Results Are (almost) Out!

Khadra just finished her Formatif 2 Exams (fancy name for what used to be our Ujian Bulanan, but done every two months) last week and some of the results are already in.

This was her very first exam ever. She has been revising for it by doing the practice questions on her elective activity books for English, Maths and Science. Ibu assigns her specific pages in the book and finds it done by the end of the day. Sometimes, when she gets stuck on a question, she would get irritated with it and would not move on. So, I told her to mark the questions that she was unsure of answering with a question mark. Sometimes , I get a big question mark in pencil that fills the whole page at the end of the day. hihihihihi Maknanya tak pahamlah macam mana nak jawab tu. Then, Ibu would mark the work and leave little notes of encouragements and stars and smiley faces (wherever applicable) This went on for a full week prior to the exam.

**start of digression

Disclaimer : I didn't even dare go NEAR Bahasa Melayu. I wanted to just gauge where she really is on her own accord. Standard of Bahasa Melayu is high these days, even for Primary One.

Sample of questions that baffled me in her Bahasa Melayu activity book:

Q1:

Picture form : here

A.Sang Rimba
B. Sang Lamri
C. Sang Bedal

Q2:

Picture from : here

Kereta ______ itu kepunyaan abang Asraf.
A.Persona
B.Saga
C. Waja

Q3: ____ ialah suami Puan Norliza.
A. Encik Rahman
B. Cik Rina
C. Puan Asmah

Advanced,kan? You are expected not just to know vocabulary, but general knowledge is tested as well. Case in point:
Q1: If you've never read any kisah dongeng or fables, how would you know that a singa could be called as Sang Rimba? BTW, what is a Sang Lamri anyways.
Q2: The question on the car thing. I mean , unless your dad /relatives/people you know drives one, would a child be able to tell the difference between a Persona and Waja and Saga? I memang buta kereta - so I don't know the difference. Dah tu, kalau dapat gambar googled as per above , OK lah jugak. Ni dalam activity book tu, it's just a lame sketch that vaguely resembles a car. Boleh?
Q3: The name thing is also a general knowledge kinda question. I mean, you need to actually know what kind of names are generally feminine and what are masculine. In turn, the title of someone would also indicate whether it is a male or a female and either married or otherwise.

*** end of digression

So, on the night of the exam, I made sure that she had a good sleep and rested well. No more revisions. Chill aje lah. On the first morning of the exam, we went through some do's and don'ts of a typical exam. Don't chit chat. Not to look at anyone around you. Don't sleep during the exam. I told her to try to answer the questions, just skip if you don't know the answer and come back to it later. Once done, check your answers - once, twice, thrice. Then, if you have more time, start colouring the pictures in the exam paper. (Tak nak kasi tidur lah ni) Don't leave any sections blank - even if you are not sure of the answer, at least attempt to answer.

Last sekali, before masuk sekolah, we would recite the doa that my mom taught me for penerang hati. Allahumma Bariklana (*Sheesh , itu doa makanlah, Ketua Pengawas!) Allahummaftah and Rabbishrahli. Tawakkal je lah, wahai anakanda...

When I got hold of some of the exam papers, I was pleasantly surprised that her writing was neat and she had coloured objects on the exam papers - with boarders and blending, no less! :) Aanyways, here's how she has done (so far) :
Pemahaman - 94%
Penulisan - 88%
Bahasa Inggeris - 95%
Mathematics - 100%
Science - 94%
Bahasa Arab - 91.5%
Agama Islam - 93.5%
(The rest I don't really know. Once I know, I updatelah *updated*)

BM was OKlah - she:
Mixed up between:
a) rumah teres and rumah panjang
b) Lembu tinggal di dalam hutan and Harimau tinggal di dalam kandang
c) Kakak mandi pokok bunga setiap waktu petang and Azman gemar menyiram di kolam

Boleh tahan jugak exam skills dia. There was a question on body parts and she really did not know what the knee is called in Malay. However, she knew her rambut, mata, leher, jari, kaki, tangan, bibir, gigi, hidung and rambut. By the process of elimination she got lutut right! Yeay!
The other subjects I wasn't too worriedlah. Some silly mistakes here and there. Looks good to me and I am proud of what she has achieved. But apparently, the results are not THAAT goodlah. Some kids are getting 100% in all subjects (by some, I am generalizing here and may include pupils from other Primary One classes in her school) Maybe we need to look into the option of tuition for her Malay. Don't knowlah. Would have to see how this unfolds.

One hurdle done. Yet, her PKSR1 (ala-ala midterm examlah zaman kita dulu) will be on the 24th of May 2010. That's in another 2 weeks time, y'all! Stress betul ya, jadi anak-anak zaman Millenium ni.. Kesian..

footnote: Sila kesian kat ibu dia sekali

-dillz blogging out-