This 3-hour course was conducted in The Netherlands in November 2012.

1. MAP101 Fundamentals of Singapore Math
BUNNIK, THE NETHERLANDS
Yeap Ban Har
Marshall Cavendish Institute
Singapore
yeapbanhar@gmail.com
Slides are available at
www.banhar.blogspot.com

2. Experiencing
Singapore Math
 Land
 270 sq miles
 700 sq km
introduction  People
 5.3 million
 GDP per capita
 1965 USD500
 2011 USD50 000
Junyuan Secondary School, Singapore in current USD

3. Experiencing
Singapore Math
All major international tests (literacy, science and mathematics) between 1964
and 2003 were placed on a common scale. Selected countries shown in the table.
Score 1960-1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
500 Japan Japan Japan Japan
Korea Korea Korea
Hong Kong Singapore Hong Kong
Hong Kong Singapore
400 Thailand Singapore Malaysia Malaysia
Thailand Thailand Thailand
The Philippines
300 Indonesia Indonesia
The Philippines The Philippines
Reference: E. Hanusek, D. Jamison, E. Jamison & L. Woessmann (2008)

5. Mathematics is “an excellent
vehicle for the development and
improvement of a person’s
intellectual competence”.
1982 Ministry of Education Singapore 2006
Introduction of Singapore mathematics
textbooks as they are known today. 2001
Introduction of textbooks published by
1992 private publishers and approved by
Introduction of Problem- Ministry of Education.
Solving Curriculum 2007
New editions of textbooks are
1997 published with the introduction of the
Thinking Schools revised curriculum.
Learning Nation
2013
New editions of textbooks are
published with the revision of the
curriculum.
Page 1

6. Page 4

7. The brown sugar problem demonstrates the
importance of visualization.

8. 110 g
290 g Page 2

9. 2 units = 290 g – 110 g = 180 g
1 units = 180 g  2 = 90 g
110 g
3 x 90 g = 270 g
Bella puts 270 g sugar on the dish.
? ?

10. Professional Development in Bunnik, The Netherlands
Page 2

12. x + 2x = 12

13. The fill-in-the-squares problem demonstrates
the importance of looking for patterns.

14. Professional Development in Bunnik, The Netherlands

15. Jenaplanschool Cleophas, Utrecht, The Netherlands

16. We also discuss helping students acquire
addition facts, multiplication facts and learn
formula for area.

17. My Pals Are Here! (Third Edition) 1A

18. 8+6
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 

19. 8 + 6 = 10 + 4
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 

20. 8+6=7+7
   
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 
 
 

21. 8 + 6 = 20 – 2 – 4
   
   
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   

22. Learning multiplication facts.

23. Math in Focus

24. Math in Focus

25. Da Qiao Primary School, Singapore

26. Primary Mathematics (Third Edition)
See Ho, S. Y. & Yeap, B. H. (2011). Development of Visualization Skills in Singapore Primary
School Mathematics Textbooks. Paper presented at PME-35 Angkara, Turkey.
See also Yeap, B. H. (2011). The Emphasis of Primary-Level Textbooks in Singapore on
Higher-Order Thinking Skills. Paper presented at International Conference on School
Mathematics Textbooks Shanghai, China.

27. Visuals are used to teach
concepts – distributive
property of multiplication
– without using formal
terms.
Primary Mathematics (Third Edition)

28. Learning division of larger numbers.

29. Page 14

32. Learning formula to calculate area of
trapezium.

40. Experiencing
Singapore Math

41. emphasis
visualization

42. Experiencing
Singapore Math
3 units = 18
1 units = 18  3 = 6
6 x 8 = 48
There were 48 coins at first.
Page 15