Classical Education and Singapore Math- Do They Really Align?

In the past 3 years, I've been fortunate to partner with several Classical Schools in the United States. Before this time, I had only heard of classical homeschool elementary programs. To be completely honest, these were not my favorite, as they left out the wonder of learning. When I started working with Classical Schools, I wasn't really sure if this was something I could stand behind.

As I've learned more about the Classical movement, I've realized it's like any other movement in education. There's a spectrum that classical schools follow. Some are very strict and consider classical education as students sitting in rows listening to their teachers only. Others swing the other way and are super progressive.

The true classical schools that are doing it well fall somewhere in the middle. They believe in goodness, beauty and truth. They provide students with rich learning experiences that enlighten students and encourage a sense of wonder. They use the Socratic method to invite students to form opinions and justify them.

When you look at this model, you can see clearly that the classical teaching movement aligns with Singapore's teaching pedagogy. Here's a few easy reasons why:

1. Both encourage students to THINK. Singapore's approach to mathematics is all about problem-solving. They don't do math as a subject area. It's a vehicle to get students thinking about the world around them. This aligns beautifully with a true classical education that invites students to explore the world and see patterns and beauty all around.

2. Both recognize that there is a balance between teaching facts and teaching understanding. When teaching, we recognize that we need to present students with some information while allowing them to explore others to create their own ideas about the world. In a Singapore math program, students need time to build their own understandings through the use of manipulatives before being told an algorithm. This allows students to connect prior knowledge and build meaningful brain connections that help them remember.

3. Both believe that mathematics is unchanging. There's no "new math". Math is the same as it was 300 years ago as it is today. The methods in which students learn can change, but we will always be focusing on teaching students conceptual learning while learning to be efficient and accurate.

   
   

   

Take a moment to watch this conversation with Jon Gregg, Hillsdale's Associate Professor of Education. We met at the National Symposium for Classical Education a few years ago and felt like it would be great to share this conversation with others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjl9BAxYa-M

Unfortunately ever educator, whether school or home, comes into this conversation with their own history and bias. The way we teach is always based around the way we learned math ourselves. It's important that we look to leaders and see the effective methods of teaching and learning. Singapore's success for the past 20 years is a testament that focusing on the research works.

This requires training and learning. I remember the first time I picked up a Singapore program in the US. I started using it with no training and did the best I could.

But I wasn't doing it justice.

I was doing it the way I imagined it should be based on my own experiences, which were rather limited.

Once I had the training, I was able to implement strategies that worked and saw my students gain a knowledge I wasn't doing a great job of providing earlier. This is why it's vital that anyone wanting to implement a Singapore Math program get the training needed to be successful.

It takes time and intention to do it well, but it's so worth it in the end when educators and students are both loving math!

If you are looking for a way to learn more about teaching the Singaporean method with your school, I invite you to set up a call with me to create a customized plan based on your unique needs. If you are a homeschool parent looking to implement these strategies, check out the learning opportunities in the Math with Purpose Video Library.