Singapore Math - Or How I Learned To Love Numbers - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Singapore Math - Or How I Learned To Love Numbers - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Like most Americans, I definitely grew up not seeing any beauty in numbers. My math education was a jumble of meaningless steps, arcane algorithms and tear-stained time tests. It was not until adulthood that I saw the usefulness of numbers, and not until I began teaching Singapore math that I saw their elegance. 

Teachers tend to teach using the same methods that were in existence when they were children themselves. Called "social transmission of acquired behavior", scientists have shown this to be common among most species. In humans, it probably explains the monolithic inertia so evident in public education.

So when I started teaching math, I used worksheets, time tests, and rote memorization - all the same tools that had not worked when I was a child! What else did I know?

On March 27, 2004, (yes, I remember the date!) I met Corrinne Lieu, an experienced teacher from Singapore who had come to California after her marriage, and all that was soon to change.

Singapore math is, of course, the national curriculum of Singapore, and over the last ten years, it has been spreading gradually through progressive schools and districts across the US.  (Editor's Note:  Singapore historically ranks #1 or #2 in Math internationally, well ahead of the U.S.  See related story here.)