KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

hi! please advice....... which stream shd i let my boy go if he is given a choose of express or normal stream.
please also advice which sec school are better for student with agg of 200 choosing express stream. thank. thanks. thanks.

hi, i think u should see your son's progress in his studies.. if he has been getting good results but didnt manage to score in psle, u should let him go express.

otherwise, u may consider normal instead... not too stress for him..

for sec school selection, u should narrow down by area or by convenience... i dun believe in having to travel so far to the sch just because it is better than ......

my cousin sent his ds to a sec sch which was very far away... they were staying in amk but his ds sec sch in woodlands... by the time he reach home w/o staying back in sch, he is already exhausted after 1.5hrs of travelling time... poor thing... luckily this yr last yr...

I will choose express for my child. Express need to study for only 4 years compared to 5 years in normal. I heard that some schools have the better teachers teaching the express classes.

By the way, anyone knows if NA students can take pure science?

weatherbee wrote:I will choose express for my child. Express need to study for only 4 years compared to 5 years in normal. I heard that some schools have the better teachers teaching the express classes.

the 1 yr delay may not be necessarily negative to them... they could be spending more time but getting better grasp and be more sensible as well...

i had a fren who became an architect (graduated from nus), though he was a NA student, went to poly, worked very hard to be top 5% and got into nus... he had the well-known philosophy that he had already wasted 1 extra yr compared to others, so he must excel to make that yr worthwhile...

If the child is relatively immature, the extra year may not be a 'waste' but actually a good thing. Doing something earlier is not as important as doing it well. But if he chooses NA, ask around which schools are more willing to allow NA students to go to Yr5 - in the old days with banding, some schools might dissuade NA students from taking 'O' levels because it will affect the results. Maybe it will be different without banding.

If the child needs that one year extra, then just take that one year extra. It's better to have a higher chance to make it at the end of Yr 5 then perhaps never make it at all if he has to compete in the express when he is still not ready (mentally).

Similar to choosing JC over poly. Most preferred JCs. But if child is not so suitable for the more academically driven JCs, then at the end may still have to revert to poly after the JCs or even joins the workforce if his A level results cannot qualify him for a meaningful place in the unis.

Some children can 'through train'; some just need a little more time to mature. More importantly is always how fruitful their lives are when they are in their late 20s after entering the work force for a few years.

If result is 200, can consider normal stream in a 'good school' instead of going to the express stream in a 'bad' school.

Have to look at the character of the child. If he is one of those who can be easily influenced type, then choosing a 'good' school maybe of a greater importance than considering that extra one year. If he is one of those who can work hard, showing signs that he is 'waking up', then can try the express stream even in a 'bad' school.

*'Good' and 'Bad' are referring to whether the schools have many wayward children. Can always observe around the schools after school hours. Some children will go to void deck and start smoking even when they are in the school uniform; some couples will start holding hands and behave intimately, etc.

verykiasumummy wrote:

weatherbee wrote:I will choose express for my child. Express need to study for only 4 years compared to 5 years in normal. I heard that some schools have the better teachers teaching the express classes.

the 1 yr delay may not be necessarily negative to them... they could be spending more time but getting better grasp and be more sensible as well...

i had a fren who became an architect (graduated from nus), though he was a NA student, went to poly, worked very hard to be top 5% and got into nus... he had the well-known philosophy that he had already wasted 1 extra yr compared to others, so he must excel to make that yr worthwhile...

I know there are successful ones but there are also many others who can't make it to local university. Besides, I don't know if going to normal academic will restrict the kind of subjects which they can choose in sec 3. Perhaps any parent can shred some light on this?

Anyway, not saying that normal academic is not good or what. But if my child can make to express, I rather he go into it first. Then if he really cannot make it at the end of sec 1, I will request with the school to move him to normal academic in sec 2. But I want to see him really working hard first. I just rather he work hard now than later need to struggle.

That's just me lah. As parents, just do what you think is best for your child. Perhaps you can ask your child and husband for their opinions as well.

I'll choose Express for my child.

Among the parents who had this dilemma, the ones who chose Express were relieved that they made the right choice while the ones who chose Normal regretted their choice. The child may go to a better school but the child will ultimately be a product of the influence of his classmates in the Normal stream. Besides, as far as I know, the pace in Normal stream is much slower than Express. And they have to cross over the hurdle of N levels before they can take O levels. On top of that, the cross over from N to O level, I heard, is a big jump. I know of many who can't cope with the requirements of O levels after doing well in their N levels.

I know of many cases of those who chose Express stream and eventually did well compared to those who chose Normal. I'm not denying that there are such cases but they are much fewer. The environment and company the child has is so important to his view about studies, especially in his formation years. His peers' views will be his view whether you like it or not. When you want to excel and your friends don't, chances are you will start to 'relax' too.

If the child has shown that he has the potential to be in the Express stream, why do you want to slow him down?