My Child Writes Unrealistic Compositions
Unrealistic compositions: Are they problematic? When your child tells a story, does it tend to be ‘out of this world’ or removed from reality? This is actually quite natural in children’s stories, and even beautiful. With their innocence and childlike naivety, children often generate ideas that are utopia-like or ‘too good to be true’. For […]
How to score in PSLE composition writing and beyond…
Our founder, Claudine Fernandez shares tips from PSLE markers below on how to ace the Continuous Writing Section of English Paper 1 coming up in end-September. Vary your use of vocabulary and sentence structure. Show, not tell. There is no need for overly complex vocabulary; what is more important is to use the appropriate word […]
Your Child May Just Be a Startup Founder
Recently, we came across a number of interesting infographics showing how startups were formed and how they developed into full-fledged companies. Here are two of them: Source: Best Friend Bible Source: Best Friend Bible In today’s world where the start-up culture is rife and continues to grow, how do we prepare our children adequately to […]
Developing an Innovator’s Mindset in our Children
Many of us are familiar with the Growth Mindset, discovered by Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology. Such a mindset is encouraged in both children and adults because it is the belief that the “most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work”. (Growth Mindset Definition). Yet, George Couros, an Innovative Teaching, Learning, and […]
Writing Can (and Should be) Planned
There’s a famous saying that goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” While this paints the worst case scenario, planning before writing can certainly improve the quality of the writing and also make the process easier. Here’s why planning should be done : 1) The beginning is almost always the hardest and […]
Common Mistakes in Writing
[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] Common Mistakes in Writing Based on our observations, many students (both upper primary and lower primary students) make these mistakes unknowingly and it is hard to reverse these mistakes when they become bad habits. However, with the right intervention, it is possible. Here are some common errors to look out for in your […]
A Good Writer: Does your child have what it takes?
There is definitely more than one way to gauge whether your child is or can be a good writer. Some may argue that if a student consistently scores high marks for Paper 1 (the written component of the English language examination in local Singaporean schools), he or she is a good writer. While this may […]
5 Elements of Good Storytelling
What does it take to write a good story? Perhaps, you could start with these five essential elements of storytelling. 1. Well-rounded characters Well-rounded characters are based on real life characters. Take a look at your favourite characters from books or the movies. What are they like? What outstanding traits do they have and how […]
Our Customised Teaching Approaches
At Artistic Strategies Academy, we recognise that every child is different and would have different learning needs. Therefore, after conducting a diagnostic test for our students, we are able to ascertain the strengths and areas of improvement. We then customise our teaching methods and at times, our teaching materials to suit the needs of the […]
Tips for Editing Writing
Editing is an essential process in writing. When done right, editing can make the difference between poor writing and good writing or even between good writing and great writing. Many people believe that editing just involves correcting grammatical and spelling errors. However we believe that it is more than that. When editing a paragraph, for […]
Creating a Descriptive Setting
The setting in a story can determine many things. It is not simply the time and place that the story takes place in. The setting also determines the mood and atmosphere in the story, affecting the characters and the plot. For example, if the plot is a tragic one, the setting might be dark and […]
Design Thinking: Why Every Child Should Learn It
I was first acquainted with Design Thinking Principles (originally from Stanford University) during one of my courses at Harvard University. The course was entitled “Designing for Learning by Creating”. I was fascinated by how we could all learn to be designers and create the best user experiences for others to improve their lives. Since then, I […]