is it possible to make Maths enjoyable?

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Fri, 05 Apr 2019 03:05:22 GMT

Learning Smart — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 03:05:22 GMT

Hi, maybe you could try my tuition agency as my tutors are all young and could relate to your kids. This might make learning more enjoyable.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Sat, 17 Mar 2018 18:00:54 GMT

CocoTutors — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 18:00:54 GMT

For me back when I was a student, I found Maths enjoyable when I found the formula to get better grades in Mathematics. Initially, I tackled questions in exams for the first time, hence most of the time had no idea how to go about doing the questions. However, in Sec 3 in my own free time, I did a past year EOY paper twice; first time referring to the answers many times, second time remembering the steps and formulas, the way the question is phrased to get to the answer.

Strangely enough, this strategy worked and my Additional Mathematics grades improved from C6 to A2. This was when I realised in order to do well in Math, you just have to keep drilling questions and applying formulas. No matter how smart/stupid you are, doing well is all down to putting in the work. Spamming TYS, Past year Papers. Of course don’t do too much of HC/RJ papers as they test higher level thinking, which may not be very helpful if your basics/fundamentals are weak

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Fri, 09 Mar 2018 08:05:17 GMT

cvl99 — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 08:05:17 GMT

Don’t let them get sucked into the trap of thinking math is not fun, or that math is very difficult. If you make it a normal part of their lives from young they are less likely to struggle with it after.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Fri, 09 Mar 2018 07:29:08 GMT

tdiaz — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 07:29:08 GMT

Robert_Wee:
Usually kids only hate maths because they're not good at it. Once they start to get better, the satisfaction they get from solving a question will make them start to love it more. Just be patient and practice a little bit every day, topic by topic.

Quite true, it's normal for kids to feel discouraged or lousy about themselves because of a particular subject that they aren't good at, but also can't let them keep using 'i'm just bad at math' as an excuse! So I feel that parents must never ever tell their children that they are weak in math, but always push them and say things like, 'I know that you actually can do this' or 'You're actually very smart, I see it in you', these are the kind fo things that will keep kids believing in themselves.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Fri, 09 Mar 2018 07:25:17 GMT

tdiaz — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 07:25:17 GMT

goodness me, almost all my kids despised this subject, but in the end all ended up doing well for O levels strangely? I guess sometimes it doesn’t matter if they like it or not, they just have to know how important it is, which I think was the case with my kids, because they knew if they failed maths they couldn’t go anywhere after o levels! the last minute stress really pushed them.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Fri, 09 Mar 2018 07:08:48 GMT

klim360 — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 07:08:48 GMT

Definitely need to find the right tutor that’s for sure, and it’s really not about how good the tutor is but how the tutor teaches, the tuto can be the best in the world but if her teaching style doesn’t resonate with your child you’ll just be wasting your money.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Fri, 09 Mar 2018 06:09:08 GMT

get_real — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 06:09:08 GMT

whoa, takes a miracle for some kids man. Couple of times my son would tell me that he loves maths now, but always turned out to be saying it just to make me feel happy. Did quite ok for his PSLE maths, but still hates it.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Fri, 09 Mar 2018 05:54:43 GMT

Robert_Wee — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 05:54:43 GMT

Usually kids only hate maths because they’re not good at it. Once they start to get better, the satisfaction they get from solving a question will make them start to love it more. Just be patient and practice a little bit every day, topic by topic.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Mon, 15 Jan 2018 09:25:51 GMT

Paced Learning Academy — Mon, 15 Jan 2018 09:25:51 GMT

Kids at her age are only interested in things they understand/ feel that they do well in. You just need to emphasis on helping her to build self confidence, and not focus on the subject. She will eventually develop interest towards the subject on her own.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Thu, 01 Jun 2017 03:01:51 GMT

jane456 — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 03:01:51 GMT

Just let her count in her minds when doing shopping.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Wed, 31 May 2017 02:15:57 GMT

kelly1314928 — Wed, 31 May 2017 02:15:57 GMT

I also face the same issue currently and I am planning to send my child for tuition or engage a private tutor. Any recommendations?

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Fri, 21 Apr 2017 03:35:18 GMT

superkiasudad — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 03:35:18 GMT

krallstan:
Absolutely! And I have done that with each of my 4 kids.

FIRST KID
First one hated Maths. I strategised, working with her self-limitation, stretch her in areas I can, sent her for programmes that will help her in that area that I am stretching. She went from 60% to 80% & above, eventually A in PSLE Maths. Today, at Sec 3, she is self-motivated and doing well in E-Maths & A-Maths, so she can focus on all other subjects.

SECOND KID
Second one loves Maths. Understands concepts. But language makes him stumble, which means the all-important Paper 2. I sent him for the same programme, but asked that the focus be in training him to break info up to extract details (instead of seeing the whole chunk of text and having his mind shit down on the question). ... Within less than 10 weeks, there was results. And the results were sustainable. 92% and above. Never came down since. He is now in Sec 1 and still doing well in Maths. With confidence too!

THIRD KID
Third one loves Maths. Usually scores 80-100%. But due to weakness in Chinese, I need him to secure 90% & above for all his other 3 subjects. I am giving him the same training, though teaching him myself as he is already strong in Maths.

FOURTH KID
Fourth child seems good in Maths too. 80-100% also. I will eventually have her train in the same technique.

MY FRIENDS & THEIR KIDS
Having gone through all these personally, I am teaching my friends how to use the method too. They have given me feedback that the method is so good that their kids understand it well and love the method. Some have even gone on to sign their kids up for that centre's classes. Some for their regular classes; others for their holiday workshops.

When I teach my friends, I usually show them 2-3 methods so they can see for themselves how efficient Unit Transfer Method is. It is not the solve-all solution, but it solves majority of questions to achieve A-A*.

MATHS HEURISTICS'S UNIT TRANSFER METHOD
This technique I am referring to is Maths Heuristics' Unit Transfer Method. (Although I am stretching my third child by having him learn all of the centre's methods; not just UTM alone).

Oh yes. My boy also learnt the \"Unitary Method\" from his math classes at Nicklebee tutors taught by Teacher Zhou. I agree it is very efficient, logical and such a cinch to understand! The students use units and parts instead of drawing models. I have heard that this is the same method taught in top schools for Pri 5 and Pri 6 math.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Fri, 07 Apr 2017 14:57:17 GMT

yuki2010 — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 14:57:17 GMT

I’m sure it can be enjoyable. But not every student will appreciate the same way. So differential teaching is actually important. Which can not achieve in school class or the tuition group is big.

My DD shows no interest in Maths in the past. To help her, I tried out different tuition centres. Some are helpful and at least can keep her result in her standard but some are not.

Until recently, my DD told me she is more interested in Maths now. Partially because of the tuition class she recently enrolled in is interesting and she quite enjoys the class. She said the teacher always have different ways in explaining concept. Her teacher is very experienced teacher and former Math HOD from HCI or RI I didn’t remember clearly. So teacher’s experience is key factor. Of course my DD is more confident in math now after the tuition class she enjoys.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Sun, 05 Jun 2016 04:43:24 GMT

krallstan — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 04:43:24 GMT

Absolutely! And I have done that with each of my 4 kids.

FIRST KID
First one hated Maths. I strategised, working with her self-limitation, stretch her in areas I can, sent her for programmes that will help her in that area that I am stretching. She went from 60% to 80% & above, eventually A in PSLE Maths. Today, at Sec 3, she is self-motivated and doing well in E-Maths & A-Maths, so she can focus on all other subjects.

SECOND KID
Second one loves Maths. Understands concepts. But language makes him stumble, which means the all-important Paper 2. I sent him for the same programme, but asked that the focus be in training him to break info up to extract details (instead of seeing the whole chunk of text and having his mind shit down on the question). ... Within less than 10 weeks, there was results. And the results were sustainable. 92% and above. Never came down since. He is now in Sec 1 and still doing well in Maths. With confidence too!

THIRD KID
Third one loves Maths. Usually scores 80-100%. But due to weakness in Chinese, I need him to secure 90% & above for all his other 3 subjects. I am giving him the same training, though teaching him myself as he is already strong in Maths.

FOURTH KID
Fourth child seems good in Maths too. 80-100% also. I will eventually have her train in the same technique.

MY FRIENDS & THEIR KIDS
Having gone through all these personally, I am teaching my friends how to use the method too. They have given me feedback that the method is so good that their kids understand it well and love the method. Some have even gone on to sign their kids up for that centre's classes. Some for their regular classes; others for their holiday workshops.

When I teach my friends, I usually show them 2-3 methods so they can see for themselves how efficient Unit Transfer Method is. It is not the solve-all solution, but it solves majority of questions to achieve A-A*.

MATHS HEURISTICS'S UNIT TRANSFER METHOD
This technique I am referring to is Maths Heuristics' Unit Transfer Method. (Although I am stretching my third child by having him learn all of the centre's methods; not just UTM alone).

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Thu, 09 Jul 2015 02:18:51 GMT

beth_ng — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 02:18:51 GMT

Possible, unless it’s taught to understand. My children used to be frustrated with it but it’s because there are too many to understand. I have to go to lengths to look for someone to help them with a breakthrough. Hope it helps and I encourage to build Maths from young, otherwise will have struggle with them when they get older, like me, especially now there is STEM programme, I believe our efforts will not be in vain. All the best!

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:20:37 GMT

lotto — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:20:37 GMT

jedamum:
lotto:
Math is not all about counting. There are a lot of things in this world that can be related to maths.

In my opinion, it would be so much more enjoyable for our DC if we guide them ourselves in the early age than we send them to e centre.
i coach ds1 in math. to him, it is all about drill.
i send ds2 to math e centre. to him, math is all about games.
i think it is about attitude towards math. it is not about too teach.
if i had engaged a fun attutide when teaching ds1, he would have think that math is fun. if the math e centre that ds2 goes to focus on drilling, he would think it is about drilling.

Seems like our ds1 and ds2 is the same.
ds1 is always train himself in math and won a lot of medals and ds2 is happy go lucky type.
I stopped coaching them at the same time (bcoz of work) until ds1 p4 and ds2 p3 (since ds1 is 1 year older)
maybe I didn't gave enough to ds2 (compare to ds1), so ds2 score is abit low.
Then ds2 always said it's all happened because i trained him 1 year less then his kor. i kind of :sad: when i heard that.
Coz i love both of them equally :grphug:

Sorry it's kinda of off topic alr :oops:

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:06:48 GMT

jedamum — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:06:48 GMT

lotto:
Math is not all about counting. There are a lot of things in this world that can be related to maths.

In my opinion, it would be so much more enjoyable for our DC if we guide them ourselves in the early age than we send them to e centre.

i coach ds1 in math. to him, it is all about drill.
i send ds2 to math e centre. to him, math is all about games.
i think it is about attitude towards math. it is not about too teach.
if i had engaged a fun attutide when teaching ds1, he would have think that math is fun. if the math e centre that ds2 goes to focus on drilling, he would think it is about drilling.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:01:23 GMT

lotto — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:01:23 GMT

Math is not all about counting. There are a lot of things in this world that can be related to maths.

In my opinion, it would be so much more enjoyable for our DC if we guide them ourselves in the early age than we send them to e centre.

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Sat, 29 Sep 2012 06:52:42 GMT

lotto — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 06:52:42 GMT

Can give a time specially for your kids to learn maths together with them.

As what others said, for the simple problem you can do it with visual math. But for PS type, i suggest to try to do the simple question with them first and then slowly go to harder one. If you do not know which question is easy and hard, try to make one yourself! Step by step, type by type, and eventually your kids will be able to do all types and all difficulty level of question.
If you do not have time, you can try to find a private tutor and give the tutor an idea on how you want them to teach.
Hopefully it would help (as i try it myself and it was quite a success)

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 15:05:32 GMT

2cor41618 — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 15:05:32 GMT

Agree with above totally.

My DS was a natural with maths, he just absorb and advances easily. Was really easy with him.

DD (1 year younger) was the happy-go-lucky and blur type and did not have a natural flare for Maths. At K1, I could go thru the same stuff repeatedly until she finally got it right. BUT the effect only lasted 1 day....next day, all wrong again :faint: :stupid: After weeks of repeating the correct-wrong next day- cycle, the poor gal kena scolded upsided down :oops: Eventually I lost all my patience and pushed to DH to coach her - he's the higher level Maths teacher in my household, more patient too He end up :spank: her, she cried damn pitifully :gloomy: DD started disliking Maths :nailbite:

We both realised we had to be A LOT more patient with DD.....and gotta make her understand the concept with visual/objects etc. Cannot expect her to be like DS 一点就通. I implemented all the highlighted above too.....slowly, DD experienced sweet little success (you could see her eyes beaming with happiness and pride ) & got more confident. By K2/P1, she was getting better and would request to do Maths worksheet/assessment. But of course, I gave her lotsa PRAISE for good effort (quite amusing to see her beaming soooo happily actually ) Our biggest surprise - she top Maths in P1. From there on things became a lot easier....tho we still face bouts of 'mental block', she is motivated.....and that is IMO the most important attribute. So far, her Maths is still consistently amongst the high....I know very well her 'kongfu' will never be as strong like the elder brother, but hey.....each child is different, I am satisfied with her progress.

Let the child experience small success & celebrate it. I believe many would start to like Maths more once they are better at it. I believe this would true for most kids. Even if they never really like the subject, at least dun hate it. Once there is resistance, it'll be harder to enjoy or do well in it (for kids)

Lastly, we need to manage our expectations......[/quote]

Hi, i can totally identify with u, it's the same with my DS and DD!! :goodpost:

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Sat, 26 May 2012 09:30:51 GMT

BeContented — Sat, 26 May 2012 09:30:51 GMT

2cor41618:
karenmok:
I sent my kid to abacus class and she didn't like it. She hates maths and her grades reflect this. Is there some way I can make her to enjoy maths? I don't want to pressurize her but she should still manage the subject.

Hi, the reason most children do not like Math is basically they did not do well in it and the vicious cycle goes on. Try to make the work bite-size and easy for her at first and shower her with lots of praise and encouragement. You could start a chart and say, if she gets 10 stars, she gets a little reward, doesn't have to be something big (my daughter is contented with stickers ). Math is really all about practice and exposure. As your daughter experiences more success, I'm sure she will love the subject. Of course, mummy dearest has to put in a lot of hard work as well to prepare the materials suitable at her level. Happy teaching :rahrah:

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Sat, 26 May 2012 07:50:21 GMT

tutorsg_punggol — Sat, 26 May 2012 07:50:21 GMT

Hi,

I create simple additional, subtraction, multiplication and division questions. It could be in the form of a crossword puzzle style. Then let them answer. Of cos, will add another questions like those that include more than and less than since those are the questions that they always scratch their heads.

elderflowertea:
tutorsg_punggol:
Hi,

One of the ways you can try is to let her try on easier questions first. The moment she keeps getting them correct, she will feel that maths is not that difficult. Once she has the confidence, you can try the harder ones. Always keep encouraging them. Tell them it's okay to get it wrong but they must understand why they got it wrong and explain to them. Never let them move on without explaining the correct answer. If not, they will not get it correct the next time they see it and then they will feel demoralised again.

Another way is to let them play mathematical games. I do create some to let my students play. And they loved it.

All the best!
What math game? Care to share?

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Sat, 26 May 2012 06:46:57 GMT

elderflowertea — Sat, 26 May 2012 06:46:57 GMT

tutorsg_punggol:
Hi,

One of the ways you can try is to let her try on easier questions first. The moment she keeps getting them correct, she will feel that maths is not that difficult. Once she has the confidence, you can try the harder ones. Always keep encouraging them. Tell them it's okay to get it wrong but they must understand why they got it wrong and explain to them. Never let them move on without explaining the correct answer. If not, they will not get it correct the next time they see it and then they will feel demoralised again.

Another way is to let them play mathematical games. I do create some to let my students play. And they loved it.

All the best!

What math game? Care to share?

Reply to is it possible to make Maths enjoyable? on Sat, 26 May 2012 04:22:23 GMT

2cor41618 — Sat, 26 May 2012 04:22:23 GMT

karenmok:
I sent my kid to abacus class and she didn't like it. She hates maths and her grades reflect this. Is there some way I can make her to enjoy maths? I don't want to pressurize her but she should still manage the subject.

Hi karenmok, one thing about abacus is that it is rather abstract, especially for younger kids who know nuts about number bonds yet. It's just one way to lead to 心算 and unless your kid loves it, i see no reason why you want to force it down her throat. Many kids who do not know 心算 still do well for Math. Cheers :celebrate: