{"id":2506,"date":"2017-09-08T18:49:52","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T18:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resedblog.wpengine.com\/?p=2506"},"modified":"2021-03-29T20:13:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T20:13:05","slug":"singapore-method-elementary-mathematics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/responsiveed.com\/responsiveed-blog\/2017\/09\/08\/singapore-method-elementary-mathematics\/","title":{"rendered":"The Singapore Method for Elementary Mathematics"},"content":{"rendered":"

R<\/span>esponsiveEd\u2019s classical schools have implemented various Singapore math curriculums to strengthen students\u2019 math competency and set them up for success at the high school and college level. Some of our campuses use <\/span><\/i>Math in Focus<\/span><\/i><\/a>, while others like <\/span><\/i>Founders Classical Academy of Leander<\/span><\/i><\/a> use <\/span><\/i>Singapore Primary Math<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Both curriculums are based on the idea of building a strong math foundation through a deliberate order of concepts and direct connection of ideas. Dr. Kathleen O\u2019Toole, headmaster at Founders Classical Academy of Leander, explains the benefits of Singapore math. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Have you ever heard someone say, \u201cI\u2019m just not a math person\u201d? When I was younger I used to say it all the time, and I hear it all the time from our students (though less and less these days). A lot of people have the idea that you are either good at reading books or you are good at numbers, and it\u2019s not possible to do both things well. Those people have it wrong! Classical education is a liberal education, a well-rounded education. If done right, it teaches students to love knowing things\u2013things about numbers, things about letters and sentences, things about the past, things about the present\u2013and the curiosity to keep searching for knowledge long after they finish school. At Founders, we strive to cultivate in our students, a desire for knowledge of all kinds and the virtue to use that knowledge well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is it that you rarely hear someone say, \u201cI\u2019m just not a reading person,\u201d or, \u201cI\u2019m not really a science person\u201d? Why is it always math? At Founders Classical Academy of Leander, we have a few ideas about that, and we chose to use Singapore math in the grammar school because we think it will teach our students to be math people because they are knowers. We think that many math curricula fall short, and that what we are doing at Founders can create confidence and, even, enthusiasm about mathematics.<\/span><\/p>\n

We chose Singapore mathematics because it\u2019s designed around one simple but essential idea about math instruction: <\/span>Mathematical concepts have to be taught in a certain order<\/b>. You have to walk before you can run, you have to crawl before you can walk, and you have to learn addition before you can learn subtraction. No matter how intelligent a student is or how talented his teacher is, he cannot understand the concept of subtraction before he understands the concept of addition. Knowledge of subtraction assumes knowledge of addition. Multiplication comes next, and after that comes division. It has to go in that order\u2013that is the rational way of learning the concepts. <\/span><\/p>\n

A subject like literature is very different\u2013it doesn\u2019t really matter if you read<\/span> A Tale of Two Cities<\/span><\/i> or <\/span>Great Expectations<\/span><\/i> first\u2013if you read both of them you will get a pretty good understanding of Charles Dickens as a writer either way. But math is different. It must be taught in the right order.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, all math curricula understand this about the basic mathematical operations, but many forget the order in which math should be taught when it comes to more difficult concepts, like fractions, or even more abstract concepts, like those taught in Algebra. Learning math is like building a skyscraper. The first story is addition, and the second is subtraction, then multiplication, and then division, and so on. A lot of students go into building the floors with a slightly shaky understanding of division, for example, or (even more common) having understood multiplication as a concept but without memorizing their multiplication facts. When they get to the next levels, which involve dealing with fractions, that difficult concept is made more difficult by the fact that their multiplication story is only partially built. Until you go back and fix that multiplication level by memorizing those math facts, there will be a gap causing problems when the student learns a new mathematical concept that requires the use of multiplication.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the time a student is in pre-Algebra or Algebra, there are dozens of stories to his math skyscraper. If they are all solidly built, he can sail through difficult equations that require him to solve for x, and y, and even z. But if those multiplication facts still aren\u2019t there, or if he never really understood the concept of squaring a number, that little gap is going to make things difficult until he goes back and learns it.<\/span><\/p>\n

This means elementary math education is crucial for future success. At Founders Classical Academy of Leander we chose Singapore Primary Math (the U.S. edition) because we think it teaches all of the concepts that must be covered up until Algebra in the correct order, without creating accidental gaps in the skyscraper and while giving students enough time to build each level well before they have to move away from it for good.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does Singapore math build the foundations?<\/b><\/p>\n

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  1. It teaches students mathematics at the conceptual level rather than by having them memorize a procedure for each type of problem<\/b>. When I was in school, I was a memorizer of procedures. I learned to recognize a problem that looked a certain way, and to follow a series of steps that the teacher laid out for me each time I saw a similar looking problem. I always got the right answer, but I never really understood what I was doing or why I was doing it. Singapore asks students to use the same concepts over and over, but it asks the question a different way each time so that they can\u2019t memorize how to get to the correct answer\u2013they have to think it all through at the deepest level. This yields a true understanding of the concept and the ability to use it for actual thinking, rather than for just getting a good grade on math homework.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This video helps to explain how Singapore teaches a student to understand a concept rather than just memorize a procedure for getting through a problem:<\/span><\/p>\n