Yixin’s P3 Science story

01 / THE STARTING POINT

What felt difficult

Yixin is a visual learner who enjoys painting. In school, she wanted to do Science experiments, but lessons often led to worksheets she described as “just black and green”. When an answer was wrong, the teacher would move on to another student. Yixin worried about her classmates’ reactions and became reluctant to speak up.

Understanding a concept and explaining it on paper were different challenges. Her weaker English foundation and difficulty with spelling slowed her down. She could understand a Science idea but struggle to find the words to explain it, making open-ended questions harder than choosing from a list of answers. Kris wanted to help, but did not know how to break down the answering method. As a working mum, she also had limited time to work through it at home. She needed lessons that could hold the attention of a child she described as “quite fidgety”.

02 / THE LEARNING JOURNEY

Finding a way forward

Ottodot runs live, teacher-led online Math and Science classes for primary students, combining games with hands-on activities. The colourful visual slides caught Yixin’s attention and, together with the teacher’s interaction, helped her stay focused throughout class. In her Science lessons, Yixin used Ottodot’s custom-made Roblox games to practise what she was learning. Yixin could apply Science concepts while playing, with challenges that gave her a reason to try again when a choice did not work.

The teacher’s response to mistakes mattered to her. Encouragement such as “good try” came before guidance on what needed more work. He broke questions into simpler ones to help students think through an answer. Yixin felt more at ease answering through her laptop screen, and Kris valued her feeling comfortable enough to make mistakes.

Alongside that encouragement, Yixin learned CER: claim, evidence and reasoning. The claim states what she thinks is happening. Evidence identifies what she observed that supports it. Reasoning explains why that evidence supports her claim. It gave her a way to build a complete Science answer rather than stop after a single statement.

03 / THE PROGRESS

What changed along the way

Yixin became eager to answer in Ottodot lessons. Kris was surprised that an online class could hold her attention throughout, and noticed how the teacher’s tone and questions kept her involved. When her cousins came over to play during a lesson, Yixin asked them to wait until she had finished her Ottodot class before joining them.

Kris was surprised to hear Yixin explain how to build a Science answer using claim, evidence and reasoning. Yixin could explain why stating an answer was not enough: she needed evidence to support it and reasoning to show how the two connected. Hearing her daughter explain this in her own words helped Kris see what she was learning in class.

Yixin also finished her latest Science weighted assessment with time to review her answers. Spelling and written responses are still areas she is working on. Her progress includes being more willing to answer, staying engaged and knowing how to start explaining her thinking.