Maths in primary school are not easy

[sg81hani]

Hi all,
Now that I'm a parent I've already started to worry about my daughter's ability to grasp our educational system. I'm a secondary school teacher and teaching lower sec maths. By the time the students come to sec 1, we are already teaching algebra and they are expected to be able to solve 3/4 step problems. Maths isn;t easy but it can be if we introduce maths to our young in a fun way. It will be harder later if they cannot relate to the subject and worse refuse to put in effort in it. Most of the time, it's not the difficulty level that gets to them, it's that they do not have interest in the subject anymore.

 

[magbie]

Anyone knows any maths question discussion/tutorial forum for primary kids?

If your child is in P1, try www.p1math.com

 

[magbie]

I agree that now primary sch studies are not as easy as what we have at our times. My child is like strugglin. Our hope is all on them. Just wish that they can get good grade. I just hope that I m not puttin too much pressure on them.:wong19: love my kids....

I believe working on past year papers helps a lot.

I know of 2 websites that provide drills to common Maths problems - problemsums . com and p1math . com (the latter targets only P1, which seems strange to me).

Both are good in my opinion, and it adds some fun to the learning process too.

 

[juzclay]

Hi all,
Just wanna share this website with you. onSponge.com

onSponge.com provides expert advice, features, columns, reference articles, online solutions to exam papers, workshops, and a community for parents, teachers and tutors of primary and secondary school students.

 

[yvonnemommy]

Saw a question post at Test-paper.info :: Your one stop guide to Singapore School Assessment Papers and Examination Test Papers on a primary six question for the CA1 and I could not solve it!!! Didn't know the standard nowadays are so high. I wonder how are the kids coping now.... so sad...:we2Randy-git:

I just want to say, poor kids. We parents should do our "homework" now - to heip our kids.

 

[cmeilim]

Stonston is right. If the question is twisted as per what Camom posted, the kids may get the answer wrong.

I've found Dr. Fong Ho Kheong's book on "The Essential Parents' Guide to Primary Maths" very useful in explaining these concepts. These kind of questions can be understood and solved more easily by applying the Comparison Concept using modeling approach.

i agree with stonston and camom. teaching kids those 'tricks' or short cuts do nothing to help them understand the problem sums in the long run. instead, good literacy skills and effort towards helping your child to understand the problem will help in solving maths questions.

is dr Fong's book also available at Popular Book Co? although my boy is still many years away from entering P1, i am personally very interested in how our primary school maths curriculum has evolved in recent years and finding out the different mathematical concepts schools are introducing to children these days, out of my own curiosity. =)

 

[cmeilim]

sorry, double post.

 

[camom]

i agree with stonston and camom. teaching kids those 'tricks' or short cuts do nothing to help them understand the problem sums in the long run. instead, good literacy skills and effort towards helping your child to understand the problem will help in solving maths questions.

is dr Fong's book also available at Popular Book Co? although my boy is still many years away from entering P1, i am personally very interested in how our primary school maths curriculum has evolved in recent years and finding out the different mathematical concepts schools are introducing to children these days, out of my own curiosity. =)

Cmeilim, if I am not mistaken, this Dr Fong book is more for story sums and hieuristics at higher pri level. For lower pri, I will stick to Fabian Ng's Problem Solving Processes (P2 onwards).

 

[mosupdate!]

Hi all

I think sometimes, we get too caught up trying to teach hard concepts that children may have 'bad experiences' learning maths or english or whatever it is, I am suggesting we could also make learning fun. There are many sites that break down otherwise complex stuffs into easier understanding:

read on : here

 

[bella]

The Maths questions in the textbooks and workbooks are far simpler than what actually comes out in the exams. Sigh

 

[U Family]

Hi Parents,

U Family has started an interest group of parents called "Unofficial School for Parents" and our first workshop will be on how to help your child in learning Math.

The workshop is on 19 Feb, Saturday and is supported by Singapore Teachers' Union. It will be conducted by a teacher and will cover the common problems faced by students in Math and how parents can help.

Suitable for parents with children in P1 to P4. $10 per person (NTUC members) or $15 per person (public)

Check it out: NTUC - U Family

We are extending the closing date to 18 Feb, 5pm. Payment (by cash / cheque) can be made before the start of the event on 19 Feb.

 

[U Family]

Hi Parents,

U Family has started an interest group of parents called "Unofficial School for Parents" and our first workshop will be on how to help your child in learning Math.

The workshop is on 19 Feb, Saturday and is supported by Singapore Teachers' Union. It will be conducted by a teacher and will cover the common problems faced by students in Math and how parents can help.

Suitable for parents with children in P1 to P4. $10 per person (NTUC members) or $15 per person (public)

Check it out: NTUC - U Family

We are extending the closing date to 18 Feb, 5pm. Payment (by cash / cheque) can be made before the start of the event on 19 Feb.

 

[sharkie8480]

Just to share, I found this blog that has free Primary level math worksheets & worked solutions. Its very new but seems like its being updated often. Think can try to request for topics

http://flyingcoloursacademy.blogspot.com/

 

[KsqMathelogy]

Hi parents,

The June holidays are coming and Ksq. Mathelogy has planned a series of holiday workshops for parents and children to sign up for!
The parent workshop is designed to help parents understand what their child is learning in school. It also helps parents to learn some concepts and heuristics to be able to support their child in their work.
The children workshop focuses on fractions, which is a concept that most children find hard to comprehend due to its abstract nature. This workshop aims to put a meaning to every fraction a child sees and to help them to solve work problems related to fractions.

For more information, visit June Holiday events

 

[MomKiasu]

I totally agree with you. Maths in primary school is just too tedious.

Personally, i think the purpose of an exam is to ensure that every student should understand the basics, and not how much you know/ can do as some students may be unable to work out tedious questions easily and thus, fails an exam because they cannot complete it.