Instic Accelerates When Everybody Else Rests

Back in 2008, my colleagues and I over at onSponge published the thinkingMath resources which popularised solving problems sums using concepts or strategies such as Constant Difference, Internal Transfer, Quantity x Value, Total Change, Gap & Difference, etc. Since then solving math problems using these strategies has become common and taught in many schools and tuition centres.

While these strategies are an important part of the problem solving process, at Instic we have raised the bar to the Next Generation of Learning with our proprietary ICAN approach to problem solving.

  • I am an independent learner
  • Confident in holistic/horizontal application of concepts learnt in any scenarios
  • Adaptable to new higher order concepts and strategies [increased resilience]
  • Nurturing and growing the child to ensure strong topical foundation in mathematical concepts

Primary 3 & 4 Mathematics

With only weighted-assessments in Primary 1 and 2, there is often a considerable jump in the amount of content students are required to learn as well as the introduction of exam stress not prevalent in Primary 2.

Instic’s P3 & P4 programmes are build by ex MOE teachers and curriculum specialists who have extensive experience in P4 to P6 as well. Every lesson is centered on developing strong foundation skills to tackle problem sums. Students are mentored to complete their work with a spirit of excellence and pride.

Instic’s proprietary materials contain skill-based modules, a complete spectrum of fundamental to challenging questions, and specially selected exam questions from a wide base of schools not found online or available through bookstores. Your child will be able to learn, retain and apply the essential skills taught and develop strong foundation skills to solve challenging word problems.

Instic’s exam preparation classes expose your child to a wide variety of real exam-based questions to eliminate fear and anxiety in a formal exam setting.

 

Primary 3

Building on from P2, in our P3 programme, you child will be introduced model drawing skills which most children will struggle in the latter years if not learnt properly. 

Coaches will then bring in key heuristics skills such as formulating equations, number patterns, guess-and-check and grouping which are important in solving problem sums. 

New topics such as area and perimeter, angles and bar graphs are included.

 

Primary 4

In Primary 4, your child will tap on what was taught in P3 and go indepth into the problem solving skills. Your child will be exposed to more challenging questions that require heuristic skills such as units and parts.  

Understand the importance of applying part-whole concept in Fractions will help your child excel in one of the most daunting topics in the entire primary school curriculum. Guiding them to use the protractor measure angles and illustrate them is also one of the key skills your child must have.

New topics such as Factors and Multiples, Decimals, and Symmetry are included.

I don’t know where I would be without my Instic coach! My maths [marks] would probably be down the dustbin. She is passionate, patient and kind – definitely a rare find … she motivated me to do better and [demonstrated] that maths actually matter. My coach has sparked my interest in this subject … come join Instic Academy!

Rebekah Tan – S3

Singapore Chinese Girls School (SCGS)

Primary 5 & 6 Mathematics

The upper primary is often deem as “no time to play” and the children are very much set in exam mode from the beginning of Primary 5. However, in Instic Academy, we believe in pacing the children well and ensure that gaps in the lower primary are closed before we move on to help your child refine important skills to solve word problems. We help our students develop confidence in their ability and stretch them to solve challenging questions. They are able to eliminate careless mistakes by verifying steps and reduce calculation errors to ensure accuracy in exams.

Primary 5

No doubt Primary 5 is always known as the toughest year in your child’s primary school life. It is also the year to close any learning gaps in order to be ready for the national exam – PSLE. This is the first time your child will sit for an exam broken into 2 parts – Paper 1 and Paper 2, with Paper 2 weighting 55 marks out of 100. While being mindful the increase in intensity of the content, we prepare your children in scoring for paper 2 with ample meaningful practices and exam preparation workshops. The new topics are abstract to many children hence the need to strengthen these topics by helping them find the connection with what they have already learnt in Primary 3 & 4. Our curriculum help draw a link between the new topics such as percentage and ratio to fractions. Other new topics include area of triangles, average and volume. These require strong spatial visualisation skills which your child will get to learn in a scaffolded curriculum. Leveraging on technology, our classroom environment equips the coaches to use tools to help your child visualise angles, quadrilaterals and volume questions.

Primary 6

With all the methods learnt in school from Primary 1 to Primary 5, does your child struggles with too many methods learnt and doesnt know how, when and what to apply? Before we thrust forward to preparing your child for PSLE, our coaches will review what was taught in the earlier years and introduce new topics such as Algebra, Speed, Circles and Pie Charts. While many focused on strengthening problem solving skills, instic academy helps individual child formulate the best strategy to adopt during the revision period. We are able to support not just dealing with problem sums but ace-ing for Paper 1 PSLE questions. Consultation slots are also available for those who require more practice on their own.