Math Monkey

I took H to a trial class at Math Monkey today. Despite my reluctance to put him in any academic-type enrichment programme (see my previous post on mental maths), I thought I should just check it out anyway. My sister did some research on the various math programmes available out there (so that saved me some trouble) before enrolling my niece who's now in standard 1 in Eye Level (previosuly known as Enopi). But she suggested I check out Math Monkey cos they incorporate games in their curriculum, hence more fun. The reason why my niece isn't going to Math Monkey is that you need to start young (i.e. from 4) else you'd not be able to catch up on the techniques.  

So as usual, I had to prep H about going to the class. I was quite surprised he did not reject the idea when I told him we'll be going for a math class at Math Monkey (I also made a light joke out of it about monkeys doing math, etc. so that he wouldn't feel intimidated). The first thing the teacher did was to give him an assessment (4-year old paper) to test his level. Of course he wouldn't go into class alone, so Po-Po went in and sat with him. After the test, Po-Po was told to leave the room so that he can continue with the trial lesson but he wouldn't hear of that, so Po-Po left the room and I went in instead.

The trial lesson was at the Green Monkey Troop level with about 6 other kids all around H's age (4+ years old). Today's lesson was about Bigger and Smaller. The teacher drew a staircase and wrote 0 to 10 in ascending order up the stairs. The kids were told that the numbers become bigger as you go up the stairs and smaller as you come down the stairs. They were then told to count 0 to 10 as the teacher pointed up the stairs and 10 to 0 as the teacher pointed down the stairs. Then the teacher wrote pairs of numbers on the board and asked the children which number in each pair was bigger or smaller. This was way too simple for H since he's already mastered his numbers.

Next it was game time. The kids were divided into 2 groups. The teacher will flash a question and whichever group gave the answer first will win 2 points. H actually participated in the game and he was happily beaming away cos his team was leading all the way. The game was to fill in the missing number. E.g. 5, _, 7. Again this was way to easy for H.

After the game, the kids were asked to do a worksheet from their folder. Since H did not have a folder (he's not a student yet), the teacher asked him to go to the board in front and tested him. She asked him to count backwards from 10 to 0 and write the numbers on the board, she gave him more number pairs and asked him to circle the smaller number in each pair, she gave him more fill in the missing number questions - all he did with ease. The teacher then asked him to sit for the 5-year old assessment paper. Again he did it with ease and got all the answers correct.

In the same room, at the back of the class, there were 2 other boys being taught by another teacher. They were learning about division (lesson was on halving). And the teacher had written on the board a list of numbers, something like that (I think they read half of xx = yy):
H20 -> 10
H40 -> 20
.
.
.

H was actually more interested in what the big boys were learning. H asked "mommy what are the kor kor learning?" I told him they're learning halving, e.g. half of 20 is 10. H then said "if you have 40 candies and share, each one will get 20?"

What's my take on Math Monkey?
If you've read my previous post you'd have read that my concern is that these math centres teach techniques to perform calculations but not math concepts. It's good for kids who already have the fundamentals, since all you want out of the programme is to equip them with the techniques to perform mental calculations with speed and accuracy. But for kids who don't have the fundamentals, then we're just training robots to churn out answers without really understanding the meaning of the numbers. I cannot really conclude whether concepts are actually taught in Math Monkey since I've only attended one lesson (and a simple lesson at that - perhaps at the higher levels the lessons are taught differently).

For example, in today's lesson when the kids were taught about bigger and smaller, the teacher asked, "Why is 8 bigger than 4?". I was expecting her to show quantities, something concrete, so that the kids can witness for themselves that 8 is bigger or more than 4. Instead she said, "because it's higher up the stairs", pointing to the stairs she drew on the board. I didn't think that was right. It's perhaps a good way to make the kids remember, but it certainly isn't the right way to teach quantities.

Would I send H to Math Monkey?
If H does not have the strong math concepts that he has, NO! Since he loves numbers and loves doing maths, MAYBE. I'd certainly not send him if he's at the Green Monkey Troop level. For H, he's placed at the Lemur Troop level in which mental math techniques will be introduced. It'll definitely be something new and interesting to him. Besides, participating in the games will help him come out of his 'shy' self.

At the end of the lesson, I asked H whether he enjoyed himself and whether he wanted to go again, he nodded yes. So maybe we'll give it a try :-)