Reading - The Path To UPSR Success

Did you know that 75% of the papers kids have to sit for in UPSR in SJKC are language papers and for SK students that number is over 66%?

The following are the papers kids have to sit for in their UPSR examinations.

For SK

1. English Paper 1 (Language Paper)
2. English Paper 2  (Language Paper)
3. Bahasa Malaysia Pemahaman  (Language Paper)
4. Bahasa Malaysia Penulisan  (Language Paper)
5. Maths
6. Science

For SJKC/T

1. English Paper 1  (Language Paper)
2. English Paper 2  (Language Paper)
3. Bahasa Malaysia Pemahaman  (Language Paper)
4. Bahasa Malaysia Penulisan  (Language Paper)
5. Maths
6. Science
7. Bahasa Cina/Tamil Pemahaman  (Language Paper)
8. Bahasa Cina/Tamil Penulisan  (Language Paper)

Although Maths and Science may be broken up into Paper 1 & 2, at the end of the day, they are counted as just one paper each whereas the language papers 1 & 2 are counted as separate papers.

This makes a whopping 4/6 language papers for SK and 6/8 language papers for SJKC/T.

What's clear about this observation is the language papers make up a large part of the UPSR examinations.

When should you start encouraging your child to read?

You should do this as early as you can. Get them into the habit of reading. Read to them. Read with them. Encourage them to read on their own. Inculcate the habit of reading in your child. By encouraging your child to read and nurturing a love of reading in them, you are in fact giving them a gift for life.

The love of reading opens up new worlds to readers, a world of adventure, a world of magic and a world away from what one may experience in real life. 

Start early. Once your child is in upper primary school, his homework load may be so heavy he will have little time to read. So start building that vocabulary early. Don't wait till they are in std 6 to do it. Let them enjoy reading and build up their vocabulary now.

You will find that the upper primary school teachers may ask you to encourage your child to read. Read as much as they can. Read a variety of materials. However, sadly they have little time to build a reading habit during those years due to their homework load. So start early so that they can pick up that habit while they are still young. A love for reading will stay with them for life and is the best gift for any child or even an adult.