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Early PSLE preparation: Pros and cons, and how to finish strong
There is no denying that PSLE is an important milestone in a child’s life in Singapore. Many parents begin worrying, and even preparing their children for it, all the way from primary 3 or primary 4. However, the question now arises – is preparing the children early putting too much pressure on them? Would it be better to prepare them later on?
It is highly recommended that studying for the PSLE is not left to the last minute. While it is indeed true that some children do thrive on pressure, and can do well with last-minute cramming, it is generally not recommended to do so. Most children would benefit from an earlier start and a well-paced study plan.
The case for early preparation
Starting PSLE preparation early has the following benefits:
- It allows the child to have sufficient time to go through every subject thoroughly since there is thus a lot of ground to cover.
- It also allows for the parents and child to tweak the study and revision plan as they go along, planning for more time to be spent on a weaker subject. Pacing the child’s study can also help parents and children to work gradually towards certain milestones and celebrate small wins, preventing potential burnout.
- Another major advantage of early preparation lies in the ability to identify your child's weaknesses at an early stage, enabling you to provide timely assistance and ultimately achieve better results in the PSLE. Consider the scenario where your child struggles with certain aspects of P4 fractions. This means they will also face difficulties with decimals. As they progress to P5, ratios and percentages become challenging for them. Consequently, their overall performance in Maths declines from P5 onwards, leading to a growing fear of the subject by the time they reach P6.
However, if their weakness in fractions is identified early on and they actively work on improving it, their learning trajectory takes a different course, resulting in increased confidence by the time P6 rolls around. This is precisely where Geniebook proves invaluable for students. By conducting a complimentary strength analysis, you gain insight into your child's strengths and weaknesses. Once these areas are identified, your child can access both live and recorded lessons to enhance their understanding, tackle AI-generated worksheets tailored to their improvement, and seek real-time assistance from teachers via chat whenever they have questions or doubts.
What you should keep in mind if you do decide to start early PSLE preparation
When encouraging your young child to focus on PSLE, parents should be careful that they don't put too much pressure on their children. We need to keep in mind that the whole reason we're encouraging our children to prepare early is so that they don't have to face last-minute pressure. The last thing we want is for our children to face burnout this early in their lives.
What can parents do to ensure that their children don't burn out?
The best thing that parents can do for their children is to help them prepare a revision schedule that factors in time to wind down, relax, and play.
Our kids are already attending school, going to enrichment classes, doing their homework, and more. As parents, we need to factor in their current workload when planning their PSLE study schedule.
If your child is in Primary 3 and 4, you can help them strengthen their fundamentals. Set aside time every weekend to sit with your child, talk to them to identify any topics that they have not understood, and prepare a study schedule around those topics. Doing this is important because having strong fundamentals is the key to getting a high grade in PSLE.
It is never too late to start
However, if you find yourself in a situation where you have not much time to prepare your child for the PSLE, you and your child have to get down to serious business. It is imperative that you have a concrete and fully optimised game plan for your child’s study. You may want to give more study time to certain subjects, so do find a balance that you and your child are comfortable with.
Considering the amount of time you have (months, or weeks), you may wish to focus your attention on your child’s weak spots for revision. Here at Geniebook, we recommend an 80-20 revision. That’s where you focus 80% of the time on your child’s challenging topics. Our GenieSmart worksheets use Artificial Intelligence to identify the topics that need more focus, and it will generate a worksheet for revision! Be realistic about what can be covered by your child, given the time that they have.
Plus, if you’re hitting the school books, and get stuck on a question, you can count on support from GenieAsk to help manoeuvre your way through the questions. With a strong support system, your child will find that revision gets super simple!
Finish well
Whether or not you and your child started preparing earlier or later, it is important to push on and maintain the momentum once started, until the PSLE is over. At any stage of their studies, your child must be well-nourished, well-hydrated, and well-rested in order to be at their best condition during the exams. Once the exams are over, you and your child can have a well-deserved celebration!
Ready to start the PSLE prep? Read this article on how Geniebook prepares primary students for PSLE next.
