So Clever is the latest initiative by two ex-MOE teachers of the English Language who believe that education should be fun and meaningful. Unfortunately, teachers find it near-impossible to do that within the school context due to the time constraints and the size of the classes so we have made it our mission to bridge the gap and help children discover and experience the fun and meaning while they work towards mastery of the different concepts and skills.
The Ministry of Education announced several major changes to the English syllabus in 2012 which, while being in the right direction, have made preparation more difficult and time-consuming for the teachers.
Even before the changes, most teachers would have focussed most of the curriculum time on the written components, giving little attention to the oral component, given that the weightage is biased towards the written components. The new changes actually require even more attention for both the written and oral components so teachers will be hard-pressed for time both ways, making it even more difficult to help the students excel in the oral examination.
To help each pupil excel in the oral examination would require teachers to train the pupils by giving each of them the chance to practise and then giving each of them individual feedback but it is impossible for teachers to do that. Teachers need to juggle many duties and responsibilities with their limited time. Completing the syllabus would already have been a feat. Helping students excel require sacrifices from both teachers and students that are sometimes impossible to make.
Nonetheless, it is our view that the oral component is a very important one because it can often make the difference between passing and failing and between getting A-stars or As or even Bs! In view of this, we have decided to launch So Clever with Demosthenes Workshop for PSLE – Excelling in the English Oral Examinations to help students excel in the PSLE English Oral Examinations in a fun and meaningful way.
In the future, we will expand our range our courses and launch our web store as well. We will stock a wide range of educational products, from books and DVDs to toys and games. Besides the usual fare, we believe that a good selection of toys and games will help your children master concepts and skills in fun and meaningful ways and eventually ace the examinations.