#math center

Izumi is a math center where children from ages 3 to 11 years old can further develop their math comprehension in a fun learning environment.

To increase your child’s proficiency in mathematics, we at Izumi use an effective Japanese Standard Curriculum for our high level but fun math courses. We also use the “Ikinuku” method that fosters your child’s ability to exceed their limitations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to stay in their own homes. Churches, malls, and other establishments and institutions are either shut down or made to follow restrictive and preventive measures to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus outbreak while they continue with their operations. As such, to prevent the discontinuity of a child's learning and improvement, the education sector released DO No. 12, s. 2020 or the Adoption of the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan for School Year 2020-2021 in Light of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, which aims to use distance learning programs that promote a student's independent learning.

How does Independent Learning work?

By definition, Independent Learning is a learning process that supports student-centered learning approaches by personalizing learning and enabling learners to take ownership of their learning process. Therefore, students should learn from their actions and regulate and assess their learning. For independent learning to be a success, students must set their own goals, make their own choices on how to meet learning needs, construct and carry out their education, monitor progress, and assess learning outcomes.

Through independent learning, a student acquires and develops their independence, initiative, motivational skills, time management skills, reading and writing skills, organizational skills, and multi-tasking skills.

Moreover, despite the term, independent learning does not require students to work on their own. In fact, students are still expected to share their problems through collaborations with their peers. In this way, they can encourage each other, and they have someone else to explain concepts to. Through these interactions, students are assured that their understanding of the topic is correct, and they can clarify specific issues that they find vague.

Here are some tips on how your child can become an active and independent learner:

Encourage active reading: Active reading requires reading while paying close attention to the words and their respective meanings. Your child should also do speed reading or skimming their materials before reading it in detail.

Discuss with peers: Sharing problems and looking for solutions with their classmates can help your child think about something that they have not thought of before.

Practice time management: Teach your child to break each assignment down into relevant tasks. They should be able to identify how long they will need to spend on each part, and which tasks to prioritize.

Learn from different resources: Provide your child with multiple sources to learn from as a basis for their learning tasks and activities.

Work on their own: Working on their own for long periods without asking for help from adults can also help improve independent learning. Please encourage them to keep studying until they understand what they need to do. They should only seek your help when necessary.

Nippon Math’s Role in Independent Learning

Nippon Math is a high-level mathematics course that nurtures intellectual curiosity through fun and engaging learning tasks and activities. It is an innovative program that teaches Mathematics to children from ages 3 to 11 (Kindergarten to Grade 6) in a holistic yet fun way.

Nippon Math further aims to develop independent learning while cultivating their love for Mathematics. As they grow this love for the subject, they also learn to build mental skills and Japanese discipline and other social skills through the help of high-quality materials. Nippon Math also aims to encourage and expand brain development for students to process information logically and analytically.

As one of the most challenging subjects, math needs to be taught in a way that students would be able to understand and even love it. It is a struggle for teachers to get the attention of their students, especially when it concerns lessons that do not interest them. 

They must think of teaching methods that will engage them. Furthermore, unfortunately, the traditional approach of teaching may not be as practical these days. 

Because of this difficulty in teaching students math, many countries have opted to look for alternative ways of teaching it. American and European countries have found out that Asian countries have a higher level of comprehension when it comes to Mathematics. Japan, in particular, excelled in teaching their students math.

What made the Japanese teaching of math successful?

According to research, during the 1970s-1980s, there was a reform movement that aimed to change teaching and learning of Mathematics in Japan. A critical change that revolutionized the teaching of Mathematics is the shift from the traditional approach, the teacher’s instruction is the focus, to a more active approach, which is more student-centered. The goal was to engage the students to be participative when it comes to learning Mathematics.

 What Makes the Japanese Teaching of Math Different?

Many countries have used the methods of the Japanese when teaching Mathematics because they have learned that their way is unsuccessful. The Japanese way of teaching Math has been proven to be better at making students take an interest in the subject. Here are three of the main reasons that make it different from others:

 #1 The educational program or the curriculum is strict. 

Most educational programs in other countries usually use various topics and continuously repeat them over several grade levels. It means that the level of difficulty of these topics only has a minute increase. In Japan, they follow strict guidelines that are set by the Ministry of Education, which contains only a few topics for each grade level. They focus more on providing an in-depth discussion of these topics rather than learning various things superficially. As Japanese students’ grade levels increase, the lesser topics, they would have. By the time they reach the 8th grade, they are learning more complex topics than students from other countries. 

   #2 It has more productive teaching practices.

Studies have shown that most teachers in different countries have the same teaching practices. What sets apart Japanese teachers of Math is the way they schedule their activities and lessons. Other countries often do the traditional method, such as reviewing previous lessons, going over homework, and providing quizzes and tests. Japan, on the other hand, has teaching practices that were passed on from experienced teachers to those who are new through apprenticeships. Moreover, Japanese teachers of Math much emphasize problem-solving. Students are encouraged to think of solutions. The teachers then discuss the various solutions, whether they are correct.

 #3 It is because of Japanese schools and their academic excellence.

What makes the Japanese way of teaching math brilliant is because of the foundation that was built. Japan is widely known for its highly advanced preschool system. From a young age, Japanese children are taught the behaviors and routines they should have in school. Teachers also encourage delegation of authority. When students reach middle school, the level of instruction gets difficult. They get to take tests that assess their mastery of the topics until they reach high school. 

 Conclusion

I know that this blog is primarily about food.  However, originally I was going to post teaching items as well.  Then I thought maybe I should have a separate blog for teaching and children/family ministry things at church.  Then reality set in...it's hard enough to keep up with this blog so I will just be posting everything here. 

Recently I came across the site Teachers Pay Teachers.  Wicked awesome by the way if you are a teacher.  I've created a "store" where teaching items past and present will be posted.  I have lots of ideas for creations, but I'm learning an open source publishing program in order to be able to create things so I'm not too sure how often things will get posted.  However, this week one of my third grade teachers needed something on elapsed time for her math center. The link to my Elapsed Time Shuffle is what I came up with.  Not as professional looking as I would like yet, but it is a start.  This item is FREE for download.  If you like it let me know. 

For parents if your child is struggling with this concept this activity might help as well.