This one-hour session was for parents in Barrington 220 School District which has eight elementary schools.

1. Singapore Math
K-6 Parent Program
Yeap Ban Har
Marshall Cavendish Institute
Singapore
yeapbanhar@gmail.com
Slides are available at
www.banhar.blogspot.com

2. Singapore

3. Singapore Math
 Land
 270 sq miles
 700 sq km
introduction  People
 5.3 million
 GDP per capita
 1965 USD500
 2011 USD50 000
Junyuan Secondary School, Singapore in current USD

5. High achievement was not a given. In 1960,
among 30 615 candidates who sat for the
first Primary School Leaving Examination,
45% of the candidates passed.
Today, about the
same proportion
achieve the
highest grade in
each of the four
subjects tested.
Keon Ming Public School, Singapore

6. Singapore Math
All major international tests (literacy, science and mathematics) between 1964
and 2003 were placed on a common scale. Selected countries shown in the table.
Score 1960-1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
500 Japan Japan Japan Japan
Korea Korea Korea
Hong Kong Singapore Hong Kong
Hong Kong Singapore
400 Thailand Singapore Malaysia Malaysia
Thailand Thailand Thailand
The Philippines
300 Indonesia Indonesia
The Philippines The Philippines
Reference: E. Hanusek, D. Jamison, E. Jamison & L. Woessmann (2008)

7. Singapore Math

8. Singapore Math
Mathematics is “an excellent
vehicle for the development and
improvement of a person’s
intellectual competence”.
1982 Ministry of Education Singapore 2006
Introduction of Singapore mathematics
textbooks as they are known today.
1992
Introduction of Problem-
Solving Curriculum
1997
Thinking Schools
Learning Nation

9. We started off badly but we
have managed to help our
students in learning math.

10. Singapore Math
Achievement
Attitude
TIMSS
Boston College
Singapore 71 41
Hong Kong 67 40
Taiwan 50 24
Grade 4
Japan 62 23
Kazakhstan 89 19
England 62 16
Russia 80 16
International 72 5

11. Singapore Math
Achievement
Attitude
TIMSS
Boston College
Taiwan 37 45
S Korea 33 40
Singapore 60 40
Grade 8
Hong Kong 47 31
Japan 30 26
Hungary 30 10
England 40 8
International 54 2

12. Singapore Math

13. Singapore Math
Mean
PISA
OECD
Shanghai 600
Singapore 562
Hong Kong 555
15 year-olds
S Korea 546
Taiwan 543
Finland 541
Liechtenstein 536
International 496

14. Singapore Math

15. Singapore Math focuses on
the use of visuals and initial
concrete experiences..

16. Archipel Basisschool Tweemaster-Kameleon, The Netherlands

17. 3 6
2  2
4 8
Archipel Basisschool Tweemaster-Kameleon, The Netherlands

18. Let the piece of paper
represents a cake.
3 fourths  3 =
3 1
3 
4 4

19. Let the piece of paper
represents a cake.
3 fourths  2 =
3 6 3
2  2 
4 8 8

20. Let the piece of paper
represents a cake.
3 fourths  2 =
3 1 3
2  
4 2 4

21. Let the piece of paper
represents a cake.
3 fourths  2 =
3 1 3 3
2   
4 2 4 8

22. Let the piece of paper
represents a cake.
3 fourths  2 =
2 fourths  2 =
1 fourths  2 =
3 1 1 3
2   
4 4 8 8

23. Archipel Basisschool Tweemaster-Kameleon, The Netherlands

25. 3
A number is of a second number.
Singapore Math
5
The sum of the two numbers is 120.
King Solomon Academy, London UK

26. 3
A number is of a second number.
Singapore Math
5
The sum of the two numbers is 120.
120
8 units = 120 80 40
1 units = 120  8
1 units = 15
The smaller number is 3 x 15 = 45.
The larger number is 5 x 15 = 75.

27. Box B contains twice as many
books as Box A. Box C
contains 20 more books than
Box A. Together, the three
boxes contains 116 books.
Edgewood Elementary School, New York
Singapore Math

28. Singapore Math
Box B contains twice as many
books as Box A. Box C
contains 20 more books than
Box A. Together, the three
boxes contains 116 books.
Box C 20 116
Box A
Box B

29. Singapore Math
Box B contains twice as many
books as Box A. Box C
contains 20 more books than
Box A. Together, the three
boxes contains 116 books.
Box C 24 20 116 – 20 = 116 – 16 – 4 = 96
4 units = 96
4 units = 80 + 16
Box A 24
1 units = 96  4 =
Box B 24 24 Box A ….

30. We end the evening with a
few questions.

31. The following are a few
more examples for you to
look at after the seminar.

32. Learning multiplication facts

33. Escuela de Guetamala, Chile

34. Math in Focus
Singapore Math

35. Math in Focus
Singapore Math

36. Math in Focus
Singapore Math

37. Math in Focus
Singapore Math

38. Math in Focus
Singapore Math

39. Singapore Math
Primary Mathematics (Third Edition)
See Ho, S. Y. & Yeap, B. H. (2011). Development of Visualization Skills in Singapore Primary
School Mathematics Textbooks. Paper presented at PME-35 Angkara, Turkey.
See also Yeap, B. H. (2011). The Emphasis of Primary-Level Textbooks in Singapore on
Higher-Order Thinking Skills. Paper presented at International Conference on School
Mathematics Textbooks Shanghai, China.

40. Singapore Math
Primary Mathematics (Third Edition)

41. Using number bonds to
divide large numbers

42. Singapore Math
Breaking 51 into 30 and 21 in
dividing 51 by 3.

43. Singapore Math
Breaking 51 into 30 and 21 in
dividing 51 by 3.

44. An example of a challenging
word problem from
Singapore’s state test for
Grade 6

45. PSLE  State Test for Grade 6

46. PSLE
7
Peili Peili
Nurul Nurul
7
After … 7
Before …

47. A story to remind us to not
simply teach rote
procedures, no matter how
tempting it is

48. Experiencing
Singapore Math