At its core, Singapore math is just like any other math instruction method. However, the Institute of Education of Singapore really studied how to teach math, such that the pedagogy and theory of math are really integrated. This incorporation of teaching methods as it relates to pure and applied math follows a philosophy called the CPA Approach – Concrete to Pictorial to Abstract. Children have to understand the theories concretely. Their learning is transformed into pictorial representations, drawings and models. These also aid students in solving abstract, complex problems like algebra.