The 4 Things that Parents Find Out Too Late in Math

The 4 things that parents find out too late when it comes to learning Math are:

1) That as long as your child is not yet failing in his Math exams, it is OK.

2) That there is still time to catch up even when your child’s Math score is just at borderline pass.

3) That practising Math through workbooks is enough to score well in Math exams

4) If your child is performing very well in Primary 4, it is a sure bet that your child will have no problem to perform just as well in Primary 5 and 6.

The first item is definitely not OK. You see, it’s the TIME factor. Early preparation is key. It is like a train. 

At first, it’s a slow train, with very few passengers. 

So, kids are very excited to hop on the slow train because it is their first learning journey. Young students at Primary 1, 2 or 3 are usually very keen to learn. Learning at this stage is fun and manageable for them. There is no stress, since the pace is slow, much like the slow train. The topics are few, much like the passengers on the train – not many.

At this stage, kids are able to build their brain muscles and develop and strengthen their Math foundation.

But if the kids are in Primary 4, 5, 6, the train that comes along is an express train and it is packed with passengers. Kids hop on but feel stressed. There are too many new topics, too many concepts and the pace is very fast; much like the express train packed with passengers. 

At this stage, unless kids have already developed the foundation and the right mindset to conquer the challenges, they will feel stressed and unable to cope. There is no repeating of topics nor time to brush up on basic Math skills.

If kids spend time polishing basic Math skills which they should already be proficient in, how then is he going to able to catch up with the current level which is more challenging?

So instead of learning all these too late, it is better to start early. And is the key.