Saturday, August 13, 2011

Exams and Universities 12 August 2011

This is a reply to WL's comment. Thank you WL.

1. Without proper exams results (SPM/STPM) how will they enroll into university in the future?

You are right, they can't get into a local (Malaysian) universtity without SPM/STPM as a pre-requisite. Currently, it is working for them with whatever that they are exploring and discovering without going through any "formal" schooling. I believe that they are gaining knowledge and bulding brain cells as they progress. 

Until they find that they would like to do something that needed a college degree (either malaysian uni or overseas), then they will need to prepare themselves for it, either SPM/STPM or O/A-level or IGSE or SAT which can be taken privately. I believe they (the children) will similarly have the aptitude and attitude to gather/gain the knowledge that is required in order to go to the next step.

2. Do you conduct your own test/exams to see how your children have master that particular subject (ie English, Science, Maths)?

No, we do not  conduct any test or examinations on the children because I do not need to know their  mastery on a certain topic or subject. In my opinion, their mastery of a certain topic and being graded for it is not something that I would want to do on my children and subsequently classify them as an "A" student or "F" student. Moreover, every child has its own pace of learning, some learn fast and some slow and some at young age, some later. Besides, if the child gets an A or an F, what good does it do to  the child other than being told in a way that they are less "wrongs" for A, and more "wrongs" for F.

6 comments:

Coach Casie said...

He is one of my favorite Ted Speakers of all times. Such a delight and inspiration.

Ng Shannon said...

Hello Coach Casie,
Thank you.
Yes.I totally agreed with you. :)

Waileng Tan said...

Thank you Shannon for your reply. You have enlighten me very much. Thank you

Ng Shannon said...

Wai Leng, Thank you!
I am glad to hear that!!!! :) Thank you.

liz said...

I think you and your family are rather wonderful and terribly brave. The homeschooling, much less unschooling, movement is not very developed in Asia, and to strike out on an uncertain path takes a lot of courage. I am certain your children will thank you in the future for allowing them to grow at their own pace and retain their intellectual curiosity.

Just to let you know- many many US universities accept and are even excited about accepting homeschoolers. And I mean places like Stanford, William and Mary and many liberal arts colleges. A lot of them don't even demand standardized testing. Many universities accept portfolios and parent/child evaluations in place of letter grades.

Also, I read your post about the floating lemon. I hope you're not leaving her questions unanswered even if they startle you or make you feel insufficient. You're not! And there's a whole www of information at your fingertips. I think the internet can be a wonderful tool for education. And it's important to respond encouragingly to children's queries, so they'll know that it's of value to come to you.

I think you're doing a great job!

Ng Shannon said...

Hello Liz,

I love your comment so much. It means so much to me. I read it again and again. Thank you very much.

Being a slow learner myself and weak in most subjects, answering their questions pose great challenge for me.

You motivated me! Much love to you.