C's Math check-point: Picture Graph

Check-point is just another name for formative assessment. As C doesn't have major examinations since she is in Primary One, the school has many of such little tests along the way that assess her. C has always enjoyed Math so we aren't surprised that she did well. 

This term, C has been solving problem sums using Heuristic. I attended a workshop that was conducted by her teachers earlier this year and saw how problem sums can be solved by using diagrams. As C was ill and had missed school for 4 days in a roll, she had to finish these sums as homework.

Cheryl comes back regularly with assignments, and completed worksheets. This evening, she returned with her Math Check-point. This is the 5th test that C has sat for Mathematics.

Daddy and I were so proud of her and she was all smiles too when she showed us her work. We are glad that she is managing well in school and is able to follow the topics and concepts taught. She has another Check-point on Length and it is coming up next week.

Even though there aren't any examinations for Primary 1 children, what they do have is 'Check points'. They are assessment of what the children have learnt.

This is the latest. C scored full marks for her assessment, much to our delight. Well, we have always reminded her to be careful as she tends to be rather forgetful and careless. Previous assessments had her missing 1/2 or 1 mark because she had omitted a sum.

She insisted on Daddy Dearest signing her assessment this time round. :)

I guess there is a first for everything. I bought her these:

Nope, not that Precious needs them. Though she is in Primary 1, homework from school isn't a problem and she is able to complete them. However there are evenings where there aren't any homework and she would be bored so these assessment books are really to keep her occupied. :)

I am not about to 'complain' to the School about this 'lack of homework' thing because honestly I am pretty happy the way things are. C can't be working on her Math workbooks so it's best she has extras to do.

Why only Math and Mandarin? She adores her 好朋友 and would do all the exercises in them though she is only required to finish some. This evening, she did a total of 10 pages worth and would have continued had I not stopped her.

As for English,

she takes initiative and has started a journal somewhat. She is always with a note pad and scribbling things or sketching. She recently did an article on 'My Heroine' and she wrote about another one of her favorite teachers, completely different from the one she submitted. :) I guess I don't have to worry about English then. :)

For Primary 1, there aren't major examinations but there are what the School calls "Mid Point Checks". They are really more like tests as the school term progresses.

C is on the Stellar Programme for English and this is the programme that all primary school children have to go through. 

For Math, there are more practices on Number Bonds and of course, simple problem solving sums. 

For Mandarin, C does her 好朋友. She traces characters and answers questions on 汉语拼音. There are a lot of matching exercises and she likes working on those exercises. Her teacher will note down several pages that she has to complete as homework but Precious has this habit of finishing all the writing exercises in the subscription. 

So far, we have been heartened that Precious enjoys school. She loves her classmates and her teachers. She has been able to make good friends. She has no issues with homework and for subjects like Math and Chinese, she has also been appointed the class representative. 

We received several updates from Mrs Lim regarding Cheryl's progress in school.

Cheryl has been learning more about number bonds.

And for English, proper nouns.

These are more like reinforcement as Precious had been exposed to them when she was in Josiah. :)

Last Saturday, during the Parents' Meeting, some parents requested that the school let us know the price list of the food items sold in the canteen and she came back with this list.

Food is reasonably priced and it looks like the amount that C brings to school everyday is sufficient.

Being parents of a primary 1 child, we are naturally anxious about everything concerning school. When the School informed us of a briefing some time in January, Daddy and I marked down our calendar to remind us that we had a session with C's teachers. The briefing was useful as it gave us more information on how lessons are conducted and what to expect in the coming months. We also learned how Math lessons were taught in school.

Break time just before part 2 of the session started:

Since the School was undergoing renovation, the make-shift canteen was in a container. Thankfully, the place was air conditioned and spacious. This was the first time I had a "tour" of the School as parents were not allowed in the School on the first day of school.

The lockers along the corridor where the children keep their stuff and then the classroom. I was surprised to see that the classroom was rather large but this was good news because this would mean that there was ample space in the classroom to conduct the different activities. 

Mrs Lim, C's teacher conducted the Math session on Heuristics. I found the lesson particularly useful because I learned how to solve problem sums using models and there were so many of them. On the whole, I had a fruitful experience and will look forward to attending more of such workshops.  

Precious did a fair bit of work this evening. She started out with her revision for English Spelling and then went on to practise her Math.

They were simple pattern recognition about addition and subtraction.

Then she went on to complete her Chinese homework.


After the serious work, she spent some time playing with her play-doh. :) Soon, it will be story-reading time and she would call it a night.

This evening, C returned with A note from Ee teacher. Precious can now log in a site that the school has subscribed and practise her math.

The website has several math concepts and topics put in place and Precious can go through the topics and solve the problem sums online.

C tried some sums on Money and she had the sums corrected online too.


Each time the online tutor told her that she had done the sum correctly, Precious broke out in a grin. :) We did not have to pay any subscription this year and since Precious liked the exercises so much, I think we will be visiting this site very often.

Cheryl has homework to complete every weekend.

This Friday, I noted that she has began to learn to read picture graphs. 

I realized that Cheryl loves Math. :)

Couple of weeks ago, C learned about multiplication and slowly but surely, she has moved on to division.

For homework this weekend, she not only had her usual dose of English exercises, she also had some simple division ones to complete.

 

She found them manageable and completed them on her own. One thing I realized, we have cultivated in her this habit of finishing her homework on Friday night before she does any fun things. Now, Friday and Saturday evenings are special as she sits with Daddy and conquer Final Fantasy together on the Kinect.

Today is the third day into Term 3 yet Precious hasn't gone back to school.

Her school bag was all packed yesterday but C is now still sleeping away because she wasn't able to rest well last night.

Her temperature suddenly went up on Monday morning and Daddy brought C to the doc. She was given 2 days off and even though C tended to recover fast, this time round, the bug seemed more stubborn than usual. 

We collected her homework from school and last evening, she sat down to complete them. I saw that she has started to learn the concept of money. And this reminded me of something I prepared for her a long time ago. I had printed and cut out specimen of the dollar notes and coins of different denomination for the purpose of counting. With that, we would play our "Shopping" game.
Though still running a temperature, she managed to finish her assignment and went on to pack her bag.

This morning when I was getting ready to go to work, I went to check on her and realised that she was burning up; so high that she vomited. Sigh... she would have to stay in today as well. We are praying that she recovers quickly. 

Friday nights are "Homework Nights"! C always finishes her homework on Friday evening so that she can completely relax and do the "fun" stuff she does on weekends.

There will be English and Math homework. Ms Novelle and Ling Lao Shi would usually return her Activity books so that I could have a look through and know what C had been doing in school. 

So Daddy and I learned that she has been learning up on her articles, doing exercises on Cloze Passages, and for Mathematics; problem-solving.

C had been doing exercises on Comparison and Sequencing too.

Cheryl's weekly homework included English, Mathematics, Spelling and Ting Xie.

Besides this, Ms Novelle writes me an update of what has happened in class and gives an account of what has been taught. In addition, C's progress is also noted. I learned that C is now doing Adverbs.

Then I saw the homework that she had to complete this week. I was surprised that at her level, she has been taught to identify Adverbs of Place, Time and Manner. Well, surprised because I teach these to pupils in secondary school, that's why. Hahaha! But if children can manage, then why not? Age should not be a barrier for learning. :)

Mathematics is also more complex now as she has to figure out the answer now that word problems are asked. 

As for Mandarin, she has been taught different occupations. There is also exposure to hanyu ping ying and I must say, she is doing well. C doesn't have much of a problem blending the sounds for these sounds in Mandarin.

Daddy and I made a pact with each other and decided that for C would receive a reward each time she accomplished a milestone. This month alone, she had 2 major "exams"; one being her ballet exam and the other her swimming test.

So after her ballet exam, Daddy brought Precious shopping for a gift. She picked out this Hello Kitty play house and I only realised much later that Daddy and Daughter had a "big" plan. He said that I like Hello Kitty and hence it would be Cheryl and my toy: read: I will be the one to play with her.

Then on Saturday, we bought an assessment cum activity book for her for clearing her swimming stage.

Hahaha! Yes, an assessment book (like kiasu parents) and we had it nicely wrapped up too. Nevertheless, C was thrilled to receive another present. This evening, she happily did the first exercise; Spelling and we proceeded to do some revision on Math. Cheryl even got Daddy to mark her work after she finished the sums.

This exercise is planned for tomorrow. 

My mobile was ringing almost every 15 minutes because Daddy and I had told her that she would not be watching that much television in the afternoon. She kept calling after each task I set her out to do and this evening, she instructed me to set her more work for the next day. 

So there you have it:  tasks to be completed on Tuesday

1) Practise her piano piece for her upcoming concert in May

2) Revise Math

3) Spelling

4) 听写

It's the term break and C has holiday homework to complete. They are manageable and most of these activities are concepts that she has already learned.

collective nouns

singular and plural tense

sequence, simple addition and subtraction.

Well, we have also been keeping ourselves busy in the evening with spelling and reading though there are times where Princess just wanted to do nothing but laze around. What can I say, it's the holidays and a little deviation from the normal routine is permissible. :) After all, all work and no play makes "Cheryl" a dull girl.