Contributed by Phua Kai Ying, Academic Director for The Learning Lab Jem and Choa Chu Kang.
Mathematics is a subject that many students tend to struggle with. These students often fall back on methods like rote learning and memorisation to do well in Math examinations.
Unfortunately, such techniques end up negatively affecting the way students view Math as they don't allow students to properly understand the subject.
The phrase, “I am never going to use this” is also one that I've heard from some of the students in my Math classes.
The fact is, we all use Math in everyday applications whether we are aware of it or not. From playing games to travelling and purchasing food, Math is vital in helping students navigate their daily lives and make better sense of the world around them.
Increasingly, rote learning is also being abandoned for newer techniques such as metacognition and critical thinking, allowing teachers to apply real life situations in Math lessons.
Such concepts are taught as early as during the preschool years to equip students with valuable math skills that they can use throughout their lives.
We start teaching our kindergarten students how to tell the time — an important skill that is applicable both in school and outside of the classroom.
As simple as it seems, the concept of telling time can actually be seen as an umbrella topic that encapsulates an assortment of cognitive skills that should be developed in the early years. Learning how to tell time at an early stage helps prepare children to confidently use clocks throughout life. It also helps them to realise the importance of time and how time feeds in to nearly every aspect of their daily lives.
In Class
From a young age, students learn how the long hand means minutes; the short hand means hours and the running hand means seconds.
It also helps students to exercise their ability to skip count by five and gives students an abstract idea of how much time has passed them by.
In most classes, the analogue clock is used to introduce children the concept of fractions, as the clock face is divided into twelve equal parts. With the introduction of one hour being equivalent to 60 minutes, it helps students to exercise their ability to skip count by five and gives students an abstract idea of how much time has passed them by.
Once students are able to master these basic concepts of time, it is more likely that they are able to use gauge and estimate in different situations more adeptly.
In Real Life
Once students are able to master these basic concepts of time, it is more likely that they are able to use gauge and estimate in different situations more adeptly. Such skills come in handy in real life situations such as planning an itinerary for a family holiday or a family day out.
Students can also use time-telling skills to plan out a journey from school to home or vice-versa. They will be able to estimate how much time they need to get ready to leave the house or the time at which they will reach their destination.
In Class
Another important math skill that we teach is estimation. It helps students to be able to determine the how reasonable their answers are.
Without estimation skills, students are not able to determine if their answer is within a reasonable range. This inability to reason causes them to make computational errors without it even being on their radar.
For example, if a student is asked to multiply 15 x 23 and they arrive at a product of 3,050, we want students to independently recognise that the answer is not reasonable. If they use the estimation of 15 x 20 to arrive at 300, they should quickly realise that their place value is definitely incorrect.
Besides using estimation skills for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, we also want students to reasonably estimate time and distance.
• Roughly how much time does it take for us to travel from home to The Learning Lab at Jem?
• Approximately how long does it take for you to finish all your Math homework?
Such estimation skills are an important part of executive functioning and we want students to develop a sense of estimating time so that as students, they are able to make better sense of word problems and perseverance in solving them and to reason abstractly and quantitatively. It also helps these students to attend to precision as they move on to the working world.
In Real Life
Estimation is part of our everyday experience.
When you are shopping at a supermarket and trying to stay within a budget, estimation skills come into play.
When you are splitting the cost of dinner between six friends, we estimate for ease.
For instance, should the total cost of $92 be split among six friends, estimation skills will help one to realise that every friend will have to pay an estimate sum of $15.
In the working world, contractors and engineers often work use estimates before drilling down to mathematical precision.
Mathematics also helps students become critical thinkers, and is a key factor in separating students who can ‘do’ math from those who truly understand what they are doing.
The more math skills students acquire, the more they to pay attention to details, question information and analyse data.
In Class
Teachers are important figurines to help students think critically. To think critically is to follow a clear line of logical steps and reasoning, while students can internalise a set of questions to ask that will help them think their way to a solution.
Such questions include:
• What is the problem? What am I trying to solve?
• What do I know? What information is given?
• Were there similar problems that I have solved before?
• What solutions could work? Any strategies will work best?
After students attempt a solution, they can further question themselves on why their solution work. Thinking critically like this helps create meaningful conversations using mathematical vocabulary in class.
Such practice eventually helps students build logic skills, which eventually helps them to be more efficient in their everyday life, and be prepared for a workforce and world that is constantly changing.
In Real Life
Critical thinking is important in problem-solving. From using math to identify patterns to using knowledge of angles and volume to plan how to best utilise a limited space, there are many opportunities to use Math to overcome challenges with the help of critical thinking.
At The Learning Lab, Math lessons are linked to real-life scenarios to help your child see the relevance of Math. Instead of pure rote memorisation, we also use hands-on activities, songs, games and stories to help him or her learn better.
Watch the video below as Elizabeth Chin, Math Subject Head of The Learning Lab Tampines, shares about what your child can look forward to in our Primary Math programmes.
From fun Math-based recipes to cool Science fact-based hacks, we’ve prepared a whole load of unique Home-work ideas for your child to discover and learn from.
When we remember to take the lessons from the classroom and make them skills for life, we’re one step close to deeper and more meaningful learning.
Find out more about our Maths programmes here.
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If you have any questions about our programmes, please email us at enquiry@thelearninglab.com.sg or call us at 6733 8711 and we will be happy to assist you.