Kai's first exams

Kai had his first full exams this term: oral exams and listening comprehension in April, and written papers in May. Last year, his year end exams were cancelled so he only had his oral exams. 

A few weeks before that, he stated in an English assignment on goals that he wanted to score at least 90 for every subject in the mid year exams. I told him that he could aim high but he must also put in the necessary effort. So I sat down with him to study on almost all weekday afternoons. There was, of course, quite a lot of whining.

He would come in the door, saying it was his worst day ever coz he would have to study after lunch. I reminded him of the deal we struck at the end of P2, i.e. he could choose between tuition outside and revision with me at home. Of course, I reminded him of his goal. Hr grudgingly continued studying.

The day after his last paper, he came home to say that he got 82/100 for science, and that so and so got 91, 93, 94 etc.

Kai: Is 82 good? What AL (achievement level) is that?

Mama: Good enough! Think it's AL 2?

Kai: XX got 94. That's very good, right?

Mama: Yes, now you know it's possible to score above 90.

A few minutes later..

Kai: I think 82 is not good.

Mama: It's ok. AL 2 is still very good. Just need to maintain at least this level.

The next day, with Papa...

Kai: 82 is good enough, right? Al 2...

Sito: *checks* That's AL 3.

Kai: Huh....

(Oops, I got it wrong!)

We started talking in terms of AL to prepare him for PSLE. Ok, very kiasu but better that he understands where he stands early. He already knew that K1 had AL 4 for his PSLE last year and went to one of the best secondary schools in Singapore. He had been salivating, hence the high goals in his English assignment.

Anyway, he got all his results back. English: 86; Chinese: 78.5; Maths: 82; Science: 82. Total AL 12. He also dropped a few names who got higher or lower than him. I think AL 12 is decent and proportional to his effort. But it was clear that he wanted to do better. I think he can if he understands that he needs to work for it *.*

When he brought his papers back to sign, we went through where he could do better, and punched numbers into a spreadsheet to see what he must get at year end in order to improve on his overall AL for P4. 

For maths, he has to be more careful. For science, he needs to study more and be more complete in his answers. For English, he needs to work on his composition. For Chinese, he needs to speak more, which is the most difficult of all...

Hope he understands where he stands after his mid year exams and is more willing to put in the effort to do better next time!