Our Program Pedagogy

Our Centre’s pedagogy uses the Bar Model Method to guide almost every aspect of the child’s mathematical learning.

The Bar Model Method is aligned to the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract (C-P-A) approachwhich is the key pedagogical approach in teaching Mathematics in all Primary Schools throughout Singapore. It is pictorial in nature and bridges the concrete to the abstract by allowing students to first visualize (starting from pre-primary level) and understand the problem before progressing to the abstract where numbers, notation and symbol are used.

In Singapore, students learn how to solve problems using the bar model technique from as young as Primary 2, where they apply it to very simple problems.

(Example: A man sold 238 balloons at a fun fair in the morning. He sold another 62 balloons in the afternoon. How many balloons did he sell in all?)

From Primary 3 onwards, they apply the same versatile technique to more difficult, multistep problems. By Primary 6, they are ready to solve complicated problems.

(Example: Linda spent 20 percent of her money on a dress. She spent 2/5 of the remainder on a bag. She had $72 left. How much money did she have at first?)
Consider the same scenario with a different question.
Solving word problems is an important basic skill in Mathematics. It reinforces the learning and deepens the understanding of Mathematics concepts through application in meaningful contexts. One of the advantages of Bar Modeling is to be able to help students to represent and solve structurally complex word problems. It is especially useful for problems that involve comparisons, part-whole calculations, ratios, proportions, and rates of change. It communicates graphically and instantly enable students to process the given information, and make sense of the known and unknown quantities and their relationships to solve the problem. With this solid foundation, students can easily progress to Algebra.