Going to share with you a very simple and effective method which I shared with parents in one of our Parents workshops.
That is “Responding to problem sums vs Reacting to them”
Picture this with me.
A tall skinny boy sitting in his classroom. It’s his Math Exam.
Endless problem sums. Every one he read, his mind was blank. @.@
Blank. BLanK. BLANK. (He just couldn’t write anything. For a minute, he froze.)
His eyes were getting teary.
He had always been failing.
All along, he just “anyhow” read and write. (Sounds familiar?)
He wanted to change. For the better. And right now.
Suddenly, he remembered what our math coach told him.
‘Do your K-C-N-S-U. RESPOND to the problem sums. Don’t REACT.’
With new found hope, he started to just do his 5-step.
When he got back his results, he thought he’s going to fail. Again. :_(
But, he got a ‘B’. 😀
The reason why he improved (a lot!) this time round is this. He chose “Respond” rather than “React.”.
Let me share with you the difference.
React means…
– Let’s just “anyhow” read and write.
– I just want to get this over and done with.
– I just take any number I see. Just do lor.
– The student loses the power. Because it goes to the question.
Respond means…
– I always ask myself what concepts I’m tested on. (Which one out of the 12 concepts?)
– What are the steps I must show the marker to get all my marks?
– Power goes to the student.
Now we know “Respond” is the way to go.
But what do most do once they got hold of a paper?
Yes, you are right.
They just pick up their pens and ‘try’ to write something. (Some don’t even write their names on the papers.) They just dive in and try to swim (or sink). They just try to do as many as they can, hoping the number of questions they do is ‘proportional’ to their marks.
But we know it doesn’t work this way.
‘Respond’ can only work well for your child once he learnt problem sums types and certain proper skill sets.
We will be sharing with you more on how your child can better “Respond” and solve the problem sums. Will definitely come in handy for this upcoming CA 1. (A mom went back to teach her boy right after the workshop. And the question came out. :O )
You can sign up now at
=> https://studysmart.learningoutofthebox.org/free-math-consultation/
Look forward to talking to you!
Thanks,
John
