Singapore Math: Love It or Hate It?

       The New York Times posted a great article entitled, Making Math Lessons as Easy as 1, Pause, 2, Pause..." The article discussed the increasingly popular national math system called Singapore Math. Just incase you were wondering, this is not the actual math OF Singapore.  This approach to math is much slower-paced and uses a three-step learning process: 1) Concrete, 2) Pictorial, and 3) Abstract. Most math programs in the United States focus on the concrete and abstract steps, which often confuses students because they do not focus on the step that helps students picture their math. The Singapore math program's slower pace allows students to really hone in on their knowledge of individual numbers. The article talked about a teacher that was apprehensive to integrate Singapore math into their curriculum because they could not see how students could spend 45 minutes talking about one number. He was surprisingly pleased to discover that his students learned more through a longer open-ended thinking time.

      How do we know if this math approach works? Students using Singapore Math are ranking at or near the top on international math exams dating back to the mid 1990s (http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/1997/st00297.htm). This approach teaches fewer topics to make sure students are really grasping the concepts they are to learn. They incorporate detailed instruction, problem solving, questioning, and scads of hands-on learning activities. This allows students to gain a solid base of math knowledge to grow and develop through more mathematical instruction. They are less likely to forget what they are learning when the pace is slowed down and students are allowed to spend more time learning the important math concepts. From that, they can build a stronger knowledge in math with each passing year.
      One downside to the Singapore math approach is its cost. It is said to be a pricey implementation into your curriculum. How much is the question that is probably on your mind. One school district in New York spent over $144,000 implementing the books and teacher materials. This program also requires a lot of teacher training. The time and money required to implement the actual program might be more than you are looking to spend, but teachers can take the basic concepts and ideas of the Singapore math program and incorporate it into their curriculum without buying the actual program.
       Teachers should definitely do their research on the Singapore math program and weigh the pros and cons of their mathematical approach. Take a look at the article and do some research on their web site. What do you think about Singapore math? Would you like to try it in your mathematical instruction in your classroom?

Information obtained from:
Hu, Winnie. (2010). Making math lessons as easy as 1, pause, 2, pause... The New York Times: September 30, 2010.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/education/01math.html?_r=1&ref=education

Singapore Math web site:
http://www.singaporemath.com/aboutus.asp