KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Integer wrote:I guess those who dropped subjects must be faring pretty badly in them, so no point prolonging the agony, might as well concentrate on the balance subjects.

I think the student needs to decide whether he's really not interested, and/or there's no chance that he can do well enough. If that's the case, then future courses that need good grades in that subject will probably be out for him anyway, and he would probably do better to focus on subjects he is more interested in or can get a better grade in.

However, some students who aren't certain what they want to do in future, have no strong interests in some subjects over others, and doing about the same in all subjects - those students may have to make subject selections based on keeping the largest no. of options open for the future. One of the considerations here is that if they might want to take a science at A levels, then they cannot drop it for O levels. If they don't take an arts subject at O levels, they can still take it at A levels (although JCs may impose a minimum grade for English as a requirement). I'm not sure about poly requirements. That's part of the reason, I think, why more students try to take sciences at upper sec.

I had posted this in the other thread which is also on Secondary 2 Streaming but did not receive any response. Thus, re-post it in this thread.

I would like to get feedback from those parents whose child has taken Higher Music as one of the subjects in Sec 3? Is it very time consuming? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as my child's teacher told her to take this as one of the subjects in Sec 3? Is Higher Music same as MEP? A bit confused. TIA.

TTBCOOL wrote:I had posted this in the other thread which is also on Secondary 2 Streaming but did not receive any response. Thus, re-post it in this thread.

I would like to get feedback from those parents whose child has taken Higher Music as one of the subjects in Sec 3? Is it very time consuming? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as my child's teacher told her to take this as one of the subjects in Sec 3? Is Higher Music same as MEP? A bit confused. TIA.

side track a bit.... If this subject of higher music is opted, will it be part of the arts stream subject when going to JC?

Hi TTBCOOL

According to my girl, higher music is the same as MEP. MEP is the name of music program.

happy fish wrote:Hi TTBCOOL

According to my girl, higher music is the same as MEP. MEP is the name of music program.

Hi happy fish,
Thanks very much for your response. Is your DD taking MEP? If yes, would like to know more from you. Does she enjoy it? Does it takes up a lot of time? Thanks.

Hi TTBCOOL!

Yes, my DD takes MEP. Whether it takes a lot of time, it depends on the individual.

Here is what my DD said:
If you take MEP, you'll have to take both Music and higher Music in o-level which is the 6085 and 6086 papers.

MUSIC - marks allocation (Score will be A1-F9)
50% - Music studies
20% - performing, 2 pieces (5-10 mins)
20% - course work (4 hours)
For course work, you will be given a poem written by a Singaporean and would be required to compose a song for the poem and ask someone to sing it. The voice memo would be submitted to be marked.

10% - option
1) Composition (major)
2) Performing (Major)

Composition - I'm not sure
Performing - 3 pieces, 2x1st instrument + 1xensemble/2nd instrument/accompaniment


HIGHER MUSIC - Fail, pass, Distinction
Composition - 4 pieces that add up to 6 min
OR
Performing - 2 pieces that are 8-12min
OR
Music studies - 1500 word essay on a topic of interest

Hope that these information will be useful to you!

[quote="TTBCOOL"][quote="happy fish"]Hi TTBCOOL

According to my girl, higher music is the same as MEP. MEP is the name of music program.[/quote]

Hi happy fish,
Thanks very much for your response. Is your DD taking MEP? If yes, would like to know more from you. Does she enjoy it? Does it takes up a lot of time? Thanks.[/quote]

[quote="happy fish"]Hi TTBCOOL!

Yes, my DD takes MEP. Whether it takes a lot of time, it depends on the individual.

Here is what my DD said:
If you take MEP, you'll have to take both Music and higher Music in o-level which is the 6085 and 6086 papers.

MUSIC - marks allocation (Score will be A1-F9)
50% - Music studies
20% - performing, 2 pieces (5-10 mins)
20% - course work (4 hours)
For course work, you will be given a poem written by a Singaporean and would be required to compose a song for the poem and ask someone to sing it. The voice memo would be submitted to be marked.

10% - option
1) Composition (major)
2) Performing (Major)

Composition - I'm not sure
Performing - 3 pieces, 2x1st instrument + 1xensemble/2nd instrument/accompaniment


HIGHER MUSIC - Fail, pass, Distinction
Composition - 4 pieces that add up to 6 min
OR
Performing - 2 pieces that are 8-12min
OR
Music studies - 1500 word essay on a topic of interest

Hope that these information will be useful to you!

Hi Happy Fish,

very much for the information. It is very useful. Greatly appreciated.

My son is currently deciding his o level subjects. He is interested in the 3 sciences and 3 humanities: Geography, History and Literature, and he is currently also taking Japanese as a third language. Which subject combination should he choose, should he take A Maths, and will his interest in Japanese affect his studies? Thanks.

He is also interested in DT and is also doing well in mathematics, English and Mother tongue.

Highly recommended to take A Maths.

A Maths will give a good foundation for JC Maths. (Both H1 and H2 Maths)

Also, based on personal experience, studying A Maths will also help in E Maths. For example, after learning A Maths kinematics, E Maths kinematics becomes easy by comparison. So it is like killing two birds with one stone.

A Maths also trains logical thinking as it is one of the most logical and challenging subject in O levels. Students who do well in A Maths will also usually be not bad in physics, as physics and maths share some similarities in thinking process.