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Many parents who have children entering Std One for the first time are confused about What Is LINUS so I decided to write a short post about it.
Basically LINUS stands for Literacy And Numeracy Screening. The keyword here is "Screening".
What is LINUS?
- It is merely a screening test to find and give aid to students who are weak
- It is an assessment to measure a child's knowledge to see if a child requires extra help
- It is aimed to provide remedial help for children weak in reading, writing and arithmetic (meaning the assessment is both oral and written)
What it is not....
LINUS is a screening test. It is not a streaming test to put better children into best classes.
Before you read on, here are a few articles you can read to find out more about LINUS. You can also watch the video below to get a better idea. I won't go into the details. I will just tell it like it is from a parent's point of view.
- LINUS Programme For Early Learning published by Star on Sept 5, 2012
- Primary Schools To Get LINUS 2 Next Year published by NST on Nov 24, 2012
- Perbandingan LINUS dan LINUS 2 from a blog called Teaching In Malaysia
Now, from a parent's point of view. Firstly, you may want to know.....
What Are The Subjects Being Screened? They are..
- Mathematics
- Bahasa Malaysa
- English ( added in LINUS 2)
This is because, in our time, when we start Std 1, we go in with little or no basic knowledge. We go to school to learn our ABCs. It is not like this anymore. These days, most children have attended at least 2 years of kindergarten, some even more before starting school. If your child has been doing this, then you should not have any worries at all. In kindergarten, he or she would already have been assessed and learned their basics. Remember, the LINUS programme is basically a remedial programme. It is to provide early intervention for those who need help. So, don't panic.
Just let your child learn whatever is given in a relaxed fun way. There is no need to study for it as though it is a very important test. By the time the test period rolls along, you will usually be given a notice by the school to inform you that the LINUS assessment will be conducted within a certain time frame. (LINUS is usually conducted twice a year). Since the written notice states a time frame, if your child does not inform you, you may not even know that he or she has already completed the test on the actual date. So don't stress yourself or your child over it.
These days, some publishers publish books for this purpose. You can check out this publisher's blog which features some of the books. There may be later versions so you can visit bookstores or online bookstores for the latest books. However, I suggest you have a look at the link I provided below because they included a preview of the book. You can flip to see the content.
This blog post Buku Kerja Untuk Program LINUS from Sasmurni includes an ebook preview so you can take a look inside the book to see the contents. This will give you a rough idea of what sort of basic knowledge is required during assessment. The books featured on the page include "Literasi Menulis", "Numerasi Bertulis", "Lembaran Literasi Menulis Bahasa Malaysia Tahun 1" and "Lembaran Literasi Bertulis Matematik Tahun 1".
I hope this blog post on What Is LINUS is useful for those searching for this information. Good Luck, parents. I wish your child will have a good start in Std One and enjoy their early schooling years.
For those of you who have not decided on your school choice, you can check out my ebook here.
"Banana Mom's Guide To Preparing For Chinese School"
You are also welcome to join and network with other parents on my FB Group Malaysian Primary And Secondary Parents On Facebook.
You can get your LINUS workbooks online from here.
