Sec 1 Math: Highest Common Factor and Lowest Common Multiple

 Hi all,

This video is about finding the HCF and LCM.

Have fun!

Mr Danny Lim

Math Heuristic: Solving A Word Problem Using The Model Method and Logic

Hi all,

In this video, we use The Model Method to deduce the answer. This is a non-routine type of Math word problem and is not commonly taught in schools.

Have fun!!!

P3/P4 Math: Multiples with Remainder Word Problem

Hi all,

Today, I will be talking about how to draw a table to solve a Math word problem. Enjoy!!!

Ratio Total Changed Revisited

Hi!

I made a new video on the same question using the model method. This will be helpful for the students who could not understand the method yesterday.

Have fun!

Math Heuristic: Ratio Total Changed

Hi all,

Today, I am going through another Math Heuristic: Ratio Total Changed. I think this is one of the most difficult heuristic for Ratio. However, it could be mastered through practice.

Have fun!!!

Math Heuristic: Guess and Check alternative

Hi all!

This is another Math video for your revision. Many students will use 'Guess and Check' for this question. However, it is more effective to use the deduction method.

I encourage you to do the question (without using algebra) before watching the entire video.

Have fun!

Math Heuristic: Constant Difference mixed with Ratio/Fractions

Hi all,

From this question, you would see that many topics can be combined into one word problem.

I challenge you to try to do the question before you see the answer. Your method would most probably be different from what your child learns in school.

Have fun!

Math Lesson: More than / Less than Part 1

Hi all,

This is a video lesson on more than / less than for P1 and P2 students. I use this strategy to illustrate how we compare the numbers and get the answer. Please share if you like it!

Stay tuned!
Mr Danny Lim

Math Heuristic: Sentence By Sentence Deconstruction

Hi all,

Many students were stumbled by this particular question due to its complexity. However, it could be easily solved by reading and extracting the information in each sentence.

Have fun!

Video Lesson: P4 Fraction Heuristic 2a

Hi all,

Today, I will be going through another Math heuristic on Fractions. I highly encourage you to let your child attempt the question first before letting him/her view the video.


The question is

The video lesson is below:

That's all. I hope you had fun learning. You might want to visit http://mrdannylim.blogspot.sg/2016/07/video-lesson-p4-fraction-heuristic.html for Fraction 1a.


Cheers!
Mr Danny Lim

Video Lesson: P4 Fraction Heuristic 1a

Hi all!

It has been a while. This is a video on a P4 Fraction Heuristic. The common error most students make is that they did not read the word 'remaining' or 'remainder'. Enjoy the video!

HOW I OVERCAME FAILURE IN MATH WORD PROBLEMS (Guest post by a teacher)

Today, we have a very special guest. Shaoyang was one of the teachers I met during my contract teaching. He was motivating and was one of first teachers I learned from. He believes in doing what is right rather than what is popular.

I was pleasantly surprised when he asked me if he could post on my blog. Teachers reading and affirming my methods are always a source of motivation for me.

Today, he shares about his journey when he was younger.

Here it goes!

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Hi everyone!

My name is Shaoyang and I have been following Danny’s posts for a while. Some of his posts are on skills in solving word problems and I want to share my experience with you all on this aspect while I was a student.

By the way, I would like to thank Danny for letting me post on his blog. 

Problem

Does your child (and sometimes you yourself) GIVE UP EASILY in solving word problems? Do the both of you feel DISCOURAGED upon seeing SENTENCE AFTER SENTENCE in a word problem? If you answered ‘yes’, read on. If not…you still can read on.

When I was a Primary 4 student, I understood word problems like playing ‘tikam’: literally GUESSING the solutions to the word problems. Somehow, in the first 3 years of school, I survived through guessing. You (or your child) might also have this experience before and you can be sure it IS NOT A NICE FEELING.

More problems

Now, you would think that I could get through Primary 4 by guessing. Instead, I failed my Math exams in mid-year.

I WAS SHOCKED! It never occurred to me that I would fail Math.

THE BEST PART WAS MY UNDERSTANDING OF ‘SUBTRACTION’ IS AS FOLLOWS:

4 – 1 = 1, 2 OR 3.

That was how BAD my math was. I had to take action to pass my exams at the end of the year. 

A plan is hatched

NO MORE FOOLING AROUND. I decided to seek help from my parents and teachers in Math. They told me an important element to solving math word problems:

UNDERSTANDING

With guidance, I slowed down my reading of solving word problems to look out for information that will help me UNDERSTAND the word problems and solve them. As time went by, I gained more confidence in solving word problems when I saw that my most of my solutions were correct and more importantly, based on understanding, not guesswork.

THE GRAND FINISH

Then, came the turning point in the year end exams. 92 out of 100!

The JOY was beyond description! I had moved from failure to 92, double of what I have been doing! This was a tremendous milestone!

My point?

Solving Math word problems is still as difficult as ever. With resilience, guidance from mentors and understanding, you can turn them into opportunities of learning by deepening your understanding of Math concepts. Today, because of that breakthrough, I treat every Math problem as a challenge to strengthen my understanding of Math concepts! J

IF I CAN SOLVE WORD PROBLEMS, YOUR CHILD CAN TOO!

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I hope you benefit from this post. Please share with your friends if you find it useful.

Together, we can make a difference in educating our next generation.

Stay tuned!

Math Heuristic: Systematic Listing

Hi all,

Another Math Video this week. In this video, I will be touching on Systematic Listing. The key method here is 'branching'. Have fun!

If-If Heuristic: Solving It In Pictures

Hi!

The video below shows how to solve 'If-If' type of questions in Math. Many children still struggle at solving this type of questions in P6. I hope your child can benefit from the video.

Have fun!

P3/P4 Math Heuristics (Level 3 Lesson 1)

Good day to you!

The term break is just round the corner and I hope you have planned meaningful activities for your children.

Today, I am posting a video lesson on Math. It teaches the model method (one of the key heuristics) for solving word problems. Establishing a good foundation in model drawing is important in P3/P4 because the questions will get more complicated in P5/P6. Enjoy the lesson! 

(You can change the quality of the video by clicking on the gear icon on the bottom right corner of the video.)

(Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/WDj6j for monthly tips on how to motivate your child to study. A free ebook on writing is included in the newsletter.)

5 Things I Wished I Knew About Careless Mistakes Before I Took The PSLE Exams

I am sure many parents are able relate the agony of careless mistakes with me. This is particularly common in young boys. They tend to be more careless and more resistant to change in this aspect.

In my tuition class, I share 5 strategies with my students to eliminate careless mistakes in Mathematics.


1. Write neatly and write big numbers

This is the most important strategy. First of all, it aids in the checking. If the child writes neatly, it is very easy for him to check his work.

Secondly, it eliminates the ambiguity of certain numbers. Can you imagine the teacher has a stack of exam papers to mark and still has to waste time guessing wheither a number is a '0', a '6' or a '9'.

You have to remind your child to write neatly at all times.


2. Time management

Time management in an exam paper will help the child to pace himself properly. How much time should be spent on each question?

The key phrase here is 'Don't linger. Don't dash." for each question. If you get stuck, move on to the next question. Do not waste too much time on one question.

It is also important to remind the child not to be affected by his peers during examination. When a child sees his friends putting their heads on the table to rest, he will be tempted to do so too. 

This is a type of peer pressure. It is a very misguided thinking that 'I am faster than you and therefore I am smarter than you'.

Highlight to your child that it is the marks that matters.


3. Test the answers

This is something that I practise often in my tuition lessons. After the student gets the answer, plug answer back into the question to see if it fits. 

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Ali and Ben have 30 apples. Ali has 20 apples. How many apples does Ben have?

30 - 20 = 10

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To test the answer, put the 10 back into the question. If Ali has 20 apples and Ben has 10 apples, they will have 30 apples altogether. This confirms that the answer is correct as the first sentence states that Ali and Ben have 30 apples.

Although this is a very simple strategy, it is not commonly taught in schools and hence it is not commonly practised also. You must practise this with your child. It is a very simple and yet very effective checking tool.


4. Watch out for transfer error

I see this very often in some students' work. When the question requires two steps, the answer from the first step is transferred wrongly to the second step. Take a look at the following example.

---------------------------
Ali and Ben have 30 apples. Ali has 20 apples.

(a) How many apples does Ben have?
(b) How many more apples does Ali have than Ben?

(a) 30 - 20 = 10

(b) 20 - 16 = 4

----------------------------

You can see that the student transferred 10 wrongly. It was written as 16 in the second step. Marks were lost for nothing.

To help your child in this, go back to Step 1: Write neatly. This will minimise your child from copying wrongly.

Another way is to teach your child to scan for all the transfers before handing up the paper.


5. Practise and practise and practise

Careless mistakes have something to do with accuracy. Ultimately, it is the lack of practice that contributes to careless mistakes. If your child practise enough, how can he get 1 + 1 = 2 wrong?

Help your child to practise addition and subtraction regularly. Test his multiplication tables often.


The key is to help the child practise enough so that they can create the habit and make it stick.


I hope this post has been helpful to you. Please click on SHARE on Facebook to share this post with your friends.

(Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/WDj6j for monthly tips on how to motivate your child to study. A free ebook on writing is included in the newsletter.)

P5 Ratio Heuristic: Unchanged Total

Hi all,

Did you manage to solve the problem? This type of ratio question stumped many students. However, it is actually based on a very simple concept called 'Unchanged Total'. 

'Unchanged Total' refers to the total number of units of two ratios will always be the same regardless how you move the components. 

Here is the video:




Did you manage to catch the concept? Once your child acquired this concept, he/she will be able to tackle any type of 'Unchanged Total' questions.

Have fun!

For my newsletter this month, I am going to share a very useful tip on learning Math for young children. If you still did not signed up for my newsletter, hurry and sign up below!

(Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/WDj6j for monthly tips on how to motivate your child to study. A free ebook on writing is included in the newsletter.)

P5 Ratio Question

Hi all,

This is the P5 question that I will be showing in my video this week. Try and solve it using any methods! It is worth only 3 marks...

A : (B + C) = 1 : 2
C : (B + D) = 1 : 3
A : D = 2 : 3

Based on the above ratios, find the ratio of A : B : C : D.

Stay tuned for the answer!

(Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/WDj6j for monthly tips on how to motivate your child to study. A free ebook is included in the newsletter.)

Help Your Child Learn The Model Method - Part 1

(For those who signed up for my newsletter, you should find the free ebook, Art of Writing for Lower Primary, in the newsletter last week. Check your spam folder if you did not receive it in your inbox. I hope the ebook sheds some light on the structure of writing for the younger students.)

Now onto this week's topic.

Your child should not be struggling with Math and English in P1 or P2. The syllabuses are quite easy at these two levels. At P3, it is a different story. Your child will come into contact with heuristics in Math. 

Heuristics is not rocket science. It is merely a set of methods to solve word problems. It is not difficult if they are taught well and at a good pace. Children fail to grasp the methods when the teaching is rushed or it is being taught in a fuzzy way to them.

Take a look at the question in the video. I took this video from my heuristic course for P3. The heuristic involved is The Model Method. 



This question is from a P3 CA1 exam paper. This question can appear as early as P2 SA2. It is not a difficult question, but you will be surprised that many students struggle with it.

If you have a child at P2 or P3, let him/her have a go at the question before showing him/her the answer. It is actually a good revision for them.

Next week, let's try a question from P5 that even algebra (yes, the only powerful heuristic most parents are equipped with) cannot solve.

Have fun learning with your kids!

(Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/WDj6j for monthly tips on how to motivate your child to study. A free ebook is included in the newsletter.)

Help! My daughter is scoring Band 3 for her Math and Science! :(

"Help! My daughter is scoring Band 3 for her Math and Science!"

I met up with an old friend for lunch and this was our topic for the meal. A mother's plea for help.

I told her to take a closer look at the paper and see if her girl had any particular weak areas. Brush up these areas during this holidays and prepare her for CA2 when the school reopens.

I also shared about what I do in my private tuition and asked her to try out some of the strategies with her daughter.

After chatting for about fifteen minutes, she was taken aback by how much I shared. She told me not to share such precious strategies with any other parents. Her rationale is "If the parent can do all the teaching, then the parent will not need me as a tuition teacher."


"Don't share all the strategies! Parents will not need you if they can do all these!"


However, it is not so simple.

1. When I start to talk about learning strategies, I can blabber for hours because teaching is my passion. I could not stop talking about it!

2. The strategies I talked about could all be found in books and websites. I did not create them. They were widely available.

3. I speak of this with pride. You are not me. I can give you all the tools and materials but you will not be able to teach like me. It is simply different.

4. My tuition slots are very limited. If the parent terminates my service, the parent will need to rejoin the waitlist if he/she wants to engage my services again.


"I can give you all the tools and materials but you are not me. You will not be able to teach like me. It is simply different."


Ultimately, I just could not stop talking about teaching and learning. It is especially so when they are linked to motivational strategies for young children. I am just so interested in motivating young children.

We ended the conversation with her asking me about the pricing of my services. I am fully booked, but I will let her know if I open up any new slots.

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What to do if you are in the same situation:

1. Do not panic. Go through your child's paper carefully and identify the gaps.

2. Close the gap by teaching the concepts again.

3. Let your child practice and see if he/she has understood.

4. Reteach if necessary.
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If the situation persists, it is best to engage a private tutor for your child. I would select someone who is NIE-trained and is familiar with the MOE syllabus.

I teach because it is my passion and more importantly, it is my calling in life.

I had a previous blog on motivating children to learn but it was too technical for some parents. I hope this blog will be more digestible and implementable for parents.

Stay tuned!

(Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/WDj6j for monthly tips on how to motivate your child to study. A free ebook is included in the newsletter.)