As a parent of three and being part of the BrainBuilder teaching community for the last 8 years, I feel really privileged to have supported so many students along the way and meeting grateful parents who have often expressed the "so glad to have found you" phrase.
The methods I teach stem from Dr Fong (my dad + founder of BrainBuilder + curriculum writer of the Singapore Textbooks who trained me, like his student teachers years ago in the Teachers Training college in Singapore) and also the years of experience to build confidence and skill level of each child. No child is on the same journey, and it is always a joy to see the delight in their faces when they overcome their fears in maths.
In this blog post I hope to reach more parents beyond to those who can attend our classes, with useful topics, resources and current trends that would help them with their child's maths journey and navigate.
For those who don't know me, here are some of what students who have said about our classes.
AUSTRALIA – SYDNEY- SEP 2021
Abbie 9 years old, Year 4:
“BrainBuilder helps me to see maths differently, the weekly classes is like a work out for my brain. I love model drawing because it makes numbers talk, it is a unique way to turn complicated maths questions into a simplified picture form. I am more confident doing difficult multi step questions, because every week BB teachers provide a weekly tips to solve my maths easily. Instead doing boring exercise books that I have at school, I have more challenging questions that exercise my brain at Brain Builder. And if I need help with any question from school, I have an opportunity to ask during the lesson. BB teachers help me to step out of my comfort zone. My favourite teacher is Julia because she explains thing clearly and she acknowledges my potential and allows me to work beyond my level.”
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AUSTRALIA – SYDNEY- JULY 2021
Year 7 student , Sydney, Australia – online student since 2017:
“I enjoy the online learning program a lot. The online program is just as effective as the physical program. The online program suits me and my family because it saves us travelling time. It is convenient for my parents as they both work and can’t drive me to and from the centre. Julia explains the questions and smart strategies to solve these questions very well, and I’m getting quicker and more confident in solving this type of questions each week. Thank you!”
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USA – CALIFORNIA – AUG 2020
Nolly, Parent of a 5th Grade student:
“Ever since school started online, I have been worrying about Math, because they don’t really know how to teach it online, so they have provided only easy Math calculations for 5th graders. Then, one of my husband’s friends introduced us to BrainBuilder math. (coincidentally my son’s school uses Singapore math by Math in Focus for textbook)
Not only my son but also I am learning what Singapore math is, how to apply bar models.
For my son, it is still difficult to figure out how to apply a bar model for the question by himself but in the class, similar questions are repeated so they get to learn how to solve it by using a bar model, which I really like about this class. It feels like my son is really learning bar models for the first time. My son has been enjoying studying with Mrs. Julia very much. Thanks to her, he has got to like Math very much.”
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USA – CALIFORNIA, SAN JOSE – AUG 2020
Jennifer T.:
“Both of my sons ( age 10 and age 8) having been taking Singapore math classes for the past 6 months. The kids find the classes to be fun, engaging and a great interactive learning opportunity! Their teachers (Ms. Julie and Ms. Lisa) are very personable and likeable – I don’t have to coerce them to attend class which shows me that they are enjoying themselves along with learning new things. I greatly enjoy the fact that 1x a week they have the opportunity to learn the world standard way vs school which is common core. The great thing about math is that there are multiple ways to get the right answer (2+2 = 4, 3+1 = 4, etc.) so Singapore math allows the kids to use a different mindset and foster critical thinking skills. We are very happy and I am confident your child will enjoy it too!”
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AUSTRALIA – MELBOURNE – FEB 2018
Student:
“I like how Julia taught me how to solve hard questions with simple method, which I could understand easily. Now I am not so scared of those questions like I was before.”
Parent:
"She showed me how to do subtraction across zero on the whiteboard after your lesson last week. I was amazed at how confident and fast she could do it (compared to my conventional method 😅). Thank you for giving her more confidence in Maths and most importantly, she is finally showing interests in Maths. Appreciate all your efforts and time.”
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