Staying Healthy for PSLE

Foundation of PSLE - Good Health

One of the habits which usually may be neglected is staying fit and healthy, especially when it comes to preparing for your PSLE. In fact this is the most important to success in being ready for the examinations and also for life. You can be ready 100% to take the exam papers whether is it English, Mother Tongue, Maths or Science. But if you are not physically strong and are prone to viruses and sicknesses, all your effort may be in vain. Therefore great effort must be put into staying healthy as well.

What are some ways you can keep yourself healthy and strong? Who can you team up with, to go the long journey in getting ready for PSLE?These are just some questions you should think about and take action to follow through with them.Outlined below are just some tips and ideas on staying healthy for PSLE. Some are simply reminders for you as you may already know them and may be practising them in your life.

Have An Exercise Routine. You should include in your PSLE preparation an exercise routine so that you are not only training your academic muscles, you are also developing your physical strength. You should at least have one light exercise and one heavy one each week. Anymore is bonus but be cautious not to overstretch as well. Your light exercise may consist of simply a slow morning in the garden or simple stretching or warm up exercises where you could perform anywhere. Your heavy exercise may consist of a 2.4km run or a game of your favorite sports like soccer, basketball and badminton.

Maintain A Proper Diet. How to eat healthily? Basically you can eat all you want, but eating moderately will save you from future problems that may arise. You should eat moderately on food likes pizzas, fried stuffs and fast foods and consume more of green items and fruits. This will help you with a lesser problem to tackle as you take your examinations. It will not create issues like breathlessness or overweight.

Get Enough Sleep. Keeping a proper sleeping routine takes a lot of discipline especially when you are those last minute preparers of examinations. Having insufficient sleep is not going to help you. Instead, your body will feel very tired and lethargic and your mind will not be alert enough to pay attention to instructions and details. Therefore getting enough sleep while preparing for PSLE is very essential, coupled with good planning in your subject revision.

Team Up With Friends and Family. You do not have to go on this journey alone. You can especially team up with your classmates who are also taking PSLE. Plan together. Schedule sports together and also revise together. In this way, you can help one another towards achieving a common goal of being successful in the examinations. You also have your parents and other family members whom you can approach to remind you, give you advice, study with you, exercise with you and even encourage you in this pursuit.

Keeping yourself healthy will help you to stay alert and attentive as you prepare for PSLE. You will need a simple exercise routine, eat moderately, sleep sufficiently and involve your friends and family to reach the goal you desire. Even if results may not turn out the way you want, cultivating this habit will prepare you for your future ahead. Therefore, do not be disheartened but press on to the next level.

How To Prepare For PSLE English

Preparing yourself to sit for the examinations is sometimes like preparing yourself to break the news of your report card results to your parents. You breakdown the various sections of how you want to approach your parents, what are you going to say first, assess the mood of your parents and then break the news to them. Work on improving and putting more effort in the process so that you could obtain better results the next time. Make every effort to be at peace with your parents as they are one of the key supporters towards your education and future. Similarly in preparing for PSLE English, break down how you want to approach in the preparation process.

Know What You Will Be Tested
Before preparation, you need to know what are the areas to prepare. You can simply pile up all the textbooks for the past six years and start read and revising. But knowing what you will be tested in the English PSLE paper should allow you to identify what you want to prepare. So pick up locate the Primary Five School Circular informing all students and parents what is expected of the coming Semestral Assessment. In this circular you will find the tabulated information sheet showing what you will be tested which is listed below.

Know the Components of PSLE English
1. Oral                                                          (30 Marks)
    - Reading Aloud A Passage
    - Picture Discussion
    - Conversation
2. Listening Comprehension                           (20 Marks)
    - Picture Matching
    - Listening to various situations
    and answer multiple choice questions (MCQ)
3. Language Paper I
    - Situational Writing                                   (15 Marks)
    - Continuous Writing - Picture or Situational Composition
                                                                     (40 Marks)
4. Language Paper II
    - Booklet A: Multiple Choice Questions     (30 Marks)
    > Graphic Stimulus                   05 Marks
    > Grammer & Punctuation        10 Marks
    > Vocabulary                           10 Marks
    > Reading Comprehension        05 Marks
    - Boolet B: Fill in the Blanks                     (65 Marks)
    > Grammar Cloze                         10 Marks
    > Spelling Punctuation Grammar    10 Marks
    > Comprehension Cloze                15 Marks
    > Synthesis & Transformation        10 Marks
    > Reading Comprehension             20 Marks
Total Marks                                                 (200 Marks)
The marks are indicated just for your reference. There may be slight difference for future papers, but they serve as a guide for your preparation work.

Know Your Areas of Strengths and Weaknesses
With the assessment components listed out, it is now important to identify which area you need more attention and which you need to simply continue to improve. If you have difficulty making an assessment, try purchasing a sample past year PSLE English paper from any neighborhood bookstore or from Popular bookstore. Then make an attempt on your own to complete the entire paper. You could recruit your friends or classmates or your parents to help you out on the Oral component. Once completed, mark on your own and identify which components you are strong and which are your weaker components.

Know Your Resources and Seek Them Out
Sitting down with your friends or parents, list down the resources you need to help you on the components of the PSLE English paper. The following is not exhaustive:
1. English Guidebooks i.e. Preston for Lower and Upper levels
2. Topical or Focus Test Papers i.e. Comprehension Cloze
3. Primary Six Model Compositions
4. Your Parents, Uncles and Aunts
5. English Teachers
6. Tuition Teachers
7. Enrichment Classes
8. Your Classmates

After listing out the above, depending on your budget, seek them out. In order to improve, make every effort to do your homework, read up and ask questions when you are not sure or in doubt. In this way, you will surely improve your way to better grades in PSLE English. You may never know that in your pursuit which takes discipline and sacrifice, you may lead others to follow your footsteps. Form a group study and work hard together towards a common goal.

Prep For PSLE - A Project Management Perspective

Here is a snapshot of using how we manage projects to plan out an overview of how to prepare for PSLE. The kids were asked to plan their projects during their lower block days and so using similar style, we can outline a simple four point plan to prepare and be ready for the examinations. Of course there are many ways to study and plan and prepare. You may even consider using Sun Tzu's art of war to ready yourself. This is just an example.

Plan. In doing any kind of work, there needs to have a plan. A simple plan may even do the job. Too complicated ones may be too time consuming. Therefore, beginning with a simple one will be sufficient. At the later stages, if it is necessary, the plan can be modified slightly or improved. Your plan may consist of using a drawn out table or even using an Excel worksheet to tabulate the activities pertaining to the subjects to revise. The activities may consist of catching up with topics which you are not sure of, putting in more practice with challenging questions or housekeeping your study room.

Organize. With the plan, probably in draft, put these in order of priority so that you know which gets done first. For example, before you can attempt the examinations sample papers, it will be best to complete at least one full cycle revision of your topics. So in your priority list, indicate revision to take precedence before taking the papers. Another item to organize is to think about some stationery to purchase like erasers, compass sets, pens and rulers etc. etc. and then packing them properly in the stationery pouches.

Lead. Once all the events are organized in priority, lead the way to make each event come to pass. Leading will involve both parent and child working together. As parents it is important to set the pace for them to learn so that they may do it independently for some of the other events. You may do the initial ones, showing them the way. Take for instance, running through the assessment practice one. Demonstrate a full cycle. Then, allow them to try it out on their own while you observe and guide. After, let them do it completely on one event without your help, but assist only when needed. In this way, the children would learn the steps and may likely take it with them when they leave their primary schools.

Evaluate. At every completed event, mark it or indicate the date completed. Talk about that activity and discuss lessons covered and learnt and any improvements that can be made. Improvements can be re-organized like certain events took too long or certain activities were actually not essential. This final phase is important as it not only allows you to make some adjustments to your plan, but also lets you, both parent and child to feel that sense of achievement. Working together towards a goal has never been that fulfilling.

After a day's or a week's work and achieving, your plan may even or should include a simple surprise. You could organize this during the weekend, maybe an outing to the park or beach, a nice meal together or an evening watching the latest movies like Kung Fu Panda 2 or Green Lantern or Transformers 3 or even everybody's favorite X-men First Class. When Monday comes, you may be amazed to see your children excitedly readying themselves for the next event.

Getting Ready For The Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE)

Every child who is studying in Primary School, will need to sit for their Primary School Leaving Examinations, in short, PSLE. After receiving their results, they would be able to register for their Secondary level education. With better results, they would be able to be accepted to the school of their choice.

So it is important to both parent and child to get themselves ready for PSLE. Parents need to start preparing all the necessary resources and give your child the needed support to sit for the examinations with confidence. Children need to get started and be ready for what it will take in this phase of their lives.

Having said that, it does not mean that the preparation work is going to be tough all the way. But being mentally, emotionally and physically ready will path the way for stressful moments and work out ways to make the process more bearable. Even better, brainstorm ideas to make the journey most memorable and enjoyable.

Through it all, parents can learn more about their children and how they can help them grow more independently. They can also discover more about themselves in the area of parenting. Children can observe and absorb not only lessons related to the studies, but also lessons of character from their parents like perseverance, patience and discipline.

At the end of the day when the results are out, whatever the outcome, decide and strive on continuing education in whichever school you go for and are limited to. PSLE has become past as you played your part in putting in your best in the process. Thereafter, move on to the next level, with grateful hearts to both parents, teachers, family and friends who have encouraged you and will support you along the way.