By Tico Villanueva, Grade 6 Math Teacher

The growing curiosity about Singapore Math resulted in tenacious requests from parents for a seminar that would guide them in teaching their children. Mrs. Erlinda Manguiat, Math Department Chairperson of the Grade School, and Ms. Rosie Moscoso, Math Department Chairperson of the High School, came up with a plan on how best they could address this.

Dubbed as “How To Teach Your Children Singapore Math,” the seminar was able to gather together an estimated 800 parents and teachers at the Angelo King Multi-Purpose Center (MPC) on November 4, 2009 from 3:45 to 6:30 pm. Participants listened attentively to the guest speaker, Dr. Yeap Ban Har, as he discussed what Singapore Math is and what made it such a phenomenon across the globe. More importantly, he shared sample story problems that make use of the Model Approach and the conventional way, which the parents are more familiar with. During the last part of his talk, he invited parents to raise their questions and challenged them to use gained insights as they journey with their children through this innovation.

Dr. Yeap Ban Har is a faculty member at The National Institute of Education, Nanyang Techonological University. He holds a Masters of Arts in Southeast Asian Studies, Masters of Education in Mathematics Education and a Ph.D in Mathematics Education. He is the author of numerous children’s Math books approved for use in different countries and is currently a consultant for a secondary textbook series in Singapore. He has conducted seminar-workshops for educators and parents in Asia as well as in South Africa, Chile and the United States of America. His interest in research includes problem solving, textbook studies, early mathematics and professional development.

In his welcome remarks, Fr. Johnny Go, S.J. thanked all the parents present during the seminar for showing a deep concern in assisting their children in Math. He likewise expressed his gratitude to the Math teachers in the Grade School for organizing this important event, which parents have been requesting for quite a while now.

The program ended with Ms. Aimee Apolinario, Academic Coordinator for the Grade School, thanking Dr. Ban Har, the participants, and the organizers of the seminar for a successful seminar.