2023 P5 Grade Accelerator Programme

Here’s What We’ll Be Covering In The Upcoming Months

Based on the curriculum plan above, there are a total of 10 topics that students need to master in preparation for their P5 End-of-Year (EOY) examinations.

Challenge 1: Students Do Not Follow a Structured Approach Towards Model Drawing.

Model drawing is a highly effective way to represent information from the questions clearly and concisely. Why, then do so many students find model drawing a chore and opt instead to dive straight into their mathematical workings? 

Over the years of teaching, we have come to realise that many students do not practice a structured approach towards model drawing. Here are 3 of the most common reasons:

1. The student does not know how to include all the information from the question in the model(s).
2. The student does not know how to effectively use a variation of “lines” and “shades” to represent additions and subtractions.
3. When drawing multiple models, e.g. “before” and “after” models, students have difficulty mapping information from one model to another. In fact, students are often confused as to whether they should begin from the “before” or “after” model! 

The end result is a set of models drawn by students that serve to confuse rather than clarify. This leads to frustration and subsequently reluctance to draw models during examinations as it is simply a “waste of time”. The outcome is, more often than not, a loss of crucial marks due to their “carelessness” or misinterpretation of the question. 

At The Pi Lab, we help our students overcome this challenge by equipping them with a simple yet effective 5-step model drawing technique. This technique aims to teach our students to use models efficiently to solve word problems. With a systematic approach towards model drawing, our students recognise their usefulness in tackling lengthy word problems. This instinctively cultivates our students’ motivation to draw models, as they now recognise the tangible benefits of effective model drawing.

*Disclaimer: Students should note that model drawing, while effective, is time-consuming. Hence, it is not always the most effective approach towards problem solving. There will be other advanced strategies (e.g. “ratio method”) that students must also master in order to save precious time during examinations. 

Challenge 2: Understanding Keywords/Phrases & Their Significance.

Keywords… important phrases… clues… Students are often told to look out for these by their teachers. However, we have realised that many students have a hard time figuring out what these crucial pieces of information look like. In fact, even after identifying this information, students are unaware of their relative importance and how they can be used in guiding their approach when tackling word problems. Confused? Let me give you an example: 

Jane had thrice as many pens as Mark. After Mark bought 36 pens and Jane bought 6 pens, both of them had the same number of pens in the end. How many pens did each of them have in the end?

The key phrases in the question are in bold. Students who are unaware of the relative importance of the key phrases would begin from the start where “thrice as many” is indicated. 

However, for this question, students will realise through their model drawing that it is easier to begin from the end where the phrase “same number” is found. This means that the key phrase “same number” is more significant than the key phrase “thrice as many”.

Challenge 3: Gaining Exposure to Questions With Different Heuristics and Their Sub-types.

Many of my students spend hours practising word problems from various sources, such as past year examinations papers, workbooks and assessment books. However, they are constantly surprised by many “new” questions during their examinations. What has gone wrong here? Don’t math teachers all say that “practice makes perfect?”. 

Here at The Pi Lab, we tell our students that “the right practice makes perfect”. Students should practice questions with consideration for the range and variety of question types. Our students are exposed to 14 main heuristics, with each heuristic having multiple sub-types. During our weekly lessons, 11 of these heuristics will be covered in Primary 5, with the last 3 covered in Primary 6. 

What If The Topic Sequence Doesn’t Match Your Child’s School Curriculum?

As you may be aware, different schools teach topics in different sequences and your child’s school curriculum may not be perfectly aligned with the curriculum of our Grade Accelerator Programme.

Here at The Pique Lab, our end goal is to cover the entire syllabus and have ample time for revision for the final year examination.

If your child has not learned a topic that is taught during the Grade Accelerator Programme, it will be a head start for him/her before the topic is taught during the school curriculum.

If your child has learnt it in school previously, it will be a good reinforcement for him/her as he/she might not have a thorough understanding of the topic when he/she was taught in school.

Throughout your child’s academic year with us, should he/she be taught a different topic from our internal curriculum, you may reach out to our academic team if he/she has any questions related to their current schoolwork.

Is Your Child Ready For The Big Year Ahead?

Over the years, we have also learnt that parents play a pivotal role in the academic success of their child. In particular, we discovered that students typically achieve breakthroughs faster in Science if their parents coach and monitor them at home regularly.

In order to offer the best learning experience for your child, we also strive to provide an amazing support system for parents, like you.

For starters, here is how you can help your child improve more quickly:

#1: Ensure that your child completes his/her homework properly & punctually and brings them back to class.

#2: Ensure that your child reviews our notes and worksheets during the week.

#3: Ensure that your child is adequately prepared for our tests.

#4: If your child is unclear of a concept or has a question, he/she is highly encouraged to approach his/her teacher.

Please note that only topical tests & graded assignments given in the weekly classes will be marked for all learning arrangements. Homework that is given in the weekly classes will be reviewed together as a class and will not be marked.

Thank you & all the best! 😇