How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math?

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Wed, 10 May 2017 00:47:33 GMT

jedamum — Wed, 10 May 2017 00:47:33 GMT

worriedmummy50:
Hi, any parent used Koobits before? My DD is having his PSLE this year. I got recommendations from my friends but is it good? Please help. Thank you!

koobits has a lot of questions inside and my ds2 likes to go online to work on them as can earn points for ranking purposes etc.
i think it is not bad if the kid does not have tuition, is somewhat a self directed learner and disciplined to work on it daily. i feel it is structured step-by-step to guide the kid along.
however my kid used it more in the first half of P4 where he has more time. thereafter, it was just for fun during holidays.
unless the sch makes it compulsory for us to subscribe in P6 next year, i would rather my kid do pen-and-paper hard copy assessment books as it is easier to reference and write down notes on the topics/questions that needed more attention instead of starting from the step-by-step basics. hardcopies books is easier for me to browse to zoom into areas that he is weaker in as i am not very good at navigating online. easier to flag a hardcopy assessment for quick last min review than to go online and start searching. it is also good to inculcate highlighting of key words in questions (still nagging the kid now!) which can only happen for hardcopy assessment books.

but for a kid that has little interest in math and not doing very well, i guess koobits is a good alternative to usual pen-and-paper learning.

another thing to note...i am not sure the score system for koobits, but my boy may be tempted to just do the basic/simpler questions to earn more points/ranking. difficult for me to check (as i am not IT savvy). i rather turn to assessment book where i will demarcate what he needs to do and easier for me to flip and check. but just as it is easy for the kids to just want to do simpler questions, advanced kids can just access to advance questions without the need for the parent to track their progress/wait for parents to assign homework. JMO.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Tue, 09 May 2017 07:49:42 GMT

worriedmummy50 — Tue, 09 May 2017 07:49:42 GMT

Hi, any parent used Koobits before? My DD is having his PSLE this year. I got recommendations from my friends but is it good? Please help. Thank you!

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Wed, 19 Oct 2016 00:33:51 GMT

sharonkhoo — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 00:33:51 GMT

beary84:
Hi, thanks for the reply. The thing is that I would like to find out if there is a long term solution for my child in terms of starting young and finding a compatible tutor from young. I know that some of my freind's kids often change tutors a lot over the years and stuffs like that. Also the reason why I kept changing tutors for my girl because i wanted a personality compatibility. Oh and also, I think my girl the main reason is that she cannot focus too much, not too much on that she cannot understand the concept, so I think I need a patient and understanding tutor to guide her along as she grows. That would be great. Thank you.

In that case, yes, you need to find a good \"fit\". I can't help you there. Is she that way in everything she does? Helping her focus and be disciplined, even 10 mins at a time doing other things, will also spill over into helping her focus in maths. You can help her in the time you spend with her on other stuff, even if you don't help her in maths. The other tip is to restrict TV and other screen time, if you aren't already doing so.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Tue, 18 Oct 2016 23:39:41 GMT

beary84 — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 23:39:41 GMT

slmkhoo:
beary84:
Hi, I feel that my child has some learning problems. She is in P1 as well and she has problems understanding very basic concepts. I have tried 2 tutors so far but I let the both of them go after 2 months each because I feel that they are not very patient with her. Just wondering, do any of you have any suggestions for any tuition agency or website that have tutors that are generally more patient or understanding? My first choice, hope to receive some help in this area. Thanks a lot.

Can you give examples of the concepts that she has diffculty with? Has she been introduced to the concepts using concrete items or just on paper? At P1 level, hands-on and daily exposure to math concepts in real life will help more than any 1-2 sessions a week tuition.

Hi, thanks for the reply. The thing is that I would like to find out if there is a long term solution for my child in terms of starting young and finding a compatible tutor from young. I know that some of my freind's kids often change tutors a lot over the years and stuffs like that. Also the reason why I kept changing tutors for my girl because i wanted a personality compatibility. Oh and also, I think my girl the main reason is that she cannot focus too much, not too much on that she cannot understand the concept, so I think I need a patient and understanding tutor to guide her along as she grows. That would be great. Thank you.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Tue, 18 Oct 2016 23:09:48 GMT

sharonkhoo — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 23:09:48 GMT

beary84:
Hi, I feel that my child has some learning problems. She is in P1 as well and she has problems understanding very basic concepts. I have tried 2 tutors so far but I let the both of them go after 2 months each because I feel that they are not very patient with her. Just wondering, do any of you have any suggestions for any tuition agency or website that have tutors that are generally more patient or understanding? My first choice, hope to receive some help in this area. Thanks a lot.

Can you give examples of the concepts that she has diffculty with? Has she been introduced to the concepts using concrete items or just on paper? At P1 level, hands-on and daily exposure to math concepts in real life will help more than any 1-2 sessions a week tuition.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Tue, 18 Oct 2016 22:29:02 GMT

beary84 — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 22:29:02 GMT

Hi, I feel that my child has some learning problems. She is in P1 as well and she has problems understanding very basic concepts. I have tried 2 tutors so far but I let the both of them go after 2 months each because I feel that they are not very patient with her. Just wondering, do any of you have any suggestions for any tuition agency or website that have tutors that are generally more patient or understanding? My first choice, hope to receive some help in this area. Thanks a lot.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Tue, 08 Mar 2016 03:46:59 GMT

brenda1517 — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 03:46:59 GMT

Hi parents here,

Can i know how to make my gal understand problem sums?she is really simply not interested in problem sums and always anyhow do.and very poor in her maths.primary one …

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Thu, 13 Aug 2015 01:14:10 GMT

mceducation1 — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 01:14:10 GMT

xueyan:
Hi

Can someone tell me how to teach addition or subtraction sums? My boy who is K2 this year, is still using his fingers to count. If it is sum like 9+8 he will have not enough fingers to do so. How to solve this?

Thanks for advice

Hi Xueyan,

I believe your son is still at the 'Concrete' stage in his learning of Addition and Subtraction.

Not to worry at all, most children go through the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract (CPA) stages - they need to understand the basic concepts using the concrete materials. These concrete materials could be any thing that ranges from the child's fingers or paper clips or clothes pegs, sweets/candies, erasers, ... anything you or your son can a hold of... they are the represention of the sums one is working on... When he is ready, you can encourage him to translate them into Pictures where he still sees the 'concrete representations' but in the pictorial form. It takes time for the child to 'concretise' these mathematical concepts before moving on to the pictorial stage.

Do not rush the child into another stage as it would not benefit the child in his mastery of the concepts.

Talk about the concrete and pictorial representations as much as possible using mathematical vocabulary such as \"more than\", \"less than\", \"3 is 2 more than 1. 1 is 2 less than 3\"...
Encourage the child to listen and articulate them too.

When they are ready, you can translate the pictorial forms into symbols (ie numerical form).

Hope this helps.

Enjoy your boy!

All the best!

Michelle Choo
Mathematics Educator
(27 years Mathematics Education)

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Wed, 05 Aug 2015 16:15:23 GMT

Sandy34 — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 16:15:23 GMT

Thanks a lot sembgal, the tips you've given are really helpful. Kids find maths impossible but the truth they forgot to understand is that it is the one guaranteed subject in which they can score a max. Making the numbers interesting will naturally build a special interests in understanding maths.

My elder girl was also quite low about mathematics but last year we had a family gathering, a day with the whole family, some wine and food. During this period my cousins had plans for the children and it was really great.
They had various games which actually made us laugh our stomach out but it was a fun way kids to learn Mathematics. They also managed to get some certificates and awards for the kids from Hoult-Hellewell http://www.houlthellewell.com (Toronto).
After that she has shown some improvement in the approach towards Math, especially on the first week after the gathering. She will try to relate everything to each game and she will be stuck in a problem unless she finds a problem.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:35:10 GMT

mom_young — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:35:10 GMT

my girl just entered primary one and before that she never really did well in counting. even her preschool teacher couldnt do much. but after i bought her a math board game - Genius Mathematics, I was soooooooo surprise and amazed that she finally like math.

plus her math homework which is always incomplete in the early part of the year is now in a better state. the teacher also called to tell me the change she has observed in class.

if you are interested, can pm me for details. cause can have discount from referred buyers.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Wed, 15 Jul 2015 07:14:55 GMT

mceducation1 — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 07:14:55 GMT

Problem solving is fundamental to Mathematics learning, and heuristics play a very important role in Mathematical problem solving. Frequent use of heuristics can greatly improve pupils’ problem solving performance. It is also extensively recognized and accepted that heuristics should be and can be taught. There are 13 heuristics applicable to Mathematical problem solving and these 13 heuristics can be grouped into 4 categories based on how they can be used:

To give a representation
e.g.: draw a diagram, make a list, use equations

To make a calculated guess
e.g.: guess and check, look for patterns, make suppositions

To go through the process
e.g.: act it out, work backwards, before-after

To change the problem
e.g.: restate the problem, simplify the problem, solve part of the problem

http://i57.tinypic.com/2lk4tiw.jpg\">

Join us in a 2-part workshop to uncover our problem-solving curriculum and explore common tools used to solve word problems involving whole numbers, fractions, percentage and ratio. Parents will also be presented with challenging word problems from different levels to understand the different skills required in using the model method.

Session 1: How to solve challenging Maths problems
Date: 29 August 2015
Time: 9am – 4pm

Topics covered:
- How to use Polya’s 4-step problem-solving method to solve word problems
- Processes involved in problem-solving
- Strategies to help children who have difficulties solving challenging problems

Session 2: Model Drawing
Date: 12 March 2016
Time: 9am – 4pm

Topics covered:
- Common tools used to solve word problems involving whole numbers, fractions and ratio
- The concept of model drawing
- How to use different types of models to solve a variety of problems

For more information on these workshops, visit http://bit.ly/1LkEf5Z

^Michelle Choo
Maths Educator

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:43:35 GMT

mummyxoxo — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:43:35 GMT

Agree that learning starts young It is important to arouse a child's interest to learn something at a young age by relating them to everyday life.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Mon, 13 Jul 2015 16:37:25 GMT

FrankLim — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 16:37:25 GMT

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Thu, 09 Jul 2015 07:53:04 GMT

KsqMathelogy — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 07:53:04 GMT

The best way to build good foundation is learning through real life application. The supermarket is the best place to learn Math (Numbers, Money, Mass, Length, Fractions...) We always encourage parents to bring children there to learn Math. The concept of Money is very important and there are many occasions where we see pupils who are not able to count quickly. This will also help in their addition and subtraction speed.

Lower primary is a level where children need to learn through play to fully understand the concepts of Math. Drilling and doing assessment books is not the most efficient way to build up a child's foundation. We have seen pupils who are exam smart but cannot apply their understanding to the real life scenarios which is not what education is meant to be.

Bring your children out to the supermarket and try out. They will enjoy it. Get them to pay for the items at the cashier. This way, they will also learn to be street smart which is a crucial skill for a 21st century kid.

There are many ways to learn Math too. Another way is using household items and daily activities to ask Math questions. For eg. There are 6 chicken wings to be shared among Daddy, Mummy and you. How many chicken wings must each of us get? Or. Let's pack our toys now into boxes of 6. How many boxes do we need? Or. Mummy has 10 bags. I am going to donate 3 bags away. How many bags will mummy have left?

These questions may sound simple but for a child whose number sense is not strong, daily questioning around the house and their surrounding makes them aware that Math is all around.

Hope these ideas help.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Thu, 02 Jul 2015 03:02:28 GMT

xueyan — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 03:02:28 GMT

Dear beth

Can you share more on your experience. My boy is in P1 now and really not great in Maths.

I will be very interested to know how to build good foundation.

Thanks!

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Thu, 02 Jul 2015 02:51:31 GMT

beth_ng — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 02:51:31 GMT

Hi parents,

going through my crazy experience, I really encourage parents to do maths building since young age, otherwise, my mistakes and neglience has put my children through much challenges already. Good luck, hope everything find the most appropriate source/assistance/material for their children.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Mon, 18 May 2015 05:41:54 GMT

Mathwiz — Mon, 18 May 2015 05:41:54 GMT

I have not run through the whole thread，just to share a few points from my own experience. Both my first two sons learnt addition before 3. I think the very fundamental rule of thumb is make it fun! Learn it, play it, work on it together with your children. Maths is everywhere. I believe the objective is not to let our children to pass or excel in maths test, but to cultivate an interest in it!

A few resources you can make use of:
YouTube Vedios
Library DVDs
iPad iphone games
Fun exercise workbooks
Dices, pokers, calculators, small blocks, flashcards, etc

Do not rush to test them. Do not scold them or lose patience if they keep forgetting. Make it fun and try different methods as everybody is different hence not universal best approach. Show your enthusiasm and Keep doing it, and One day you will be surprised by your children.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Thu, 14 May 2015 16:42:59 GMT

KsqMathelogy — Thu, 14 May 2015 16:42:59 GMT

xueyan:
Hi

Can someone tell me how to teach addition or subtraction sums? My boy who is K2 this year, is still using his fingers to count. If it is sum like 9+8 he will have not enough fingers to do so. How to solve this?

Thanks for advice

Hopefully this will help some parents out there.

For addition of greater numbers, we teach the child using the count-ok method whereby the greater number is stored in the head and the smaller number is stored on the fingers. Count on from the number in the head till you finish the number of fingers shown. This takes some practice to be able to perfect the counting.

We also want the child to be quick in counting of basic numbers. Some memory work is required on the part of the child. Children need to see an addition pattern in 9.

9+1=10 --> 10+0
9+2=11 --> 10+1
9+3=12 --> 10+2
9+4=13 --> 10+3
.
.
9+ 7=16 --> 10+6
9+8=17 --> 10+7
9+9=18 --> 10+8

We want children to see that 9 + a single digit, they have to reduce the second digit by 1 and add 10. This method is for fast counting of addition of 9, which is what most p1 children always find a daunting task.

Speed counting is a skill that we hope a child can learn.
The basic idea is to make 10 for easy counting.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Thu, 14 May 2015 15:37:15 GMT

FantasyLandDreams — Thu, 14 May 2015 15:37:15 GMT

Love@Depot:
Thanks ~ Sembgal for the advice !!

* If KS Parents website is something like FB ~ then can \"Like\" your comment.

You just need to click the 'like' button on the left of sembgal's post will do.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Thu, 14 May 2015 15:36:58 GMT

FantasyLandDreams — Thu, 14 May 2015 15:36:58 GMT

Love@Depot:
Thanks ~ Sembgal for the advice !!

* If KS Parents website is something like FB ~ then can \"Like\" your comment.

You just need to click the 'like' button on the left of sembgal's post will do.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Thu, 14 May 2015 12:44:13 GMT

Love.045082Depot — Thu, 14 May 2015 12:44:13 GMT

Thanks ~ Sembgal for the advice !!

* If KS Parents website is something like FB ~ then can \"Like\" your comment.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Wed, 29 Oct 2014 04:14:46 GMT

sembgal — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 04:14:46 GMT

Love@Depot:
Many thanks to Sembgal for your useful tips !!

Alil worry as kid gg to P1 next year and till date we've Eng & Chinese enrichment classes only ... Thus alil worry for Maths although current Cc also teach them but always tik like not enuf !! ~ really KS me ;op

So no need any tution for Maths at this point of time ? Or any good to recmd ard TiongBahru/ HBF/ Telok Blangah / Clementi ? TIA !! :thankyou:

Hi,

Math is about constant practice. Having seen the Math test papers from top schools, I find that it is very common for children to score close to full marks if they do not make careless mistakes. The only way to avoid careless mistake is to teach a child to read the question carefully, underline the keyword and solve it. P1 Math is just the beginning. By now, the P1 child should have learnt to draw models in problem sums. Sending a child to Math enrichment is useful when parents have no time to coach the child on their own. Teach the child the Math concept and let the child practise answering the questions on her own will allow her to develop independent problem-solving skills.

Reply to How to help your child improve Pri 1 Math? on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 05:17:34 GMT

Love.045082Depot — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 05:17:34 GMT

Many thanks to Sembgal for your useful tips !!

Alil worry as kid gg to P1 next year and till date we've Eng & Chinese enrichment classes only ... Thus alil worry for Maths although current Cc also teach them but always tik like not enuf !! ~ really KS me ;op

So no need any tution for Maths at this point of time ? Or any good to recmd ard TiongBahru/ HBF/ Telok Blangah / Clementi ? TIA !! :thankyou: