You may be wondering if it is worth it to invest the time into learning a new style of curriculum – Singapore Math. After all, Singapore Math is undoubtably different than othr curriculum’s out there. The are both pros and cons to using Singapore Math. Ultimately, finding a curriculum that best fits your student’s goals and abilities is the best choice. However, if you are wondering what makes Singapore Math a great choice to consider, here are 5 reasons why you should consider using Singapore Math as a your student’s curriculum.
- Singapore consistently ranks in the top countries on international math tests such as the Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for Internal Student Assessment (PISA).
- Singapore mathematics emphasizes the development of deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. It focuses on building a solid foundation on core concepts and then helps students to connect these core concepts with new mathematical ideas. It challenges students to solve more difficult problems and goes beyond rote memorization of facts, procedures, and definitions.
- Singapore Math follows a clear progression from concret to pictorial to abstract. It encourages students to first look at real life examples and concepts. Then it moves onto visual models and manipualtives to help students to see mathematical relationships. Finally the models are used to assist in solving problems, explain relationships, and develop generalizatons. Because this methodology takes students first from concrete or real life examples to the abstract, they are better able to understand and internalize the mathematical thinking.
- Singapore Math prepares students with tools to allow them to more readily solve word problems and challenging problems. By leveraging the CPA methodology, students have additional versatility with word problems that allows them to think outside the box and find solutions to problems they have never seen before. They are also more capable of understanding their mistakes and fixing them.
- The Singapore Math curriculum is organized across years such that many topics are covered year over year. Once students are familiar with the progression, they become more accustomed to what is being taught. For example, the difficulty of addition and subtraction grows across the years, interpretation of charts, geometry and so on. So students get familiar with the same types of activities but at a higher difficulty level. That allows them to review the concepts each year, while growing in ability
Singapore Math can be a valuable curriculum option due to its strong emphasis on conceptual understanding, problem-solving skills, and the success of students in international assessments.
