Originally Broadcasted
Date: Thursday 15 July, 2021

Here are the 3 main takeaways:

1. Babies are born with innate Math abilities as they are able to discriminate differences in small quantities. Finger counting should be encouraged in children who need it as research shows that it appears to support Math processing in the brain. 
 

2. Early Math skills predict later achievement as higher-level Math processing uses the same brain networks as basic Math. While people seem to believe that boys are better at math, current brain research shows that there is no gender difference in the math brain.

3. Strategies to nurture a stronger math brain:

Early Math Strategies:
– Build visual-spatial, finger perception, estimation, pattern recognition skills
Primary-level Math Strategies:
– Teach numeracy strategies, train automaticity (not rote memorising), rapid spatial estimation
Advanced Math Strategies:
– Use Math to solve real-life problems, train working memory

Speaker:
Ms Cheryl Chia

With more than 20 years’ experience in brain fitness training, Cheryl is an accomplished physiotherapist, who is also the founder of BrainFit, an entity that specialises in scientific brain fitness training. Cheryl holds a Master Degree in Physiotherapy Studies from the University of Queensland, Australia. She was awarded a full scholarship from KK Hospital and was also the overall coordinator for paediatric neurology physiotherapy there. She has lectured in Nanyang Polytechnic and is a much sought-after speaker, including at events organised by MediaCorp-SMART Parents, the Child Guidance Clinic and schools. She is a frequent invited guest on Parenting Made Easy Radio 93.8, where she shares her expertise on brain fitness to help parents raise smarter and more resilient children. Cheryl is also an author and a mother to two young girls.