“And that’s what’s so exciting about the program for the kids,” said Luke Felker, Madison Country Day School, “is that through some solid work at the beginning, they begin to realize that they can do a lot of this in their heads.”
Felker says the program also focuses more on depth, than it does covering a variety of math lessons, making it easier for the kids to retain what they learn.
Retired UW professor Richard Askey says the Singapore program is highly successful, but it isn’t the only way to properly teach math.
“It’s possible to do it in other ways,” said Askey. “Japanese elementary schools are not exactly the same as the Singapore, and they’re done carefully.”
Askey says US schools haven’t been teaching math ‘carefully.’