, and decided to finish reading that first instead of working on the paper and that led me to today, Monday.

I have just looked through the paper and added the two points to it as well as a bit of a conclusion. That came up to 3544 words. Now, I will put it aside for another day or so before looking through it for a final print out for next week. But that’s not the end, of course. I will still be tinkering with it and working on bits here and there till the moment I stand in front of the podium and start talking about it. This time, I’m not even doing a final copy with references and all because I am not looking to publish it, well, not immediately anyway. It will take me another day or more if I have to put in the references as well. Regretfully, the piece is not as light hearted as I wanted to make it (can literacy be light hearted anyway?) but I guess I’ll try to present it in a light hearted manner. More importantly, it has something significant to say and the several solid ideas I needed.

Why am I writing this in my blog? Well, many of my friends write or are published writers. We often talk about writing and while I do believe there’s good writing and not so good writing, I also have a lot of respect for people who actually sit down and get it done. I am one of those who have not got down to writing many stories that I’d like recorded. In my mind especially are two great stories about my childhood with my siblings which I have entitled, Mushrooms soaked in virgin’s urine and Three blind mice. Then there are all those stories about my parents. I believe that my time has not come for doing this. I am too busy with other work and other writing at this point in my life. And I’m still looking for the best way to tell the stories.

But I know it can be done. So I am sharing here my tips for getting the writing done, and I don’t care what writing it is.

8 tips for getting your writing going

1. Begin by doing some research and thinking. You have to do this or else you won’t have anything to say. I reread my previous related papers. I read other books and journals to check on what has been written about the topic. I go online to search for resources. I make copious notes, usually on the back of used envelopes (Don’t follow this example of mine!)

2. I make an outline. I begin by writing something like, In this paper, I want to …. And I write down what I want to achieve in the paper. It helps me narrow the focus.

3. Talk to a lay person about it. I talk to my husband who is not in education. I run the arguments pass him and I ask if they make sense to him. I talk to as many people as I could about the paper and ask them for their feedback. Talking about the ideas help me understand what I am trying to do. They also make me obliged to finish the paper as people will ask about it!
4. When I have read enough, and this is a tricky concept, I start writing. What is enough? Some people I know never get started because they claim they have not read enough. Enough for me is when I have some idea of what I want to say and of what other people have said about the topic. I then get started on writing. I don’t want to delay the writing because writing helps concretise the ideas in my mind and help me sort out my own thinking too.

5. When I run into trouble with the writing, I stop and give myself a break. If not, I’ll carry on regardless of the quality of the writing. Sometimes, I make myself write 1000 words before I stop. And if I don’t like what I’ve written, I begin a new paragraph and start again.

6. Always have time to put the writing aside. I often give myself at least 4 weeks (without much work in between, let me add) to write a big paper. And I put aside a whole morning or afternoon every time I sit down to write. Don’t write when you have to rush off here and there for errands or other tasks.

7. Reread and revise. Don’t hesitate to throw away chunks of stuff that do not meet your needs. I sometimes save stuff that I can’t bear to delete but I’ll put that in a separate file. I have sometimes opened that file and rescued little bits for other papers. I don’t always aim for several thousand words. Instead, I aim to fulfil my objectives and I check these against my writing all the time.

8. When all is done, check your references thoroughly. If the paper is to be published, check the format that the paper needs and consult your publishing manual for the necessary style. Get a friend to read your paper and proof read it. Mistakes are unavoidable and the spell check will not pick up every mistake.

There you are. A lucky 8 points. These are my ways of getting started and may not be everybody’s way.

If you have a good idea about writing to share with others, let us know. As my yoga teacher often says, “If you know something and don’t share it, that’s a crime.” Another variation of this is, “If you have the knowledge and don’t use it, that’s a crime”. She’s talking about yoga of course but I think it applies to many aspects of life too. Billy Graham put it well when he said:

We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing.

Write on, everyone!