CMA Math - Discussion

[jollyme]

hi tyteo,


i’ve just pmed you for the referral. Cheers!

[tyteo]

Thanks… got it…

[Pen88n]

tyteo:

Plan to enrol my son to Tiong Bahru branch. Any sharing?

Looking for a referral. PM me. Thanks.

Tyteo,
Have PM you. Thanks

[Pen88n]

Happybirdks:

Hi all


I also need some feedback on the Novena branch.

:thankyou:

Novena branch is run by same owner of Bishan branch. The teachers teaches in both branches. So it is not exactly a new branch.

[Happybirdks]

I have no idea at all regarding the branches. Just chose Novena cos it is closer to my house, but I notice it is seldom mentioned here.


Any good teachers there?

[maameemoomoo]

Hi,


I intend to enrol my boys to CMA.... i need a referral please?

Thank you!

email me pls! - [email protected]

[violin_lover]

Hi, I have just PMed and e-mail you for the referral.

maameemoomoo:

Hi,

I intend to enrol my boys to CMA.... i need a referral please?

Thank you!

email me pls! - [email protected]

[onyva]

Hiyo parents,


I’ve used and benefitted much from this thread as reference when deciding on whether to let my 6yo girl enrol in CMA class at Kovan. So I thought it’ll be fitting for me to share my experience on the same thread.

My girl we find is easily distracted. And she seemed to be having difficulty in simple addition & subtraction when we tested her on simple maths problem. So after reading this thread, and thinking that CMA may help instil some discipline and improve her aptitude towards numbers, we enrolled her with CMA last Oct.

Things went okay for first term. The concepts taught were very simple, mainly to familiarize with the abacus and very simple addition, not unlike conventional maths.

But 2nd term onwards was a nitemare. The formula taught, or 口诀, were numerous and homework increased exponentially. It was already pretty heavy during the first term, with an average of 8 pages from each of the 2 books, but it was still manageable as they were mainly picture symbols and each page has around 12-15 qns. But the 2nd term homework were horrendous – I can’t recall now how many qns per page, but I do remember counting at least >200 qns to be done for one book, and there’s another book to complete as well, albeit lesser exercises to complete.

My gal just couldn’t handle it. She’s just a 5yo at that time after all, an average kid really, totally not like those maths whiz kids who love doing a million sums a day. I too just found it incredulous after a while. Beside the huge workload, there’s also the formulae which I have a big issue with. It is, truly, like many of the other previous posts said, totally not in line with the “conventional maths” that are taught in pri schools. A simple question like 9 + 1, it has to be done this way on the abacus: + 9 – 9 + 10, because in abacus speak, +1= - 9 + 10. Similarly, +2 = - 8 + 10, and so on. It’s another whole set of formulae for doing sums like 3 + 2. This is mainly due to the limited no. of beads on each column of the abacus, coz you don’t have 10 beads in each column and there’s no luxury of adding one bead by one bead.

I got increasingly frustrated by the formulae. Honestly, my gal is already having difficulty grasping the basic concepts of simple adding, all these formulae just confuse her even more. I used to sit with her to do ½ hr CMA maths, and ½ hr conventional maths, coz I knew before signing up for CMA that it’s very different from conventional maths, so I wanted to ensure she still got her basic concepts right, since these are what’s taught in her pre-school. But as the CMA homework increased, I had to spend 2-3 hrs with her just to do the CMA stuff, leaving us no time, or energy to deal with the normal maths. Also, she got so frus, I got so frus, sometimes we both just break down and cry. She coz she doesn’t understand what mama is trying to teach her, first 9+1 is just simply the next number after 9. Then next min mama is telling her, no no no, 9 + 1 = first add 9 on the abacus, then minus away the 9, and add a 10. I cried coz I lost my patience with her, which I know is such a big taboo in teaching maths, or anything, and I felt guilty for being harsh with her.

But we stuck it out till 3rd term. Mostly coz I did still hope that CMA will help in her aptitude towards numbers. Maybe if she got the hang of it, she’ll be more comfortable with numbers and it’ll become easier. But it never did get easier. It only got worse. And it didn’t help that I increasingly find that the teacher, and teaching method, is so dry and boring. My gal couldn’t keep up, so the teacher often pulled us to one side after lessons to tell us that we have to drill, DRILL, DRILL the formulae into my gal, otherwise she will never keep up and there’ll be EVEN MORE formulae to be drilled as she progressed.

That was the last straw. I stopped sending her to the CMA classes after just attending 2 classes of Term 3, which I fully paid for the entire term. I couldn’t bear to let my gal go through the drilling anymore. It was really drill drill drill. I see no point in it anymore coz it seems like they are being trained to be human calculators. Robots. There’s totally no fun in the teaching process in CMA at all. Yah, they sing songs, do some join-the-dots puzzles. But 99% is drill. And the Taiwanese CMA teacher doesn’t look like she injects any fun at all into the lessons. Like some parents have observed, the maths taught in pri school are really abt English, and problem solving, not spitting out of numbers.

I believe that some kids are mathematically inclined and they can easily switch from abacus-mode to normal maths mode. Like some parents said, these kids use mental maths to double check answers to problems they had solved using conventional maths concepts. That’s well and good for these kids. But I know my child – she can’t, but there’s nothing wrong with that. We just need to recognize the strengths and limitations of our own child. So I took the decision to drop CMA and just focus on conventional maths. She’s much happier now, since her pre-school teacher teaches maths in an interesting and fun way. And I’m happier too, since I need not feel guilty anymore about confusing her, knowingly, with 2 types of math concepts.

Hope the above will come in useful for parents researching on the topic of mental maths. Impt thing is – know your child well and find a teaching style and syllabus that suit him/her best. You can always try your child out to see if she can adapt and like a certain enrichment class, but know when to pull her out, especially when you recognize the child is unhappy not because she’s throwing a tantrum, and coz she really tried her best but just can’t absorb or adapt to the teaching style.

Oh by the way, CMA never called me when my gal stopped going for Term 3 classes…… until now, when it’s time to collect payment for Term 4. I was so unhappy with the whole experience that I forgot about the $50 deposit, which the teacher said I need to give 1 month notice to get it back. I said I already stopped lessons since beginning June, so it’s more than a mth, can’t that be considered as some sort of notice? And why didn’t she call me earlier to check if she’s really concerned abt how my gal is coping with her lessons? But nope, not a word of that. She asked why we’re stopping, I said not coping well, and period. She never probed further. She also curtly said I won’t be getting my deposit back unless I pay for another month’s lessons and give notice now. Which kinda reinforces the nagging thought that’s always been at the back of my mind – that they are really more concerned with money making than really teaching the children. Just my 2 cent’s worth.

[smurf]

Hi onyva,


thanks for your feedback about CMA. I was just going to register my boy for the CMA class, and is considering now.

[HappyAvon]

Dear Onyva


I do agree with you that when the child is learning the formulae, it is a tough process. My girl is now in K1 and had joined them when she was in N2. During the 1st set of formulae (good fren+2=-8+10) and bad fren(-3=-10+7), she was doing so well.. Always telling me they are so easy...However, when they start to add on other formula slowly like good brothers, bad brothers, good neighbour and bad neighbours, she was still okay. Things got worse when she was doing revision for all the formulae...Somehow she got confused with all the formulas! I find that it was so tough and with so many homeworks to do! I talked to my girl and asked her to quit but she insisted to continue...I do not want to stress her and so proceed with the centre on the withdrawal...Her teachers are very good and advised us not to give up since she had been doing it for 1 yr..According to them, all children go through this stage of familiarizing with the different formulaes but should be fine once they grasp them well...So we give CMA another chance and let her continue....Indeed, she is now doing well..fast and accurate and she is very happy with her own achievement.... I think we need to be patient and give the child more time....The child must also be interested..otherwise the process will be very dry....