MATRIX MATH
BEST MATH TUITION SINGAPORE

It is never too early to start mathematics lessons, especially when children slowly understand it through everyday interactions with parents, relatives, and their environment well before they enter preschool. Simple math activities like counting are fundamental to helping a young mind interpret and understand the world around them before they start to grasp the other fundamentals like adding, subtracting, and so forth. Starting your children’s math development early does not need to involve basic calculations but requires a focus on slowly building up the fundamentals, such as counting, sharing, and so on. Whether through daily activities or playtime, helping your child develop early math skills will go a long way to support their overall development and learning process once they grow up. Why is Developing Math Skills in Early Childhood So Important? It should come as no surprise that various studies have found connections between an early start in mathematics and school success, regardless of what other elements may be at play (including early IQ). Early math skills play a significant part in a child’s development since they are constantly in situations where they can learn about various concepts that will be essential to them later in life. More than that, early math skills are not limited to numbers; they also involve reasoning and deduction, pattern recognition, spatial relationships, and many other skills vital to a child’s gradual development. Take the simple activity of playing with building blocks. The activity itself lends a lot to early math skills: children will see different blocks (counting) of varying colours, shapes and sizes (measurements). As they interact with these blocks, they will learn which blocks can balance on top of other blocks (reasoning) and how different block combinations can form new or familiar shapes (spatial awareness). However, children cannot interpret these interactions in a meaningful way that makes sense to them on their own. Parental supervision and participation are vital components of developing early math skills in children; nurturing your children is essential to helping them learn while also building their self-esteem and confidence and even giving them a sense of security and warmth. As a result, it can have a robust and positive effect towards your child’s brain development, with far-reaching benefits that extend to their later years in school and beyond. Even the simple act of talking to your child, even if they have not started speaking yet, can have tremendous implications in promoting language and literacy, which can benefit early math skills as they slowly understand what you are teaching them. For example, counting their favourite fruits can lead to simple addition and subtraction when they learn about sharing. That is a good starting point as they continue learning about math. How to Start Developing Early Math Skills Again, simple efforts are always a good starting point to help your child develop early math skills, even if you have anxieties about your command of mathematics. Relax; the importance here is to start with the basics, like counting, and gradually work your way up to the best of your abilities. Here are a few tips to help get you and your child started. Start with Counting Counting is the foundation of early math skills, and instilling the knowledge of counting can come from simple things like songs, picture books, and fun activities. You can even teach them about counting from the activities they engage in, such as counting the number of cats outside the window (or in your home if you have pets) or counting the number of steps to take to go up and down your house. Repetition is Key When you think about it, many children’s songs involve a good deal of repetition on top of providing an introduction to essential themes that help with their learning. Take “Baby Shark”, for instance: the song helps your child learn to count each of Baby Shark’s family members while giving them a fun, repeatable activity that helps to reinforce their learning and allow them to remember math concepts. Over time, they can rely on familiarity to help them solve various things independently. Storytelling Time Stories are also an engaging way to provide frequent (and sometimes repeated) lessons in early math skills. You can always choose to read aloud to your child, finding situations in the story that you can use to promote their participation and help them learn. For example, if you read about the three little pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, you can ask them, “How many pigs are there?” Picturebooks are also handy for showing your child pictures related to the story, affording a graphical approach to help them count, understand sizes and measurements, and so forth. Learn Through Play Playtime offers plenty of teachable moments to help with your child’s early math skill development. Making learning fun can significantly improve your child’s learning ability, making the entire learning process feel less like a chore and more like an enjoyable game to play. Plus, given how learning through play outcomes has had plenty of positives for children’s development, not just with early math skills, doing more fun learning activities together can be beneficial in the long term. Going out to the zoo to count the animals or even having fun in the park to help them understand the concepts of sizes are just a few examples of what you can do to make learning much more exciting for your child. Teachable Moments Speaking of teachable moments, there will be times when your child stumbles in their learning. In times like these, reprimanding them may be detrimental to their learning process as it can make them anxious or scared about the subject, especially if you react in a way that diminishes their interest. Children make mistakes, so try to make it a valuable lesson your child can learn without being too harsh on them; it can help boost their motivation and get them back on the right track. Provide Encouragement It is also worth celebrating small moments of

Education systems constantly evolve to deliver effective learning for students of all ages, and that is no exception here. The Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE), in particular, has already planned and gradually rolled out improvements and changes via the 2021 Primary Mathematics Syllabus update, building on the foundations of the prior 2013 edition. The updated syllabus has already taken effect since 2021 for the Primary 1 cohort and is now implemented in 2025 for Primary 5 students. With an emphasis on strengthening core fundamentals, deepening an understanding of mathematics, and promoting self-learning and reflection, the new syllabus seeks to facilitate the learning process by carefully structuring the syllabus to help with the gradual progression of complex concepts. Here is everything you need to know about the changes to the Primary 5 Maths syllabus and what that means for your child’s learning process with Mathematics. Building on the 2013 Primary School Math Syllabus The 2013 Math syllabus was designed primarily to set the stage for students to “acquire and apply mathematical concepts and skills” while also developing their capacity for complex problem-solving through mathematical approaches and developing an interest in the subject. Primary Math classes aim to lay the foundations for a thorough understanding of mathematical concepts, allowing students to improve their knowledge of the subject gradually. It also empowers them to be well-prepared for more complex concepts in later years, especially at the secondary level. The 2021 edition builds on its predecessor’s fundamentals by strengthening students’ understanding of complex math problems and reducing their overall cognitive load by streamlining the math subjects they will learn. In doing so, it is hoped that students can better grasp the core fundamentals and improve their understanding without being taxed on too many concepts at a time. This concern is significant for P5 Maths, known for its content-heavy focus, giving students more time to fully absorb what they are learning. Core Elements of the 2021 Primary School Math Syllabus P5 Math Syllabus Changes For P5, most of the amendments to the syllabus are to reduce the amount of math content without giving up on the core skills students need to progress to P6 and prepare for secondary-level mathematics. Moving Topics to P6 Of notable interest is the shift of the topics of Average and Ratio from P5 to P6, moving a significant amount of complex subjects to a higher level. While students may rejoice at the prospect of less homework, the practical reason behind the move is to ensure they can strengthen their math capabilities sufficiently before moving on to these brain-teasing topics. Streamlined Learning With the reduced content for P5 students, they will have plenty more time to fortify their knowledge and understanding of the math concepts they have learned thus far. Lightening the cognitive load is a boon in ensuring they can keep up with their current learning schedule and still have time to work on their fundamentals with little interruption or difficulty. What This Means For Your Child As you can tell, the updated syllabus emphasises providing sufficient time for students to learn and understand various math concepts at a progressive pace that is not too taxing on their schooling or extracurricular activities. This carefully structured system will prepare students for the more complex concepts they will pick up in later years. Naturally, parents and teachers will still play a crucial role in fostering a holistic, engaging learning experience that helps students think critically using logic and reasoning. With that knowledge, they can solve not only math problems but also find solutions for everyday situations. A proper mathematics education is not simply to laden a child with homework but is an essential foundation to helping them develop vital skills they will need in secondary school and beyond. By optimising the learning curve to accommodate students at various levels, the updated syllabus will ensure students are exam-ready and can thrive in any given classroom situation with the newfound skills they have developed. Empower Your Child’s Mathematics Understanding with Matrix Math At Matrix Math, comprehensive and practical support for students starts from a team of qualified tutors and tried-and-true teaching methods. We keep a close eye on updates to the curriculum to ensure students receive personalised tutoring that helps bring out the best in them, especially through using valuable revision materials and steadily building up core fundamentals. With years of experience guiding students to solve complex math questions independently, we are ready to provide personalised assistance in your child’s math preparation. Contact us today to learn more about how we can empower our students with these critical skills and more.