vimeo.com/.../582408136

Hi, good afternoon parents.

Welcome to our 2021
Parent Empowerment Workshop Series.

My name is [Name]

I am a senior manager for student
and corporate affairs.

Now before we start,

I know a lot of parents are still coming in

so let me just go through some of the
housekeeping rules.

I think for many of you who have already
used zoom

you will know that upon entry

participants will be muted and their
video function will been disabled.

Please ensure that your devices
speakers are enabled

and for best audio experience
you may wish to use your earphones.

If you have technical issues, please use
the chat function to alert us

and to encourage interaction
for this workshop series

you can ask questions
throughout the session.

Please use the QNA function below

and please do not use the chat function
because we will not be monitoring that.

We will be monitoring the QNA function
for the questions asked

And doctor Yip, our workshop facilitator

will be answering the questions
as they come along.

And just a reminder

strictly no recording
by participants is allowed

This workshop series will be put up
on Learn for Life eCampus

to enable parents who have
missed this session

or if you wish to revisit some of the
highlights of the workshop.

Many of you with children
in mainstream schools

you'll be very familiar with
Parents Support Group (PSG).

In Pathlight we don't have PSG

we have what we call

Parent-School Collaboration Teams

and we have five of them.

So basically we have one PSCT for short
on safety

and this safety is when parent volunteers
can come in and

accompany our students when they go for
external learning journeys.

We also have a PSCT for work opportunities

so some of you who are highly placed
in your organisation

and are able to open doors for us for

FAM tours or even internships

please volunteer in this PSCT.

We also have a PSCT for family bonding

to organise activities for the families
to enjoy family time together.

And there's also a PSCT for greening

so we have a group of enthusiastic parents
who usually come

and help to contribute
to make the school beautiful.

And then of course I head the PSCT
for parent empowerment.

So it has been more than a year since we

suspended all PSCT activities
due to COVID.

So this year, I think we are very pleased
to bring back this

Math workshop series

conducted by Doctor Dr Yeap Ban Har.

It's a very very popular series

we always get more than 95% approval rates

from parents who attended our workshops.

Let me give you a short introduction
of Dr Yeap.

Dr Yeap is our director of curriculum and

teacher development at Pathlight School.

He usually conducts paid
math education courses around the world

and he told me he has covered close to 40
countries to date.

He is an author of math textbooks
and consultant

and his books have been translated
to seven languages.

So don't play play ah!

he's a very accomplished and

learn-et??? educator.

He holds a Master of Education and
Ph.D. in math education.

So without much further ado

let me pass the floor to Dr Yeap.

Lets welcome Dr Yeap please.

Good evening parents

thank you for joining me this evening

My name is Ban Har

and I'll be conducting this webinar.

The focus of today’s webinar

is on helping children

process information in Mathematics.

In this webinar

I will help all of us understand

the kind of information that students...

need to process...

whenever they do mathematics.

And I will suggest
some ways of helping them

ways that adults including parents

will be able to use quite easily

whenever we engage them
with their mathematics at home.

So that's our plan this evening.

Through examples,

we are going to be looking at

the kind of information

that students need to handle
in Mathematics

and I will suggest some ways

to help students
become more proficient in this.

But before we get into the content

let me give a brief introduction.

Whenever we help students with anything

we are always helping them with
not only the skills

but also the mindset.

Without the corresponding lens

without the corresponding mindset

students sometimes cannot use the skill
that they have acquired.

In other words,

skills...

without the right mindset...

sometimes are still not useful.

Do you sometimes see your children
able to do something

but then...

on their own...

they don't seem to be able to do it?

That will be symptomatic of having skills

without the corresponding mindset.

What do I mean by that?

Some students...

think that Mathematics is a subject
where they remember stuff.

That mindset...

is counterproductive.

Research has shown us that

children who think of Mathematics

as a subject where they remember things,

they do less well...

than children...

who understand the exact nature
of mathematics.

So what is the exact nature
of mathematics?

Mathematics is a language.

Children who understand mathematics
as a language

and learn mathematics as a language

they do far better...

than children who think that

mathematics is a subject where you
remember things

where you memories things.

Secondly,

children sometimes accidentally think that

mathematics is a subject
where you answer questions.

They perceive mathematics as

a subject where people ask you question

and you answer it.

mathematics is not like that.

Mathematics is a subject
where you figure things out

it's not a subject where you are
answering a question all the time.

So sometimes as adults,
parents, and teachers alike

we have made children perceive mathematics

with a incorrect mindset.

In summary,

children who are successful...

highly successful in mathematics

they see mathematics as

1. A language

2. A subject where they think

a subject where they figure things out.

Mathematics as a language.

Do you know that mathematics
is a language?

Yes it is

it is a language to describe
things around us.

When you see things around you,

you try to describe it.

Example:

you might try to say

"4 groups of children"

and in mathematics we have multiplication

to describe that.

Or sometimes you try to put

a tray of 60 cookies

you try to pack them into

maybe...

containers of 24's

and I wonder whether
there is enough cookies

to give you full containers or not

or there might be some leftover...
some remainder.

So putting 60 cookies into
containers of 24

can be described quite precisely

in this case using the concept
of division.

Mathematics as a language
is a productive way

for children to think about the subject.

And like in any language
there are different alphabet systems

so to speak.

There are different grammars

there are different rules.

In mathematics,

there are three alphabet systems

so when we say that
"oh I understand mathematics"

as in I understand Spanish
or I understand Japanese

or I understand whatever language

what does it mean?

It means 3 things:

Firstly,

it means we can read
and comprehend visuals

we might see,

1 row of 3

2 rows of 3

3 rows of 3

4 rows of 3

5 rows of 3

and so on...

6 rows of 3

7 rows of 3.

Of course it's written like so

7 rows of 3

I know as adults sometimes you get lazy

and we don't read

we spell.

Spelling is making sounds of the symbols

so we say 7 times 3

that means you are spelling out
that expression.

In what language do we spell out
every single word?

Can you imagine reading a book

and spelling every single word
in the book?

How much of it
will you actually understand?

and how much of it
will you actually enjoy?

quite little right?

Do children know how to read mathematics?

Or are they spelling out
every single expression?

When we say that children
understand mathematics,

it means that they look at the visual

and they can read it,

they can comprehend it,

they can make use of it.

This is one kind of information
that children need to process

meaning: Read, Comprehend, Make use of it.

I can make use of this. For example,

let's say I forget my times table

and I need to know 7 groups of 3

7 rows of 3.

I can say "well I know 7 rows of 3
is actually...

5 rows of 3...

that's 15

and also 2 rows of 3
that's 6.

so 7 rows of 3 is simply
15 and 6

15 and 6,

6 is really 5 and 1

15 and 5 is simply 20

20 and 1 is 21.

Do children read when they do mathematics?

The way I just demonstrated it.

So that is what I mean parents

by mathematics is a language.

And this is the first type of information

that out children need to be good at

Visual information:

how to read,

how to comprehend,

how to make use of it.

Other than visuals,

they also need to be able to comprehend...

symbols

they must be able to read symbols.

So when they see things like

this...

they know what that means

they know it's five 10's and one 1

so they know that it actually represents

5 of the blues

and 1 of the yellow

so when they see the symbol 51

they know the 5 refer to one item,
the blues

which is actually 10

and the 1 refers to the yellows
which refer to 1.

So this is a highly efficient
way of saying

5 of this and 1 of that

which if you say in plain language
is quite lengthy

you have just heard that

five of 10 and one of 1

but in mathematics we have a short and

a highly precise way, highly encoded way

of symbols to describe the same thing.

So when children look at symbols,

they understand what it means.

51

share equally among 3.

So just like what I said earlier

do children read mathematics?

They must.

If they say 51 divided by 3

they may not get the full meaning of it.

in this case as sharing among 3.

So parents,

Mathematics is a language

and it's a language that comprises of

not just visual,

but also symbols.

What else?

Words

a verbal language.

In our case English.

English or Spanish or Japanese or Chinese

whatever language the children are
learning mathematics in

in that society.

For ours it is English language.

A verbal language like English language
is part of mathematical language.

In summary, mathematical language

comprises of

visuals, diagrams,
pictures, graphs,

tables,

it also includes symbols,

notations,

finally it also includes a verbal language

example, English.

So children need to be able to understand

when I write a sentence

Spiky... has

more... coins

than Curly,

they must be able to read this

and make sense of it,

they must know who has more

and who has fewer coins.

Spiky has more coins than Curly.

3 more.

Spiky...

has ten coins.

So if Spiky has ten coins

and he has more coins than Curly

then obviously Curly's number of coins
will be less than ten.

Because Spiky has more
and Spiky has ten

so obviously, Curly
whatever number she has

that number is less than ten.

So Curly has fewer than ten coins

isn't it?

So in this case, we can obtain the answer
by doing a subtraction.

Isn't it?

So...

if you do this

please stop doing it from now on.

Please don't tell your children

"eh ah boy ah

you see the word more you add okay?"

parents please don't do that.

Why?

It's wrong

obviously.

It could be anything,

the word more does not mean add,

it could be anything really,

in this case subtraction.

There is no shortcut,

there is no tricks

tricks are not for children,
tricks are for circus animals.

There are no tricks in mathematics,

mathematics is a language

and we use words, we use symbols,
we use visuals

to describe whatever we want to describe.

Alright so parents

those are the three kinds of information

that children have to encounter

when they learn mathematics.

I will illustrate with some examples
after I attend to some questions.

Parents, if you have questions

some of you already have done so

please put them in the Q&A function.

Please do not use the chat function
for asking questions,

you can use the chat function
to chat with the other participants.

Feel free to use the chat function

to share ideas, to talk

among yourselves.

This is a maths lesson

maths lesson's are supposed
to be a little bit noisy.

Have you been to a Maths class
and it's very quiet?

A quiet mathematics class is suspicious.

One of the ways of learning a language
is to speak.

We all know

learning a language includes oral skills

speaking but also listening.

It also includes reading and writing.

When children do not have the
full experience

in learning mathematics as a language

not talking,

rarely listening to another person
other than the teacher,

writing but not reading,

then often they will have
some kind of difficulties.

Let me take some questions.

So far all the questions are problems that
you want me to solve for you.

But I have one here,

this parent mentioned this...

"my son always write answers
without working

how can I help him on this

he does mental sums"

So that's the question.

I think many parents encounter
the same situation

Yeah?

Children

writing answers without working.

Example,

In primary one

they say nine, ten, eleven

write it down.

Did the child do working?

Yes

when the child thinks
that's working.

Thinking is working, parents

working is not always writing things down.

Some children do this:

9 and 6

oh 6 is one and 5

9 go with the 1 makes 10

10 and 5, 5 and 10

15

is that acceptable?

Yes, that is acceptable.

Thinking is working

this is acceptable if they are doing
basic skills.

Mathematics is a language

just like in all languages

if I say something very difficult
for other people to understand

I need to explain myself.

But if I say something obvious

I will just say it.

If I try to elaborate on a simple point
you will think I am long-winded.

Mathematics is a language.

Just like all languages

when children want to tell you something
straight forward

5 groups, sorry...

3 groups of 5
for example

they will just say
"I know it it's 15"

I know it's easy for a lot of people

so I will not elaborate it.

But if they say something difficult

afterwards you are going to see
some examples of those

Those require them to
articulate their thinking

in adult language we call that working.

Parents let me say clearly now

When is working required?

Working is required when they are
solving a challenging problem.

When they are solving problems.

Because when they solve problems

even though they are so smart

and they know the answer by thinking

they are not allowed to just

say the final answer.

Can you imagine when Albert Einstein

discovered E equals to the square

you know energy equals to the
product of mass

and the square of speed of light

or the well known E = mc^2.

Can you imagine Einstein
went to the lecture hall

and said "guys trust me

this is how energy is related to mass

this is the final equation

bye end of lecture".

Can you imagine that

no one will believe that

Einstein was correct

because back then people think that
energy and mass were not related.

But he has to slowly convince people

that energy and mass

are actually related.

So whenever your children
are solving a difficult problem

a challenging problem

they must explain themselves

even if...
they know the answer by eyeballing.

Even if they know the answer
just by looking at the problem

They still must explain things
to other people.

But if they are saying something simple

like...

2 less than 11

oh two less than 11 is 9.

Why? because I know it.

Or 2 less than 11
I just count back

in my mind 11, 10, 9
and write it down.

Must I explain myself?

I don't have to.

Can I explain myself?

Sure, if I want to.

If a teacher or my parent
ask me to explain myself

I should be able to do it.

So parents...

what must we do?

so this is the part where
I want to share with you strategies.

What must we do
when the kids are still young

and we can mold their thinking

what must we do?

We ask them

"Do you think this is easy
for other people?"

"Do you think this is obvious
to other people?"

so if they

they write it down

the answer

You ask them

"Do you think this is easy
to a lot of people?"

If it is easy...

that's alright.

Don't have to explain yourself.

Don't have to draw pictures.

Don't have to draw pictures of 12

and then show them how to
put into groups of 3's.

If you want to you can...

but you don't have to.

Do you think this is easy to other people?

If it is not easy to other people...

even if you know the answer,
you must explain yourself

you must show your working.

Parents,

this is strategy number one
I want to share with you this evening.

Always ask this question:

Is this easy to other people?

If yes,

no need working.

If no,

you have to show working.

Even if you know the answer

just by looking.

Alright parents, if you do this often

your children will develop
self-awareness.

Your children will develop
meta-cognitive ability.

That well...

This is very easy for me

I know the answer

but actually it's a difficult thing

so I should be proud of myself.

I know the answer
to a very difficult thing

but I am still responsible
to explain it to my teacher

or to a friend

to the friend with specs
who sits beside me.

So parents, try to use this strategy more
whenever you are guiding your child.

Don't just tell your child
"Eh you'll la

show your working please

otherwise you'll lose marks".

That's not very helpful

it doesn't tell them anything.

It's a rather useless thing
to say actually.

They have no idea why
they are showing their working

because losing marks
is a artificial indicator.

It is, I have to show working
to explain to other people

is the actual explanation.

And I have to explain to other people
because it's difficult.

Or I don't have to explain to people.

Why? Because it's obvious.

Let me take perhaps

another question.

Is it a must to draw a model?

In a way I have answered the question.

I have to draw the model

if...

other people cannot understand me.

And I want them to understand me.

And I am quite good at drawing

so I draw a model
to help them understand me.

But if the problem is very easy

then I won't draw a model because

I can just tell them the answer.

Example, if the question is

I have 12 lollipops

that's really too many but
for some reason I have 12 lollipops.

and my friend kindly
gave me another 2

so I had 12 lollipops
and she gave me another 2.

I know the answer is obvious
now I have 14

it's obvious.

I don't think I need to draw a model
to tell people how I got 14.

Maybe, I should tell them
how I get 14

by showing them the calculation

maybe...

Maybe they don't know how I get 14

so at least I show a little bit
of explanation to them.

But actually I can just tell you

in the end I had 14 lollipops

that's perfectly fine actually.

So must my child draw a model?

No, if they already know the answer

and no if the problem is a simple one.

So the second reason why
children draw a model...

is because they don't know the answer.

For example,
the problem I gave you earlier.

Spiky has more coins that Curly.

So lets say a child doesn't know

the child might draw,

Spiky had more coins than Curly.

So the diagram might look like that

with Spiky having more coins than Curly

and...

Spiky has ten

Spiky has 3 more coins

than what Curly has.

From here I can see
to obtain this value

my calculation is taking
3 away from 10

giving me 7

so I know that Curly has 7 coins.

So must my child draw a model?

Yes, if they don't know the answer.

If they don't know the operation.

Model is a good bridge to the operation

They will learn whether to add,
to subtract, to multiply, or to divide.

So if they don't know the operation.

So if they know the operation
must they draw the model?

No, they don't have to.

Second answer,

must they draw the model?

Yes, if the problem is difficult

and they need to explain it
to another person.

No, if the problem straightforward.

Finally, I want to add one more comment.

When your child is first learning model

sometimes the teacher will insist
they draw it

just because they are learning it.

So if today's lesson is about
drawing model's

then of course you must
practice drawing it.

So that's a third answer

must my child draw model?

Yes, if that is the lesson itself.

So if the teacher is teaching
model drawing that day

obviously the teacher will expect
them to practice it.

So those are the three answers to
"must my child draw model".

I'll take on more question
before I continue to the next part.

My child feel's that mathematics is boring

any tips to make it interesting?

I will answer this question and then
I'll continue with some examples.

Why do children find mathematics boring?

1. If we portray mathematics as a subject
where they have to memorise things.

Memorising... is rarely exciting

to most children anyway.

In some subjects,

In some domains
memorising is necessary.

Example, learning the Quran

If you are learning the Quran
we have to memorise.

I have seen children, friends learning
the Quran when I was very young.

And they kinda memorised the whole thing.

It's just necessary I think.

But mathematics is not a subject
where you memorise everything.

You won't remember stuff, but you
don't have to memorise them.

Like the times table.

You forget 7 groups of 3?
Just figure it out.

Use your 5 and use your 2
you can get your 7 times table.

You forget your 9 groups of 8?

Start from 9 groups of 2
double that 9 groups of 4

double that 9 groups of 8.

Or you can start with 10 groups of 8

and take away 1 group

80 take away 8

to get whatever you need to get.

So memorising is rarely exciting.

What is exciting?

Figuring things out.

Children are by nature curious

they LIKE to figure things out.

They feel proud, they feel empowered

that they have the ability
to figure things out.

And trust me,
every child can figure things out

If only we allow them to.

If only we make them understand that
in Mathematics, we figure things out.

If I do not know how to do long division

and 51 share among 3 mess me up

that's alright, I can figure it out.

I know that 51 is 30 and 21.

So 30 share by 3

that's not too hard

so I take out the 30

I know that leaves me 10.

So the thirty is not too hard, gets me 10

and the 21

when I share among 3

the 21 that I have
if I take it out to be considered

share among 3, that gives me...

that gives me 7.

Resulting in 10 and 7

which of course we write as 17.

And let me check
if there is anything else left

oh nothing else left

everything is accounted for
nothing is leftover.

So, how to make mathematics
more interesting?

Avoid portraying mathematics
as a subject of memorising

but as a subject of figuring things out.

Secondly

portray mathematics as a subject
where you do things.

Use your hands.

In school, they use concrete materials
all the time.

They use their iPad,

the teacher let them play on apps

they use concrete materials all the time.

So let your child learn Mathematics
by doing

When they learn counting,

When they learn adding subtracting,

use concrete materials.

You can use the application,
including the one I shared with you.

Later I will share with you
the names of the applications as well.

Throughout this workshop,

this webinar,

you might pick up other ideas

on how to make mathematics
more interesting for your child

but for a start, I share with you two.

Use concrete materials

and...

portray mathematics
not as a subject of memorising,

but as a subject of figuring things out.

Let me now move on.

So mathematics include visuals.

Let me show you some examples.

All the examples
I've taken from Pathlight school

mid-year examination paper

for Primary 4

so that you can see
where your child is moving to.

I know some of you have children in
Primary 1, Primary 2, also Primary 3.

So you kind of see
where they are heading to.

And you can see they
also do similar things

in the current level.

So they are expected

to be able to handle visuals.

Visuals like that.

Things they might encounter
in their everyday life.

So if I go to Whampoa market

there's a bakery

and at that bakery

sometimes I see the lady
putting up signs like that

telling me how much the cupcakes are,

and I think she was eager
to promote cupcakes that week.

So she's

having a little promotion

she's having a little sale.

Cupcakes for sale.

One for two dollars

oh I think she meant one cupcake

you know people don't write
everything out clearly

but it's understood isn't it
even when they say one

when they meant one cupcake.

Not one...

tray of cupcakes

not one short of cupcakes

but one cupcake.

But they don't write it out
we try to understand it

from our daily experience.

So 1 for 2 dollars

and 3 for 5 dollars.

??? we mean by understanding visuals,

visuals in everyday life.

That's a third way to make
mathematics interesting.

Don't have to sit down and do worksheet

when you take your children out

nowadays that's not a good idea

with the heightened alert.

But in normal times

when you have your children out with you

at the NTUC, at the neighborhood market

wherever you go,

you can make use of
small opportunities like that

just to engage your child

in mathematics

in a rather informal way

like "oh you know

I think we need to buy 10

is it a good idea to buy 10 cupcakes?"

and see what your child says.

That is as good as
if not better than

doing a worksheet.

So in examination

they are expected to be able to handle

visuals that's common place
in their everyday experience.

And in this case there are also some words

Matthew has some money

Matthew has $32

oh $32

I wonder... the $32
come in what denominations?

I wonder what he has in his hand
or in his pockets?

$32

and the child may say
"Maybe three $10 notes

and a $2 note?"

Matthew has some money

$32

what is the greatest

oh greatest means the biggest

what is the greatest
number of cupcakes he can buy?

Oh what does that mean?
You can ask your child

and let your child paraphrase the question

"oh it means the most"

some children know the word maximum

"it means the maximum number"

and then if your child is quite advance
you can also engage them further.

"Why are they asking us for the maximum?"

Maybe the child will laugh
at you probably.

"Of course you know he got $32
he can just buy $2.

He can just but one cupcake

doesn't mean must spend
all your money right?"

So some children are smart that way
they will like

"doesn't mean you got $32
you spend all on cupcakes

who actually does that right?

very few people"

but in this case we want to know

if Matthew wants
as many cupcakes as possible,

what is the greatest number of cupcakes
he can buy?

The fourth way to make
mathematics interesting,

engage your child in conversation.

Don't always just answer the question

and then say

"boy quickly go to the next one
no time already".

There is a lot of time

we must take time

otherwise

you will get children
who don't enjoy mathematics

and also don't do too well
in mathematics subsequently.

Do not think of learning mathematics
as sitting down

doing worksheets all the time.

That's actually the final step.

Early stages of learning is quite informal,

you can engage your child

in the everyday experience they have.

It is then that they are able
to do the worksheet.

Children who never encounter this
in their everyday life

and the conversation that
I just had with you

will find it quite difficult
to do the examination afterwards

example, a question like this.

Anyway

then the child might then be
asked to solve a problem like that.

So they should also appreciate that

"eh actually buying three is a good deal
because you pay $5".

Normally you buy three
it would have cost us $6.

You see parents, I don't do any working

I do the working in my mind.

And that's perfectly normal

and of course it's allowed

that's what we do in real life.

Mathematics is a extension of real life

it's not like sometime different

to what we normally do.

So normally we will say
"one cupcake" $2

"three cupcake" $6

then people ask, "how come $6?"

then you tell them

oh you know $2 + $2 + $2 = $6
or 3 x $2

If they ask.

If they don't ask I just like
"okay $6 , they nod their head".

So in exams

for questions like this

they can just give the answer.

Example, at PSLE this kind of question
answers are given

the marks are given

for the answers.

If they show working it's fine.

If they don't show it's also fine because
all the marks are given for the answer.

Okay?

So they said
"Okay so try to buy three"

Yeah? Try to buy three.

So $5, and I know that

oh now I need to write because
I cannot remember so many things.

I know that I got a lot of $5 in $30

in face I got six of them.

Because six times $5 dollars gets $30

and then I got $2 more.

So this $30
there are six $5

and every $5 gets me three

so I can get six of three cupcakes
that's eighteen cupcakes.

But then the $2 I can get more

so I get whatever I can get
and give a final answer.

Parents,

I have illustrated what I mean by

Mathematical language include visuals.

In this first example

I demonstrated visuals
that are common place

in our everyday life.

Let me move on.

Sometimes, at a higher grade level

the visual dissapears

like this problem.

If you read it

you'll realise that it's the
same kind of Mathematics involved.

It's what we call division with remainder

like just now the division remainder.

The visual disappeared.

So what is the learning progression?

First is you let them see the visual

in the actual context.

In the bakery in Whampoa market

for example

then they come to school

they will see this.

The same visual or similar visuals

but printed on paper.

Finally, the visual disappears.

So parents, we can help the teachers

by alerting our children
to visuals around them.

That one is harder for teachers to do

because the teachers
only see them at school

and not taking them out to the market

or just engaging them
with everyday experiences

that one I think parents can do
and can do quite well.

So do alert your children
to visuals around them

and engage them with a bit of Mathematics

don't have to use worksheets.

So that's a strategy

a strategy to help them process
information better.

In this case visual information.

That is commonplace.

Oh we have a question here!

Lets look at what the question
is all about.

Crate...

oh what is a crate?

Ask your child that.

Give me other words
that's similar to crate.

If they don't know,

just Google

and then they can see
a picture of a crate

as simple as that actually.

Use technology

that we already have.

Don't complain

"oh is this Maths or is this English ah

how come they use words like that"

there is no question whether
this is Maths or English

English is part of Maths.

So remember,
Mathematical language include:

symbols, visual, and English

English is part of Maths.

If the don't know the word,

just do what we normally do,
Google it.

And then "oh that's a crate!"

then your child will give you other words
like box or whatever they want to say.

A crate can hold milk bottles,

okay a crate can hold milk bottles.

Actually I haven't seen milk bottles
in a very long time.

Once upon a time when I was a child

wow that's a long time ago
50 years ago.

You know the milkman who goes round

and they give you the milk in a bottle

F & N bottle
with a little...

banana leaf stopper.

Okay, most of you are too young
to even know this.

So sometimes, children
are asked to read stories

that are so alien to them.

But that's... that's life

we also read stories that's alien to us.

Harry Potter, you mean you grew up
like Harry potter?

No right? but you still enjoy it.

Right?

So, that's normal in a language

we sometimes read things familiar to us
like the bakery, selling the cupcakes.

But sometimes we also read things
that are not so familiar to us

and some of us enjoy it
some of us don't, that's life.

We cannot expect everyone to find
the same thing exciting.

You cannot expect every child to find
milk bottles exciting.

Okay, some of them do but...

most of them don't.

But they will still learn
to imagine it.

And we, as adults can help them.

We can Google, we can show them that

"oh you know, in some countries,
they actually sell milk in bottles".

"in some countries, they bring
milk bottles to the shop

and then they get their milk".

But for us we go NTUC
it comes in a box

sometimes plastic.

We are not very green in that way.

So engage them
in that kind of conversation

that's very important.

Very often parents ask,
"how do I prepare my child for Mathematics"

and they think the answer will be

buy more workbooks,
by more assessment books

It not.

It's doing things that
parents do very well.

Engaging children with things around them

both familiar, but also unfamiliar.

So these are some kind of images

children need to encounter.

So one more example on visuals,

Farah, okay probably somebody

a girl

I see the word she, so it must be a girl.

I don't have a friend called Farah
so I don't know whether it's a boy or girl.

And I am not so familiar with this name

but I saw the word she,
must be a girl.

But shouldn't matter right?
whether it's a boy or a girl.

Farah has some cards

okay I understand that.

Rectangular cards...

oh so the cards are rectangle

I know what rectangles are
we learned that in primary 1.

Farah has some rectangular cards

okay I understand that.

Measuring 10 centimeter by 6 centimeter
oh I can see that.

So this is what we mean by children

using visual to support
their reading comprehension.

So some children struggle with language

for example, I have one question like this.

How can I improve my sons language
or Mathematical language capability?

He has delayed language processing.

So that's the answer actually,
use visuals

use visuals.

And very often even in examinations,

there are some items
where visual support is provided

whether or not you have delayed processing

it is just something
they support children with.

So even if a child doesn't have
any issues with language

often, a visual can help them
with comprehension.

So I see, 10 centimeter by 6 centimeter

now parents, try not to be...

try not to be lazy

don't say 10 cm

it is actually called centimeters

say in full
so children hear it

if we use truncated language,
lazy language too early...

Children doesn't get the full meaning
eventually

don't say three times five,

say three rows of five,
three groups of five

especially in the beginning

once they understanding it
you can be lazy

but in the beginning,
try to say it completely.

So that they know
that cm is a symbol for centimeters

otherwise some of them may not know

and they will be wondering what is this

and then in exam, whether it is millimeter
or centimeter they don't really care.

??? sometimes you see that
amongst your children also

they don't really care what the unit is
and they do very strange things to it.

So do read it in full.

And the question is what is the smallest
number of cards she needs

to form a square

without overlapping the cards.

So let your children try,
give them papers like that

let them try.

If you are hardworking you can
go and get the exact measurement

but it's not necessary
but if you want to

And let them try.

That's how you make
Mathematics interesting.

Mathematics is initially
a hands on experience

in Singapore we call that (CPA)
Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract.

You first learn it by experiencing

you take a paper, you take a rectangle
and you try to make a square

like a puzzle
like a jigsaw puzzle.

Use the rectangular parts to form a square

without overlapping.

You do it,

once you have done it
you can understand the visual.

So how does your child learn
and process a visual like that

in the exams?

In P4

it's because in P1, P2, P3
you let them use concrete materials.

Even in P4 of course I will let them
use concrete materials still.

But because they are exposed to doing

when they see a picture
of what they have done

obviously, they understand it better.

And when they read and they have a
picture to support the reading

That's where comprehension
of the word problem

becomes possible.

Let me take a couple more questions
before I move on.

Quite a few have similar questions

like my son has problems
with English language,

part of problem sums,
word problems

so we cannot understand the question

and therefore cannot apply
the Mathematics principle.

How can I help him?

So a lot of questions along this line
I'll be demonstrating that further

I have demonstrated some strategies
you can use

Yeah, my child is still catching up

on his language skills how can we best
translate Maths problems to visuals

for his better understanding.

And how do we slowly get him to be
less dependent on visual.

A very important question.

Whatever help we give children,
is with the goal of not helping eventually

less dependent.

Let me answer those
questions about language.

Parents, up to this point

I have shared with you that
Mathematics is a language

comprising of:

visuals, pictures, diagrams, even graphs

but also symbols

and of course words.

In our case, English language.

I will now focus
on the question just asked

how do I help with the language part

of word problems.

How do I help them with language
that's embedded in Mathematics?

Oh let's look at this story

not a very long story right?

Just two sentences
short story.

Who is in the story?

Hmm... how interesting

Pierre, I don't know how to pronounce it
I cannot speak french

Is it Pierre?
Yeah maybe it's Pierre

doesn't matter.

Oh he's a boy
okay doesn't matter either

but well...

Pierre had marbles

you know marbles right?

Yeah the one you see at aquariums

actually marbles are for playing

I don't know why it is put in
aquariums nowadays

and plants.

But anyway, Pierre had marbles
i hope he's not losing any.

So children learn language

right?

So they learned that

oh you know in English language,
very funny language,

when people say you lose your marbles
it means something.

It means like

You are going a bit crazy
you are not getting it all together.

Anyway,

let's not get distracted

let's come back to the story.

So Parents, you've engaged your child
in what might happen to them

don't be so straitjacket
I am quite sure you are quite fun parents

but when it comes to Math suddenly you
become a different animal altogether.

Don't be like that,

make it fun.

make it informal

just engage your child
in what might happen to them.

when children read stories
their brain go in all directions

I'm sure you know that.

Don't scold them

because they are just being themselves

nothing wrong with being themselves

what they need is guidance.

How to refocus

so I was just demonstrating
that awhile ago.

Pierre has some marbles,
okay that's easy to understand.

We know how many right?

There are 315.

He divided them

equally

into 3 boxes.

Oh, what does that mean?

So you ask your child that

and your child
will tell you in his own words.

Parents, I have so far demonstrated
three strategies,

if you missed them let me
articulate them one by one.

What strategy did I use?

Strategy number 1:
To help them with language

I deleted the question

the question is there

but I deleted it.

I deleted the question

why?

When you give a child a question
what will they do?

They answer it.

But I don't want them to
answer the question just yet

I want them to learn to comprehend,

I want them to learn to understand.

So because my goal for them is to learn,
to understand things

I removed the answering point first.

So try to cultivate that habit.

Many children have the bad habit

of trying to answer the question

before they understand it,

that's how they make mistakes.

if you don't understand the story
how can you answer the question.

You cannot.

So to cultivate the good mindset, a good ???

Mathematics is not answering questions

Mathematics is understanding stuff.

Once you understand stuff

you can answer whatever question
they ask you.

That's the truth right?

So focus on understanding,

how do you help them
focus on understanding?

Remove the distractions,
remove the question.

Question is the distraction

because they try to answer
they do strange things.

Second strategy I demonstrated:

I did not read the question

sorry... I did not read the numbers

Second strategy:
I did not read the numbers.

I'm sure you saw me
doing that earlier already

remember the more, less problem?

In face all the questions so far.

So you might notice I said
Pierre had marbles

Pierre had some marbles.

I replaced the number
with a qualitative word.

Pierre had some marbles.

There is ample research to say that

numerical information breaks a sentence up

and decreases comprehension

so that is well documented.

Especially for those children
with language issues

try to help them

try to help them by letting them

not have that problem

so avoid reading the numbers.

Pierre had some marbles

oh how many? 315.

So you read the sentences to understand it
then you put in the numbers later on.

Third strategy: ask your child to paraphrase
some lengthy cumbersome sentences:

Oh he divided them equally
into three boxes

so hard for me to understand

can you explain to me?

Or if the child is not very good
in explaining,

can you draw for me?

So let your child have a choice,

to draw or to tell.

So you might even have that as a routine

"do you want to tell?
or do you want to draw?"

draw or tell,

then those who like to draw will say draw

then those who like to tell or
lazy to draw will say yeah I want to tell.

But sometimes you don't give them a choice

okay you've been drawing a lot

next one I choose

tell me

then you force them a little bit
out of their comfort zone

so they learn something more.

So those are three strategies
quite well documented,

letting children paraphrase sentences
by drawing or in their own words,

leaving our numbers,

and then the other one
that I mentioned earlier

the three strategies.

Anyway, once they have their ???
they will answer the question

and they will say "ok".

Pierre had three boxes

and they are equal in size

and he had 315 marbles

and he put them equally

I can replace divided with put right?

He put them equally into three boxes

so the 300 is quite easy to do

100 each

and the 15

I think can

5 each

and together is 105.

So 315 put equally into three boxes
result in... 105

and then write a sentence if you want

or if your teacher say you
write a sentence to answer the question.

Let me demonstrate with another example.

Oh who is in the question?
Who is in the story?

Oh in this case it is nobody

just now was a boy named Pierre
but here it is nobody.

What is it about?

Oh it's about COVID-19

when else did we talk about masks

and hand sanitisers.

Oh it's about a factory
do you know what a factory is?

Okay, let's see what the story is about.

A factory produced some masks
and hand sanitisers.

Quite a lot right?

You can see the number

the factory produced

some masks and hand sanitisers.

Can I calculate already?

Probably not yet.

Can I draw a diagram?

Not sure

never mind lets read the next sentence.

It produced fewer
hand sanitisers than masks.

Whats "it"?

Oh the factory ,okay

the factory produced fewer
hand sanitisers than masks

so hand sanitisers

so many

masks

oh mask more is it?

So fewer hand sanitiser.

Is my diagram showing
what the story shows?

The factory produced fewer hand sanitisers
than masks.

Okay I can draw
so I will draw.

What information I have?

Oh 2821...
where should I put that?

It produced 2821 fewer hand sanitisers
than masks.

When children first learn this
comparison thing,

pieces of paper like that is quite useful

let them use paper strips

or you can go to

shops and buy paper strips
the longish one

or just cut your own,
make your own.

Color is quite useful,
also quite interesting

when you overlap
the colors will show up also

then they can se
"oh that's where the 2821 is"

oh we also know 5743

do you know where that is?

And if the child understands the story...

they will know that this is the total
number of hand sanitisers and masks.

Then ask your child...
what do we do next?

And

hopefully the child will say

"I need to take
this number off that number"

that's another strategy.

Talk about what to do,

don't always like...

write down the working
write down the working

get them to talk about it.

So you know "oh my child knows,

my child knows the first step
is subtraction".

The idea that we subtract is more
important than the actual subtraction

by the time they take PSLE, the
subtraction itself is done by calculator

but they must know to subtract
otherwise it is pointless.

If the children cannot identify
the right operation: that I subtract first

then the result we divide by 2,

the calculator is still useless.

So from a young age

engage them in telling you
what operation.

Children are children,
they are not very good at multitasking.

Sometimes when they

identify the operation

and do the operation,

they don't realise that
these are two separate things.

So it's not
clear in their mind.

Meta-cognitively speaking,

they are not learning somethings useful
for years to come.

So do engage your child
in telling you the operation

Don't bother them with the actual
calculation which is quite boring

to be honest.

The actual calculation 5000
you know like whatever we normally do

that one is quite boring

there's nothing exciting about doing this

nothing exciting about doing this

but they will do it
and they can do it.

In this case they'll probably say

"okay, this one is easy"

yeah the 43 and 21 part is easy

oh the 5728 part is slightly harder

but that's okay

I can rename it 4170.

But anyways... that's another strategy.

ask them to tell you that operation.

And if they identify the operation,

at least you are assured that
they know what they are doing.

??? to the actual calculation.

And then even in the event
they cannot get calculation

or don't like to do the calculation
or cannot do the calculation,

at least you know that they're okay.

Identification of the Mathematics
is more important than the computation.

The computation, eventually they are
going to use some calculator

to actually get the answer

for example: in the PSLE

for numbers that are tedious.

Let me take some questions now.

My son always dream away
in the middle of his work,

how do I get him to concentrate?

I think... we must first understand
why he is dreaming away.

Some children dream away
because the work is meaningless to them.

So that's what I have been talking about
the whole of this evening,

we must make Mathematics
meaningful to them.

How?

By being able to read the language.

Some children cannot read the language

they cannot read the language

for example in P2, P3

they cannot read this

correctly.

They cannot read this as one half

but that's what it is.

The denominator tells you
what the thing is... hal

the numerator tells you how many

or three-fifths.

They say three upon five

nobody talks like that,

maybe once upon a time

somebody tlaked like that.

In modern day language
we say one apple

we say three slices.

In modern English language
we don't say once upon a time,

in modern day language
we use number plus the noun.

We say three slices
we say three children

we say three apples.

In modern English,
we put number followed by a noun

this is what they are familiar with

number plus noun

which is what they are reading.

Three and the noun

fifth is a noun
it's a name of that slice

it's a name of that ???
that you get out of one.

When out cut one in to five equal slices,
that slice has a name... fifth

and then we write fifth using that symbol.

So, three fifths..

but for some reason
we prefer to put it just underneath

so it's three fifths

It's like that right?

So many children cannot read it

that's why they think
thing's are meaning to them

but actually it is quite meaningful.

So by P3, P4, P5
they learn things like this

like half and one-fourth.

They know even as a child,

one apple and one orange
what do you get?

you don't get two

you don't get two apples
of course not

you don't get two oranges
any child can understand that right?

One apple and one orange
is not two apples it's not two oranges

They know from a very young age

when the nouns are different,
you cannot add.

Like three boys and two girls

you should be horrified to get five boys

you don't, so no need to panic
you don't

And any child knows

that three boys and two girls
don't give me five boys nor five girls.

What? Different type what.
Different noun what.

And if I can change the noun
then I can add,

three children and two more children
ah business as usual, five children.

One apple and one orange,

one piece of fruit
and another piece of fruit

that gives me two pieces of fruit.

So one-half and one-fourth

different kind, cannot add
just yet.

Can I change the half into fourth?

Not so convenient or okay?

It's okay right?

Half is two fourths
they learned that in P3 right?

Oh so now two fourths and fourth

business as usual
same kind.

Children dream off because they
cannot make sense of the gibberish

that is in front of them.

But when they can

when they can

they can do the work.

Like most of us are

probably not able to function
if I give you something in Russian

if you don't understand Russian.

It'll be that exciting
I ask you to read a page in Russian.

No matter now exciting
or engaging the story is

you surely dream off
and definitely give up

because you don't even
understand the first thing about it.

This is the main reason why children
cannot focus and they dream off.

So the big answer is
make things meaningful to them

and earlier today I've also said
"make things interesting for them".

A third answer to that is

remember these are children

and some of the children we have Pathlight

they do have attention issues
you know that

your own children you know that.

Break things down for them

frame them up slowly

start with 10 minutes,
go on to 15, go on to 30 minutes

don't expect them to be able to sit
there for an entire hour

it's not possible.

Even for adults we do struggle with it
let alone children.

So if your children dream off,

Two strategies.

The practical one:
Just write things down for them.

Llet them do things in small
bits and pieces

and that will train up
their ability to focus.

But the bigger answer
is make things meaningful for them.

I am sure you know your children can
be engaged for a very long time

if it is something
they are very interested in.

Like some of the children
who loves dinosaurs

they will spend hours

watching YouTube
or reading about dinosaurs.

Some of them like transports

and they will spend enormous
amounts of resources, cognitive resources

learning what bus goes where,
this bus goes through which route

I am sure you know that.

It's not that they cannot engage,
it's not that they cannot focus,

it's just that the material
is not meaningful for them.

So that's a bigger answer actually
make things meaningful for them.

Let me illustrate a little bit more.

Bby now I think you know
some strategies already

to tell how children process information

I use them all the time
in every single example.

Here is the story
never mind the question.

Important is to understand the story

once we understand the stories
we can answer any question.

My strategy of removing questions.

Who is in the story?

This story has nobody.

What is it about?

Beads, what are beads?
Do you know beads?

If you know them great
if not we Google.

There are some beads in a box
can you imagine that?

There are five times

five times

if I use this to be one time
can you show me twice?

If this is one time,
can you show me three times?

Or what Singaporeans call thrice.

Can you show me four times?
Can you show me five times?

Engage your child using pieces of paper.

Tf they don't want to draw the model
don't force them

let them use paper.

The purpose of drawing
is to create the ability to visualise

so that they know the operation to use.

Pieces of paper for building the model
serve the same purpose.

If they don't want to draw,
this is your option

let them use paper like that
to build the model.

The goal is to get the right operation

that's the goal.

And to get to the right operation,
either you know it

for easy cases

or you use a diagram, a model
to get to it.

So model drawing is to
tell you the right operation

that's the purpose of model drawing.

It's not because they lose marks in PSLE.

Examiners don't care about your model

they don't even give marks to your model

they give marks to your equation.

So when they are young
let them do those things as well.

Anyway, there are five times

what a long sentence

let's read it carefully.

There are five times

five times? I use five pieces
compared to the other one.

There are five times

five times as many green as red beads
in the box that is very long.

Okay, don't want the box
ignore the box thing.

There are five times

as many green

don't want the beads

there are five times as many green as red

ah I understand already!

There are five times
as many green as there are red

oh so this is green
five units

and this is red
one unit.

There are five times as many green as red

oh I understand already

there are five times as many
green beads as red beads

understand already.

There are five times as many
green beads as red beads in the box

understand already.

If I want to drawn,
I can draw

if not I can use the paper just now

to say that green I use five pieces

and red I use one piece of paper
to represent it.

Okay I understand that already
I can draw.

Can I calculate?

Oh I can, but I got information like 78,
where does the 78 go?

There are 78 beads in a box, okay

it must be all the beads
the red and the green ones.

So the 78 must put into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

78 put equally into 6 boxes.

Parents, I hope you are seeing me applying

the various things I suggested earlier.

Always read as you write,

putting 78 equally into 6 boxes

I didn't say 78 divided by 6

that doesn't give them the meaning
of whatever they are doing.

Many children eventually

does not became good enough
in Mathematics when they get to PSLE

because they kind of
wasted their six years

trying to understand gibberish.

It is really gibberish to them

they have no clue

what all these squiggles actually mean

so sometimes by luck they get it right

and often they get it wrong

and they struggle

they struggle because
it's Martian to them.

But it doesn't have to be

and we adults, both parents and teachers

can really help them

especially for most of you
your kids are in Primary 1, 2,3

still plenty of time
to put all these into practice

in a more regular basis.

The teachers have spoken to them
over the years

we have constant professional development

and they try to do this.

The information we share
with you this evening

is for you to have the
same consistent practice

so that your child can learn Mathematics

in a rather easy way.

So from there they will do
whatever they...

This is a calculation for Primary 3

so 78 is too hard
for me anyway

but I think I can take out

I think I can take out 60

60 is quite easy, I get 10

and then left with 18

18 put into 6
that one is okay, I get 3.

So 10 and 3, I get 13 as
the value for 1 unit.

Can they do this mentally?

Yes.

For those of you with children
who can do Mathematics mentally

sorry

For those of you with children
who can do calculation mentally

encourage them to do so.

That is the end goal of
learning calculation anyway

you learn calculation by writing it down

so that one fine day
you no longer have to write it down.

Mental calculation.

Mental calculation is a pinnacle
to learning computation.

By the way computation is arithmetic
it's not Mathematics.

it's part of Mathematics.

Mathematics is a thinking part

the arithmetic is the computation part.

Some of your children like
to do mental calculation?

That's perfect, that's alright.

In fact, those who are over reliant on
paper all the time to do simple things

example, things like

things like 11 minus 9

it break my heart to see P6's do this

11 minus 9
what has happened?

really what has happened?

if you still do 11 minus 9 like that.

Then the best part is then they will do
what the teacher taught them to do.

Like why?!
You are still doing 11 minus 9 right?

So can't you like

oh what's the difference between
11 and 9.

So if they only read it,
what's the difference between 11 and 9?

Oh the difference, so the gap between them
9 to 11, only two steps

So this will all translate into better
things when they deal with bigger numbers.

When they have to do 401

then they will say

"oh what's the difference between
the two numbers?

oh the two numbers are quite close
399 is only one step to 400

400 to 401 only one step

the difference is two.

Like that.

When you can read,

difficult things

become quite easy you know.

Let me just show you
when your kids get older

when they get to P5

they do things like three-fifth
share among 3

so when they can read this
as three slices,

three whatever, three nouns,
three-fifths

they will say

"oh three share among three
is easy, it's one"

and the item is fifth
so the answer is one-fifth.

For this case,
it's so straight forward

but then I see P5 who does this
because they do what adults tell them.

Maybe some of us tell out older children

"eh boy ah, remember ah
dividing fraction very easy one

got formula. just remember ah

you change divide to multiply

and then this one you write
as three upon one

and then this one you terbalik
the thing lah."

Terbalik is Singlish for invert
invert the thing

then you cancel your life away lah

then you get the answer right?

All that hassle for something
that quiet simple

three whatever share by three
the answer is one.

No need all that
nuts and bolts and

all those nonsense

to just get to the same answer.

Just to illustrate that once you can read

a lot of things are actually
quite straightforward.

Now let me take a couple more question's
as we wrap things up.

Some of you are quite lucky

because your children seem to be
doing really alright

better than alright.

How can I bring out the best of the child

which Is in primary 1
but he's able to do primary 4 Mathematics.

Any advise besides volunteered training?

Five things I would suggest

for those of us
who have children

who seems to be quite
capable in Mathematics.

How do you push them further?

I think part of the answer is this:

let them choose what to learn.

Since they already can learn
what they are supposed to learn

let them decide.

Like okay you know there is
this thing called prime numbers

and let them find out

if they are interested,
they will pursue it

if they don't like it,
they will ignore it

it's fine.

So that's my global answer

let them choose
to do whatever they want to do.

No need to go to primary 2, primary 3,
primary 4, primary 5 but let them choose.

Oh you know, your brother in P4
learned about factors and multiples

do you want to find out more about it?

Go to this website or watch this video
or whatever.

So that's my answer actually

expose them to some things
but let them choose

let them choose.

So that is more liberating

than sending them to cookie-cutter
kind of enrichment activities.

What else can you do

if they are not ready
for higher level content.

So some children are quite good

and these strategies can be applicable
to all children actually.

If they are quite good,

and they can do their Mathematics
quite easily

like they know their timetable
in primary 2, primary 3 quite readily

what else can they do?

You can ask them to write a story

if they don't want to write
you can always ask them to draw it.

Anyone can do this,
not just the advance children.

But if they're advance, these are
some things that are quite helpful

to further their understanding
of Mathematics.

You can also ask them to explain

can be oral, can be written form.

So keeping a Math journal
is quite useful also

a little diary where they record stuff.

I believe most of your children
have a Math journal anyway in school

you can also have a Math journal at home.

I don't understand how come
9 groups of 7 the answer is whatever

why is it like that
why is it like less than 70

and see what your child say.

And maybe they will say

"oh you see, 10 groups of 7 is 70 already"

oh course ah

if 10 groups is 70 then 9 groups
must be less than 70.

In fact it should be 7 less than 70.

So if a child is fully advanced
they usually can do this

they can explain orally

or if they have enough writing skills they
can write it or draw it in their journal.

Finally,

they can challenge themselves

children when advanced
will find avenues

to challenge themselves

and you can help them in that.

Example, maybe they do
a lot of calculation

they do a lot of calculation in P3
when they are asked to multiply

a two digit number by a one digit number.

Like in a worksheet,
quite boring actually.

you can say
"eh, why don't we challenge ourselves".

We notice that the answer is two digit

but this one the answer is three digit.

and this one the answer
is also three digit.

I wonder if it is possible

for two digit number
multiply by one digit

and the answer is two digit

we know it's possible already
we have one example.

But this one

this one the answer is 26
so the digit 2 is repeated.

I wonder if it's possible
all the five digits

all the five digits are different

you know?

Let's find if it is possible.

So children who are quite advance
will challenge themselves

but when they are younger
they don't know what to do

so you can expose them to some examples
and over time you should see them

you should see then challenging themselves
rather independently.

Let me conclude now

with one final example.

Let's look at something that's more

involved.

In today's webinar,

the topic is helping children
process information in Mathematics

So we need to know

the different types of information.

What are they?

Visuals, yes visuals

pictures, diagrams, graphs

some are from daily life,.
some are more formal

What else?

Language, words, English

some are familiar
like stories about bakery

some are quite strange
about milk bottles.

What else?

Symbols.

So today we learned that
these are the kind of information

children deal with in Mathematics

language, symbols, and visuals

and I have suggested some strategies

on how we can help them become better
in processing those information.

Those are mere suggestions,

I am sure you can come up
with other ways

which are equally effective
or engaging for your children.

The webinar this afternoon
is just to give you a starting point

to inspire you to try to make
Mathematics more palatable

hopefully more exciting, more interesting
for your children.

But if not at least meaningful

because Mathematics is a language

once we cannot read the symbols

everything falls blank.

Once we cannot read the English language
with comprehension

everything cannot happen.

Symbols sometimes they really cannot read

like I said, children say three over five
three upon five

that's really,
cannot speak proper Mathematical language.

So it's like in English,
the child only knows Singlish

sure fail PSLE English
confirm

If all you know is Singlish
and no understanding of standard English.

Likewise in Mathematics
some children cannot read symbols

do help them

do help them by reading,
don't by lazy and say three times five

say three rows of five
three groups of five

fifty-one share among three
twelve put into groups of four.

There are many ways to read

important thing is read, don't spell.

Let me demonstrate this final example

and you'll be able to see the various
strategies addressing language difficulty.

Many of you raise questions

so many I cannot answer
every single one of them live.

There are some important questions
that I would still want to answer

so we are going to put this
as a eCampus course

so some of your questions that are not
addressed will be featured on the course

so do visit eCampus
to revisit today's topic

and you might get other insights
from the answers to

some important questions that were
also raised

just that you know we only have
less than two hours

there is only so much we can cover anway

but do go to eCampus to
continue to get more ideas,

more information about this topic.

Oh never mind the question
let's look at the story

notice the question is not there yet.

Who is in the story?

Oh finally we have someone in the story

Mrs Baey and Mrs Chia

I don't really know them
but that's alright.

What are they doing?

They went shopping.

Quite a long story

one sentence...

two sentences...

three sentences
alright it's a long story

but never mind
one by one ,one at a time.

They went shopping

alright I can understand that

with the same amount of money

okay not too hard.

Can I calculate.

Can I calculate?

Probably not yet

no numbers.

Can I draw?

In this case I can,
same amount.

So I can draw model
that will make my teacher happy.

I can draw this

but sometimes I don't want to draw

it's okay, I said wait
I want to read more.

So it's up to you

sometimes you want to do it straight away

sometimes you decide to wait
maybe another sentence

it's better to draw
or better to calculate

so you decide.

Parents, the final thing
I want to share with you is

do teach children to make decisions

don't decide everything for them.

When you help them with Mathematics,
don't always tell them what to do

that's not helpful.

Children that become successful
in Mathematics eventually

are independent

it is a characteristic.

You cannot be not independent
and be highly successful.

You may be artificially successful
that means you get AL1 for PSLE

A-Star for PSLE

but my O-Level not so good anymore.

Some of them still quite okay
for O-Level

but by A-Level, Polytechnic
not very good anymore.

So at some point,
they will become not very good.

They'll be found out.

So independence is a
very important characteristic

do let children learn to make decisions.

"Do you want to draw now?

okay go on

don't want is okay

you decided".

If it's a bad decision it's fine

later we just correct ourselves.

"Do you want to calculate?
Do you want to draw?"

it's a simple question
you can ask all the time.

Alright, that is done.

They went shopping with th.e
same amount of money

One of them spend so much

the other one spend so much.

Mrs Baey spent $480

so Mrs Baey...

spent $480

can I draw?

Yeah I can, I put in $480 somewhere
but I want to wait.

I don't know how to calculate
so cannot calculate anyway.

Mrs Chia spent $620

Can I draw?

Yeah, just draw
Put $620 in.

that's what she had

she spent so much
so that's what she had left.

I can do that, but I don't want
to do it yet.

Sometimes I don't it straight away,
sometimes I want to wait

I can decide.

Anyway,

Mrs Baey spent $480 and
Mrs Chia spent $620.

In the end

Mrs Baey had 3 times

oh I can draw

I can draw how much they spent

and how much is left.

Do I want to draw how much they spent?

Or do I want to draw how much is left?

I can decide.

Whichever that is easier to do.

For me,

I think it is easier for me to draw

how much is left

because 3 times is easy to draw

3 times is like use the paper right?

It gives 1 time

this is 3 times

so 3 times is easy to draw.

In the end, Mrs Baey has 3 times

so I can draw that one

Mrs Baey has 3 times

So if Mrs Chia has this left,

Mrs Baey will be 3 times

one, two three.

So this is what...

what is left.

If I am afraid people don't understand me
I can write, this is what is left.

So that means,

this is what they spent.

For Mrs Baey, it was $480

and for Mrs Chia it is $620.

Parents,

if they can understand all that

whatever question that is asked of them,
they can answer

because from here,
they will notice that well...

they do know the values

they do know the values of

of these two units
isn't it?

I leave the Mathematics to you

but you can find the value
of these two units

because you know the whole thing
is $620

the whole thing as in
the whole thing I have just drawn.

And this little bit here is $480

so I think we can find out
the value of these two units

and the rest is pedestrian
just a bit more of calculation.

And then when they are done...
for those children who are more advance...

you can ask them to critique the diagram.

like "do you think this diagram is good?"

so they may say
"oh it's not good"

or whatever reason they will say.

Say "oh look, the proportion is not right"

then they may want to draw
a better one.

Right?

So that's my concluding example

for me to make two additional points
about individual independence

but also inviting them
to critique solution.

Parents, this webinar is about
helping children process information

and we want to help them.

We can only help them if...

we ourselves portray
Mathematics as a language

comprising of information
given as visuals,

given in words,
sometimes given in symbols.

Throughout today, in answering
some of your questions

I have demonstrated some strategies
that we parents, adults, teachers

we can use with children

to help them become better

in reading comprehension,
making use of diagrams, pictures

words, phrases, sentences,
symbols, expressions.

Right?

I want to thank all of you
for spending your precious evening with me

and hope to see you again

hopefully in person

in the next seminar that we have.