All About Primary School Math Enrichment

[sleepy]

workingmom:

I have a question for parents with children doing Kumon math. This is regarding the amount/number of pages/worksheets given to the child to complete daily. My elder daughter is doing 2A moving on to A - she is given 2 booklets (20 pages) per day. That seems a lot to me - she is in K2 this yr and started Kumon 3 mths ago.

Is this kind of amount the norm for kids that age ? When she goes on to Level A should it reduce to just 1 booklet (10 pages) ?

my K2 girl only does 5 pages daily. Sometimes she has difficulty keeping to 5 pages if we have other activities on that day.
If really no time, then skip one set because it's almost impossible to ask her to complete 2 days worksheets within a day
No complaints from center instructors so far even if she falls behind in submitting worksheets

[workingmom]

I think the amount seems to vary among each centers. My daughter has moved on to Level A and is doing 10 pages a day. She manages to complete most of the time but I think it can be a struggle when she is tired, busy with other activities or not in the mood.


I think Kumon is good for routine arithmetic, which I think at the end of the day, requires lots of practice/drills. I think the timing requirements are a bit unrealistic though, especially for younger kids. My daughter could hardly add or subtract simple sums earlier this year but now she is pretty confident in addition/subtraction up to 30. I guess this builds a good foundation for the basics. I plan to get her to do up to multiplication/division levels and then revisit whether we should continue.

[ellehcim]

May I know how Kumon is teaching the kids? Understand they are doing worksheets but will they be 'enlightened' if their sums are being done wrongly? or it is training them for speed? heard alot about Kumon but did not gain much information about it.


Currently sent my son to a tuition-type center to prepare him for his P1 maths instead. they are teaching accordingly to the current MOE syllabus, not sure if I'm doing the right thing. :?

[ChiefKiasu]

ellehcim:

May I know how Kumon is teaching the kids?...

I can only speak based on the Math syllabus.

Their syllabus is split into multiple levels: you must clear each lower level before proceeding to the next. Each level is roughly equivalent to half a year in Primary school.

The method is primarily to build up computation speed through drilling. Each worksheet is carefully structured to build up calculation speed in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It does not help much in solving problem sums, based on what I've seen so far.

Some observations:
1. I have a hard time getting my P3 son interested in doing the daily worksheets after the initial honeymoon period. Also, P3 and above focuses more on problem sums. Conclusion is that Kumon is most suitable for K2, P1 and P2 children.

2. It is very effective in building up computation speed. I know because my son was languishing in the 150 score for the math test in the Nintendo DS Big Brain Academy at the beginning of this year and within 1 month of Kumon he was already past the 250 score. He is currently averaging 330+ right now, even though he hardly plays the game anymore.

3. The question is whether computation speed and accuracy is critical. Certainly, it provides the foundation for doing any kind of math, and takes away the \"carelessly\" effect and time spent on calculations during exams, but with the use of calculators for PSLE, that may become a non-issue. If you are looking for something more challenging (and probably more fun) for your children, better to go for services that provide math olympiad training.

[ellehcim]

Oh PSLE allows calculators? That surprises me! The maths he's attending is in conjunction with Sakamoto maths which I believe they claim for problem sum solvings. I'm also not sure what to look at, tactics or speed...

[Pen88n]

Agreed with ChiefKS. Kumon concentrates on Maths basic / foundation - computation. It is more applicable for K1-P2 kids. If you are looking beyond that, should go for Maths enrichment courses. I’ve heard of Andrew Er’s lessons and Learning Lab too.


I noticed the maths problems posted by a number of mummies and daddies here. Anyone know of any challenging maths materials (assessment books, etc.) that we can easily obtained (eg. from popular) so that we can use to teach our kids? What Maths assessment books do you normally use / get for your kids? Please share so that we FTWM can benefit as we really do not have time to scout popular to choose the right assessment books.

Thanks in advance for sharing.

[sleepy]

ellehcim:

Oh PSLE allows calculators? That surprises me! The maths he's attending is in conjunction with Sakamoto maths which I believe they claim for problem sum solvings. I'm also not sure what to look at, tactics or speed...

If I remember correctly, P5 can start using calculator
new MOE syllabus no longer encourage churning of numbers (Kumon style)
the focus shifts to challenging mind questions
we intend to withdraw her when she reaches algebra level

[ksmama]

I use Andrew Er's assessment books, Challenging Maths by Maths456.com. Fan Maths book i-excel: model as a tool is good too. I use other schools' past year papers as asessment too. Some schools have very challenging problems here and there. I bought these from a vendor but I have seen them selling at mama shop nowadays :shock: Must be supply- demand thingy. 'Challenging exam papers' by EPH are pretty good too.

[MMM]

Read somewhere that Andrew Er has a tuition centre in kovan? Is that true? Anyone knows where and the name of the centre?

[Pen88n]

I remember it is Andrew Er tuition centre - near Kovan MRT Heartland Mall. If I’m not wrong, they have opened another branch somewhere at Balmoral area.