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| Primary Maths and PSLE Maths |
For weaker to average ability students, during the Primary Maths Tuition/ PSLE Maths Tuition, I need to go through the whole topic in details and practice the simple 1-2 marks type of questions. It is very important to ensure that the students build a strong foundation before proceeding to the harder 3,4 or 5 marks questions. I use the Step By Step Maths by Simon Eio (to build foundation for the basic Maths concepts) and the OnSponge.com Maths assessment book (to build foundation for the challenging Maths questions).
From my experience, many Weak or Average ability Maths students do not understand how to solve these type of Maths questions correctly even if they have been taught in school. Many of them say that the school teacher is teaching too fast and they do not understand what is going on. In order to ensure that they fully comprehend the Mathematical Concept of the challenging problem sums, during the Primary Maths Tuition/ PSLE Maths Tuition, I will break down each long problem sum into parts, explain each part to them slowly before showing them how each separate part is linked together to solve the question. I also have my own easier methods to solve the Maths questions compared to those solutions provided by the assessment books.
For Higher Ability Maths Students, during the Primary Maths Tuition/ PSLE Maths Tuition, I will go through all the basic concepts briefly for each Maths topic before doing the challenging questions from the Onsponge.com Assessment books, A* Problem Sums (for PSLE Students) and Top School Exam Papers. For each category of challenging Maths questions, I will present to the
student the different methods of solving them. The student will decide
which method he or she prefers. If there is ample time, I will go through other Maths assessment books in the market that focus solely on challenging Maths Questions. There are many Primary Maths assessment books and it is quite hard for a normal parent or student to differentiate the better ones from the normal books.
The demand for Primary Maths Tuition/PSLE Maths Tuition is the strongest in the market among the 4 subjects. Almost all primary students have tuition for Maths at least once when they are/were in primary school. In most schools, only the primary students from the top 2 classes find the standard of Primary Maths manageable. Those from the average classes to the bottom classes have a hard time coping with vast jump in Primary Maths standard from Primary 4 to Primary 5. The average drop in marks for Maths from P4 SA2 to P5 SA1 is 15 to 20 marks. Once the students get used to the higher Maths standard, they will usually improve in the P5 SA2.
I find some parents to be overly obsessed and worried by the poor marks achieved by their children to such an extent that they arrange for excessive Primary Maths Tuition/PSLE Maths Tuition (3-5 times per week) and spend most of the time revising Primary Maths with the child, leaving little time left for the other three subjects. This is not advisable as I observe that most children can improve faster for other subjects (especially Primary Science) compared to Primary Maths for the same amount of time allocated for revision.
The demand for Primary Maths Tuition/PSLE Maths Tuition is the strongest in the market among the 4 subjects. Almost all primary students have tuition for Maths at least once when they are/were in primary school. In most schools, only the primary students from the top 2 classes find the standard of Primary Maths manageable. Those from the average classes to the bottom classes have a hard time coping with vast jump in Primary Maths standard from Primary 4 to Primary 5. The average drop in marks for Maths from P4 SA2 to P5 SA1 is 15 to 20 marks. Once the students get used to the higher Maths standard, they will usually improve in the P5 SA2.
I find some parents to be overly obsessed and worried by the poor marks achieved by their children to such an extent that they arrange for excessive Primary Maths Tuition/PSLE Maths Tuition (3-5 times per week) and spend most of the time revising Primary Maths with the child, leaving little time left for the other three subjects. This is not advisable as I observe that most children can improve faster for other subjects (especially Primary Science) compared to Primary Maths for the same amount of time allocated for revision.
