How should parents prepare their children for the GEP (or at all!) is one of the most highly discussed topic in parenting forums. Beyond the school math syllabus, parents may also look into extracurricular activities such as Math Olympiad training for their children to further stimulate their interest in math.
With limited time and resources, should you prioritise GEP over Math Olympiad?
GEP vs Math Olympiad: The Difference
For those not familiar with the GEP, the GEP Screening and Selection Round is open to all Primary 3 students in MOE schools and happens from August – October every year. The GEP Screening and Selection Round will test students on both English and Math and you can read more about the GEP Selection and Screening Round exercise in our blog post here.
Comparison of Syllabus
Let’s compare the syllabus tested in GEP Math and Math Olympiad.
GEP Math Syllabus
The GEP Math syllabus will cover topics within the scope of the Primary 3 school syllabus math, which includes:
- Whole Numbers
- Fractions
- Money
- Measurement (Length, Mass, Volume)
- Time
- Area and Perimeter (rectangle/square)
- Angles (basic concepts of right angle, acute angle)
- Perpendicular & Parallel Lines (basic concepts)
- Bar graphs
Let’s take a look at the topics tested for the Math Olympiads in Singapore
SASMO (P1-P4) Syllabus
- Arithmetic and Statistics
- Geometry and Mensuration
- Solving word problems using model method (or any other non-algebraic methods)
- Non-routine problem solving (including number patterns, divisibility tests, spatial visualisation, logic problems and simple cryptarithms)
SMKC Ecolier (Primary 3 & 4) Syllabus:
- Simple arithmetic operations with 1, 2, 3 and 4-digit numbers
- Recognizing geometric figures
- A magic square with a sum of 15
- Time, clock, number of days in a week, number of months in a year
- Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
- Intersection of sets
- Perimeter and area of a square, a rectangle
For both Math Olympiads listed, more than 80% of their syllabus are aligned to the topics tested in the GEP Math except fractions. Since the SMKC and SASMO happen in March-April annually, students in Primary 3 would not have learnt fractions in school, which could be a reason why fractions is not included in the SMKC and SASMO.
GEP Math and Think Academy Math High Achievers Syllabus
Now, let’s compare the two. The Math High Achievers is a math olympiad course that helps students foster creative problem-solving skills, logical reasoning and holistic mathematical thinking.
85% of the Primary 3 GEP Math syllabus is covered in our P3 Think Academy Math High Achievers syllabus.
And for the remaining 15% (money and measurement)? These topics are introduced intentionally in Primary 1 and Primary 2.
Since the GEP Identification Exercise aims to select intellectually gifted students, questions in the Screening and Selection Round require skills beyond the knowledge of the Primary 3 Math school syllabus.
Take a look at the following questions
These questions not only require a strong mastery of the Primary 3 Math concepts but also require students to be able to arrive at the final answer with the fastest solution.
Comparison of Skills
Comparing GEP Math with the Math Olympiads such as SASMO and SMKC, we can see that GEP Math requires students to possess strong application skills, accuracy AND speed. In contrast, we see that the SASMO and SMKC only require students to possess strong application skills and accuracy.
In terms of accuracy, since the GEP selects only the top 1% of the cohort, the exam is highly competitive and requires students to be as accurate as possible. Likewise, the Math Olympiads award and rank student according to their scores.
Speed is of the essence in the GEP Screening and Selection Round. The Math Component takes about 90 minutes with about 50 and up to even 80 questions. This means that students need to work quickly with a high level of accuracy. However, for SMKC and SASMO, students will be given the same amount of time (90 minutes) to solve 24 questions. Even though students are not under immense time pressure, the math olympiad training will teach students to solve challenging questions with strong logical reasoning skills and creative techniques.
Focus on GEP Math or Math Olympiad?
In summary, if you are looking to help your child kickstart their GEP preparation journey, providing them with math olympiad training can enhance their critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills. You won’t need to choose one over the other as Math Olympiad training complements and covers the skills your child requires for the GEP exam.
FREE 5-Day Daily Math Doses
To thank you for reading till the end of our blog post, we have created a 9-Day Daily Math Doses of different topics and skills tested in the P3 GEP Math.
Want to see if your child is suitable for the GEP? Chat with our education consultant to receive a free evaluation test!
