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Heh, heh...yes, I find that too often, IMHO, the eye is on the grade number more than on the topic itself. On the flipside, I find that sometimes the attempt to build confidence allows for the paper to be corrected and sent back for a higher grade. I don't quite know how I feel about that frankly because if a paper is always allowed to be redone for a higher grade, what's to incent a child to pay attention the first time?
From my admittedly limited reading on the success of Singapore Math, I find that many parents who have used it, feel strongly that it builds confidence. Having no experience with using it with my own children, I'll abstain from commenting to that end.
Nothing builds confidence quite like mastery does. I found as my kids mastered topic after topic they went into the next topic that much more confident they could learn it.
Thanks for bringing this up. I, completely, forgot about the effect Singapore has had on dd#1's confidence. Under EDM, we heard, "I CAN'T" every single night from our older daughter. Homework time was accompanied by a box of Kleenex for the tears. She was convinced she could not learn math. The switch to Singapore was like flipping a switch. I don't know when she stopped saying "I CAN'T" and started saying "I CAN" but she progressed two years worth of material in the first year doing Singapore math and I never heard "I CAN'T" again. She's in 9th grade now and does not question her ability to learn math. Sometimes she has to work at it but she does what she has to do and learns it. Singapore math MOST DEFINITELY built up her confidence. Success is the best confidence boost a child can get.
I can tell you that high school students have their eye on the grade and only the grade (those who care about grades anyway). My students are stunned when I keep on using material they have already taken the test for. I get "I thought we were done with that.", all the time. They want that grade and to move on. There is very little learning for the sake of learning. It's really a shame that it's become all about grades.
I'm from singapore, and i actually find US math to be rather, let's say, backwards.
For us, we are taught the model method{aka the box} from age 7 to 12. And it works really well for us. It helps us to visualise how to solve each problem. But we don't just use that. Because by the time we reach 13, we jump over to algebra. And you would be surpised at how fast we actually are. I'm learning 3 ways of solving quadratic equations and we are applying that into word problems.
At 7-9, we learn the basics of addition, and subtraction, multiplication and division. Then fractions and decimals.
At 10-12, we start to branch out into the various topics, like rate, percentage, speed and all the others. Permutation is optional, but I took it. And we do set and series, like n term, for all three years.
At 13, we are told that model method was to help us visualise. And so we went onto ordinary algebra. By the first month, we finished expressions. Linear equations in the second and third. And quadratic takes up three months, because we have three methods to solve it, cross method, completing the square and the general equation. Then we apply them to word problems.
This way of doing math depends also on the teachers. Plus, we don't really use textbooks. They are more like supplementary worksheets. Our teachers give us one worksheet for every new thing we have to cover. This method is good for singapore, because everyone here is super competitive. The main bookshops in our country sell mainly assessment books, which are basically alot of exercises. We buy tons of that and then we apply what our teacher tells us.
US math, may be better. But is it easier for a child? It may seem easy to adults, but algebra can be rather difficult to grasp when young. Is it not better to understand how algebra works first? We give the child an unknown, and we tell him three of it give me nine. He draws three boxes, realises that nine fits equally in three boxes, divides by three, and get the answer. Then later we tell him to replace the unknown with x, and he knows how to solve it, because he learnt it years ago. At 13, we are told to forget the model method because all the unknowns are now reduced to our variables, which is basically the same as the model method without the pictures.
I don't think american schools have a clue how to teach math. And I got A's and B's in it.
-The big thing missing is *Why*. Why am I doing this? Why am I asked to solve this equation? Why do I need to graph it? Why do I need to do this after that?
American kids are throw math like Egyptian hieroglyphics. There's no order or reason or logic. The singapore method simply allows you to have a deeper understanding of math. Schools here always seem to need more money....but that money doesn't go into...a deeper undertstanding of math!
-If American schools were smart, they would cut the class load by half starting in about 6th or 7th grade. 3 or 4 classes a semester is much more managable when you start getting into algebra, graphs, linear equations....stuff that makes a 7th or 8th graders head dizzy.
Why are kids asked to take 6 classes a semester if you know math is going to be hard? Mentally, beginning algebra is like 2 classes in one.
-Why are american math classes scheduled for early morning?!!?? It just compounds the problem.
Who's going to master math at 8 am?? It doesn't make much sense.
The results aren't suprising...i.e. 1/3 of people need remedial math in college because they weren't taught well in k-12.
The situation gets worse and worse. American school starts at 8? We go to school before dawn! At 6.30! And about the point that subjects should be cut into half? It should have been 3-4 core subjects first, so as to build a strong foundation. For us, our four subjects were English, Math, Science(a mix) and Chinese. Then at 13, we expand. So, we have literature, math(double weightage) biology, physics, chemistry, third languages, chinese, history and geography. That way we expose children to a wide variety.
America puts alot of pride on not being prejudiced, but being prejudiced in education gives a huge boost. At 3rd grade, Singaporeans take a test, which determine which stream they go into, normal or gifted. Then at 6th grade, we take another test, this one not only to determine which stream, but also if we meet the standards of the school we attempt to enter. That way, the clever goes and become cleverer, while the technical stream is focused on life skills which help them get jobs in life.
Your eighth grade is similar to our nineth, which shows you how fast we are. Three years of algebra equals to eight of american education.
Nothing builds confidence quite like mastery does. I found as my kids mastered topic after topic they went into the next topic that much more confident they could learn it.
Thanks for bringing this up. I, completely, forgot about the effect Singapore has had on dd#1's confidence. Under EDM, we heard, "I CAN'T" every single night from our older daughter. Homework time was accompanied by a box of Kleenex for the tears. She was convinced she could not learn math. The switch to Singapore was like flipping a switch. I don't know when she stopped saying "I CAN'T" and started saying "I CAN" but she progressed two years worth of material in the first year doing Singapore math and I never heard "I CAN'T" again. She's in 9th grade now and does not question her ability to learn math. Sometimes she has to work at it but she does what she has to do and learns it. Singapore math MOST DEFINITELY built up her confidence. Success is the best confidence boost a child can get.
I can tell you that high school students have their eye on the grade and only the grade (those who care about grades anyway). My students are stunned when I keep on using material they have already taken the test for. I get "I thought we were done with that.", all the time. They want that grade and to move on. There is very little learning for the sake of learning. It's really a shame that it's become all about grades.
Man is it true about this fixation on grades. When I went back to school as an adult to study Physics, I had already worked as an accountant for years and during my career realized that if you didn't understand conceptually what's going on, then you'll not understand the basics and forget much of what was taught. I couldn't believe the mania on grades even when the other students knew they weren't learning anything. They simply memorized what they needed and if they were good at that function then they did well. But that meant that two weeks after the class, if asked, they wouldn't be able to tell you much, if anything, regarding the classes they had just finished.
The science departments didn't care about their pedagogy, they just curved the hell outta their classes, so that 35-40% were B's, 45-50% were A's. I had professors who actually would say to their classes that if they understood 30-40% of the material, they were doing all right. Everyone was just lying to themselves and to each other, for the most part, little teaching was going on and even less learning. Grades were the only things that undergrads fixated on, and they ultimately knew they were getting rooked and did nothing.
What it proved to me was that if a student doesn't understand core concepts, if they don't know how these things worked, or why they worked, then nothing was going to be learned. The worst professors were the ones who threw a bunch of diffy ques, formulas and proofs at their students, without ever explaining why they were invented and what they meant in relation to physics. But it made teaching easier and filled in the hour. And the game goes on.....
I get that statistics is part of mathematics. So are algerbra, trig, calculus and differential equations but there's no reason to teach those in kindergarten either. My point is that it's enough to try and teach the basics well. Adding in unnecessary material just because you can is not a good enough reason. What our kids need is to learn what they learn to mastery before moving on. We will give our kids a chance when we stop teaching a mile wide and an inch deep and start taking the time to teach to depth before we go on to the next topic!!! It's not more breadth we need. It's less breadth and more depth!!! The more topics you pull down the more breadth you add. We need to take a lesson from asian countries and teach fewer topics per year but teach the ones we do to mastery. Yes, it takes them until 8th grade for their kids to see all the topics ours have SEEN by 4th grade but by 8th grade their kids are masters and ours are jacks.
I'm not sure of the current stats, but as of 5 years ago when we started our fight against EDM, the United States was teaching every topic in the TIMSS test every year and repeating the same material for 3-7 years because our students never took the time to learn it the first or even second time while our asian counterparts were teaching a fraction of the topics per year but teaching them to mastery resulting in their repeating material for 1-3 years. Our best case is their worst case when it comes to having to repeat material. They learn it the first time. We gloss over it so we can get to the next topic. We're in such a hurry our kids can't do anything well.
The really sad part is if we were to teach in depth we'd gain time for teaching because we wouldn't have to review the topics all the time. Before I can teach physics, I have to review algebra concepts and trig and, often simple math. We do not need more topics pulled down earlier. We need to teach what we teach to mastery before moving on. Statistics has it's place but it's not in kindergarten or second grade. At least not before kids have learned addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, working with decimals and percents and fractions to mastery first. Let them master one thing before you throw the next one at them.
You can laugh all you want but I have two kids placing out of math a minimum of a year ahead of their peers who came up through Singapore math. Their peers came up through fuzzy math. They had statistics and geometry in kindergarten. They're now being remediated to, hopefully, prepare them for algebra while my kids are ready.
Also, statistics is a stand alone whereas algebra is a gate way. You can put statistics in anywhere you have time. If you don't get kids through algebra, you lock them out of physics and they're, probably, going to do poorly in chemistry not to mention higher level math like trig and calculus. I have no idea why you consider statistics higher level math. It's just math that should come later. After kids have mastered the topics that are foundations for higher math.
Good luck with the underlined part.[/quote]
Talking about a mile wide and inch deep, when I was studying Physics, part of our curriculum was Real Analysis. The professor was from Poland but he had received his PH.d from Washington University in Saint Louis and was doing a post doc at my school.
Anyway he had the most un-rigorous lecture I have ever experienced. When it finally came to midterms, he told us that he was going to give us both the questions and answer to the exams, and show us how we were to approach the problems. We couldn't believe what we were seeing, and I for one, didn't believe him. Sure enough, it was exactly as he promised, and only an idiot couldn't have gotten an A in his class. I ended up with an A-.
But the reason he did this was because in Eastern Europe, a year, not an academic year, but a full calendar year, was spent on this one topic alone. It was absolutely paramount to understand Analysis to be able to understand higher order math, and those nations were rigorous in their approach. At my university, the course was no longer than ten weeks. Zemo told us that it was impossible for him to teach us in ten weeks what took him a year to truly understand, and he could have spent another year on the topic. Basically we were getting screwed by the mile wide and microcentimeters deep approach given to most of USAAmerican math.
Hello, I find the Singapore math is really interesting. Where can I obtain the Singapore math materials? Thanks.
Free singapore math worksheets for the primary grades online
Fun Singapore Math Problems. Free Printable Math Worksheets: 12 (http://www.homeschooling-paradise.com/singapore-math-1-12.html - broken link)
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Before I can teach physics, I have to review algebra concepts and trig and, often simple math. We do not need more topics pulled down earlier. We need to teach what we teach to mastery before moving on. Statistics has it's place but it's not in kindergarten or second grade. At least not before kids have learned addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, working with decimals and percents and fractions to mastery first. Let them master one thing before you throw the next one at them.
