KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Hi, I heard the General Paper is very difficult. My son is not good at English and thinking. Can anyone give suggestion or recommend where provides good GP tuition? Thank you.

Hi! I would recommend Teacher Darren from Aspire Hub Bukit Timah branch.(beauty world) He is a passionate teacher who teaches students with patience.

sunj1252 wrote:Hi, I heard the General Paper is very difficult. My son is not good at English and thinking. Can anyone give suggestion or recommend where provides good GP tuition? Thank you.

First priority is to improve your son's grasp of English. To do well in GP requires a high standard of English. Therefore, think more in terms of improving English rather than GP per se.

Second priority is to encourage your son to treat GP as a subject he must actively study for. Many students focus more on their content-heavy subjects, especially in the science stream, and neglect the more process- and language-oriented subject of GP.

Third priority is to find someone who can teach critical thinking skills, especially in terms of evaluating arguments. Ideally, you want someone who has had formal academic training in Philosophy.

Fourthly, there are several disciplinary areas in GP, for example economics, environment, mathematics, science, art and philosophy/religion/ethics. Although GP is multi-disciplinary and Cambridge examiners look for evidence of multi-disciplinarity and students being well-read, it is usually pragmatic to focus - for depth - on two or three key areas. Your son should identify which areas particularly interest him.

Finally, read The Straits Times (especially The Sunday Times), The Economist, BBC Knowledge and The Huffington Post on a very regular basis.

Hi, I dont have any good recommendation for GP tuition. But I think it is similar to english and you should find a tutor who is willing to spend time to analyze and mark your child's work and give good feedback on how to improve it.

GP is about depth of understanding and clarity of reasoning and arguments.
It is crucial to develop critical thinking skills from reading and like what the above moms say; BBC, The Economist would be good places to start =)

sunj1252 wrote:Hi, I heard the General Paper is very difficult. My son is not good at English and thinking. Can anyone give suggestion or recommend where provides good GP tuition? Thank you.

You can google for 'School of Thoughts' and 'Indigo' which are the favourite English & GP tuition centres of top sec schs and JCs students.
A word of caution: Your DS may find it tough to catch up with the lessons if he has not already had a good grasp of English and argumentative essay writing. These centres have bridging lessons for such students, I believe. Give them a call if you are interested.

sunj1252 wrote:Hi, I heard the General Paper is very difficult. My son is not good at English and thinking. Can anyone give suggestion or recommend where provides good GP tuition? Thank you.

As mentioned by others above, it would be key to first improve your son's grasp of the English language. What language does he primarily speak at home, or when communicating with others?

It would be good to make sure that he is constantly exposed to proper and fluent English, either through watching documentaries/movies/the news, or reading books/news articles. My daughter has always enjoyed reading from a young age, and I really think that helped her build a solid foundation for the language. Encourage your son to read books that are related to his interest.

If he finds it difficult to read news articles to keep up with current affairs, watching the news or short online videos would be a good alternative.

With regards to tuition recommendations, you could try Quintessential Education at Far East Shopping Centre. Their tutors are able to provide both group or one-to-one classes, so you could determine which is best for your son.

My son says for GP and Economics, it is most important to read newspapers n getting the right skill. He only reads the newspapers throughout his JC life. He tried The Economist once and fell asleep on the first page. His EL and grammar is terrible, he can’t spell properly also, prompting his JC teacher to tell him that he writes like a Chinese national. He fails Literature too cuz he thinks poetry is gibberish : )
So I think there is hope for those who are not good in English to get As in GP and Economics.

Hi, any existing students from Indigo? We need a referral to get a discount. By referring us, you will also enjoy a cash reward from Indigo. Please PM me before 7 Dec 2019. Thank you.

Is Indigo good for IP English?