Russian School of Mathematics

@hrastro, thanks for the many ideas.

Right now the older one is doing only addition and subtraction at school. They do many of the stuff that you talked about. Its very hands-on. We also do such activities with legos and pistachio shells, tamarind seeds at home. We play cards and simple games which re-inforce addition and subtraction. When I give him problems in division and multiplication like what you suggested, he sometimes gets them.

Just yesterday when walking back from school he said his school has 24 classes. I asked how did you know, did you go around counting all the classrooms? He says there are 6 levels in school (Kindergarten to 5th grade), each level has 4 classes, so there are 6 times 4 classes in all. I don't know how much that it is, so I did 4 times 6 which is nothing but 2 times 6 plus 2 times 6. That is 12 plus 12 which is 24!! Needless to say I am thrilled!! Because he did all this mentally with little effort from me or from school (they aren't doing multiplication or division yet).

There are 2 issues that I want to address through classes.

1. The school does great on practical math. I mean that they use hand-on activities to explain concepts. What is lacking is reinforcement. They don't practise many problems or get much homework. I would like them to work more problems, it doesnt happen. I guess parents have to do that bit, but most parents at school do not want any homework at the elementary level and are against any kind of testing and memorization. Its hard to find out how much the kid knows and how well he remembers what he knows over a period of time. In India we had mid-term exams and quarterly, half-yearly and annual exams when you studied all that you had been taught the whole year. Continuous revision is necessary to remember stuff. It doesnt happen here. TO make matters worse, there is no textbook which you can revise with the kids. We have to look outside of school for the re-inforcement and revision.

In short, there is no way to gauge how well the kid is doing in math and how well he remembers what he has learnt over the course of time.

2. The second objective of sending to classes is to develop a mathematical way of thinking. @hrastro, you summed it up very well in your post about LCF. I did see a video somewhere on how math is taught in E Europe sometime ago, unable to find the link, will post it when I find it. I have heard and read that USSR had the best system of teaching math, it was one of the few areas which was free of govt intervention. Back then they produced great mathematicians. Many Field's Medal winners too. I am just trying to find out if RSM is doing atleast some if not all of what they did back in USSR.

I can handle the reinforcement part but mathematical thinking is a far cry for me. Like you said, problem solving skills is very important. I am always looking at resources aimed at this. I dont know if I am able to convey what I am looking for.

My son attends violin lessons (one of my ways to develop mathematical thinking). He was able to add fractions in a rough way through music theory. His teacher was surprised too.

I get both of my kids to help me in cooking sometimes so I sneak in some math as well as gyan about how good Indian food is

Your question about gifted students - every Indian/Asian kid in US is gifted!!!
There is always a race to push kids, to ensure they do all the four operations, fractions, decimals by the time they are 7 or 8! Never mind that the usual school syllabus covers all this stuff by the 5th grade. The way this is done is by enrolling in all sorts of classes like Kumon, Abacus etc. They start these classes when the kid is 4 or 5 years old, so the kid is always gifted as he is ahead in class. When you are gifted this way I guess you can take tests and enter special classes/schools if your school district offers those facilities. Unless the classes advertise themselves as catering to gifted students, parents wouldnt touch them by the end of a bargepole.

I am still trying to figure out the American education system, so probably what many Indian/Asian parents do probably makes sense at the end of it all. I only know for sure that my kid would be bored to tears if I made him do Kumon.

That said, there are genuinely gifted students and good classes that cater to them. There is such a kid in his violin class and when he plays all of us are watching him open-mouthed. He is that good.

My kid is a normal kid with host of interests. He did pass some test conducted by a university and attend some classes there. But then many kids do that, no extraordinary skill is required. The kids are of course bright and motivated, the parents even more so and are able to pay the high fees there.

The memory game that you suggested is very good. I remember doing this as a kid. Like you rightly guessed my younger one is good at this, she has a good memory. SHe is my to-do list, grocery shopping list. I have to approach math in a different way with her, its so easy for her to memorise.

 

@laks09, when my son was little he didnt know what to do with legos. I used to build and he would just watch. Over course of time he took to it. I am sure your little one will take to it over time. Does he like cars? There is this excellent game which my kids love. Thinkfun Rush hour junior. Lots of strategy and thinking. In fact I love all games that Thinkfun makes.

I am impressed by what I have read of the Swedish/Finnish education system too. In fact I find the education system in many other European countries pretty darn impressive. The system can only be as good as the teachers there.

What happens in US is that they tend to pick and choose from from various countries be it education or food without adopting or understanding the whole system. For eg Singapore math is very good, there is a huge market for singapore math in US. But for all the advantages of SM to flow in, it has to be taught the way in which the designers of the books intended it to be taught. It gets diluted sometimes by the need to adhere to Common Core and sometimes by the quality of teachers. There are many activities that are in the Teacher's manual. If they are skipped due to inability of teacher or paucity of time, there is not much value. In the end the end-product is no where the original singapore math that is taught in Singapore. This could happen with any curriculum be it finnish or japanese.

 

@shanvy, isn't it wonderful that Finland is doing away with subject-wise teaching? Although implementing it could have many hurdles.

A friend in Bangalore says her kid's CBSE school does try to do this sort of thing. A fifth grader studying optics was asked to collect Hindi poems on light and shadows. Cool right!

When I was in school, one of my favorite things to imagine (apart from cute boys ) was a school like this where kids read Tolstoy, created a play with props, sang Russian songs and dressed up in rich Russian clothes(never mind that Tolstoy couldnt stand the bourgeouise!) and read Russian books on astronomy.
Too bad, back then I didnt know about Russian math, else I would have incorporated that one too.

 

Lots of great ideas @hrastro! Thanks a ton.

Will implement the worksheet idea from tomorrow

 

@shanvy, you are such a wonderful teacher! Your kids are lucky to have you teach them.

Thanks for the links. Are the AMTI books available at regular bookstores in India?