All About Preparing For Primary One

[z_lynn]

Busymom:

Celyw:

[quote=\"momresource\"]Any parents here know of schools conducting crash P1 preparation class for English/Math combined? Looking at not more than 20 lessons type... nearly fainted when my dear son was cracking his head off to give me single digit addition and subtraction questions?? Luckily he didn't use his toes to count... Btw, he doesn't have any math enrichment or Abacus knowledge.

haha you are so funny...but I think if you let him practise 1~2 assessment books, he can pick up the pace assuming his Kindergarten did teach him single digit addition and subtraction?

Actually, it is quite true. The first 2 topics are numbers and number bonds. Addition and subtraction is something that you can teach as a concept. First within ten, then within twenty. I think there is nothing wrong with using fingers to count (we all learnt that way in primary one, didn't we?)

I don't believe in doing a crash course in Math. It is better to build a strong foundation through a steady pace. If you are really concerned about his standard, can consider sending him for an assessment at places such as MPM or Enopi. They will let him try some test paper to guage the level that he can start with. From there, you can probably tell if he can start off at P1 level or mid-K2 level. The good thing about MPM is that their books are very colorful and have lots of pictures/diagrams to make doing the workbook quite fun (probably same for Enopi). Some of the questions also require a bit of thinking skills, definitely not just rote learning.[/quote]
I feel you, MomResource. Now it's almost Nov and my daughter has yet grasped the concept of addition within 10 much less number bonds and I'm sarting to panic. But, BusyMom, if what you say is true, then do you think it'd be too late for me to send my daughter for classes at MPM now?

[michyms]

z_lynn, wouldn’t it be easier if you taught her yourself? Such concepts are quite easily taught using real objects (beads, sweets etc etc). With your reinforcement, she will catch it quickly enough. For my dd (also going to P1 next year), I have been spending 30 mins daily coaching her in maths concepts through games etc. And this has definitely helped alot.

[Busymom]

michyms:

z_lynn, wouldn't it be easier if you taught her yourself? Such concepts are quite easily taught using real objects (beads, sweets etc etc). With your reinforcement, she will catch it quickly enough. For my dd (also going to P1 next year), I have been spending 30 mins daily coaching her in maths concepts through games etc. And this has definitely helped alot.

Agree with michyms about teaching addition and subtraction on your own. When DD was younger, I taught her with examples such as she has how many sweets already in her stomach, and if I give her more sweets, how many sweets would she have altogether. E.g. if there are already 3 sweets in the stomach and I give her another 5, she just have to put up her 5 fingers and count 4,5,6,7,8 to get to the answer 8. This is for addition. As for subtraction, it is a bit gross. I told her she has eaten too much and need to vomit out... After understanding the concept, it was practice and practice (very mundane.. but no choice, forced by one of her enrichment which was not even mathematics based...).

[Busymom]

z_lynn:

Busymom:

Actually, it is quite true. The first 2 topics are numbers and number bonds. Addition and subtraction is something that you can teach as a concept. First within ten, then within twenty. I think there is nothing wrong with using fingers to count (we all learnt that way in primary one, didn't we?)

I don't believe in doing a crash course in Math. It is better to build a strong foundation through a steady pace. If you are really concerned about his standard, can consider sending him for an assessment at places such as MPM or Enopi. They will let him try some test paper to guage the level that he can start with. From there, you can probably tell if he can start off at P1 level or mid-K2 level. The good thing about MPM is that their books are very colorful and have lots of pictures/diagrams to make doing the workbook quite fun (probably same for Enopi). Some of the questions also require a bit of thinking skills, definitely not just rote learning.

I feel you, MomResource. Now it's almost Nov and my daughter has yet grasped the concept of addition within 10 much less number bonds and I'm sarting to panic. But, BusyMom, if what you say is true, then do you think it'd be too late for me to send my daughter for classes at MPM now?

When I suggested MPM, I wasn't implying that they would be able to teach your child in the next couple of months the basic concept of addition and subtraction. For us, fortunately DD's preschool has laid the foundation for number bonds very well and I didn't need to do anything else. I only got her to understand the concept of addition and subtraction when she was younger as mentioned in my earlier post.

MPM and maybe enopi as well, have the assessment (free I think, but please check again) where they would tell you where your child can start off. If she doesn't have the knowledge of certain concept yet, she can start off at a level that she is suitable for and work from there (so it would be less stressful for her than to place her in certain programs that are purely age-based). I can't tell you if this would be effective as we didn't go through the earlier stages of the MPM program. Just a suggestion for you to explore.

Still, there is no need to panic... go slowly and learn at the same pace with the primary school. You have one whole year.

[michyms]

Agree with busymom, addition and subtraction is a matter of drilling and practise. After they understand the concept, they need to be able to add 5 + 3 in their heads without using fingers… As this will increase the speed at which they can do maths and getting there is all a matter of drilling, there is no short cut.

[z_lynn]

Thanks for the tips and assurance, everyone. Guess i just got to calm myself down first and go easy. And, of course, start practising with her daily…

[michyms]

z_lynn, jia you! If you practise daily, you will see that she’ll remember it by the time she gets to primary 1!!

[Myeo]

I teach my girl myself for math and english. While she can do plus and minus up to 100, i have difficulty in trying to make her understand multiplication tables. She can only do 2 and 3.


Any suggestions?

[Busymom]

Multiplication is an extension of addition. I don’t think schools are requiring children to memorise the times table anymore. However, it is good if one can memorise it, as it allows you to work out the answers for multiplication questions faster.


Try to explain multiplication in terms of groups of something. E.g. 2 x 4 as 2 groups of fours (you can use 2 groups of 4 apples). The answer 8 is actually adding the 2 groups together, i.e. 4 + 4 = 8.

3 x 4 is 3 groups of fours. The answer is 4 + 4 + 4 = 12. Either through drawing and getting her to ring the 12 items into 3 separate groups of 4, or doing this physically with real objects, you should be able to slowly show the real meaning of multiplication.

Once the concept is understood, and if you still want her to memorise the time table, by all means go for it.

Questions from school seems to be in the form of "group (20) apples into groups of 5" and from there write the correct equation as "4 X 5 = 20". To get to the answer, if one doesn’t know the times table, just need to count the number of apples. Or if the question asks how many groups there are, one can count that there are 4 groups of 5 apples each.

This is how I would do it, hope it helps.

[phtthp]

Thanks so much, Busymom for good, kind tips. Now i know how to teach my girl.