Imagine you’re a character in a math problem. You have three platters, but two cakes. All three platters need to have the same amount of cake. How would you split it? Without even saying the word ...

Singapore math’s portrayal of numerical relationships is particularly “clever,” especially in how it uses drawn bars to help students visualize relationships, Campbell said.

Maryland private and charter schools have incorporated the teaching style into their curricula in the hopes of emulating Singapore's three decades of success in math scores.

Singapore math teaches concepts beginning with concrete materials, then progresses to pictures and then brings students to abstract symbols like the plus or minus sign.