Determination - Aloysius Lim

When things get hard, work harder.  Aloysius Lim of Millenia Institute, who scored well in his A-level examinations despite his eye condition, showed us nothing is impossible when one refuses to let obstacles become excuses for failure.  Good Job Aloysius!  再接再力，加油！

 

Dr Goh Keng Swee's Perseverance

15 May 2010, In a tribute to the late Dr Goh Keng Swee, Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim hoped the young would pick up this wonderful value of perseverance from Dr Goh:

“One thing young people should learn from him is to never give up. Persevere. That’s the most important thing. If not, we wouldn’t be here today. His legacy will be very, very long – from national service to education to finance. He was an amazing man.”

Giftedness and Hard Work

Terence Tao, a Mathematics Professor in UCLA, obtained his Phd in Mathematics at the age of 21. He is well-known for his works in Mathematics.

From young, he loves numbers and patterns. He finds that this love sharpens his thinking.

Take Tuition Classes for the Right Reasons

We refer to the Straits Times' article “Take tuition classes for the right reasons” written by Eisen Teo on 22 March 2010, we couldn’t agree more for what Mr Teo said. From experience, we feel that the soft skills which Mr Teo referred to are actually more important than the content in which the children needed help.

Without the proper values like correct learning attitude, it is akin to fetching water with a basket.  Can anyone really fetch water with a basket? Can anyone really learn without the proper attitude? 

In learning attitude, we inculcate and demand that students hold themselves responsible in their learning. They must get the idea at the outset that they have to pay attention, seek clarification and do the required practice in order to attain effective learning. Without this, all effort will be futile. 

Values and Habits

Preschool and Primary level education is the most critical stage in a person's development. Parents and teachers play a strong role in the child's development at preschool and primary stage.

We believe that when a child develop good learning habits, he is on the right path towards excellent performance. As the child acquire the proper values, such as discipline, determination, perseverance, which he repeatedly do and become a habit, parents can rest assured that the child will succeed in what they set their mind to. We work with parents to help the child develop these good learning habits.

"The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." ~Samuel Johnson

Value - Responsibility

Knowing past trends MAY help us predict the future. Based on the feedback from PSLE students over the years, the level of difficulty seemed higher in the 2005, 2007 and 2009 PSLE Math papers. If the past trend is anything that we can trust by, this year's student will be spared. Really?!

Truth or Fallacy? The best bet is to having our students continue to be responsible towards their own learning and maintain the mindset of "Being Prepared". You cannot but agree with our Senior Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong that these values are timeless.

Giving Up

One my students told me that more than half of his classmates began to lay their heads on the table with a full half an hour to go during the recent PSLE math exam. In fact, students started to sleep with 45 minutes left in the exam.

VIP Learning Centre

We are excited to announce that our subsidary centre, VIP Learning Centre in Yishun will be ready to receive her first batch of students, starting 1 June 2009.  

Why VIP?  V, I and P represents values, intelligence and psychology ie mindset respectively, which constitute to our V-I-P Success model.  http://www.scharffsystem.com/oursystem.html  We take it as our duty to encourage our young learners to understand and adopt the good values and habits of the mind; and the Art of Socratic questioning to reason out logical conclusion independently; and develop the right mindset to take on challenges.

Let's see how VIP being apply in reality...TV ;)   As a case for discussion, take the winner of Survivor Tocantins, James "JT" Thomas; from the results show, JT mentioned that his mother has been telling him for the past 3 years that he could win the game if he were to take part in the show.  

Parents : Please pay attention to your child and actively encourage him.  He may not know he can be a winner yet.  Your motivating words and moral support can do amazing things!  

To outwit, outplay and outlast in Survivor is by no means a small feat, even so when JT won by unanimous vote . The harsh conditions, the strangers to befriend quickly, watching and protecting own back, the challenges to win, the different alliances to make, ....  JT has a strong mindset.  Physically strong and jungle smart, he made the good decision and moves that allowed him to survive in the game.  He displayed good work ethics and well-liked.  In Survivor, rarely is it that the good guy win the game.  JT appeared to be one of that rare good guy.  Success can be achieved in many ways, and success achieved with good values leaves you with a good name that others sing about.

We look forward to partnering with parents of the young learners at our centre, to foster winners using the V-I-P Success model as a guide in their journey to success.

"Success doesn't come to you...you go to it." ~ Marva Collins