Saturday, February 26, 2011

A New Take on Math



I don't like Math. In fact, that's one thing many communications students and graduates joke about -- we took courses that have as few Math subjects as possible :)

Several wise educators I've interviewed over the years usually say kids start to hate Math because of the way it was taught to them. Looking back, I think I started to dislike this particular subject because most of my Math teachers in elementary and high school would zoom through the lessons without stopping to check if the students have really grasped the concepts. Sadly, this is happening all over again with my kids and some of their teachers.


When my youngest son and I were invited to attend Galileo Enrichment's Singapore Math workshop, I was eager to go. I was very curious after reading that the students who have mastered a certain learning technique allows them to visualize equations, thus helping them understand Math concepts better and more efficiently. In my mind, I felt that if I was a failure in liking Math, maybe my son would fare better in this area.

Dr. Queena Lee-Chua and her son, Scott (he's only 12 and he's very bright!), taught us the basics in less than two hours. I was surprised that the time passed without us noticing because we were all so busy trying to solve the sample problems and enjoying the discovery that, yes, there is a better way to learn Math!

Dr. Chua, Scott, Ms. Rowie (Galileo CEO)
and the "enlightened" kids :)

If you are also curious about what makes learning Singapore Math different from traditional teachings, watch out for more workshop offerings from Galileo Enrichment Learning Program.

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