Newspaper Responses

This article talk about what a typical parent with school-going kids would do: buy assessment books for all the subjects he/she is studying. I really pity the poor kids who have to finish so many assessment books set by their parents. I seriously did not like doing assessment books when I was in primary school. (This article mainly talks about primary school students) I remember how much homework came from assessment books when I was in Primary Six. There was one or maybe two for every subject and if that wasn't enough I had two math and three science assessment books in tuition. Horrors of the horrors! I hardly had any time to complete all those assessment books. I think that assessment books are only necessary when a child is doing poorly in a particular subject or when he/she cannot understand basic concepts learnt and needs constant revision. Assessment books can also be used for practice for subjects such as math. But I do not agree with those parents who go out and buy two to three assessment books for each subject and force the child to do, even though he does not need them. I feel that that would only cause the child to lose interest in a particular subject and make him believe that marks are everything and passion is not important. I believe that passion and interest are important is a child wants to excel in a subject. He/She may improve by doing many assessment books regularly, but would that sustain his performance and ignite interest in the subject? I think that would only cause the child to hate the subject and if he/she was already good in that subject, forcing him/her to do assessment books might cause him/her to do badly.