KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

I'm worried for my DD, who will be sitting for the O' level examinations next year.

I am not sure if this is caused by my own incessant concerns as a mother who is having her first child take O' levels. But I am already very, very, very anxious now.

She has been constantly topping her cohort for the past two years, but she hasn't been scoring as well in Sec 3 as compared to her results in Sec 2 (she is still one of the top few, but I would still like her to be at the top). So I'm very worried as to whether she will be able to score good results next year.

Perhaps her not up to par results is because she still needs to further adjust herself to the new Sec 3's pacing? Or maybe it's due to the fact that I've let her play computer games too much during the December holidays, so her brain has become slightly 'rusty'?

I would like to seek advice from other parents in this forum as to how they ensure that their child was staying on the right track towards achieving good results for O' Levels. Also, what should my daughter do to do score well?

Another concern of mine is that she is very weak and in Chinese, often scoring B4-A2 only. Although this handicap is offset by her strong command in English language, I would still like to know how I can help my DD overcome this hurdle.

Should I her for Chinese tuition? Buy more Chinese assessments? Or is the good old method of reading more newspapers and books just fine?

All in all, I just want her to achieve the results that are of her utmost best. How can I, as a parent, help her shine in all subjects?

P.S. I'm rather new to this forum, so please take care of me!

Your daughter sounds like me in my schooldays - used to be top, but still within top few in upper sec; good in English but poor in Chinese. I really don't see what your concern is - if she is still within the top few, her results are still good, so what does it matter that she is no longer the top? Some of the other students may have developed better exam techniques, may have 'woken up' etc. Unless her results have slipped significantly (and they don't sound as if they have), it really doesn't matter. My father kept nagging me when I was her age, and it really stressed me, and to no good purpose. I got into the same JC and course that I would have had even if I had done as well as the top student in my school. As for Chinese, I must admit that I didn't have a very good attitude towards that language then, and although I worked hard, I never really enjoyed it. Thinking back, my main feeling is that I really grudge spending so much time on my weakest subject when I could have perhaps gone deeper into my stronger subjects if had spent more time and effort at those instead. Just my thoughts.