For many students, contact with the "English language" was mainly through the classroom. Most of us remember the endless drilling in spelling and grammar rules, memorizing long vocabulary lists, flipping dictionaries, and handing in routine composition writing assignments. We all might have wondered, at some point or other, what the point was of going through the nerve-wrecking comprehension passages and filling in the blanks of cloze tests. It is hardly surprising, then, that children end up developing "English anxiety", or worse, a general underlying dislike for the subject. These bad associations with English class do not end when the pupils leave school; more often than not, they manifest themselves in other serious (and sad) ways - like avoiding to read books or never fully mastering the art of good communication.
Our vision is to "demystify" and simplify English: By sharing the reasons behind the language's multifarious rules, we make English accessible and "practical". Not every child needs to major in English, but every child needs to understand enough of its structure and beauty to, hopefully, grow to appreciate it. If a child fears or is intimidated by English, he or she will lose interest in the subject and assuredly deteriorate in grades.
Each MyHomeTutor Academy lesson is designed with clear objectives in mind - to deliver a set of specific skills and strategies which students can easily follow and which they can use to excel in school. As children learn to master these, it is our belief that not only their grades will improve but their confidence as well. Our approach for English at MyHomeTutor Academy is to focus on 3 discrete categories, unanimously identified by students, parents and educators alike to be the areas most in need of help:
A) Creative Writing and Vocabulary| A) Ace Your Composition | ||
| Focus on writing skills involving generate story ideas, write descriptively, develop stories with good starters, solid bodies and strong closings. Emphasis will also be on increasing the students' vocabulary power for writing descriptively. Picture composition and situation writing will both be covered. The course is broken down into 3 levels: |
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| i | Ace Your Composition: Elementary | (recommended for Primary 1 and 2) |
| ii | Ace Your Composition: Intermediate | (recommended for Primary 3 and 4) |
| iii | Ace Your Composition: Advanced | (recommended for Primary 5 and 6) |
Each module consists of 10 lessons and each lesson is 1.5 hour. |
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B) Comprehension
| B) Ace Your Comprehension | ||
| For most students, the words "comprehension" is enough to cause an instant brain-freeze. This programme aims to break down that psychological barrier by zooming in on unique strategies which the child can employ systematically in examinations and tests. Through skills such as looking at the "big picture", "little picture", "inferring" and finding clues through "vocabulary-in-context", students learn how to tackle these most dreaded and difficult of sections. This course also rides on prior knowledge of the passages' subject matter to its advantage, thus encouraging students to expand their reading horizon and train them to be better and more intelligent readers. There are 3 customized levels of difficulty: |
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| i | Ace Your Comprehension: Elementary | (recommended for Primary 1 and 2) |
| ii | Ace Your Comprehension: Intermediate | (recommended for Primary 3 and 4) |
| iii | Ace Your Comprehension: Advanced | (recommended for Primary 5 and 6) |
Each module consists of 10 lessons and each lesson is 1.5 hour. |
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C) Grammar and Applications
| C) Ace Your Grammar | ||
| Grammar is central to the teaching and learning of English. This programme takes a blended approach in recognizing that clearly defined and basic grammar instruction helps students acquire the language more efficiently, yet it incorporates grammar teaching and learning into the larger context of familiarity and use of the language. By balancing these two extremes, children are empowered to use one of the major tools they have as learners: their active understanding of what grammar is and how it works in the language they already know. Exercises such as synthesis and transformation and grammar cloze complement the application of the child's newfound knowledge in school assessment items. | ||
| i | Ace Your Grammar: Elementary | (recommended for Primary 1 and 2) |
| ii | Ace Your Grammar: Intermediate | (recommended for Primary 3 and 4) |
| iii | Ace Your Grammar: Advanced | (recommended for Primary 5 and 6) |
Each module consists of 10 lessons and each lesson is 1.5 hour. |
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Let's face it, Mathematics permeates our daily lives - there's no running away or hiding from it. What is also true is that most students perceive themselves either as "Mathematically-inclined" or "Mathematically-handicapped".
MyHomeTutor Academy does not share this belief. We strive to impart all children with the know-how and problem-solving skills to face and do well in Mathematics in school. The first step in achieving this is to develop essential thinking skills: these involve Classifying, Comparing, Sequencing, Analyzing Parts & Whole, Identifying Patterns & Relationships, Induction, Deduction and Spatial Visualization.
The second step is to take a practical, not visual approach. Only exceptional geniuses "get" it the first time after watching a teacher demonstrate; everyone else (that's 99.8% of the population) requires some level of practice before fully comprehending.
The third and final step is the technique of repetition. Mathematics is learned much more quickly and effectively if constant repetitive practices are performed. The adage that practice makes perfect cannot hold more true. At MyHomeTutor Academy, we unlock the child's cerebral and analytical powers in Mathematics by providing them with targeted avenues to constantly practice within and beyond our classrooms.
The 2 main focal points are:
A) Creative Mathematics (Heuristic Approach to Problem-Solving)| A) Creative Mathematics (Heuristic Approach to Problem-Solving) | ||
| Modeled after the topselling Creative Mathematics CD series, this programme familiarizes students with the heuristics or non-routine way of thinking and tackling problem sums. The list of 11 strategies include: Act it out, Use a diagram / model, Make a systematic list, Look for pattern(s), Work backwards, Use before-after concept, Use guess and check, Make suppositions, Restate the problem in another way, Simplify the problem, and Solve part of the problem. This in-depth training sharpens children's problem-solving ability and arms them with a clear plan of action (a defence mechanism of sorts) when facing "perceived-to-be-difficult" problem sums in tests and examinations. There are 3 customized levels of difficulty: | ||
| i | Creative Mathematics (Heuristic Approach to Problem-Solving): Elementary | (recommended for Primary 1 and 2) |
| ii | Creative Mathematics (Heuristic Approach to Problem-Solving): Intermediate | (recommended for Primary 3 and 4) |
| iii | Creative Mathematics (Heuristic Approach to Problem-Solving): Advanced | (recommended for Primary 5 and 6) |
Each module consists of 10 lessons and each lesson is 1.5 hour. |
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B) Challenging Mathematics
| B) Challenging Mathematics | ||
| This programme takes a systematic and extremely practical approach in concentrating on the 4 milestone assessments within a primary school student's academic year. With a view to improved grades, the topical lessons complement and supplement the school syllabus and classroom time, with emphasis on conceptual understanding, skill proficiencies and thinking prowess. Attention is given to the application of knowledge through hands-on activity-based work. This programme comprehensively incorporates high-quality revision, purposeful practice and the requisite preparation for students leading up to their examinations. | ||
| i | Primary 2 Challenging Mathematics | |
| ii | Primary 3 Challenging Mathematics | |
| iii | Primary 4 Challenging Mathematics | |
| iv | Primary 5 Challenging Mathematics | |
| v | Primary 6 Challenging Mathematics | |
Each module consists of 10 lessons and each lesson is 1.5 hour. |
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Our latest course, Ace Your PSLE Science covers topics in the PSLE Science syllabus used by MOE. This course trains students to use critical thinking skills to solve problems. Critical thinking is very essential in answering very challenging questions since they are actually designed to separate the good thinkers from others.
The homework and worksheet papers provided will give them enough exposure and training in answering questions for the exams. At the end of the course, there will also be a mock exam to instill confidence in students when sitting for their actual PSLE Science paper.