Shaheed Salim Tuition

Many parents, whose children have been failing Mathematics for over a year, worry and fear that their children can never master Mathematics. This fear is not unfounded because the mastery of Mathematics at a higher level is dependent on the mastery of Mathematics at a lower level. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before negative assumptions concretise and became a part of their belief system. Check yourself if you believe in any of the following assumptions: *Mathematics is tough. *My child/student is not cut out for Math. *My family/student’s family has never been good at Math, so I expect my child/student to be weak at Math. *Only intelligent people can master Mathematics. *Weak students cannot never master Math ever. *Weak students can only be helped 1-to-1, even then after a very long time. *Only some weak students can improve in their scores. *My child/student has never been good at Math. Hence, he/she will most likely fail his exam this year.   *Some kids are born to ...

  M is unhappy that his tuition class is coming to an end. Sad, he wishes that I could continue teaching him. Different from his peers, M has asked me a few times, “Teacher, why do my friends call me ‘dumb’?”  Although his mother may be unaware about his condition, his characteristics remind me of 2 other students. Sharing many common traits, these 3 Chinese boys have etched a space for themselves in my long term memory and my heart because of their uniqueness. Mild autism. Some 20 years ago, K’s parents made an appointment to meet me at my tuition centre in Ang Mo Kio. Although K had been diagnosed with autism, they were careful not to mention it to me. Instead they highlighted his slowness and inability to solve complex Math sums. Gradually, I realised that they did this because they found it difficult to find a teacher who believed it was possible for autistic students to understand and excel beyond the boundary of solving linear problem sums. Well, the parents did not have...

                                        Few years ago, five Primary 5 students who had failed at Mathematics at their SA2 examinations enrolled for the P5 Math ReLearn programme taught by me. Their names were Az, Ak, Ha, Al and Do – 2 boys and 3 girls. And so I taught them the content concepts and skills  their school Math teachers had taught them before. From the very first lesson, I told them that if they believed in themselves and practised Math, they would pass PSLE Math; in fact, they could even get an A if they worked hard. I saw that familiar look on their faces – polite faces that didn’t really believe what I had said. Well, this is only natural especially for those who had started failing Math from Primary 5 or earlier. Math had become tough and confusing for them. These 5 students enrolled in my P6 Math classes and stayed with me for 9 months until this ...

  I met some desperate parents who were clueless as to why their kids have been failing Primary Mathematics. Their kids will be in Primary 5 and 6 next year and they have scored less than 40%; some scored less than 20%. Their stories had 2 common themes – firstly, they worry that it may be too late to help their kids and secondly, they did not know where to turn to for help. “Is it too late? Is there still hope for my child?” a parent asks. Of course there is. Even if one’s child is in the late secondary school  years, hope is always there. The real question is – are parents, teachers and tutors giving hope to students? Are they really helping them master Math? Or are they sabotaging the process? (To find out more about this, please read my article here.) Saying that there is hope is the easy part. The actual reality for such families may be dark and negative. Well, it need not be. Stop thinking it is the end of the world. Realize that there are many cases of students excellin...