“Is math a matter of brain or hard work?” “Is math memorization?” “When should I start going to a math academy?”
The best study strategies from a math textbook developer with 23 years of experience and a math mentor for 170,000 Naver elementary school moms.
9 key keywords for top-tier math, featuring episodes by case and type.

The term '7-year-old exam' is said to be trendy, referring to the entrance exam taken by children just before entering elementary school to enter prestigious academies.
In these times, parents feel more anxious about the subject of 'math'.
At a time when parents who are wavering and impatient in front of their children's 'math' need to find their balance, the book "Elementary Math: Just Do It This Way" has been published to help parents of elementary school children set the right direction for their children's math learning.
The author, who has been developing elementary school math textbooks for a long time and has taught math directly to children in Mokdong, says in this book that if you establish the right direction and habits for studying elementary school math, you can become a top math student in middle and high school.
The book explains the core of elementary school math study methods through nine keywords: 'concept', 'mathematical literacy', 'operation', 'thinking skills', 'curriculum math workbook', 'preliminary', 'advanced', 'academy', and 'attitude', and specifically addresses the issues that parents are most curious about.


Above all, as a developer of mathematics textbooks, the author meticulously covers the 'basics' and 'concepts' that should not be missed in elementary mathematics.
In particular, it sharply points out the content that parents who do 'Mom's Math' at home often overlook, and sometimes even the parts that even academy teachers overlook, and explains the key points in an easy-to-understand way.
It also contains a wealth of practical information tailored to your child, including advice on choosing specific textbooks.
This book will serve as the first step on a roadmap that elementary school students must follow step by step to achieve top-tier math learning and college entrance success.

Top math students understand the importance of math concepts all too well.
I actually spend a lot of time studying math concepts, and I consider studying math concepts to include understanding how the concepts I've learned apply to problems and how certain concepts are used in the problems I've solved.
For these children, math problems are a way to 'check if I've really understood the concepts I've learned.'
So these kids often say, “Math is a very easy subject; you don’t have to memorize words like English words, as long as you understand the concepts.”
On the other hand, children who have difficulty with math and are not good at it tend to skim over the concepts and try to solve problems right away when studying math.
I spend more time solving problems than studying concepts.
This is because people think that math is all about solving problems and getting the right answers.
---From "The Core of Studying Mathematics is Concepts"

When creating a math textbook, many math-specialized editors gather together to research, hold meetings, review, and spend a long time organizing the content and creating problems.
At this time, the absolute standard that math editors use is the math textbook.
When I meet parents at my lectures, they often ask me what the best textbook is for teaching math concepts.
Every time, I answer, “The best teaching material for children to learn correct concepts is a math textbook.”

---From "Textbooks are stronger than any concept book"

The best way to ensure that children understand the math concepts they are learning is to have them explain them verbally.
Having a solid understanding of a mathematical concept means being able to organize it in your head and explain and express it in your own words.
Through this process, children think they 'know' something, but when they try to explain it to a friend, teacher, or mother, they realize that it is not well organized in their head, and they come to understand the concept on their own, making it difficult to explain it to someone else.
Also, from a teaching perspective, listening to a child explain a concept verbally can help you determine where the child may not have fully understood the concept or may be misunderstanding a concept.

---From "If you can't explain it in words, you don't understand it correctly"

People often say, “You have to read a lot to be good at math.”
When I give lectures to parents, I hear, “Teacher, my child has read a lot of books since he was little, but he has difficulty with math.
I often hear questions like, “I have a hard time with sentence structures. Why is that?”
But does reading a lot really make you good at math? To that question, I answer with a resounding "no."
This is because the way we read books and the way we read math sentences are different.

---From "Will Reading a Lot Make You Good at Math?"

When friends in the upper ranks make mistakes on word problems, it is rare for them to make mistakes because they do not understand the problem itself, unlike friends in the middle and lower ranks.
The reason these friends make mistakes is that, having encountered many similar problems, they quickly solve the problem without reading it thoroughly and assume that it is the same type of problem they have solved before, and end up not finding the correct answer required by the problem.
What you are missing is that the given conditions and the answers to be found are slightly different for each problem.

---From "Reasons why top-ranking friends make mistakes on sentence problems and solutions"

But why do children find it so difficult to write out the solution process? There are two main reasons why children avoid writing out the solution process or formulas when solving math problems.
First, many children think that they just need to solve math problems and get the right answer.
(…) Secondly, when solving a math problem, the process of solving it is not organized in the child’s mind or the ability to organize it is lacking.

---From "Why doesn't my child want to use the solution process?"

When I meet parents of younger students at external lectures, the question I hear most often, along with questions about computational learning methods, is about "thinking math."
Among them, the most common question is about the necessity of critical thinking mathematics, such as “Do I really need to take critical thinking mathematics?”
The more confidently parents say, “I was good at math back in the day,” the more likely they are to say, “When we were kids, we didn’t need to do anything special like critical thinking math, because we were good at math.”
I often see people say, “All thinking math is just a trick.”
(…) I think that what is most necessary in learning mathematics for preschool and lower grade children is real-life mathematics or thinking mathematics.
---From "Things that even parents who did some math in their old days don't know"

Whenever I'm asked if prior learning is necessary, I always say, "Just give it a try."
However, I will add the caveat, “It must be a proper prior learning.”
There's no way to know how talented your child is at math learning until you try it.
I don't think there's anything wrong with progressing quickly, as long as it's within the child's capabilities.
Of course, there are cases where you have to set a specific goal and make a certain amount of progress quickly within a set period of time, such as for entrance exams to gifted high schools or science high schools.
Even if that is not the case, I think it is better to progress at a pace that is appropriate for the child's ability rather than unnecessary repetition, so that the child can spend enough time on areas where he or she is stuck or has difficulty while learning math in the future.
---From "There Are Children Who Need Good Deeds"

When the Ministry of Education first announced that it would no longer include "killer" math problems on the CSAT, I saw many people thinking, "Now math will be easier," and saying they should ease up on math and focus on other subjects.
And then, when the actual college entrance exam questions were released, many people were confused by the math problems that seemed to have become more difficult.
(…) In fact, if you look at the briefings from the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation and the Ministry of Education after the CSAT, you can see that they did not mean to unconditionally exclude difficult killer problems.
The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KIEC) stated that the purpose of the exam was to exclude killer questions that would be advantageous to children who had already acquired problem-solving skills through private education, and the Ministry of Education also stated that the purpose of the exam was to exclude killer questions so that children who had learned problem-solving skills through private education in areas not covered in public education would not be at an advantage.
Furthermore, the importance of in-depth learning has grown, as it means that going forward, we will be presenting problems that require as much in-depth thinking as possible within the scope provided by public education.
---From "They say there won't be any killer problems, so do I need advanced math?"

When people think of math competitions, they often think of very difficult math tests taken by top students.
For that reason, many people have negative thoughts, such as, "Is it really necessary to make young elementary school students study difficult math that has little to do with their school life?"
However, I think it is a good idea to experience external tests such as math competitions during elementary school.
The benefits of participating in math competitions in elementary school include:
First, it is the experience of taking the test.
(…) Second, it is an experience that gives you confidence and a sense of accomplishment.
(…) Third, it is possible to check the achievement rate for the semester or grade studied and to confirm objective indicators of learning ability.

---From "Is the Math Competition Medicine or Poison?"

The moment when one feels the need for an academy varies greatly from child to child and from each family's situation and atmosphere.
However, I would like to recommend two main cases.
First, it is a moment when the relationship between mother and child is shaken.
(…) If conflicts arise between mother and child while learning math, or if the relationship between mother and child begins to waver, I recommend that mothers boldly withdraw from their children’s learning and send them to an academy.
(…) Second, it is a moment when it is no longer possible to answer the child’s questions in a correct way.
(…) There are ways to teach at home using textbook commentary or online lectures that fit the curriculum, but as the child advances in grade level, this process can become more difficult and you may not be confident that your answers will be helpful to the child’s questions.
This is exactly when you need a math academy.
---From "The Moment You Feel the Need for an Academy"

From now on, I will explain the four main types of academies to avoid.
First, it is an academy that emphasizes good deeds or creates anxiety by comparing the progress of other children in the academy.
(…) Second, it is an academy that does not administer exams.
This is a case where the academy only moves forward with the same textbook and class without checking the children's achievement rate or understanding, that is, without giving them tests.
(…) Third, it is an academy with excessively long class hours.
(…) If the class time is too long, there is a high possibility that the teacher will be solving many problems one by one.
(…) Lastly, it is an academy without feedback.
It's best to choose an academy that regularly communicates with parents about how their child is adjusting to classes and how they are doing with their homework.
---From "Don't send your child to this kind of academy"

Many of the parents I meet at the lecture are considering moving to a school district and asking about the advantages of the school district.
At such times, I talk about the school district's greatest strength as 'the children's attitude toward learning.'
(…) So, if you want to foster a child's positive attitude toward learning, do you really need to move to a school district? And will simply moving to a school district automatically change your child's attitude toward learning? Just because a school district is located doesn't mean every child will study hard and take studying for granted.
In fact, what is more important than the surrounding environment is the study atmosphere at home.
The study environment at home, the perception of studying, and the attitude toward studying must be corrected first, and then the surrounding environment will also be affected.

---From "The Greatest Strengths of School District Children"