How to make Math fun for children?

Don’t we wish all our children love math? Reality is, some children do not take to Math. One way to interest your kids and make them excited about Math is through little Brain Teasers like this.

Math Trick of the Day:

How to make Math fun for childrenThe answer is 2. Try again if you are not convinced.

Another way to make Math fun and interesting for your kids is by subscribing to Math Educational Videos (based on Singapore Math Model and Curriculum)

Check this video out:

Remember Life is a math equation. In order to gain the most, you have to know how to convert negatives into positives. If you need more help, get in touch with our team of Math tutors today.

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PSLE English Essay

Contributed by ex-MOE English Teacher Mrs Wong, click here to contact her for online or face to face tuition

Use the “Show, not tell”technique

Anton Chekhov once said, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass.” His widely popularized adage truly encapsulates the idea of “Show, not tell.”

“Show, not tell” is a writing technique whereby writers use imagery (sensory details and actions) to draw readers into the story rather than merely providing exposition, background information. By showing, the reading experience is definitely more immersive for the reader, allowing them to “be in the room” so to speak, with the characters.

Telling: Gerald is a Nyctophobia who was terribly afraid of the dark.

Showing: Caught off guard by the sudden power outage,  Gerald tensed up completely. He curled tight under the covers, gripped the sheets, and his breathing became more rapid, more shallow as the wind blew through the house and brushed past the curtain. Every fibre of his being commanded him to run, but he was rooted to the spot.

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In the “showing” example, rather than merely saying that Gerald is afraid of the dark, we show the readers his experience of that fear and how it takes over him completely. ‘Showing’ is a much better way to bring the readers into the story and convey Gerald’s fear to them in a much more compelling way.

Using this method will definitely allow students to achieve a much higher grade. If you need more help for PSLE English Essay, sign up for two days PSLE English Essay intensive workshop on 20 and 21 July – Intake 1 / 22 and 23 July – Intake 2. Slots are limited. Alternatively, you can engage a private tutor to take your writing to greater heights.

Here’s a sample essay for our PSLE students.

Question: Write about a time a unforgettable or memorable experience

Sweat rolled down my skin in thick, salty beads. Panting furiously, with my feet pounding the pavement, the warm humidity is making my skin feel sticky and suffocated. My uniform and hair, slick with perspiration, clung to my skin. I raced to the train station – if I want to avoid the hassle of jostling with crowds,  I definitely could not afford to miss this train! It had been a long day in school, made worse by the fact that I had to attend two dreary hours of Mathematics supplementary lessons. Joining a queue of adults shuffling onto the bus that had arrived, I speedily dug out my EZ-link card from my bag, praying fervently that there would be vacant seats left

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It seemed that Lady Luck was smiling at me – I managed to find one, next to a little girl who was dozing off.  I guessed that she could be no more than five years old. I began to wonder…hmmm…all by herself on public transport at such a tender age? My thoughts then whirled around recent reports of children being abandoned… but on a train? In law-abiding Singapore/ that would be a first!

However intrigued as I was about the possible scenarios, my curiosity about the matter waned as weariness soon took over. Just as I was about to drift into slumberland, a noise jolted me wide awake! The noise had apparently come from the girl next to me – she was bawling uncontrollably!

“Where is my brother?” she sobbed. Trying my best to calm her down, I asked her what had happened.

“He …he was taking me to a movie with…with his friends,” she replied, still sobbing. “I fell asleep and…and now they…they are gone!”

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Taking a quick glance at the water bottle the girl was firmly holding on to – I espied a ‘Jennifer Chen’ sticker on the cover. I asked her to open her backpack, hoping to find some form of identification. Thankfully, there was a school handbook bearing a contact number. I let out a sigh of relief and dialled the number promptly.

“KidzGenius Kindergarten, how may I help you?” a staff member answered warmly. After having identified myself and relating the circumstances I was in, I asked if there was a girl in the school by the name of Jennifer Chen and whether I could have his parents’ contacts, of which she duly provided. 

I then called the girl’s mother. Hearing her mother’s voice is as comforting as a hug, Jennifer finally stopped sobbing. I told her mother not to worry and that I would arrange for her to pick up her child at the next station. I even had the presence of mind to take a book from my bag and read a story to her while waiting for her mother to arrive at the station.

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Finally, a lady dressed in black approached us with quickened footsteps.

“Mummy!” the girl choked, barely holding back her tears. She immediately sprinted towards her – I had never known five-year-olds to be able to run that fast.

PSLE English Essay

Jennifer’s mother pulled her into her chest, wrapping her arms around her tightly. The emotional reunion that unfolded before my eyes remains a poignant moment etched in my memory. That hug was an exchange of pure joy between the two. Just as I was about to leave, she thanked me profusely for having taken care of Jennifer for her.

Her mother, Mrs Chen, thanked me profusely. Words could not express her gratitude. Later that night, I received a heart-warming text message from Mrs Chen, thanking me again, as well as relating to me how Jennifer’s brother, Thomas, had been too engrossed in chatting with his classmates on the train that he totally forgot about his sister’s existence.

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It has been said that ‘every now and then a man’s mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never shrinks back to its former dimensions.’ This brief encounter with Jennifer and her mother has definitely left an indelible mark in my memory.

Looking for tip for PSLE English Oral? Watch this video.

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gifted education programme

IP Schools in Singapore

The GEP programme has since garnered positive feedback and praise for effectively providing all-round development for high-ability students. A survey conducted in 2005 and 2006 revealed that majority of former GEP students gained admission into prestigious overseas universities, obtained scholarships and outperformed their peers in national exams and critical thinking tests. For parents who put their hearts and souls in preparing their children to be a “GEPPER”, this is certainly great news.

But there is a dark side to GEP.

Singapore is already a pressure cooker society and our students have reported higher than average level of anxiety compared to students of other countries. The GEP can most certainly intensify this pressure. GEP can be a potentially a double edged sword. It can have some potentially deleterious effects on your child as the programme comes with extremely high demands, if your children cannot cope with the pressure. It will most certainly break them. Some kids who had to be trained to pass the selection process could ultimately succumb to stress and low self-esteem when struggling through the primary school gifted programme.

If you think you are ready and are keen to let your children try our GEP preparation course, reach out to our strong bastion of former MOE teacher and full time GEP specialist tutors who are every ready to serve your needs online 

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Please note all GEP Tuitions are conducted online only. For 1 to 1 in-person tuition for other subjects, you can contact us at here,  

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test iq of my child

Should your child take an IQ test? A somewhat controversial topic indeed. Shouldn’t we just let kids be kids? Why do we have to pigeon hole them and make them take IQ tests? Read on.

In 2016, an 11-year old girl Anushka Dixit from London received a near perfect score of 162 when she took a Mensa quiz. This is higher than Albert Einstein who (only) had an IQ of 160. In Singapore, MENSA has observed a surge in the number of young children joining. 25% of Mensa members in Singapore are under the age of 12. The number of high IQ Singapore children has increased rather significantly over the years, in fact, the number of ‘gifted’ children has tripled since three years ago. 

In Singapore, every Primary 3 student will be given the opportunity to the GEP Identification Exercise, you can find out more about the Gifted Education Programmes (GEP) and the schools that offer them here, we have also prepared some past year GEP questions which are notoriously challenging GEP Math Questions (free of course!) for your child to try. If you need more professional guidance, seek out our GEP Tutors here.

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We provide 1 to 1 online GEP Coaching and a free GEP diagnostic test when you sign up for our GEP Tuition lesson. This offer is only for valid for Primary Two and Primary Three students and valid till 30 November 2023. 

What are the signs to show that your child may have a high IQ? 

Some experts have shared that it is possible to identify if your child has high IQ by going through the following 5 points checklist:

1. Excellent Memory

If your child has a memory of an elephant, it may be a sign that he or she has above-average intelligence. It has been said that “The number of things people can remember is robustly correlated with fluid intelligence — the larger number remembered, the higher the IQ,” said Edward Awh, a psychology professor and a member of the Oregon Visual Working Memory & Attention Lab.

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2. Early Reading Skills

Are early readers gifted? Can your child identify sight words before the age of four? According to Harvard researchers, by the time children enter formal education, it is estimated that they know the meaning of about 5,000 to 6,000 words when they hear them, and can probably recognize in print a handful of easily memorized “sight words” — words like “the” and “to” and “stop” that pop up often in books and on signs and menus. But if your child seems to have a natural ability to remember sight words, chances are your child may just be gifted.

3. Curiosity

Curiosity is the ability to seek and acquire new knowledge, skills, and ways of understanding the world. It is at the heart of what motivates young people to learn and what keeps them learning throughout their lives. Children who ask a lot of questions are demonstrating an innate desire to learn. As they seek out opportunities to learn wherever they are, they further develop their minds and intellect.

4. Sense of Humour

Great men like Churchill and Lincoln are known for having a great sense of humour. Many of Winston Churchill’s most famous quotes are the funny quips that revealed his wit. According to BBC-News, the tell-tale signs of a genius child is through his wit.

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5. Sets High Standards

Is your child a perfectionist? Does he or she tend to set a high bar for themselves. They have an instinctual need to improve and do better in areas that matter to them. This drive also assists them in learning new skills and school subjects to the best of their ability. Being hyper-focused in specific areas of interest can also be a sign of a high IQ.

 

What are the advantages of having your child take an IQ test?

The original intention behind the IQ tests (developed in 1905 by Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon in France) was to get a diagnostic test that can help to select children at the lower ends of the intelligence scale, identify who might need special education to keep up with the school curriculum or if they may have certain learning disabilities that parents need to be aware of. It has since evolved to become an association with being a genius after Professor Lewis M. Terman from Stanford University translated it from French to English and termed it as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.

Believe it or not, there are some benefits when you let your children take an IQ test.

The main advantage of the intelligence tests is primarily to help you understand your child’s hidden potential or identify special needs. Having your child take an IQ test will also allow parents to understand their children’s specific strengths, what he or she is weak at, and how to what kind of curriculum would best fit your child’s abilities. Some parents may observe that their children are claiming he or she feels bored in class. This may just be a sign that your child needs a more appropriately match curriculum and instruction, taking an IQ test will then be beneficial as you would be able to have evidence of his or her learning capacity before you decide on your next course of action.

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Are all kids with high IQ successful?

Does a having a high IQ score mean that a child will become the crème de la crème?

Will they go on to change the world, go on to do great things like the two greatest scientists Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein? According to the Genetic Literacy Project, studied a sample of close to 2000 boys and girls who have an average IQ of 151. None of them grew up to be what most people would see as ‘exemplars of genius’. Most of the children grew up to become professors, doctors, lawyers, scientists, engineers, and other professionals. At this point, it may be worthy to note that Elon Musk (the almost infamous TESLA dude that plans to bring mankind to Mars), has an IQ that is estimated to be close to 160. Observers have conjured this IQ score based primarily on his earlier aptitude tests, his ability to read and apply technical information, and his ability to use numbers to make process changes the engineering and space industry.

In Asian countries like Singapore, where education has been a national pride for decades, the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) has been thought synonymously as a programme for children of high IQ, was developed to nurture intellectually gifted students. The pioneer batch of the GEP selection test saw 40,000 Primary 3 students taking the GEP test in September 1983. Only a mere 100 best were chosen to pilot the Primary 4 Gifted Education Programme at Raffles Girls’ Primary School and Rosyth School.

To find out more about the GEP programme or get tuition for GEP, you can click here. If you are keen to know what does a Math GEP paper look like, click here for sample GEP Math Questions.

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If you are interested in getting IQ worksheets or get free materials on Intelligence tests, subscribe to our youtube channel  and we will send you an GEP Math IQ test for free. Just email us with a screenshot of your subscription and we will be in touch. 

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Primary School Math Tip

Primary School Math Tip

You can memorize the greater than and less than signs by imagining them as little alligators (or crocodiles), with the numbers on either side representing a number of fish. Yummy! The alligator always wants to eat the larger number of fish, so whatever number the mouth is open toward is the larger.

For instance,

Primary School Math Tip

Learnt the crocodile method

Download free math test papers here. For professional coaching, find a tutor today, contact our strong team of professional tutors and ex-MOE Teachers.

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