Heuristic Mathematics
First and foremost, to pass the paper, the number one priority is to set right the foundation of student's mathematical skills. Without a solid foundation, students will find themselves struggling with many questions when they advance to upper primary level. To be able to do well, students have to master model drawings to visualise problem sums and in turn, efficiently solves them.
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There is a huge jump between lower primary mathematics and upper primary mathematics. With the introduction of calculators in primary 5, numbers tend to get alot bigger and more fractions/ decimals and percentage will be incorporated into questions. Other than model drawing, there will be more methods to solving questions.
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The method taught to students must be up to date with school syllabus and explained in a whereby students can understand the gist to solving the questions.
What goes on in class
For problem sums, I will be teaching my students based on the ensponge techniques.
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When I go about teaching problem sums, I will introduce the various ways to solve the same mathematical problems when necessary. No two children are the same causing their level of understanding and their receptiveness to each method to differ. There is no right or wrong method, but only the method your child can understand and apply.
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In an example below, the same method can be solved by the branching method and also by model drawing, both of which are methods taught in various schools.
Students who are familiar with branching would understand method 1 after explanations, however, there will be students who just could not grasp this method and might prefer model drawing.