Food for thought - Teaching a child "how to fish"

We are in the midst of conducting our Math Holiday Programmes for the P5 and P6 kiddos. Hence we will post and share more on educational issues after the June holidays.

We are glad to see that after a few days of lessons, the kiddos have shared with us that they are clearer in the Maths concepts involved in the questions that they encounter. Some of the kiddos find the challenging questions that we pose daunting at first. However, after our explanations, they see the light. We reiterate to them that they will need to practise the questions again and ensure that they understand the concepts and heuristics involved.

Some of the kiddos are very candid when they share with us that they have not been taught to identify the Maths concepts involved in many of the questions. Our advice to these kids is: Don't feel disheartened. Make sure you revise the concepts thoroughly after the intensive holiday programme. Otherwise, you will forget what you have learnt.

We have always believed in teaching the kids "how to fish". It is crucial for them to be aware of and identify the Maths and Science concepts and the heuristics or answering techniques involved before they can apply them. It is the same for English. They have to be taught the grammatical rules, the comprehension strategies and the writing techniques explicitly before they can apply them.

As parents and educators, here is some food for thought. Does doing practice paper after practice paper definitely translate into results? For pupils who have grasped the concepts, it will definitely help as they are exposed to a wide variety of questions. For pupils who have not fully grasped the concepts, it is vital that they are exposed to the thought processes, concepts, skills and answering techniques involved during their learning. Only then will we see results when we supplement their learning with assessment books and practice papers.

What does teaching entail?  Is it going through the model answers in the revision papers and books? I think it is more important to go through with the kids the thought processes, concepts, skills and answering techniques. As the saying goes, "Teaching is an art." It entails a lot of preparation and reflection. What is best for the kids? What works for the kids? If this strategy does not work, can we use another strategy?