Math - How to teach problem sums

[westmom]

kitty2:

My son's quite weak in section B and C,problem sums.Anyone has any idea to improve his skill?I've let him practice quite alot but at times he doesn't seem to understand the questions.Any good tuition centre can tackle this problem?


Please help,thanks

First of all, ensure that you are equipped to teach him the right approach and methods for problem sums. There are some books out there that teaches the methods but you have to invest your time to learn it first so that whatever that you impart is in line with what is being taught in school (otherwise he gets confused). When my dd was in P3, I got a Uni student (cheaper mah) to come to my home every alternate week just to focus on tackling problem sums . P3 prob sums was not too tricky yet but I do not have the time and also was afraid of confusing her by teaching the wrong way. Once her \"foundation\" was set by the Uni student (who had teaching experience for that level), I progressed to getting a school teacher home tutor in P4. If you feel outsourcing works better, then do check around for good centres (preferable with NIE trained teachers) in your area or a home tutor. An experienced teacher usually can catch the issue and can help to break up the question to enlighten the child.

[kaydenbrown]

Showing actual models using objects such as apples or fruits. I found it works for some kids that age.

[peterch]

kaydenbrown:

Showing actual models using objects such as apples or fruits. I found it works for some kids that age.

My daugther is in P3 too. I try to make her loves math by accompany her to do some exercise dan play math game @ http://www.mathplayground.com

Regards

[atutor2001]

kitty2:

My son's quite weak in section B and C,problem sums.Anyone has any idea to improve his skill?I've let him practice quite alot but at times he doesn't seem to understand the questions.Any good tuition centre can tackle this problem?


Please help,thanks

There are 2 approaches to problem sums :
1) Logical reasoning
2) Mathematical methods

Model drawings, which our schools are using, is actually using the \"logical reasoning\" approach. This method derives answers that require very few steps (shortcuts) provided that one can see the logic. However, drawing model is tedious. Many kids (especially boys) give up problem sums because of \"model\". The irony is that the smart ones can visualise everything mentally and would not need a model. The dull one will not be able to produce the \"model\". My kids draw the models because the teachers demanded so. They hated models.

\"Mathematical methods\" involve memerising rules and applying them to solve problem sum. It is abstract and does not relate to the real thing. However, it is \"dead\" and does not need much thinking. All one has to do is to be systematic.

Be careful when teaching problem sum. It can really kill a kid's interest in math if he/she just can't or dislike models.

[Striker09]

Because of my 6 yrs old son, I have personally spending times exploring 3G Abacus & Traditional Abacus.


After completing the 3G ABACUS instructor course, I have applied the methods to teach my son. It is very simple & easy to understand. As such, he has shown more interest in mathematics than before.

I am planning to let him take part in the INTERNATIONAL Grading Exam this coming DEC 09. If possible, I will let him take part in year 2009 competition.

Currently, I am teaching kids & parents the 3G Abacus.
If you are interested in 3G ABACUS, please email me.

[moonee]

Hi whats 3 G abacus.? mry grl in p3 does she require abacus as she is weak in problem sums?

[atutor2001]

Striker09:

Because of my 6 yrs old son, I have personally spending times exploring 3G Abacus & Traditional Abacus.


After completing the 3G ABACUS instructor course, I have applied the methods to teach my son. It is very simple & easy to understand. As such, he has shown more interest in mathematics than before.

I am planning to let him take part in the INTERNATIONAL Grading Exam this coming DEC 09. If possible, I will let him take part in year 2009 competition.

Currently, I am teaching kids & parents the 3G Abacus.
If you are interested in 3G ABACUS, please email me.

How is \"abacus\" related to problem sum. I have seen girls who are excellent in arithmetic but are miserable in problem sum because of poor English comprehension.

[NIEtrainedTEACHER]

Topic selected for http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/teaching-problem-sums%22.


Problem sum is always a problem to most children :lol: (pun intended).

Well before we even talk about problem sum, the child needs to have a strong foundation in what is called mechanical calculation questions. These are simply questions which deals with straight forward calculation. These are what I would call simple mini problems.

Then we go to what used to be called story sums or now known as problem sums.

Problem sums have it's own funny mathematical language. A child needs to be able to decode the language. IN most cases, the language is simple for everyone to understand but in some cases it is tricky. Once the child is able to decode the language, they would then have decoded the question.

A mathematician named George Polya came about with the Polya approached to problem solving. If you google George Polya, you will be able to read what he says.

I think I have been a bit long winded with this. Let's get back on track.

To teach problem sums, we need to take small steps first.

What I would do would be to start with simple problems which are straight forward. Once the child is able to solve this, here is where it differs, I will make the child write out her own questions based on that sum or concept. This would allow the child to understand the way how a question is being asked and allow them to explore how else that question can be asked.

Next, once they are comfortable with these simple problem sums, I will then exposed them to the mid-difficulty problems. Here is where I will try to equip the child with the various different heuristic approaches. In this case, the approaches are like model method, using a table, guess and check, act it out and etc.

This would help the child to gain confidence in using these heuristic approaches.

Finally, when they are comfortable with the mid difficulty questions, then I will move them to the difficult ones, knowing that the child has the confidence for easy and mid-difficulty.

The important thing to take note is that, we should let the child develop their skill step by step. Sad to say the duration may be slower than what we may like but the reward would be greater.

The common mistake is to jump to the difficult questions and if the child could not do it, we would simply kill their interest and create a fear for math in them.

Phew!..Hope I did not confuse all of you.

Regards. :oops:

[atutor2001]

NIEtrainedTEACHER:

.....

The important thing to take note is that, we should let the child develop their skill step by step. Sad to say the duration may be slower than what we may like but the reward would be greater..... :oops:

Not sure if you have encountered kids who, by nature, just has no \"logic sense\". After spending hours explaining the logic, they finally understood it and we thought hurray, he/she finally understand - only to find that 1 day later, everything is forgotten and we need to explain again and again. When the question is re-phrased, the poor kid will also not be able to apply the same logic.

The cycle goes on and the time needed to get them to understand becomes longer and longer as the problem sum becomes more difficult. Before we realise, the poor kid has already reached P6 and the final result is obivous.

My guess is that about 50% of those kids who do badly for math are in this category. It is a real heartache.

The remaining 50% are either just plain lazy or poor in English. Kids in the lazy group would not be bothered to think when the problem gets too complex and just simply give up. The English Problem group doesn't even understand the question. Teaching in steps cannot help the lazy group to overcome the need to think or the English Problem group to understand the language used when many problem steps are combined into 1 complex question.

[NIEtrainedTEACHER]

atutor,


I agree with you. On the other hand, the exam paper is created in such a way that the higher order questions quota according to the TOS is always 30% of the total. For those whom are not sure what this mean, it means that a paper will be split into 3 parts, 30% for Knowledge questions - the easy ones, 40% Comprehension questions - the mid difficulty ones and 30% Higher Order, the difficult ones.

In view of that aspect, the initial goal would be to clear the 70% of the paper. this goal should be clear starting from P1 and then build up to P6.

In most cases, the child is so obsessed with the Higher Order questions that they couldn’t even see and realise that the other 70% has not been fully achieved. this would then make the child lose marks from the two parts which they should score.

I mean if the child is already having problems with the mechanical questions, then what else would it be with problem sums?

What usually happen is that the formative years of the child are sometimes being taken lightly and the panic starts at upper primary. At this junction, the child would have a tremendous amount of knowledge gap which at times is not easy to be filled. This would also go for the Language aspect. Language is something that most people take lightly without realising that language is another area that needs to be developed continuously through regular usage and practices.

However, for the child who is lazy, what they need is to see the benefit of not being lazy. Hopefully that would create a realisation for them to snap out of it. But like what the cliche saying goes, you can bring the horse to the stream but you cant force the horse to drink.

Regards.