It’s Where Practice Makes Perfect

The phrase ‘Practice makes Perfect’ is well known amongst many, but is it true? Particularly when it comes to Maths, I think it is very TRUE. If we want to be good at it, then we need to practice. Repetition is the mother of all skills. With daily practices, Little Edison is becoming better and better in his Maths.

In March this year, I’ve set a time table for our daily home practice with Little Edison. But recently, I changed my priorities. Since our boy is able to do his Maths and Chinese writing independently now, I give him 12 Maths questions and one page of Chinese writing as homework for him to do in the afternoon.

After school, he returned to my parents-in-law’s house, showers, takes his lunch, followed by his afternoon nap. When he wakes up, it’s time for him to do his homework – the Maths questions and Chinese writing that I’ve prepared for him.

Initially, I would give him a call at about 3pm from my office to remind him to do his homework. After a few days, it gradually became a routine and he will do his homework without being reminded.

He is able to do addition up to 30 and subtraction for 10 and below independently now. Initially, I taught him addition by drawing balls and adding them up. Once he is familiarized with the concept of addition, I taught him to count with his fingers – starting from the smallest number. I also taught him how to use an abacus, but he didn’t like it.

Subtraction comes pretty easy for him. Since he is counting with his fingers, he can only perform subtraction of 10 and below now. I need to think of a method to teach him subtraction for 10 and above. Any ideas to share with me?

My priorities are now on Chinese reading and English Phonics. So, we spend more time at night reading books (English & Chinese) and phonics readers.