GIVEAWAY + REVIEW! Neuromath Junior Math Intelligence Programme: The Importance of Cognitive Development

In my earlier posts, I have shared an overview of Neuromath Junior's Math Intelligence programme and also delved into 'Values and Math Concepts'. 

Unique to the Math Intelligence Programme is also the Cognitive part of the lesson plans where the first half is usually on Math concepts while the second half focuses on cognitive development, taught through games. 

Neuromath Junior believes that cognitive development is critical in young children as these are the formative years that determine how a child’s mind receives, processes and uses information and hence, memory games are often played in each class.

:: Auditory Memory

An example is that after "whole numbers and values" are taught to the class, a way that Neuromath Junior reinforced the concept was through an auditory game where the children had to move their bear counter based on the audio instructions before finally checking if their bears have ended up on the right 'number'. This worked on not only her listening skills, spatial awareness (right, left, up and down) but also the recognition of whole numbers and simple counting-on where the children had to move the counter to find the mystery number.

Being an audio-visual learner, this is one game which Dumpling clearly enjoys. 

 

:: Visual Memory

Neuromath Junior also believes very much in on other areas such as memory training as this allows the children to be able to absorb more information and recall them quickly and easily. An example of how this can be useful is that when reading off instructions from the whiteboard, children are able to process the information very quickly as a whole image and hence can work on the problems quicker. 

Above: here Teacher Esther puts up some 'occupational cards' for a said set of time before the children attempts to line them up in the correct order

Above: Dumpling trying very hard to recall... 

Above: Dumpling with her 'super duper' camera taking a mental 'snapshot' of a beach scene...

Above: and the children pointing out to the 'correct' picture! 

:: IQ & Higher Order Thinking Games

In every lesson, IQ games are also being played. The objective is to train the children on their concentration, develop their spatial reasoning skills as well as ranging from their logical thinking skills. 

Unlike the usual tangrams available outside, Neuromath Junior creates its own materials which includes shapes with curve lines. Besides introducing to the children basic 'fractions' incidentally, Neuromath Junior develops them into creative 'pictures' which resembles animals (hones their creativity and imagination) too.  

Above: picture of a rooster made with semi circles, quarters, etc

Above: Dumpling having a go at it and unused to the finer details of curved versus straight lines

Above: an activity on spatial reasoning skills  

Above: Dumpling with her worksheet; trying to guess what the underside of the paper would look like

What I found really interesting was also a series of higher order thinking activities which the children were introduced to. Higher ordering thinking questions basically are non-routine problems which uses heuristic 

strategies to solve the problem. There are different strategies used to solve heuristics questions one of which includes 'draw and construct'.

Draw and Construct 

Dumpling's class worked on a problem which gave them a total number of "wheels" some vehicles (a mix of cars and motorcycles) have. The children had to work on the sum with stickers to 'assign' the wheels where they can then identify how many cars (4-wheeled vehicle) and motorcycles (2-wheeled vehicle) there were. 

I like that even for such sums, the children had hands on tools (in this case stickers) to help them grasp the concept and the way to go about solving the problem. Having done this activity in class, the children were given another sum to attempt at home too.  

Nets

Having attempted the spatial reasoning activities (shared above) for a few weeks, the children were then led to doing some Nets activities using a cube which also trains their logic reasoning and perceptual skills which aids in their understanding of geometry. 

Dumpling has definitely benefited from the Math Intelligence Programme where her understanding of basic operations (addition and subtraction) is now much stronger. From the homefront, this makes it much easier for me to continue our Math journey where I can continue to scaffold on what she has learnt. While previously I was a tad unsure of how useful the Cognitive part is, I can now see that she has better focus when she attempts Math questions and has strong spatial reasoning and logical skills. More than that, what is most important to me is that she is engaged in the classes, likes the subject and has also taken an interest in puzzles and heuristics problems.   

Just for Beanie N Us Readers ~ FREE TRIAL!

I am excited to share that 10 lucky winners will stand a chance to win a trial lesson worth $30!

Take part now and you can win a trial for your child to enjoy a first-hand experience of Neuromath Junior lessons!

:: Details

Each lesson is designed to cover 2 sections:
1) Mathematical concepts
2) Cognitive & motor skills development

* Parents are required to accompany pupils aged 3 and 4 during the lesson.
For 5 and 6 years old trial lesson, we also welcome parents to attend with their children so that you can have a good understanding of the Neuromath Junior approach.

Date: 20 July 2013 (Saturday)
Time: 12nn (for 3 & 4YO), 2pm (5 & 6YO)
Topics:
~ Comparing Set within 10 (2 sets) (3 and 4 years old)
~ Money (5 and 6 years old)
Duration: 60 minutes
Venue: All free trial lessons will be conducted at the Upper Bukit Timah Old Fire Station Centre

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note: Trials cannot be exchanged for cash or take place on another date / time. 

As the Neuromath Junior trial takes place in Singapore, this giveaway is opened only to Singapore Residents.

Winners will be chosen randomly and winners will be announced on 17 July 2013 on this blogsite and via your email address. Should you be unable to attend the trial, BeanieNUs and Neuromath Junior reserve the right to give your slot to the next winner.
By taking part in this giveaway, you agree to have your details shared with Neuromath Junior. 

:: Neuromath Junior Enrichment Centre

West
272 Upper Bukit Timah Road #01-13/14 Singapore 588212
(Old Fire Station @ Green Block).

T: (+65) 6466 0145

East (Opening Soon!)

80 Marine Parade Road 
#17-02 Parkway Parade Singapore 449269 

Email: ask@neuromathjunior.com  

Facebook at www.facebook.com/neuromathjunior

Disclaimer

Dumpling and I are invited to participate and review Neuromath Junior's 5YO Math Intelligence Programme in order to give my opinion of it. All opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the complimentary classes given. 

Math Concepts: Values and Subtraction! A Neuromath Junior Review!

Sponsored Review

I have always found Math to be a specialized area and an area where it may not be easy to teach. Especially with the young ones, there is a need to move steadily along yet slowly. Concepts need to be scaffold properly where we move from concrete to pictorial to abstract.

A lot of us heard of these terms before but what does it exactly mean and what are some ways where we can cement that? Following my earlier post on Dumpling and my experience with Neuromath Junior, here's more on the sharing of the Math component of their lessons.

Children under the age of 5 are not quite able to process the abstract part of Math concepts. Hence appropriate learning aids and manipulatives are needed to bind the concept in their minds. By showing a child a number on a card or by being able to recite the number sequence 1 - 10, it does not mean that a child is able to 'count'. Counting means that a child understands values and is able to associate that to a numeral.

:: Concrete
Since the beginning of the term, Dumpling's class has been introduced to number sequencing as part of the 'whole numbers' syllabus. As the term progresses on, the children were given snapcubes as a hands-on learning aid to understand the values of Tens and Ones. By taking on such a systematic approach, it allows the children to develop an understanding of what makes a ten and what does the number "23" mean / why is it written that way - because it is made of 2 tens and 3 ones.

From a homeschooling mum's perspective, this step is definitely one of the most crucial steps as that forms the fundamental of an understanding of whole numbers so I was glad that Neuromath Junior paced along this topic well. 

:: Pictorial

Among some of the many ways that Neuromath Junior moves onto a Pictorial concept is the use of flashcards. I do not personally use flashcards at home and though I am not a big fan of it, through the skilful flipping of the cards by Teacher Esther, I could see how it visually aids the children in having an understanding of grouping and that the quantity and value increase as the number gets bigger.

:: Abstract
Having now an understanding of the values of numbers through the constant reinforcement, the children are then given numbers as part of a read aloud instruction (no learning aids / pictures shown) and from there, they input the values on the worksheet provided. 

:: Subtraction

Once 'whole numbers' was tackled, the class progressed to subtraction in the later classes. Similarly, the topic was introduced with learning aids and songs. 

Above pic: Teacher Esther moving the abacus beads according to the song "5 Little Monkeys" as a concrete representation of counting down

 Above pic: Clearly Dumpling was in her element here with this song :p 

After the children understood the concept of subtraction = lesser in quantity, Teacher Esther proceeded to use another example to further explain and work with them on counting down and this time, with the story of elevators.

The 'lift panel' was then passed on to the children and they had fun counting down via the 'buttons' on it and used it to work on a worksheet. 

Teacher Esther then associated the buttons on the panel to a number line and Dumpling was given another worksheet to attempt where Teacher Esther can then reinforce / guide immediately if the children are still unsure.

Like most of their other worksheet activities, only one page was attempted and the other was used for home practice.

What I liked about the class is that the lessons are definitely well planned and the activities are clearly designed to allow for tiered learning: from concrete to pictorial (and when ready, 'abstract') to build on the children's understanding of the various topics and Math operations. Having reviewed this for more than half a term, I wish that the lesson duration can actually be longer - 70/75 mins instead of the current 60mins as I can see how Dumpling enjoys and benefits from it so far. 

Neuromath Junior Enrichment Centre

272 Upper Bukit Timah Road #01-13/14 Singapore 588212 
(Old Fire Station @ Green Block).

T: (+65) 6466 0145 
Email: ask@neuromathjunior.com 

Facebook at www.facebook.com/neuromathjunior 

Disclaimer

Dumpling and I are invited to participate and review Neuromath Junior's 5YO Math Intelligence Programme in order to give my opinion of it. All opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the complimentary classes given. 

Cementing the Basics in Math - Neuromath Junior

I have been teaching Dumpling Math concepts through a lot of games and hands-on manipulatives. This is especially important when they are at such a young age and concepts need to be cemented before moving onto the next stage.

Dumpling and I were recently invited to sit in and participate in Neuromath Junior's programme. Being a homeschooler, my focus has always been to support from the homefront and where the sessions take on a fun angle and we try to avoid the drilling mode as much as we can.

Neuromath Junior is the sister company of Neuromath Learning Centre. Neuromath Junior aims to provide an engaging and nurturing environment for young children from the age of 3 – 6 years old to develop a love for Mathematics.  The classes for the Neuromath Junior Programme are hence split accordingly to the 4 age groups: 3YO, 4YO, 5YO and 6YO. Each term consists of 10 lessons where on the average, 3 topics are taught per term.  

:: The environment
Neuromath Junior is located at the Old Fire Station along Upper Bukit Timah, an area which has been developed as an enrichment hub specially catered for children. Neuromath Junior lessons are conducted in a classroom setting appropriately set up with child-sized tables and chairs. As the number of students is not large, each room is small and cozy. Classes are clearly demarcated for each age group where the child will be in that same classroom for the rest of the year.

One thing which stood out for me is the positive reinforcement the teacher gave the children throughout the lessons and this is also shown in the display of children's work which are also proudly displayed in every classroom.

:: The lesson
The lessons at Neuromath Junior are typically split into 2 parts - the first half on Math and the second half on Cognitive Development. Math concepts are taught and explained with the use of learning aids, hands-on manipulatives and games. As we sat through the lessons, it was clear that the lessons are planned out properly: flow of each lesson was very smooth, appropriate learning aids were all prepared in advance and the activities were executed in a very orderly manner.

Though activity sheets form part of the lesson plan, not all activities are done at the desks. Children are encouraged to move around the classroom to work on various Math concepts. 

Pictures above: moving along a number line to work on 'counting on' 

Pic above: introduction to length where Dumpling "measured" the width of the door

:: Low teacher-student ratio
The class ratio (at time of post) is 1:6. This is definitely a plus point for me because from a parental viewpoint, I believe that this is an ideal ratio which allows for personal coaching and interaction. Teacher Esther, who is leading Dumpling's class, is also an MOE trained teacher who has spent some years teaching Math in a local primary school hence, has a good understanding of the local primary school Math requirements. 

:: The approach
In terms of a child's Mathematical development, Neuromath Junior takes on a non-drilling hands-on Math approach where concepts are taught in a concrete, pictorial and then the abstract mode manner. This is important to me as I know that if the foundation is not set right for Math, the child will struggle with high order thinking questions when he/she is older.

When there is a need for the children to memorise (for e.g. number sequencing) Neuromath Junior does it in a fun manner for e.g. through the clever use of songs. However, Neuromath Junior would add to that, where the concept of values (in the example below) is further elaborated with an abacus. The concept of adding on is then clearly shown with the adding on of beads, thus helping the child associate the understanding of 'adding on' to 'more beads'.

Besides the Math part, motor skill honing activities and memory games are also played in every lesson. Games which range from visual memory activities to audio activities are conducted to encourage focus and concentration. Being fun, this is clearly a 'winner' with Dumpling but what I like about it is that these are also done in short bursts to keep their engagement level going. 

The activities are also brought down to a level where the children are able to relate to the pictures such as...

Identifying the correct picture in Neuromath Junior's version of the Underwater World...

Attacking the baby donuts...

Stringing her own ladder! 

:: Parental Support

What I like about the programme is that after each session, there is always a debrief for the parents (only the 3 & 4YO classes are accompanied). Each debrief session is about 10 mins long where the teachers will go through, in detail, all the activities the children did in that lesson. Explanations also include how they taught it and the various steps they went through to explain that concept. 

The debrief is also where the teachers will provide feedback on the areas where parents can support and how we can guide them  from home. In each of the class, for the Math part, the children will usually be guided to attempt half of the activities and the parents will then work with the children on the remaining half at home. 

From a homeschooling parent's perspective, that is crucial for me as these classes are conducted only once a week and so home support and guidance are definitely necessary. :) 

This is the first of a three-part series in the review of Neuromath Junior's 5YO Math Intelligence Programme. The second post is on Values and Subtraction and the last post will be on the Cognitive part of the programme. 

Neuromath Junior Enrichment Centre

272 Upper Bukit Timah Road #01-13/14 Singapore 588212 
(Old Fire Station @ Green Block).

T(+65) 6466 0145 
Email: ask@neuromathjunior.com 

Facebook at www.facebook.com/neuromathjunior 

Disclaimer

Dumpling and I are invited to participate and review Neuromath Junior's 5YO Math Intelligence Programme in order to give my opinion of it. All opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the complimentary classes given. 

Fun with Math - Out at the Carpark

The focus for Math for Dumpling has very much been on 2 areas lately: namely understanding of place values (being able to 'name / read') and addition.

Dumpling has been able to add on quite comfortably and over the past few weeks, we have ventured into the addition of bigger numbers. So, on a not-so-hot afternoon last week, Dumpling and I took a stroll around the car park.

:: Hundreds and Thousands Hunt! 
Dumpling first got to know how to name / read up to hundreds when we watched ... 101 Dalmatians! Hence at this stage, I am working with Dumpling on the "naming / reading" of numbers beyond hundreds, venturing into Thousands.

Car plates are truly useful for that as shared by a guest in a previous Math post. The number plates we saw last week had 2 digits, 3 digits and right down to 4 digits. Dumpling and I took turns to hunt for car plates within the "hundred series" before I worked with her on thousands.

Above pic: after we did the hundreds hunt, we then went on to a simpler 4 digit series before slowing moving onto something more complex (like below)

Above pic: Dumpling going hmmmmm... 

:: Algorithm Addition

Dumpling does not quite have the patience for worksheets and hence, the walk around the car park proved to be fun and more enjoyable for us both. Dumpling has established her ease in the counting on method and we have attempted simple algorithm addition at home. 

For the car park activity, I hunted for simpler series of digits (as above - without any carrying over) and got her to add the first 2 and the last 2 digits together (be sure to explain to your child that is an entirely different activity and has nothing to do with the earlier exercise). 

This 'hunt' brought a different fun factor as we did several of such additions. Best of all, it costs nothing and is easily done since all you need is to head to the car park! So, take a walk to the car park today with your preschooler! :)

 (Note: please be very careful of any vehicles - Dumpling and I went down during non peak hours where they were hardly any moving vehicles. Of course, children must be supervised at all times at the car park during this exercise.) 

Fun with Math - Living Math

With Dumpling, when she was younger, there was a complete lack of interest in numbers. Books on the other hand, are a totally different thing. She'd get lost in them and would ask me to read more than 10 titles to her at a go.

Now, when it came to numbers, as there was no magical journey to go on and she did not quite find it applicable / useful at that point, she was not interested in wanting to try. Getting her to recite number sequence was futile as she refuses to 'entertain' me to go beyond 20 up till earlier this year. *sigh*

So it became a personal challenge for me to look for fun ways to make Math enjoyable, interesting and applicable. Hence the Fun with Math series was born.

In an earlier Math homelearning post, Dumpling and I had fun with the Supermarket printables which I made.  I have always been talking and discussing things when we are outdoors so it is more of an incidental learning approach. So it was time to head out to the "real world" where mum handed over some duties!

Here's 3 fun ideas on Living Math! :)

:: Reading of price tags
I introduced to Dumpling how prices are being labelled where sometimes, decimal points are used while during other incidents, prices can also be displayed like below where the "cents" are underlined.

After reading the price tags, I asked her to go on a mini "hunt" to identify the item with specific value - 90cents, $1.50, etc.

:: Weight
I also took the opportunity to introduce her to the use of a scale and got her to identify the numbers on it and then to add on tomatoes to the scale till it was at 500gm. This allows her to learn estimation as well as to develop an idea how tomatoes of different sizes vary in weight, etc. She had loads of fun with this and could not bear to leave the scale! LOL

:: Handling of money
I started delegating the "coin" duty to her so whenever we are outside, she'd have to help me search for the right coins, add them up and hand them over to the vendor. Mind you, not everyone was so ever patient waiting for the little ones to pass the coins over so a word of caution there!

Fun with Math - Money money money, it's a rich man's world!

Teaching Math does not come naturally to me. While I did fairly well in this topic in school, I personally feel that it is a very specialized field. This is because the children's foundation for Math needs to be built on slowly; if it is not strong, the child will struggle as she / he progresses as the concepts are related.

I am still not a very big fan of worksheets but I recognise that as Dumpling moves into P1, she will need to be "exposed" to such activities. We started exploring on the topic of "Money" where I made a small pack of activities along with some learning aids. I wanted to introduce the concept of money and value in a fun way and with pretend play.

So with the idea, we created a Supermarket scene which co-relates to the activity sheets and word problems.

Dumpling and I turned this into a game - not unlike the game show "Supermarket Sweep"! I also turned it into a memory game as I rattled off the grocery items and she had to remember the list and zip off to taking the correct items! :p 

Dumpling took on the role of a shopper pretty seriously I must say. We did the topic in this order:

1) Familiarizing her with the coins

2) Understand 'value' of the coins

3) Shopped &

4) Applied them to the word problems where she pasted her items on the mat and did the sums

The topic lasted for a week for us as we worked through the topic slowly. It was very fun working through the topic with pretend play. :) We also took turns where she would shout out the items for me to buy and I had to work on the sum while she looked on. For bigger numbers, Dumpling used the abacus to help her. 

This is part of our Fun with Math series. Stay tuned for our next post to our trip to the Supermarket!

Edit: Here's the download for the money packs activities (supermarket items & money pack) that we have done. Please note that these are for home school and home use purpose. Please do not tweak it and sell it. It is not meant for any form of sale / profit. 

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Fun with Math - at the zoo (panda enclosure)

We love animals. Because of that, we have been "Friends of the Zoo" for the past 2 years. There is something nice and relaxing to have a morning walk in the cool breeze of the zoo.

Our membership expired last week and we took the opportunity to head out to the zoo one and this time, with the intention of visiting the famous Panda pair :) Dumpling has been asking to see them for some time but we have been a tad busy on weekend mornings for the past few months.

We had to top $5 for the adults and $3 for child and this is for a preview of 15mins per session. These are "booked" in blocks of 20 mins frequency. We were at the zoo by 840am and our slot was for 920am. When we left the enclosure, the crowd starting trickling in, so do head off early if you can.

The entrance to the Giant Panda enclosure is just across the Otters. Once you enter, there is about perhaps a 2- 3 mins walk, along an "S" shape before we reach the Panda's enclosure. Along the way you can see some information about Yang Tze river and there were loads of small signages. I did not take any photos of the other enclosures (alligator, etc.) because they were all still empty. 

Before being admitted into the Panda enclosure, in a typical Singapore fashion, we had to queue (while a video was being played in the background on a videowall) while a Zoo staff reminded us not to be quiet and not to use flash photography (and in her words "call them by their names - Kai Kai, loudly" *guffaws*). And of course, we paused along the way for some shots :p 

Before we got to the "stars", we passed by the Red Panda section - they were absolutely gorgeous! 

There were some 'interactive' drawers before we got to the enclosure which Dumpling had some fun with viewing the contents.

And finally, we got to see the stars! :) Below is Kai Kai which really is the more active of the two. He clearly has a more inquisitive nature as he kept looking on at the visitors and I thought that he actually looked like he was smiling!

And here's Jia jia who was more interested in her food! :p

Of course, no trip in the Zoo is not completed with some general knowledge peppered along the way...

Dumpling was so excited to see the mascot outside that she squealed in delight. She also insisted on taking photo with just Jia Jia 'because she is so cute and pretty!' LOL

 

We clearly had a good time though a 15 mins preview is a tad too short if one were to spend time reading up on the various information signages along the way. It would have been great if we had like 20 - 25 mins where Dumpling can at least have more time looking into all the contents of those drawers than having to be rushed through. 

One of our key focus for homeschool for this year is on Math. So I have been getting Dumpling involved in "Everyday Math" where we have "Fun with Math" even when we are outside. We even managed to touch on some simple concepts at the Zoo that morning! 

1) Coins
We are learning on the topic of money and Dumpling saw this flower right outside the enclosure! This flower appears on one of our coins. Do you know what flower this is and which coin it is on?

 

2)  Calculation of entrance charges

Simple addition (we did this at home after the visit where she cheekily used her toes too!) LOL

3) Identifications of patterns

Dumpling spotted the ABB pattern while we were heading back out to the main area

4) Hunt for Vertical and Horizontal Lines!
This is useful for us when we do data collection

Dumpling had a fun time albeit it was just a short 2 hours visit to the zoo (we were there mainly for the Pandas that morning). What I hope to achieve with Dumpling is to make Math fun and applicable for her. It need not be boring or taught through just the drilling method so it was really fun being able to incorporate a little of of it in our field trip!

Math is one of the focus for our homeschool this year and I will be blogging more on how we can have 'Fun with Math' with our preschoolers in the following months to come!