"Strong Foundation, No Tuition, No Enrichment" Strategy in Primary School Part I

Natalie is going to have her first EXAMS!!!!

It's finally term 4 for Natalie who is in P2 and she is going to take her first exams. This exam is going to determine which class she goes to next year. But more importantly, it is going to show us the results of our "Strong Foundation, No Tuition, No Enrichment Strategy" for her. Hence, I'm a little excited and curious about how she is going to fair in her first exams. 

"Strong Foundation, No Tuition, No Enrichment" Strategy 

Strong Foundation

My hubby and I believe in building a strong foundation from young. Hence, we send our kids to all sorts of enrichment just to ensure that they have a strong, solid foundation. We spent most of our resources to make sure they start right. They went for the Shichida's Method since they were about a year old to about 4 years old (except Faith, my youngest one, who did not attend at all). In addition, Natalie and Emmanuel attended Berries for about slightly more than 2 years. 

For Emmanuel, he has been attending Reading Class by Kowabunga for the past 2 terms. We really wanted to strengthen his reading ability because reading is the basic building block for learning. In addition, he attending Seriously Addictive Mathematics to strengthen his basic mathematical concepts. We felt that even though he could calculate mathematically, he didn't understand the concept. To us, understanding the concepts is more important and knowing just how to do those sums. But all these classes will be stopped when he enters P1 next year. 

For Faith who is 3 years old, she had started her phonics class this term. We felt that we started Emmanuel a little too late for his phonics. Hence, his reading ability is not as strong now. So, we are starting Faith early for phonics. 

"No Tuition, No Enrichment" Strategy in Primary School 

For Natalie, ever since she entered P1, we decided that we have done all we could to help her build a strong foundation and hence, there will be no tuition, no enrichment for her. She did attend a one-off kind of Chinese writing workshop with her favorite cousin, Kate as a pre-activity before a play date. Other than this, Natalie has to depend on herself. We hope to keep it tuition free for as long as we can. 

Our reason for a "No Tuition, No Enrichment Strategy" for our children in Primary School is simply that we want them to develop a love for learning and to enjoy learning. We want to learn at their own pace and to create a stress free environment for learning to the best of our ability. So this finally exam results is important to us as a form of feedback of the effectiveness of our strategy.  

So far, Natalie has been coping and doing very well in school. Her weakest subject which is Mandarin seems to fluctuate a little, but I would say that she is improving at her own pace. So, I'm happy as long as there is improvement. 

Consistent Work

Although there is no tuition or enrichment, Natalie works consistently at home. She revises her work on her own daily and practices using assessment books. In fact, this is a habit that we started her from young. Everyday, our children have to sit down and do some work for at least half an hour. Be it colouring, writing, doing sums or drawings. We have make it a habit for them to sit at the table to do work daily. 

Results

I am excited to find out the result of our strategy and anxious at the same time. I hope Natalie can do well in her final exams despite not going for any tuition or enrichment classes. 

Are you opt-ing for a tuition free primary school education too? I hope I can tell others that it is possible to do well without tuition. When I say "do well", I mean she is able to get to where she aims to go. So, till then, I shall wait patiently for the results.