All About Primary School Math Enrichment

[Gina Chin]

Hi

I am new in posting and I am writing this note to ask for advice : I am worried over my Primary 3 boy who seems ‘disturbed’ by Mathematics. He did Ok in his Pri 1 and Pri 2 but now he gets poor grades in Maths and appears totally hateful of Maths. Problem sums are just too difficult for him.

Could you advise if I should send him to Math Monkey to invoke his interest as they do game based learning or let him remain at Kumon to continue with the worksheet drilling? Would appreciate if parents who have similar experience and having good results in any of the above to send me a quick note?
Thanks! Gina

[iLoveChubby]

Hi Gina

You may wish to reconsider continuing Kumon lessons for your son esp if his weakness is in problem sums. Kumon does not explain the concept or problem sums which the schools are doing now, their concern is mainly speed and accuracy.
Altho my DS is doing Kumon too (letting him continue as he is enjoying it), I also put him in Concept Math whereby the lessons are more in line with what the school is teaching, emphasizing on model drawing, explaining concepts, practising problem/heuristics sums - generally the lessons are pitched at a slightly higher level. You may wish to check them out.

Of course there are other Maths centres like Math Monkey, JEI, Onsponge etc which are also being discussed in some other threads.

[despmom99]

ksnewbie:

Think merged already. You can read about it here. Going to try it out.


http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php&f=35&t=35166&p=755457

Hi, ksnewbie

Any feedback on Serena's Greenhouse programme? I have sent you a pm.

[coolit]

I find Novel Learning Centre good for Math. My dd just joined but she improved after one term.

[chubby08]

Gina Chin:

Hi

I am new in posting and I am writing this note to ask for advice : I am worried over my Primary 3 boy who seems 'disturbed' by Mathematics. He did Ok in his Pri 1 and Pri 2 but now he gets poor grades in Maths and appears totally hateful of Maths. Problem sums are just too difficult for him.

Could you advise if I should send him to Math Monkey to invoke his interest as they do game based learning or let him remain at Kumon to continue with the worksheet drilling? Would appreciate if parents who have similar experience and having good results in any of the above to send me a quick note?
Thanks! Gina

Kumon is good for building foundamental math but not in problem sum solving skill. I withdraw my boy from Kumon after i found out that he kept repeating doing the addition for 3 months and not move up to subtraction before he started his p1 at the begining of this year. I enrolled him to MPM math which followed school syllabus and i can see great improvment in his math unit review after 3 months there. He jumped from 55 marks to 90 marks in his second math unit review.

[goh hwee ling mary]

how about to a P5 boy who fail math? any place he can go to make him improve. He failed badly in P2…

[q1a2]

I am thinking sending my son for Math enrichment class for P1.

Anyone can recommend? currently he is with CMA.

[Gina Chin]

Hi

I took my boy to Math Monkey@Novena for a free trial. Surprisingly he told me he would like to join them and he said \"Mum, never knew Maths can be fun\" as Math Monkey uses a game based curriculum to teach the students Mental Maths. He has been there for 2 months. He tries their challenging and creative homework by himself and also looks forward to go for his class every week. :xedfingers: He seems more confident about Maths now and no longer feels so hateful towards it. It makes his day whenever he wins at the games and beat the other students in solving Maths with speed! I am glad I am able to turn his 'hate maths' attitude around. Whew!
Gina

[Zeng]

Gina Chin:

Hi

I took my boy to Math Monkey@Novena for a free trial. Surprisingly he told me he would like to join them and he said \"Mum, never knew Maths can be fun\" as Math Monkey uses a game based curriculum to teach the students Mental Maths. He has been there for 2 months. He tries their challenging and creative homework by himself and also looks forward to go for his class every week. :xedfingers: He seems more confident about Maths now and no longer feels so hateful towards it. It makes his day whenever he wins at the games and beat the other students in solving Maths with speed! I am glad I am able to turn his 'hate maths' attitude around. Whew!
Gina

Was just reading the thread and glad to hear that your boy is enjoying himself. Out of interest, is Math Monkey an enrichment or remedial type of center? Are the games focused on just mental maths?

[Gina Chin]

Hi there! Math monkey is an enrichment center. Not a place for remedial. They told me their curriculum is built around vedic maths, where it helps develop a young child brain’s capacity in both analysis and logic. Most important, they claimed their games are meant to build mental speed for the children. When they are having fun and they want to win at the games, they learn to stretch themselves more!

You may goggle their web site for more information and watch math monkey videos on line. (this was what i did before sending my boy there).The staff there told me it would be better for kids to start early at age of 4, to understand & learn the fundamentals of numbers n techniques to mental calculation.If they learn Maths in a fun way, they will not be wary of it when they grow older. You can call 63569384 to fix date for free trial if you wish. Good luck! Gina