OnSponge Maths - Discussion

[Tinkerbelle]

Brenda10:

Tinkerbelle:

Hi Brenda,

You mentioned in another thread that your DD's sch is doing onsponge maths. Were you referring to the assessment book that they're selling on their website? Does the workshop reinforce what's in the book? Tks :lol:

Good luck to you dd with her paper 1 :celebrate:

Hi Tinkerbelle

The book is the same as what they're selling on their website.

I would think so as key concepts had included.

Good luck to your dd too. :celebrate:

Thank you.

Hi Brenda,

:thankyou:

[sunshinelove]

Tinkerbelle:

sunshinelove:

[quote=\"Tinkerbelle\"]Hi,


Has anyone here ever sent your child to the onsponge conquer+hinking maths workshop during the holidays? How did you find it? Care to share your experiences? Thanks.
There's a 2 day maths workshop in Nov/Dec to prepare kids for 2011. Contemplating on sending DD.

Hi tinkerbelle,

I have not had personal experience, but my colleague did and she said it was very good for the better students (her kid was getting a high A), and it helped her DD to be able to solve questions even when they were asked in different ways.

Hi sunshinelove,

Many thanks for sharing.. :D[/quote]You are welcome!

[24hr-mum]

anyone tried the onsponge tuition for math?

is it gd?

[Jenny Lim]

I have sent my daughter to onsponge camp. It is a 3days maths camp. My daughter doesn't love it. She said they drill you with challenging problem sums and there's homework to be done. My daughter is not very good in maths, hence i derived that onsponge tuition is more on children who has quite good in maths and love maths. It is more of an enrichment than a tuition class.

lauren:

anyone tried the onsponge tuition for math?
is it gd?

[24hr-mum]

but i thot if the child is poor in math - and very likely in problem sums, then the more the child needs to be drilled how to solve prob sums?

[mrswongtuition]

I think camps are more intensive and they have to push them to finish up more work to complete what is usually taught over the year in a short span of time.


This is why I don't conduct short Maths programs.

I think OnSponge has their own network of tutors who use their books to give tuition on a long term basis rather than short camps.
You can try enquiring with them.

I personally use their books with my students and I have seen tremendous improvements in results and confidence levels. However, it really takes time to go through every technique and allow the child to practise to truly comprehend it. It's something which can't be done within a few days unless the kids love Maths and have a pretty strong foundation already.

[atutor2001]

Jenny Lim:

I have sent my daughter to onsponge camp. It is a 3days maths camp. My daughter doesn't love it. She said they drill you with challenging problem sums and there's homework to be done. My daughter is not very good in maths, hence i derived that onsponge tuition is more on children who has quite good in maths and love maths. It is more of an enrichment than a tuition class.

There are 2 types of kids - those that become overly dependent on model and those that are fine with units. Probably your dd is the first type.

During my time there is no on-sponge. Recently, out of curiosity, I borrowed a text book from friend and realised that it is based on \"unit\" method that I have been teaching my kids in the past - but I use algebra.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get good math score by relying on model method. It is too slow and complicated when problem becomes more difficult. So you may seriously wish to consider teaching using on-sponge way - though I don't particularly it when they still use model to solve certain parts.

Math camp is not suitable for kids who don't like math. He/She will feel out of place.

[24hr-mum]

thanks. wanted a centre that teach math thinkg skills (not just how to solve the problem sums like most tuition centres and the child usu forgets the mthd after sometime)


onsponge claims they teach thinkg skills.

if anyone really tried onsponge tutors, do let me have feedback

my girl now P2. past two yrs i just asked her finish top sch exam papers to expose her to tough real life questions set by schs. didnt really use topical assessment bks and didnt really guide her how to think. only when SA coming when i revise wf her then i realise maybe her foundation still not fiirm cos she cant analyse or break down the problem sums hersf.

[NickleBee Tutors]

I would like to add that i personally think that the model method has its own merits. If done with proper understanding of the context of the question, the model method can be a very powerful tool in helping the kids arrange and visualize the data from the questions in a very simple and logical manner.


But its not a means to an ends. The model method has to be complemented with various other procedural skills (but not algebra, i ban algebra for all my primary school kids) together with a certain amount of reasoning ability (and some self-confidence too!).

The ‘On Sponge’ books which i am using for my tuition kids has several techniques that i find useful in helping the kids i teach understand the context of the question and how to solve it. I analysed the other methods from ‘On Sponge’ that i did not like so much and hybridized them with techniques that i had learnt in my GEP and Olympaid training to make them a little easier to visualize and understand.

I would also have to point out that ‘OnSponge’ cannnot be learnt in a jiffy! It takes time, lots of practice and proper guidance of the child before they develop both the thinking and procedural learning they learnt from ‘OnSponge’(which are the core aspects of problem sum solving) to aid them in solving problem sums.

Zhou Shicai
Nicklebee Tutors

[atutor2001]

lauren:

thanks. wanted a centre that teach math thinkg skills (not just how to solve the problem sums like most tuition centres and the child usu forgets the mthd after sometime)...

I am going to get killed here but I am still going to say it anyway.

A computer cannot think but it can solve a standard question if it has been fed the standard solving procedure.

Top students also \"do not really think\" when they solve problem. They organise the information and recognise the problem type, then apply the necessary procedure to solve. The difference between top students and computer is that after solving the problem, top students understand what they are doing but the computer don't.

The most important difference is that if the problem sum is new, top student can manipulate and modify the solving procedure which computer can't.

What make them top students is : they understand and remembered the various standard procedure/method. They have a head start, by applying the various standard solving methods immediately, instead of starting from scratch - i.e. drawing model, then compare, if can't see anything, die. .

Can we train someone to solve math just like a computer? Yes though not recommended. However, if someone is going to spend too much time thinking, ending up with not enough time, I would rather let him solve math like a dumb computer - cannot get A* though.

We cannot hide from the necessity to memorise the various solving methods. With limited time in exam, it is a misconception that we will have the time to solve every problem sum by thinking from square 1. When we solve a math question, the first thing is to organise the information to recognise the method to apply. If cannot, change method.... if still cannot skip.