Education 01 (Aug 08 - Aug 09)

[kennynah]

on mathematics becoming more a literary skills...i have been pondering about this for about 4 years now...when i had the opportunity to go through Pri 6 mathematics questions... even as an adult, i found it challenging simply understanding the mathematics question itself.... my immediate reaction was that it was an unnecessary complication...

later on...it dawned on me that it was in fact quite necessary.

Reasons :

a) 1 + 1 = 2... is only teaching children, the science subject, called Arithmetic...Mathematics is NOT just arithmetic. Mathematics is the foundation to Physics and thus the world around us.

b) It is during developmental years of a child, that the human brain should be "stressed" enough to develop the faculty to its fullest

c) Life is a box of chocolates...you just don't know what you might get...and that is what the coplex English structured maths question is supposed to achieve...allowing the child to figure out what the question is all about, before even attempting to answer them.
Mathematics purposely made with complex English structure, is meant to encourage the child to focus and concentrate on the possible variations of the question. thereafter, in their minds, eliminate and settle onto 1 most likely question...and answer it.

I am for harder and more complex mathematics syllabus for our children.... let's aim higher and not discount what our young can achieve... they may just surprise us all....