Maths in primary school are not easy

[Will_Lina]

Most of the teachers ..... esp those from the top schools do not teach as much as those from the neighbourhood schools. This is a fact. They expect students to get help if they cannot cope with the pace of the majority. So parents ended up putting their kids in tuition classes. Like it or not, this seems to be a norm and we just have to cope with it unless you do not mind your children lagging behind their classmate and learn at their own pace!

Just my two cents worth

 

[Wayne's Mama]

to do maths well, english foundation is very important....

so, it's best to train the kid's english.....

practice and practice... no choice... sigh

 

[priscilla]

Just to share a tip with all. I started maths daily with my boy when he is 2 and play with him using lego cube. And by doing so, I will use words like more than, less than, between etc. And my boy will form the number using lego cubes. In the same way, we used lego cube to work on addition and subtraction.

As a trained teacher (on npl), I think it is important to help the child appreciate maths in daily life and integrate it with English that helps. Make maths a part of daily life will help. Like for measurement, my boy helps me in baking and from there we do problem solving since I do not have a weighing scale in the kitchen and he has to help me by deciding how to using those measuring cups and spoons to get the correct amount and these develop his thinking and problem-solving scale. And he also helps his dad diluting car wash detergent with water where he will add in the correct amount of water to the detergent. Now that he is coming to 5, he has process from lego cubes to marbles to make learning more funs for him together with Jelly cups that we work on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. We started him on learning time-tables through songs recently and he was able to recite some of the time-tables and we supplement by explaining to him the concept behind through groups. Here's what I used for learning Time-tables,

As for word problems, there are many books in populars that will help parents if they are willing to go through those problem-solving skills themselves and work out those problem before explaining to their children. Basically, the children in P1 and P2 learn about Part/Whole method and from there it is built on. Books by Fabian Ng (Challenging Problem Solving Maths has examples given to help the parents or child to coach them along the way.). Fabian Ng is a very well-known Maths Educator and he also conducted courses and seminars for both parents and students to help them understand the concept behind each time of word problems. If I am not wrong, FanMaths also has such examples. I would not tell more as the last time that I was at Popular BookStore was in March buying books for my boy as we were preparing for our relocation to Sydney after been home for a break from Vancouver due to dh's posting. It will also be good to start your child on Maths Olympiad for Primary School (There are 5 books available in Popular Bookstore from Book 1 for P1 and P2 all the way to P6.)

If in anyway I can help to solve maths problem sum, pm me. I might not reply straight away as I am busy doing my PV Maths Worksheets for the school that we have decided to enroll my boy for his Primary School education in Singapore and also I am homeschooling my boy. But I will workout the solution and explain how it is workout.

 

[EnFlor]

priscilla, where did you get the Sing and Learn timetable from ? I am interested to find out more.

So, does it come in VCD or CD ? How much does it cost ? TIA

 

[eZekielmummy]

Hi Priscilla,
Nice to noe another tr, I'm new here.
It's gr8 2 hear ur sharin here!

I agree tt d syllabus has changed a lot since ..
nevertheless as parents we sh try 2 b more active in coachin our children, usin eg in daily life b4 they enter sch. It helps them 2 b ENGAGED w MOE intiative - Teach Less Learn More ..

:weyes:

 

[priscilla]

priscilla, where did you get the Sing and Learn timetable from ? I am interested to find out more.

So, does it come in VCD or CD ? How much does it cost ? TIA

You can checkout Popular bookstore (not all carry them) or Amazon. It comes in a CD, just songs and a write and wipe book.

 

[littlehelper]

Not only is maths a challenge nowadays.Chinese is hard too.The primary 4 standard could be as hard as the primary 6s a few years back..
English is harder too in terms answering compre questions
and science more and more facts to know about.

 

[DodoTan]

As a pri sch teacher, I must say that there's a general misunderstanding about the MOE syllabus. In true fact, the syllabus has been much reduced and many facts and topics have been ommitted over the years. BUT, greater emphasis is given on UNDERSTANDING the concepts and developing THINKING SKILLS. This is why when you look into the textbooks, you think it's not so bad, but when you look at the test papers, you faint. The questions seem really difficult to us because we were brought up to simply regenerate what we have learnt. But for this generation to thrive, our children need to make connections and apply what they have learnt. So to know that 5 + 9 = 14 is not enough; they need to know when they need to add 9 to 5 so that they can get 14.

 

[DodoTan]

Developing creativity and thinking skills are not easy, especially for us as we weren't taught that way. One way to help you kids is to change the way they play. Get them to do projects to build stuff up or make things that work (eg: a gun that shoots, a house that stands, a cookie that's tasty...) Focus on the science/maths/following-instruction/common sense/problem solving needed to complete the project. Start young. The more low-tech the toys/games, the more thinking needed, the better for you kids. The high-tech stuff: computer games, automated cars and action figures do nothing for your kids; they even kill their imagination cos there's nothing left to pretend and imagine.

 

[jo_71]

ya..i feel that this type of question is actually testing english rather than maths. my boy finds it difficult too, especially those type of..
___ more than 9 is 15
6 more than ____ is 20
7 more than 5 is ______
____ is 9 more than 2
6 is ____ more than 3
7 is 5 more than ____
___ less than 9 is 5
6 less than ____ is 20
7 less than 15 is ______
____ is 9 less than 12
6 is ____ less than 13
7 is 5 less than ____

you see is it test english a not?

Hi all. I would like to share with all the mummies encounter this type of math question. Actually is it very simple if you know the tricks. For "is" you see as =. For "less than" you see as -. And for "more than" you see as +.

eg: 7 is 5 less than _________
that is "7 = 5 - ____
then you work backward: ____ - 5 = 7

7 is 5 more than ________
that is "7 = 5 + ____

Ask your child to put the sign on top the words, he will be able to solve the problem.

Hope all can understand what i try to tell here..ancing_wub:

 

[barbaraxx]

Not only is maths a challenge nowadays.Chinese is hard too.The primary 4 standard could be as hard as the primary 6s a few years back..
English is harder too in terms answering compre questions
and science more and more facts to know about.

as we all know, nowadays kids are experiencing a very hard time. My dd now is in her grade 2. beside her assingments, she has to take some more enhanced exercises. we try our best to find some very lovely learning resources to balance play and study. and dd now is using the beestar, a curriculum-based online programs. It offers math, ELA, Vocabulary, Science, Social Studies, and GT (Gifted & Talented) Math exercises. And math is for free. Their exercises are full of vivid pictures and interesting stories. I think it really does help my dd a lot.​

​

Lisa​

 

[bbee09]

Hi all. I would like to share with all the mummies encounter this type of math question. Actually is it very simple if you know the tricks. For "is" you see as =. For "less than" you see as -. And for "more than" you see as +.

eg: 7 is 5 less than _________
that is "7 = 5 - ____
then you work backward: ____ - 5 = 7

7 is 5 more than ________
that is "7 = 5 + ____

Ask your child to put the sign on top the words, he will be able to solve the problem.

Hope all can understand what i try to tell here..ancing_wub:

Hi jo_71,

Thanks for the tips. Ya, it does seems easier to understand. My ds sometimes get mixed up too. I guess this may work.

I do agree with all that the syllabus (Maths esp) seems more difficult. I will agree tat it's really a test on the understanding of the English language, as my ds is still not very good in English. Thus, he had more difficulty in those problem sums.

 

[stonston]

Hi all. I would like to share with all the mummies encounter this type of math question. Actually is it very simple if you know the tricks. For "is" you see as =. For "less than" you see as -. And for "more than" you see as +.

eg: 7 is 5 less than _________
that is "7 = 5 - ____
then you work backward: ____ - 5 = 7

7 is 5 more than ________
that is "7 = 5 + ____

Ask your child to put the sign on top the words, he will be able to solve the problem.

Hope all can understand what i try to tell here..ancing_wub:

Parents need to beware: Not all such questions can be worked out in the above way. Kids may get more confused in the long run. Teach them the LANGUAGE and understand the question.

 

[camom]

I agree.. what if they twist the question and it goes:

7 is _______ less than 10

or

7 less than ________ is 5.

 

[coco^v^]

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:

Not only Maths, their Science too. What they are learning in P5 are what those in Sec2,3 are learning.

 

[iamblessed]

Parents need to beware: Not all such questions can be worked out in the above way. Kids may get more confused in the long run. Teach them the LANGUAGE and understand the question.

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.

 

[auntybrenda]

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....

 

[littlemoments]

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

 

[boggie]

HI mummies

Relax.. Pri math look hard in surface.... but will you narrow down there only one of two model solutio...

That wat i found out while tutoring some Pri

Mummy just need to sit down and look carefully... no worry .. simple when you got the basic evaluation....

 

[camom]

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

Try KiasuParents.com | ... because we not stupid too