[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/community\/kids-learning-well-the-5-step-way\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/community\/kids-learning-well-the-5-step-way\/","headline":"Kids learning well the 5-Step way","name":"Kids learning well the 5-Step way","description":"He may have hailed from Russia but Dr Alexander Kuznetsov\u2019s commitment to bringing out the best in children is a universal maxim that appeals to the hearts of parents in Singapore. \u201cSo many schools see themselves as performing a function of \u2018education\u2019, which includes indoctrination of various sorts, all with noble intentions, I trust, but […]","datePublished":"2022-12-23","dateModified":"2022-12-23","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/james_yau\/#Person","name":"James Yau","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/james_yau\/","identifier":849,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/James-Yau-100x100.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/James-Yau-100x100.jpg","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/5-Step-Academy-S_5-Step-Academy-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/5-Step-Academy-S_5-Step-Academy-1.jpg","height":900,"width":1600},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/community\/kids-learning-well-the-5-step-way\/","about":["Community"],"wordCount":1635,"keywords":["5 Steps Academy","5 Steps System\u2122","A Levels","A1 Math Pilots","Advanced Placement","Cambridge International","child development","Dr Alexander Kuznetsov","IGCSE","International School","Ministry of Education","SAT","United States (US) College Board"],"articleBody":"He may have hailed from Russia but Dr Alexander Kuznetsov\u2019s commitment to bringing out the best in children is a universal maxim that appeals to the hearts of parents in Singapore.\u201cSo many schools see themselves as performing a function of \u2018education\u2019, which includes indoctrination of various sorts, all with noble intentions, I trust, but I simply want my daughter to learn subject matter; and not be part of a system,\u201d says IT specialist John Catalano who enrolled his daughter Emma, eight, at 5 Steps Academy because it focuses on learning, rather than education.\u00a0\u201cThe prospect of Emma being able to advance as fast as she was able to learn was quite attractive. I\u2019ve not been disappointed as Emma is currently learning and testing well above her age-level,\u201d he adds.Armed with a PhD in Mathematics, a Masters in Child Psychology, and a wealth of teaching experience, Dr Kuznetsov founded 5 Steps Academy to draw out the different talents of not only foreign children living in Singapore, but also locals with special permission granted from the Ministry of Education (MOE).Regardless of nationality, while Dr Kuznetsov\u2019s novel pedagogy in education is drawing in the eyes and minds of parents through its doors, at its core is an environment that learns from mistakes rather than exposing them.\u201cOur children are our hope for the future and we are their hope for the present. Even in the best schools and programmes, the traditional style of teaching obviously cannot focus on personal gaps. We can. We ask our kids to make mistakes and we don\u2019t punish them for the mistakes. That\u2019s how they learn,\u201d he says.A close-up learning on Biology. (Photo courtesy of 5 Steps Academy)From a tuition agency to an international schoolIt was in 2014 that Dr Kuznetsov migrated to Singapore with his family and it was then that he set up A1 Math Pilots, a tuition agency in Yishun with the S$200,000 he had.\u00a0Raking in good results, Dr Kuznetsov set up 5 Steps Academy, the only international school in Singapore focusing on Mathematics. It is said to provide a world-class multilingual well-rounded education founded on academic rigour.The father of five and author of books on parenting, structures the 5 Steps System\u2122 in a way that its students receive well-rounded education and grow into knowledgeable and caring young professionals, who are broad-minded and erudite.A school called the 5 Steps AcademyThe 5 Steps Academy is both a Cambridge International and United States (US) College Board approved school, and is entitled to administer SAT, used for college admissions in the US; AP and IGCSE in Britain; and A Levels examinations, providing students with various pathways to their further education.The academy has grown from just ten students during its founding years to over 130 students from ages 5 to 16 today. It also boasts a low 1:8 teacher-student ratio, complemented with rich co-curricular programmes.What makes 5 Steps Academy stand out from the competition is a strong focus on academic excellence, particularly, in Mathematics. Proficiency in Mathematics helps children develop critical thinking skills and techniques to deal with non-standard and challenging tasks. This skill set of systemic thinking enables students to demonstrate logic and creativity, which is portable to other fields including arts and languages.Students having hands-on learning in robotics. (Photo courtesy of 5 Steps Academy)The school is aptly named 5 Steps Academy, drawing from its 5 Steps System\u2122 to provide a personalised and holistic approach for adolescent learning. The system comprises three main components:\u00a0Five stages of child development;\u00a0Five steps learning spiral; andFive steps revision.Unlike the traditional way of teaching a class of students with different abilities, attitudes, learning styles and preferences, the 5 Steps Academy focuses on each child\u2019s educational needs. Students learning through this system have largely benefitted, some of whom had even sat for the O-level examinations at the ages of 9 and 11, and had passed subjects like\u00a0 Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry with flying colours.This \u2018speed learning\u2019 pedagogical approach allows students to attain higher rates of learning without reduction of comprehension or retention, providing the most efficient path to master the curriculum, even if a student is below the age of mastery in traditional education.\u00a0Divyasree, a 5 Steps Academy Student who wants to be a singer, finished her London music school grades without compromising her academic studies and at 12, while her contemporaries in the local schools are looking at attending secondary school, she is already in Secondary Two at 5 Steps Academy.\u201cDr Alex (Kuznetsov) and her teachers are friendly as well as very helpful and they keep encouraging Divyasree\u2019s musical journey,\u201d says Divyasree\u2019s mother Mrs Jeyalakshmi Ravichandraraja.Mrs Ravichandraraja enrolled Divyasree to the 5 Steps Academy when she was eight years old because she felt the other international school Divyasree was attending was \u201cway expensive and required extra maths and English classes outside\u201d.\u201cWhen I learnt about 5 Steps Academy, we decided to take Divyasree there to have a look around. It was located opposite the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station then and she fell in love with the school,\u201d Mrs Ravichandraraja says.Divyasree, who turned 12 in 2022, saw her overall discipline and academic achievement improve and her mother says her own stress level also fell \u201cbecause my daughter never needed any tuition outside of school after that\u201d.At the academy, fast learners sit for the examinations when they are ready. This way, they are not held back by the average pace of the class and are always challenged according to their abilities.\u00a0Students progress at their own pace. (Photo courtesy of 5 Steps Academy)Late bloomers at the school are never put through any examination unprepared and are given as many revisions as they need to prepare them, to ensure there is no stress or fear of mistakes.Mrs Paola Sessions says she was nervous when she transferred her two children Bodhi, 11, and Beren, 8, to 5 Steps Academy.\u201cWe wanted the flexibility of being able to set our vacation time so that we could maximise family time abroad. Our children were in the local Singaporean system and were quite happy. But seeing them progress in the subjects that they excel at a faster pace than children in their age group has been really thrilling,\u201d she says.\u00a0Parental involvement: The best predictor of their children\u2019s successResearch has proven that parents who are involved in their children\u2019s education is the best predictor of their success and it is this involvement that is essential to the students staying committed to their education.According to a 1992 research, parental involvement in any form produces measurable gains in their children\u2019s academic achievement and this holds true today. What this means is that parents should be especially intentional about being involved in their children\u2019s education.The 5 Steps Academy believes the success of its programme is based on strong collaboration between teachers and parents. With the view that every student is unique and has great potential to make a positive contribution to the school and society, the school aims to inculcate independence, responsibility and necessary skills in each student to enable him or her to face the challenges of the future.Parents can be great teaching assistants with \u2018proper guidance\u2019, but not many schools invest enough resources in partnership.\u00a0Teachers offer guided learning opportunities at every step of a child\u2019s educational journey. (Photo courtesy of 5 Steps Academy)\u201cOur parents and teachers maintain intensive communication with each other to make sure the two parties are on the same page (when it comes to the children). This improves not only the children\u2019s academics but also parent\/child emotional bonds, that is, if the parent is patient enough. Most parents are eager to help, but they need to be guided to be part of a team focused on their children\u2019s development,\u201d Dr Kuznetsov says.\u00a0\u00a0Apart from its high standards for academic attainment, its programme also emphasises the growth of its students, aiming to provide an individual approach in guiding, counselling and supporting them to reach their full potential. That means the school is non-selective in our admissions policy and will admit every child.The academy even states on its website that its fees are affordable because it \u201cstrongly believes that every child deserves the best and should not be restrained by financial issues\u201d.\u00a0An academy with teachers that train other teachers\u00a0The 5 Steps Academy is also a Professional Development Centre accredited by the University of Cambridge to teach teachers from other schools around the world, through its professional development qualification in teaching and learning programme. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0According to the academy, its teachers are \u201ctrue leaders in modern instructional techniques and have first-hand access to the world-class resources from both Cambridge and College Board\u201d.\u00a0Dr Kuznetsov, a Cambridge-accredited and certified programme leader, and Cambridge-certified mentor Natalie Lim, an English teacher and lead educator at the academy, are both allowed to train teachers regardless of location, in-person or remotely.Admission DetailsApart from 5 Steps Academy trademarked pedagogy and unique focus, the school offers a variety of subjects including English, Maths, Science, Chinese, and Russian at elementary level, and then biology, chemistry, physics, economics, world literature, history, and geography at secondary level.Each school day runs from 10am to 1.40pm for elementary and to 2.40pm for secondary students.\u00a0As a non-selective school there is no formal academic year at 5 Steps Academy allowing students to join at any time for flexible travel plans and holiday periods. In turn, this helps save on the monthly S$1,800 fee, where parents pay only for the duration that children are enrolled. The total estimated cost is about S$15,000 per year, depending on how enrollment is arranged.For more information on the 5 Steps Academy, click here.RELATED: Eschewing mainstream educational environments for homeschoolingJoin the conversations on TheHomeGround Asia\u2019s Facebook and Instagram, and get the latest updates via Telegram."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Community","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/community\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kids learning well the 5-Step way","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/community\/kids-learning-well-the-5-step-way\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]