A form of “mathematical acupuncture” that could relieve non-Singapore teachers and students of math anxiety, if they experiment with problem-solving heuristics like the bar model method and stack model method, while experiencing the pain of brain-unfriendly questions.
Although a number of countries that embraced Singapore math have seen significant improvement in their students’ math scores, however, without parental and societal pressures for a nation to become numerate, at best cosmetic changes would result even with the best math curriculum in place.
by MathPlus July 14, 2018
Get the Singapore Math mug.The mathematical equivalent of having brown rice rather than white biryani rice. An unsexy, wholesome math curriculum that is healthy to the mind, but brain-unfriendly for most students, who need to force themselves to mastering the concepts confidently.
Like taking cod liver oil, which is good for the body immune system, Singapore math may look unappetizing, but after spending a few hundred hours practicing thousands of nonroutine, impractical or sterile questions, your brain can only get mathematically stronger and healthier.
by MathPlus June 7, 2018
Get the Singapore Math mug.When math-smart yes-members of Parliament and cabinet ministers in Singapore—who are versed with all the big numbers of their million-dollar salaries and bonuses and the nation’s trillion-dollar economy—appear quasi-clueless on how to deal with the alphas, betas, and deltas, which has resulted in a daily unhealthy number of corona infections in recent weeks—could these half-street-smart politicians outwit these Greek viruses and variants?
Although the government has provided a safe haven for thousands of tax fugitives from both rich and rogue nations, and created a materialistic milieu that motivates both locals and aliens to deify the money god, however, Singapore math ministers’ social living-with-Covid experiment looks like they’re indulging in some trial-and-error political calculus with the lives and livelihoods of the people.
by Covido February 5, 2022
Get the Singapore Math mug.A mélange or rojak of the best math methodologies and pedagogies from the East and the West, which has given local students in the “fine” city of Singapore an asymmetric or unfair advantage over their peers overseas—when even their weaker students fare better than the global average.
Singapore Math has sprung up a cottage industry in math education, as millions of homeschoolers worldwide realized that wallet-friendly, brain-unfriendly math titles have helped their children hone their problem-solving skills.
by Numerati December 15, 2024
Get the Singapore Math mug.A girly form of practical pseudo-street math promoted on social platforms like TikTok and Instagram, which makes someone feel that they are getting a good deal or bargain, or that they are smartly saving rather than splurging their cash away.
“Singapore Math” is a cousin of “Girl Math.” It’s like freely or unashamedly taking home a dozen-plus sachets of sugar, salt, ketchup, and chili sauce from McDonald’s, when you’ve only ordered the cheapest set meal on offer.
by Numerati October 24, 2025
Get the Singapore Math mug.Also known as “Singapore Math in the Metaverse.” When thanks to Web 3.0 technology, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—backed by blockchain technology to ensure authenticity and ownership—become common currency or key connecting points to the metaverse among math educators and geeky investors.
While Singapore Math 3.0 is still in its diapers, or is still wet so we can’t see its true colors, mathepreneurs can’t afford to be spectators that they miss out on the opportunities and experiences and new revenue streams offered by the new digital Wild West economy.
by Fasters November 7, 2022
Get the Singapore Math 3.0 mug.When math educators fly to the “fine” city of Singapore to attend a pep talk on the bar model method, and to visit a local school and watch a teacher conduct a problem-solving math lesson, before spending the rest of their educational trip on shopping and sightseeing.
When Singapore Math tourism visitors flew back home, they’d excitedly tell their principals or superintendents to embrace the Singapore Math model, by substituting their present dear mile-wide-inch-deep textbooks with wallet-friendly Singapore math titles, often much to the disapproval of their colleagues, who want to “Make US Math Great Again.”
by MathPlus January 3, 2021
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