Is any P1 student recommended by the school's Chinese teacher to get MOE exemption of Chinese after only term one?

My son really got very low in his Chinese HYPI tests with 5/20 and 7/20 respectively but when he's in K2, his Chinese teacher didn't mention his problem in Chinese though he's slow learning and the kindergarten had regular dictation of Chinese characters which my son was not doing very bad.

Any good center doing dyslexia assessment in Chinese? I checked DAS seems they even don't have Chinese psychologist.

I personally think the teacher is being too quick to jump into conclusion with one term of P1. Since he has no problem in Chinese in kindergarten, like you said, he may be just slower to grasp the HYPY at the moment. And I have to say this, generally boys are indeed slower to understand Chinese especially HYPY intonations. He needs time. Why don't you try to revise HYPY with him one by one and test him with assessments before thinking your son as having dyslexia etc. Yes you can bring him for dyslexia assessment to have peace of mind but put in some efforts for your precious first. Jiayou!

Thanks for your reply and to supplement, my son was supposed already taught the HYPY in K2 by his private tuition teacher but his result is even worse than those not learned before, according to the school's Chinese teacher.

Would you mind giving me some pointers to get a recommended center for the assessment, if not a specific one.

Hi please go to 'All about Dyslexia' thread to read more information and ask your queries. The mums and dads who are experienced in this area in a better position to help you.

And, is it a case that your DS didn't revise his HYPY? He may have forgotten them. Some boys need x times reinforcement. As parents, try to monitor his progress and take things in your hands, don't just leave your precious to school and tutors.

Hi Adam,
I think the teacher is too quick to ask your son to go for exemption. My girl's teacher has never proposed to us to let my girl drop Mandrin though her initial grasp is poor and she did not even learn HYPY in k2. Her MT teachers puts encouraging remarks in her tingxie and her work. In P3, the most of the text are without HYPY. My husband is bad at HYPY but better than me in Chinese. So don't lose hope yet.

Does ur boy has difficulty spelling English wOrds?

Yes my son is very forgetful esp for those things he's not interested and I was told another reason why the Chinese teacher so fast to ask me to get exemption is cos it's easier to get exemption when the child is in P1 but not in higher level and the teacher has to answer why the students are scoring low.

In fact, my son was already reported by his kindergarten teachers as slow learners and I have send him to KKH for therapy for a year before we decided to let him continue P1. KKH psychologist did agree with our choice and didn't classify my son into any kind of dyslexia.

My son can spell words though it's not very good still but it still surprised me when he's scoring so low in Chinese in the class.

Anyway, thanks for your reply and advices. I will run a check on the dyslexia forum.　

Adam,
I agree that the teacher is too quick to come to this recommendation. It would be unfair to your child as there would deprive her the opportunity to know the language deeper. My DS is not good in MT but his teachers have never encourage exemption. Have you done any research if assessment if neccesary at this point? Sometimes, early assessment at such young age serves no immediate benefit unless you are absolutely sure she is seriously lacking in certain area. Why not you try exposing her to the language more and monitor her progress?

One of my sons is very weak in Chinese, and recently I asked his Occupational Therapist if their centre is able to test dyslexia in Chinese as his current CL school teacher is giving me a lot of stress . For your info, he went to DAS one year ago but tested not dyslexic. She said no but referred me to a Speech & Language Pathologist who has some experience in this. I only have her name and email address but managed to google some info on her. If you are interested to get in touch with her, please PM me. I personally have not contacted her.

With regards to exemption, u can wait until P3/P4. Seems to me that the teacher's KPI is linked to student's marks. Especially when u said " the teacher has to explain why the student is scoring low"

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