OnSponge Maths - Discussion

[NickleBee Tutors]

No problems. Glad to be of assistance.


Yours,
Zhou Shicai
Nicklebee Tutors

NickleBee Tutors:

Good day,

If you're looking for a tutor who incorporates elements of Mr Ammiel Wan's \"Cognitive Conceptual Approach in Learning Mathematics\" as used in both the Onsponge and Visible Thinking in Mathematics books (both by Mr Ammiel Wan) into his teaching methodology, perhaps you might like to visit http://www.nicklebeetutors.com.


Note that Mr Ammiel Wan first developed the cognitive conceptual approach and published it in a book \"Challenging Math Problems Made Easy\" way back in 2006. If I am not wrong, he was the HOD of curriculum in Catholic High back then.

Anyway, from what i understand, Onsponge then partnered with Mr Ammiel Wan in 2008 to use and develop his mathematics teaching concepts into the Onsponge series of assessment books as sold today.

The Onsponge books are an awesome resource (if a bit dated) for students wanting to learn the various conceptual knowledge required to ace Problem Sums in the Math Paper 2. Personally, while I admire the way Mr Ammiel Wan has revolutionized the approach to teaching students mathematics as it gels in very well with my own teaching methodology, I personally feel that the some of the procedural knowledge (methods) as taught in the Onsponge Books are quite cumbersome and rather lacking in fineness as they seem geared towards higher ability students who already have a working knowledge of problem solving and are just looking for a boost to fine tune the nuances of their problem solving capability. For other students who are still in the process of improving their problem solving skills, the way the books are structured has an unfortunate and unintended side-effect (if not taught correctly) of encouraging rote learning and blind application of methods (based on how the child thinks the question should be categorized) without understanding that problem solving is a process where the means is very much as important as the ends.

While I do use the Onsponge books for my students because the questions are excellent (on par with top schools math exam questions), I do not use the methods as taught in the examples as I feel that once the child has read to understand the questions and can apply the same conceptual knowledge to questions with different contexts, the child should then be allowed to apply his innate reasoning and analytical skills to present whichever methods he so chooses in a clear and concise manner under my personal guidance. Of course I fine tune and tweak each child's methods to make them clearer and more presentable and after which, I would then show a couple of alternative methods to my students to expose them to different though processes to deriving the answer and in so doing strengthen their grasp of the concepts. I also have a habit of making my students present their though processes (all the way from reading the question to getting the final answer) to the rest of the class as I find that it helps the student's metacognition (thinking about their own thought process) and allow me to spot any inadequacies in the child's mathematical thought process or errors in their conceptual knowledge which can be improved further.

Anyway, Mr Ammiel Wan left the teaching service sometime last year (his last appointment was vice-principle of Rosyth Primary) and has started \"Visible Math\" (http://www.visiblemath.com.sg) with Mr Steward Teng (former HOD) and other HODs and Teachers. He has also recognized that the Onsponge books are heavily geared towards Paper 2 Maths and has published a series of workbooks in 2011 called \"Visible Thinking in Mathematics\" available in Popular which are aimed at helping weaker students improve their basic mathematical concepts through the use of the Cognitive Conceptual Approach and while the answer sheets contain quite a number of glaringly obvious errors at least in the Pri 5 books that I use for my students (it is the 1st edition after all), I feel that the books are a must have for any student wanting to use them as a spring board to improving their basic math concepts before proceeding onto acing their problem solving questions.

Yours
Zhou Shicai
NickleBee Tutors
91884710
http://www.nicklebeetutors.com

[KSP]

everything else is good except they don't have makeup lesson..... :sad:

[Loon]

my ds has done well in SA1 Math. Thanks so much to Onsponge tuition that has brought back his confidence level. His result has surprised me! Thanks so much to Onsponge tuition.


My DW and I are going to attend their open house parent talk at Hougang on the 24th May for my DD who is going to P3 next year. To enroll her in advance..

[mum2BG]

Hi,


May I know what time is the open house?

Is Onsponge the same as Visible maths? Or are they 2 different enrichment centers?

Thanks

[sleepy]

mum2BG:

Hi,


May I know what time is the open house?

Is Onsponge the same as Visible maths? Or are they 2 different enrichment centers?

Thanks

Different. Don't think they are affiliated either

[lesleymaween.09410yahoo.09410com.09410sg]

Hi, personally I find Onsponge better than Visible Math as it is more structured. I like it that the teacher makes sure the students listen to her while she is explaining.

[Lena]

Is there still time for my P6 gal (taking PSLE in 2 months’ time) to join onsponge? Her Math is weak. I tried calling them through various numbers found on the internet but unable to reach anyone.

[MMM]

Lena:

Is there still time for my P6 gal (taking PSLE in 2 months' time) to join onsponge? Her Math is weak. I tried calling them through various numbers found on the internet but unable to reach anyone.

My dd did their intensive lessons during June hols as she wanted to learn new concepts to help her solve more problems. Her maths belongs to the relative strong type. With that, she also have to cope with understanding new concepts the onsponge way.

If your dd concept is weak, she might struggle with onsponge especially to join at this point. There might be too many new concepts to digest. What about private tutor to work on specific weak area? I am thinking if that would be more effective.

[junemum72]

Anyone can share how much is their fees?


Any feedback at their Eastgate branch?

I browse through their website and the only east location they state is marine parade, are they the same?

Are they only for P3 and above?

[mwchua]

Anyone can advise what is Onsponge's P5 fees like?


:thankyou: