2015 Intensive PSLE Maths Strategies Programme (12 lessons)

Hi Parents and Students,

The 2015 PSLE Maths Strategies Programme (12 lessons) is now open for enrolling! The tentative date to start will be on 10th May 2015. 

This programme will focus on the following common strategies useful in handling many of the PSLE problem sums.

1. Ratio Approach: Repeated Identity, Unchanged Total, Unchanged Identity, Constant Difference & Making 'after' the same.

2. Fractions Approach: Fractions Multiplication, Branching, Reverse Branching & Equal Fractions.

3. Models Approach: More than/ Less than & Part-whole

4. Grouping Approach: Units & Values

If time allows, we may be able to visit some other important topics such as geometry, algebra and speed.

This programme is suitable for P6 students who are weak in fractions and identifying approaches to apply in problem sums. It is also suitable for P5 students as most of the approaches will be used in P5 problem sums going forward.

The programme consists of explanation of concepts, assisting students to identify which approach to use for each type of question and intensive practise questions to enhance understanding.

So hurry and book your seats now! For more information, please contact Clarice at 9824 0258. 

 

2015 Additional Maths Programme (12 Lessons) on Trigonometry, Differentiation & Integration

Hi Parents and Students,

The 2015 Additional Maths Programme (12 lessons) is now open for enrolling! The tentative date to start will be on 10th May 2015.

The programme will cover the following topics:
1. Trigonometry
    (Topics: Equations, Proving, Quadrants questions and R-formula)
2. Differentiation
    (Topics: the 4 rules of differentiation, application involving tangents & normals, increasing & decreasing functions, rate of change and maxima & minima)
3. Integration
    (Topics: Integration rules, definite integrals, area under curve and kinematics)

The above topics covers a weightage of about 60% of the AMaths paper, thus getting a good grasp of these concepts and having more practice on these topics is definitely a plus point to scoring an A1 for the AMaths paper.

This programme is useful for students who do not have any tutor to guide them and find it hard to cope with the understanding of these 3 topics. It is also suitable for students who wish to gain more practise and exposure to the commonly tested questions, including challenging questions, as the intensive drill will consists of many worksheets to practise on and quizzes to test your knowledge.

Hurry now to book your seats! For more information, kindly contact Clarice at 9824 0258.

Some appreciation from students of the school =)

All the best to the students who are taking O level this year!

Students from Secondary 4

Student from Secondary 3

After 11 weeks of Relief Teaching posting in Secondary School...

It has been a long while since I last updated my blog as I had been so tied up juggling between my relief teaching and tuition lessons. More than 12 hours of work each day on top of my pregnancy, though tiring yet fulfilling. 

It had been a great experience to get the chance to teach A/E Maths in a secondary school, for now I really understand the differences between a MOE teacher and a tuition teacher. It had also provided me a with clearer view that being a tutor is what I want after contemplating to switch to teaching career for many years. 

During this relief period, I had been assigned to one Sec 4 Express A/E Maths class, one Sec 3 NA Maths class and one Sec 1 NT Maths class. This diversity had provided me a great opportunity to meet students from different backgrounds and understand their needs and interests in academics. As a teacher, not only do you need to deliver the knowledge and inspire, you need to manage the students as well, especially towards those weaker ones and those who showed the lack of interest. It's definitely a tougher job as compared to tutoring, as those who walked in to us are those who at least showed some interest in improving their results. Most of the time, teachers may find that they get trapped in the dilemma of whether to spend more time to inspire students who show bare interests in learning or to nurture those who wished to learn more. The beam is already so hard to balance. Not to mention, teachers also need to cater to the speed of teaching for the whole class, as some students learn fast while others slow, and some students have tuition teachers, while others have none. 

Though frustrating and disappointed at times, this experience is on the whole worthwhile. It helps me to understand and appreciate my tutees more now. Now, when my student tells me that he or she did not understand a single thing the teacher is teaching in school, I can now understand his or her situation better and cater better to his or her needs. Making this comment can be due to many factors and not necessary always the teacher's fault. The class environment, was it too noisy? Or was the intelligence level of the class on the whole, very high, which might properly be a reason for the teacher to teach fast, or was the teacher incompetent to deliver or was it due to my student not paying attention in class? All these factors are very important to consider when we teach because the wrong assumptions can lead to the tutees losing confidence in their tutors, just like they did with their school teachers, or worse, lose interest in the subject totally.

Now that the relief teaching is over, I look forward to another new chapter in my tutoring career. It has always been my goal to enhance my teaching skills to further help any students in need. A motto that I always hold: There are no stupid students in this world, but only lazy ones. With the right inspiration, any lazy student can be taught to shine!

Clarice
2nd April 2015

Latest testimonial from my student!

 

Weiting is currently in P5 in SCGS, going to be P6 next year! 

Showcasing some of my students

Showcasing some of my students:

SE: SE is going P6 next year.  A very quiet girl, of whom I have to patiently probe and test if she understands what I am teaching. Her daddy approached me through a referral parent. From her daddy I understand that she had a few tutors before but was not able to help her. Her last tutor was from a tuition centre who taught her through grouping student of different primary levels. Seriously, how does a tutor be able to teach different levels yet able to ensure all students can catch up? In the end, her daddy pulled her out to join my tuition class, even though they had to travel all the way from the north to my house in the east.

K: K is a N level student, who joined my class in August and taking O'level exam in Oct. In just 2 months, K was able to jump out from the nightmare of failing E maths in prelim to be able to score 80 plus marks in one of the past year O level Emaths. When he finished the paper 2 of this year's o level Emaths, he was very delighted to tell me that he was confident he can score 90 plus in his Emaths paper 2. I was very excited to hear that. In the conversation with him, he find that the materials I provide are very relevant. In fact, I actually spotted some of the questions that came out. Lucky me and lucky him! He had 3 tutors from tuition centre in the past but was very dissatisfied because they actually lied to him that instead of individual class, it became a group class and he was quoted a very expensive price of $40+ per hour. Even though he lived in Jurong, he was still willing to travel down to my place. Thanks that he did not give up due to long distances.

J: I taught J when she was in P5, now she is going S2 next year. She used to be a not-so-serious student when in P5. One time, I could not tolerate this behavior anymore, I reprimanded her strictly. To my surprise, she changed from then on and managed to pass her exams. In PSLE, she score an A in Maths, which she has never done so in school exams. Now, she is an enthusiastic learner, scoring very well in her secondary exams, top in class for Maths, sometimes getting full marks for her maths common test. In the recent EOY, she scored 90 for Maths.

WT: A very cheerful girl with very strong beliefs in achieving her goals. I taught her since P1 and she is going P6 next year too. She had always been a performer, with her Maths always above 80 marks. This SA2, she worked hard and aimed to achieve an A* for her Maths, unfortunately she scored 85.5. But she did not give up nor doubt herself. We will strive together and achieve your aim next year!

YD: YD is WT's elder brother and I taught him since P5. A very 'mischievous' boy back then who likes to destroy whatever things his hands lie upon and reinvent it. I can still remember that he even tried to unlock the toilet door when I was inside because he wanted to find out how to build a stronger lock! *Phew!* He does not believe in any heuristics techniques to solve primary maths, as he believes in using understanding of the question and logic of +-x/ to solve them. As such, it is a challenge to teach him as I cannot use any models, ratio techniques to explain to him but instead use logic and examples to teach the questions which he didn't understand. His love for Science and Maths makes him a very strong performer in his studies. He scored an A* in Maths and went to Hwa Chong Institution IP programme. He performed very well in first 2 years with exemption from Maths EOY. In Sec 3 this year, although he dropped a little, he managed to pull himself up and with proper guidance, he scored 92 for Maths EOY. Good job, YD!

S: S is a hyperactive girl. In tuition class, she can never stop moving and fidgeting, but she is a bright girl. Taught once and she can understand fast though most of the time, you will be thinking if she is listening. This is why in school, she became a target by school teachers for always not paying attention, but it's not true. It's her character, and with proper guidance, she can definitely perform. She used to fail all her Maths test. In her S1 EOY, she scored a B3.

H: H came to me when she was in S4. Just in a few months time she had to take her O'level. Her E Maths was F9 when she came to me, but we strive very hard together for the 10 months and she managed to achieve A1 in her E Maths! She was so happy that after she got her results, she called to tell me the good news!

There are many many more students of which I would like to share their stories. Meeting & teaching students of different characters is what makes the occupation as a tutor a challenging yet interesting and fulfilling. =) I believe in perseverance which I inspire my student to have too. Through a love for Maths, they can transform from non-performers to brilliant performers, which in turns build up their confidence not only for Maths but also for other subjects. 

   

About Myself - Inspirational Teaching

My history:
My name is Clarice and I’m a full time private tutor specializing in GCE O’Level Elementary and Additional Mathematics, and PSLE Mathematics.

I started offering Maths tuition to students 6 years ago when I was still working my full-time job in a financial institution. I enjoy imparting my skills to students so much that I decide to give up my well-paid job to devote myself in teaching. Besides imparting skills, one very important aspect I believe that help students to place their trust in me is INSPIRE. Inspirational teaching helps a student to change from within to aim for higher achievements and believe in themselves that they are capable to handle what they cannot earlier on, with the right mindset, coupled with knowledge and skills.


I derive my satisfaction and joy from seeing students who first came to me with fails/marginal passes and then achieved distinctions (‘A’s) in their O’ or N' Level and PSLE results. My approach is to simplify complicated concepts, carefully select commonly tested questions and come up with out of the box examples to help students relate better.


My credentials:
PSLE Maths (Ai Tong Primary School): A*
A/E Maths (St. Nicholas' Girls' School): A1s
Maths C/ F Maths (Anderson Junior College): A/B
NTU: Bachelor of Business (Banking & Finance) - 2nd upper class honors