As mentioned on facebook, I’ve received quite a few enquiries from you regarding oral communication workshop. PSLE oral exam is happening on 17 -18 August (gasp! Less than a month from now.) and so the exam jitters have begun!
Ok.
BREATHE.
It’s not all that scary. In fact, Jenn and I have done a bit of data analysis. Look at the chart below. The ultimate killer, for most students, is composition writing (highlighted in blue), which has a weightage of 27.5% of the English paper. On the other hand, Listening Comprehension and Oral Examination makes up 25% of the total marks. Almost the same weightage as composition.
Sooooo….it stands to reason that we use the latter as a strategy to make up for the possible loss of marks in composition writing. So you see, it’s not doomsday. We just have to work smart and reassure our kids it can be done.
Parents, do the following sound familiar?
“But… Nura, my son just cannot talk like that lah..”
You’re not alone, but we need to correct certain things yeah.. First, “my son just cannot talk like that lah..” is a self-fulfilling prophecy that we need to get rid of. If you think your kiddo can’t do it, chances are, he/she probably can’t. There are always strategies to solve a problem. Don’t give up on them. Your kids need you to believe in them.
“I have tried teaching my daughter not to be shy.. to speak louder...make eye contact… no confidence leh.. How ah Jenn?
This is a common problem parents and classroom teachers face. Truth is, in conservative Asian society, even we adults have trouble making eye contact and speaking up. How can we expect our children to do otherwise? Maciam unfair right? Jenn and I have come up with strategies for that.
One workshop won’t TRANSFORM you kiddo into (NAME A CONFIDENT FAMOUS KID??perhaps COnnie from Britain got talent?), but the strategy is to FAKE IT TIL YOU MAKE IT, i.e, we create the illusion of eye contact, projection of voice, confidence etc. during the examination.
We’ll also teach your kids things to say while “buying time” to think of answers. In fact, parents, have problems making presentations at work/talking to your bosses?
You may benefit from these strategies yourselves! hehehhe.
“Yeah..I told him to skip the difficult words in the reading passage… told him to make up stories if he doesn’t know anything about the conversation topic.”
In our experience of teaching and coaching, we sometimes find well-meaning advice to be more harmful than useful.
In the upcoming workshop, we’ll share what to and what not to do.
Our kiddos don’t have to speak with a twang or a slang to portray themselves as confident communicators, or to get that 30 marks. It is possible.
All it takes is a little bit of practice and lots of illusions.
Let’s work the magic!
Ps: If your kid is in P4, 5 or 6, feel free to sign up. The earlier you start them off, the easier it will be for them when it comes to PSLE. We will share some tips on Listening Comprehension at the end of the workshop as well. Don’t hesitate to ask us any other questions related to English during the Q&A session.
Workshop: Confident Communicators Workshop (for P4, 5 and 6*)
*Priority sign up will be given to Primary 6
Investment: only $65 a pair! (Yes, you AND your child!)
Date: 28 July 2012 (Saturday)
Time: 2pm – 4pm
Venue: Onepeople.sg (Braddell MRT station) Harmony Room 1
We have decided to limit the workshop to 15 people to encourage more interaction so my apologies if it’s full.
Email me at nuraesman@gmail.com
Looking forward to seeing you and your kids! :)
We're so gonna have a super duper time, this I assure!
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