Parents, not enrichment centres, are key to result
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Chenonceau:
Actually all mathematically correct methods have always been accepted, including algebra. In my children's time, they also learnt simple algebra in P6.PiggyLalala:
In my opionion, the best method to solve Maths questions on ratio or percentage is to use unit and parts and solving simple equation. It would be good if your child can solve simple algebraic equation.
He is learning that this week in school. They do teach this now in P6. But very simple algebra. From what I hear, any form of algebra wasn't accepted before or something like that... -
wonderm:
Thanks for clarifying.
Actually all mathematically correct methods have always been accepted, including algebra. In my children's time, they also learnt simple algebra in P6.
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All those so called ‘‘enrichment centers’’ are there to earn profits, and not to impart their ‘‘secrets’’ for success.
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I believe attitude in studying makes the biggest difference. Example of my 2 boys of the same school with about same IQ.
I was fully in charge of looking after my elder son’s schooling. He was very dependant on others to do things for him. He was playful and uninterested in his school works. From p1-p3, I used to sit with him for hours helping his homework and revision. As we were inexperience then, we employed tuition teachers for each of his weak subjects. But after we had tuition teachers for him from p3, we found we had no way doing without. This went on to sec. 4 with several tuition teachers coming in nearly daily. His primary and secondary tuition fees cost us a bomb. Yet his prelim. results were such that no Poly will accept him.
2nd ds is fully under my dh’s in charge as I was totally tired out with the lst. Dh was impatient and did not have much time for the boy. From p1, he only give him chinese dictation and occasionally answer his Maths problem sums. He made it clear that studying is the boy’s business and not the dad. Around p5, the boy had to work out his homework himself such as difficult Maths sums. He was told to settle himself. If he still couldn’t, he will have to find out from school somehow by himself. There was a period whereby the boy had much difficulties coping but he knew he has to tackle himself or thro school. As I can’t help either, it sometimes pained me to see his agony. But dh insisted no tuition teachers for him. At his Psle, he did well enough to have a A* for Maths and As for the rest. Nothing too exciting, he went to sec. handling many more subjects. Dh still insisted no tuition for the boy when in Sec 3, the dread A Maths came into the syllabus. He was weak in Chemistry too. All thro his sec. his scores were around 60-70% for most subject incl. his sec 4 prelim. He pushed himself on. He knew we didn’t ask for the stars but do his personal best. He knows if he doesn’t do it himself and learn from teachers and classmates, he won’t get help outside.
He just got his 0 level results last week. We were very proud of him, not so much on his result slip but he went thro 10 yrs of tough work without a single tuition and did it. He also have full pts for CCA. He got all As except a B for Chinese.
That’s my story. I hope the eg. of my boys can of help to younger mothers here. -
not sure if this has been asked before.
is it possible to get an A* for PSLE math if the kid has no math tuition, if the kid’s foundation is good (by good, what can i expect? 80 marks is good for upper pri?) and he has no problem approaching teachers for help and diligent in attempting assessment books? or can only get A but need that ‘extra secret formula’ from enrichment centre to reach for that star? -
hi insider,
thanks for sharing! -
jedamum:
No need tuition, nor enrichment. Mine doesn't have. You just need to have someone who is good at Math at home who can help... or very co-operative Teachers. We have neither co-operative Teachers nor a resource at home (I am very bad at Math and his Dad is too busy to help much) in P5 and P6 but can still manage without tuition.not sure if this has been asked before.
is it possible to get an A* for PSLE math if the kid has no math tuition, if the kid's foundation is good (by good, what can i expect? 80 marks is good for upper pri?) and he has no problem approaching teachers for help and diligent in attempting assessment books? or can only get A but need that 'extra secret formula' from enrichment centre to reach for that star?
I bought the necessary resource books and got him to skim them. If the foundation is strong in P1 to P4, this is not a problem. If you are able to encourage him along and be a source of emotional and moral support, he should be able to pick up what he needs from the resource books alone. I don't teach him actively in Chinese nor Math. I just give moral support. He does the rest.
80+ marks is excellent in early P5 for almost every subject. It's important to look at what the others are getting too. In Math, for my DS' school, 80+ is not too good because some students get 100... or 99.5. In English my DS' 86 was already somewhere at the top. Same with Science.
I think strategies for lower primary kids should differ from those we use in P5 and P6.Lower primary questions, from what I remember don't require heuristics. We didn't need heuristics at all to score well up until P4. Consistent practices with top school papers will build a strong foundation already.
What I would suggest is that in lower primary, you work on mechanical calculations. Build speed and accuracy with mechanics of counting - multiplication, division, addition and subtraction.Build a strong foundation in computational skills before you hit P5 and P6. I wouldn't pay attention to heuristics at all before P5. The exams don't need these.
You only need heuristics in P5 and P6. Wait till last quarter of P4 before you look into heuristics at all. In lower primary, build a strong foundation in computations because this will be the base upon which you can later scaffold heuristics when you need to. My son skimmed Onsponge 5 in one week and Onsponge 6 in one week, and could absorb because he was already strong in computation and concepts. DON'T GO NEAR HEURISTICS UNTIL YOU'VE DONE A GOOD JOB WITH P1 TO P4 CONCEPTS AND WITH COMPUTATION.
You might wanna differentiate Learning Stage from Drilling Stage. At the Learning Stage in Primary 3 and 4, I used Step-by-Step by Simon Eio? The chapters are self-explanatory and if my DS doesn't understand what the Teacher has taught, he can easily pick up from the Step-by-Step books. I did notice that it was necessary to use the P4 version to cope with P3 work, and the P3 version to cope with P4 work. Odd... but there you have it.
For drilling stage, we made sure that starting 7 weeks before exams, he did one Math exam practice every week. We get in about 5 practices before I let him play to his heart's content the 2 weeks before exams. -
Chenonceau:
Please do not quote me wrongly.
I didn't know until ksi volunteered the information that GEP get taught heuristics... and that some students there don't do well despite of being taught heuristics. Why does GEP get taught heuristics and mainstream does not? Because mainstream students are too dumb to cope? But mainstream students take the same PSLE exam which needs these heuristics (Onsponge) or equivalent (from TLL).
Fact 1:
Heuristics IS TAUGHT in school otherwise how do you expect children to solve any Math problem at all? As I have mentioned, one cannot learn concepts without learning any form of techniques to solve them. There are methods taught yet some still cannot get it so more special heuristics will not help. Understanding & Mastering the concept is still the key and practising may help cement the understanding, not the introduction of more heuristics. You have been referring to special heuristics I believe cos I am not familiar with the names you have mentioned. I am not a heuristics-tagged person per se....I just solve Math problem logically. Some of the common ones are taught even at lower primary level, eg. (E)
A. Use a diagram / model
Draw a diagram / model to create a pictorial description of the problem. This helps the child to visualise and understand the problem. Drawing also enables the child to \"manipulate\" the data.
B. Make a systematic list
Organise the data such as numbers or type of objects logically into tables or lists. This helps the child identify and spot missing data asked for in the problem. Organised tabulation of data also helps the child perceive trends or patterns in the data.
Look for pattern(s)
Examine the available data for patterns or relationships. Having perceived a pattern, the child can then predict the missing data or answer.
C.Work backwards
Look at the end results and work backwards towards the beginning. This strategy can be useful in problems involving a series of steps or computations. It is also useful when the problem gives more data about the end condition and little data about its beginning.
D. Use before after concept
Compare the situation before and after the problem is solved. Sometimes the differences (or a specific difference) can shed light on the cause and lead to a possible solution.
E. Use guess and check
Make an educated guess of the answer and check to see if it is correct. Use the knowledge gained from testing an incorrect guess to improve the next guess. It is important to avoid making wild guesses. Track the guesses made and look for patterns to improve the next guess.
F. Make suppositions
Study the data given and make suppositions (assumptions without proof) about some aspects of the problem to form the basis for further thinking. This reduces the number of possibilities and makes it easier to explore the problem further.
G. Restate the problem in another way
Read the problem carefully and restate it in the child's own words. This helps the child understand the problem and identify important factors of the problem.
H. Simplify the problem
Make a difficult problem simpler. This can be done by changing complex numbers to simple numbers or by reducing the number of things in the problem. The solution to the simplified problem may help the child solve the original problem.
I. Solve part of the problem
Split a complex problem into smaller parts and solve the simpler part first.
The Singapore primary mathematics syllabus suggested the above eleven problem solving heuristics for primary students. It is important to expose your child to the various problem solving heuristics. Besides knowing the heuristics, they should also know when to use them.
Fact 2:
I DO NOT KNOW for a fact GEP teaches any special heuristics so you have interpreted wrongly. I only mentioned this mother who hired a GEP teacher to teach her kids heuristics because she was proudly declaring 2 key words, GEP and heuristics. Ok so we assume he knows how to teach ALL heuristics. Now assuming the heuristics he teaches is the common set above, the children are having problem learning as seen from their results. And assuming he teaches them the special heuristics, they are obviously not absorbing as well as seen from their results. So more heuristics help? I believe some of these special heuristics may require high order thinking. For example, algebra is one way of solving Math problems but many kids cannot master it until they are ready for it. If not, why don't we just teach algebra to all kids from P4 onwards and when they reach P6, viola, all will be ready to solve any Math problem because algebra is a powerful form of \"heuristics\". I highly recommend algebra but I trust MOE knows sufficiently about learning pedagogy to introduce them at the right time for the majority.
Coast, the discussion so far is not an emphasis on asking for more materials to be produced by MOE, we have been discussing the \"untaught\" heuristics as being a critical point to ensure better results and some of us here say \"No\". More importantly, deliver a good job in concept learning so that kids can interpret question well and solve the problems with understanding.
It is good to read about the examples of children without tuition for heuristics can still manage A/A* for PSLE Math. -
Chenonceau:
thanks for sharing.
What I would suggest is that in lower primary, you work on mechanical calculations. Build speed and accuracy with mechanics of counting - multiplication, division, addition and subtraction.Build a strong foundation in computational skills before you hit P5 and P6. I wouldn't pay attention to heuristics at all before P5. The exams don't need these.
what is 'mechanical calculations' and 'computational skills'? +-x/?
my boy's mental calculation is not so good. he is pretty visual, so need to work out on paper (affecting his speed).
i have pm-ed you. thanks.
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ksi:
Yup... I know. All you've documented were very useful up to P4. We could score well with these up to P4. The moment we hit P5, we had to use others not taught in school to manage the PSLE level difficulty. We've used stuff from Onsponge. We've used the Models documented in excellent detail by Math Heuristics. We've used simultaneous equations too. They don't teach these in school but we've found them useful for PSLE. The Learning Lab would also have some specialized approaches to cope with these challenging PSLE questions but I don't know what they are 'cos I am not willing to send my son for tuition.
Please do not quote me wrongly.Chenonceau:
I didn't know until ksi volunteered the information that GEP get taught heuristics... and that some students there don't do well despite of being taught heuristics. Why does GEP get taught heuristics and mainstream does not? Because mainstream students are too dumb to cope? But mainstream students take the same PSLE exam which needs these heuristics (Onsponge) or equivalent (from TLL).
Fact 1:
Heuristics IS TAUGHT in school otherwise how do you expect children to solve any Math problem at all? As I have mentioned, one cannot learn concepts without learning any form of techniques to solve them. There are methods taught yet some still cannot get it so more special heuristics will not help. Understanding & Mastering the concept is still the key and practising may help cement the understanding, not the introduction of more heuristics. You have been referring to special heuristics I believe cos I am not familiar with the names you have mentioned. I am not a heuristics-tagged person per se....I just solve Math problem logically. Some of the common ones are taught even at lower primary level, eg. (E)
A. Use a diagram / model
Draw a diagram / model to create a pictorial description of the problem. This helps the child to visualise and understand the problem. Drawing also enables the child to \"manipulate\" the data.
B. Make a systematic list
Organise the data such as numbers or type of objects logically into tables or lists. This helps the child identify and spot missing data asked for in the problem. Organised tabulation of data also helps the child perceive trends or patterns in the data.
Look for pattern(s)
Examine the available data for patterns or relationships. Having perceived a pattern, the child can then predict the missing data or answer.
C.Work backwards
Look at the end results and work backwards towards the beginning. This strategy can be useful in problems involving a series of steps or computations. It is also useful when the problem gives more data about the end condition and little data about its beginning.
D. Use before after concept
Compare the situation before and after the problem is solved. Sometimes the differences (or a specific difference) can shed light on the cause and lead to a possible solution.
E. Use guess and check
Make an educated guess of the answer and check to see if it is correct. Use the knowledge gained from testing an incorrect guess to improve the next guess. It is important to avoid making wild guesses. Track the guesses made and look for patterns to improve the next guess.
F. Make suppositions
Study the data given and make suppositions (assumptions without proof) about some aspects of the problem to form the basis for further thinking. This reduces the number of possibilities and makes it easier to explore the problem further.
G. Restate the problem in another way
Read the problem carefully and restate it in the child's own words. This helps the child understand the problem and identify important factors of the problem.
H. Simplify the problem
Make a difficult problem simpler. This can be done by changing complex numbers to simple numbers or by reducing the number of things in the problem. The solution to the simplified problem may help the child solve the original problem.
I. Solve part of the problem
Split a complex problem into smaller parts and solve the simpler part first.
The Singapore primary mathematics syllabus suggested the above eleven problem solving heuristics for primary students. It is important to expose your child to the various problem solving heuristics. Besides knowing the heuristics, they should also know when to use them.
Fact 2:
I DO NOT KNOW for a fact GEP teaches any special heuristics so you have interpreted wrongly. I only mentioned this mother who hired a GEP teacher to teach her kids heuristics because she was proudly declaring 2 key words, GEP and heuristics. Ok so we assume he knows how to teach ALL heuristics. Now assuming the heuristics he teaches is the common set above, the children are having problem learning as seen from their results. And assuming he teaches them the special heuristics, they are obviously not absorbing as well as seen from their results. So more heuristics help? I believe some of these special heuristics may require high order thinking. For example, algebra is one way of solving Math problems but many kids cannot master it until they are ready for it. If not, why don't we just teach algebra to all kids from P4 onwards and when they reach P6, viola, all will be ready to solve any Math problem because algebra is a powerful form of \"heuristics\". I highly recommend algebra but I trust MOE knows sufficiently about learning pedagogy to introduce them at the right time for the majority.
Coast, the discussion so far is not an emphasis on asking for more materials to be produced by MOE, we have been discussing the \"untaught\" heuristics as being a critical point to ensure better results and some of us here say \"No\". More importantly, deliver a good job in concept learning so that kids can interpret question well and solve the problems with understanding.
It is good to read about the examples of children without tuition for heuristics can still manage A/A* for PSLE Math.
I too had no problems with what the school covered up until P4. The techniques that came from school were quite sufficient. I just needed to let him practise computation skills for speed and accuracy.
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