Shaheed Salim Tuition

Recently, Suria TV made a short documentary about the things I do.  A good part of it is about the tuition I do. You can watch the video above.        

  The CA1 is just over. When the results are out, some parents begin to panic. "My child needs a tutor!" "Where do I find the right tutor?" "My friends send their kids for tuition. Should I do the same?" The tuition industry is booming and it feeds on the fears and hopes of such parents. In reality, we can categorise students into 2 groups – those who need tuition and those who do not. Yet when we study the clientele in the tuition industry, we realise that sometimes those who need tuition do not get tutored, and those who do not need tuition are enrolled for many sessions with tutors. Common sense should guide how parents decide. What should clueless parents do? Simple – ask yourself sincerely whether your child needs help with his studies? If your child is scoring As, is tuition really necessary?  I remember a parent telling me, "My son scored almost full marks for Math last year." My uninhibited response was, "So why do you think he needs...

We all love our kids. Who doesn’t? And we want them to excel in their studies. So we load the pressure of high expectations and the routines of tuition classes to solve this problem. Sometimes the problem gets solved. Sometimes it does not; sometimes it stays for a prolonged period of time and we are left asking why. Today, we shall look at the failures of kids at PSLE or upper primary Math, which in my opinion is no different why some students fail at secondary Math. Through the years, I have guided students, who had scored poorly at Maths, attained A grades, and I discovered that unless these students underwent transformation at the self-concept and self-expectations levels, it would be hard to help them score grades A and above. (Note: Even with low self-esteem, scoring a C is still possible for students but an A is clearly out of reach, unless the test paper is full of lower level thinking questions.) The first thing you should realise as a parent or even teacher is you must never ...

  "What is ml?" Unsure. Litre? "How many millilitres is equal to 1 litre?" Unsure again. So I taught the student the conversion from litres to millilitres and the reverse. Some students will be able to master the formula and “prove” to us that they understand, but do they? As teachers, tutors and adults, will you deceive yourselves and move on to the next skill, telling yourself that the student understands the concept? You should test him for his true understanding. “Look at this packet drink? How much liquid is in it?” Silence. “Guess. Come on.” Silence again. “Come on, just guess.” What sort of Math teacher is this man?" the kid was probably wondering. “I don’t how,” the student finally replied. “I know you don’t know, but just guess.” He kid guessed a number, which was wrong, and then I said, “Look at the packet drink and see how much liquid there is in it.” The child picked up the packet drink and turned it this way and that, searching for a number.  “100!...

  Mr M and I chatted over the phone and he was very concerned about his son, E. He wanted to know my thoughts about his son. That was how it all began. When I received scans of his son’s SA2 Math paper, the name of the school and the unique ways the answers and corrections were written made me feel that I was not discussing about a common student. This one was different. Sensing the father’s deepening interest and dedication to his son, I needed to meet his son to know for sure whether my gut feel was accurate. E and I met before my talk. Within 30 minutes, I knew what the problem was. E was autistic.  It brought me back to almost 2 decades ago when Mr and Mrs Y entrusted JY to me. However, the couple did not tell me that their child was autistic. They had told me about some of his problems but never once did they say he was autistic. I knew then and now why the Ys and Ms do not tell tutors about their child’s autism. They do not want the thick limiting ceiling to be there at ...

  To those who have lost hope in Math, don’t give up yet. Once upon a time, when I was a secondary school student, Math became very difficult for me. It began at the end of Secondary 1. My grades continued to plunge until I failed quite terribly in Secondary 2. We didn’t have money for tuition and so failing Math was a real probability for me. However, a Mr Pei of Bartley Secondary taught E. Math in a clear and logical way that I was able to pick up some concepts. It gave me hope that I could pass Math if I worked very hard. And I did work very, very hard. At the end of Secondary 4, I scored A1 for Math. Would I have gained if I had a good tutor then? Of course. I think I had spent too much time on Math. Studying it on my own, I sacrificed the other subjects. However, because I did it on my own, I comprehend Math concepts at a deep level, which is to my advantage today. Self-teaching oneself Math is not a joke but on my own, I guided, counselled and motivated myself at every step. ...

Many parents, whose children have been failing Mathematics for over a year, worry and fear that their children can never master Mathematics. This fear is not unfounded because the mastery of Mathematics at a higher level is dependent on the mastery of Mathematics at a lower level. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before negative assumptions concretise and became a part of their belief system. Check yourself if you believe in any of the following assumptions: *Mathematics is tough. *My child/student is not cut out for Math. *My family/student’s family has never been good at Math, so I expect my child/student to be weak at Math. *Only intelligent people can master Mathematics. *Weak students cannot never master Math ever. *Weak students can only be helped 1-to-1, even then after a very long time. *Only some weak students can improve in their scores. *My child/student has never been good at Math. Hence, he/she will most likely fail his exam this year.   *Some kids are born to ...

  M is unhappy that his tuition class is coming to an end. Sad, he wishes that I could continue teaching him. Different from his peers, M has asked me a few times, “Teacher, why do my friends call me ‘dumb’?”  Although his mother may be unaware about his condition, his characteristics remind me of 2 other students. Sharing many common traits, these 3 Chinese boys have etched a space for themselves in my long term memory and my heart because of their uniqueness. Mild autism. Some 20 years ago, K’s parents made an appointment to meet me at my tuition centre in Ang Mo Kio. Although K had been diagnosed with autism, they were careful not to mention it to me. Instead they highlighted his slowness and inability to solve complex Math sums. Gradually, I realised that they did this because they found it difficult to find a teacher who believed it was possible for autistic students to understand and excel beyond the boundary of solving linear problem sums. Well, the parents did not have...

                                        Few years ago, five Primary 5 students who had failed at Mathematics at their SA2 examinations enrolled for the P5 Math ReLearn programme taught by me. Their names were Az, Ak, Ha, Al and Do – 2 boys and 3 girls. And so I taught them the content concepts and skills  their school Math teachers had taught them before. From the very first lesson, I told them that if they believed in themselves and practised Math, they would pass PSLE Math; in fact, they could even get an A if they worked hard. I saw that familiar look on their faces – polite faces that didn’t really believe what I had said. Well, this is only natural especially for those who had started failing Math from Primary 5 or earlier. Math had become tough and confusing for them. These 5 students enrolled in my P6 Math classes and stayed with me for 9 months until this ...

If your child is struggling at Math at Primary 4 to 6` or Sec 1 to 2, and you are unsure on how to help your child, do consider sending him for my classes. I specialise in helping students who are weak at Math. For the struggling child, it is a journey we will share together for at least a year or more.  

To meet the educational and academic needs of most students, school should suffice. Yet this is not the case in many Asian countries, and Singapore is no exception. Some parents insist that an A is not good enough and tuition is the logical means for their children to attain an A-star in the exams.   I have provided tuition services to students over the last 3 decades, and it is crystal clear to me that the students who truly need the services of tutors are those struggling academically. This is because tuition is equal to extra academic support. Why would students who are already getting an A grade need extra academic support beyond the guidance of school teachers? In 2018, I taught the above and below 8 students. 6 of them failed Math at P5. At the PSLE, they achieved 1 A-star, 2As and 5Cs. It was a spectacular year.  For 2021, I am focussing on Mathematics for students studying in Primary 4-6 and Secondary 1-2. In Singapore, these 5 levels of study can drastically affe...