正如大家所熟知的一样，IB课程分成六个组：母语、第二语言、人文、科学、数学和艺术。除了数学之外，其他组别的都可以由学生自己挑选学习的科目，每位同学学的科目可以完全不一样。唯独数学，作为一门必修课，是全世界IB学生都要学习的科目。数学的重要性显而易见，数学的作为一门基础学科，是全世界学生的必修课。
广泛意义上来说，数学的学习分理论和应用两大类。在我们IB数学里，大纲有两种供学校选择：分析与方法Analysis and Approaches（AA, 偏理论）和应用与阐释 Application and Interpretations（AI, 偏实践）。效实IB选择的教材AA，其原因有二：理论类的数学更适合中国学生的学习，以及学习AA更有利于大学的申请。当然，我们不仅仅希望学生在理论上打好基础。在IB的学习中，我们也会指导学生完成数学论文写作，将理论的数学知识用于解决生活中的问题，理论贯彻实践，同时提高学术论文写作能力。
IB数学更吸引人的是它独特的授课方式。除了传统的授课方式和小组讨论以外，数学老师也会把课堂搬到学校的不同地方。去年有一次数学高阶的课堂就在操场上。学生通过实地测量旗杆阴影和太阳高度角来计算一天之内阴影扫过的面积。此类理论实际相结合的课程内容也是IB数学想要培养的能力：思考，探索，解决问题。
我们的数学外教老师Dr. Bonsu对IB数学的培养人才方式提出了自己的见解：
Having taught other curricula and IB, I personally recommend the IB mathematics curriculum to any student wishing to develop sharp mathematical skills and broaden their horizons of enquiry and rigor.
IB mathematics takes students through critical thinking exercises in both theoretical and applied mathematics. The syllabus requires students to know the history, philosophy and the logic behind mathematical theories as well as pushing them to solve rigorous problems which students sometimes have to think outside the box to figure out. This approach is more beneficial to students’ development as opposed to the usual lecture-formula-example-solve approach from other curricula.
在教授过其他课程体系和IB课程之后，我个人向任何希望发展敏锐的数学技能并拓宽他们探究和严谨视野的学生推荐 IB数学课程。
IB数学带领学生进行理论数学和应用数学的批判性思维练习。教学大纲要求学生了解数学理论背后的历史、哲学和逻辑，并促使他们不得不打破常规思考来解决一些严谨的问题。与传统的数学教学相比，这种方式更有利于学生的发展。
We also incorporate TOK, Theory of Knowledge in the mathematics lessons for students to be able to make connections between mathematics and other areas of knowledge. We discuss questions such as ‘is math invented or created?’, ‘ what is the difference between logical proof and statistical evidence?’, etc. These kind of questions help to deepen students’ understanding of mathematical knowledge and they get to see the usefulness of the subject in everyday life.
我们还将TOK（知识理论）纳入IB数学课程，让我们的学生能够将数学与其他知识领域联系起来。我们讨论诸如“数学是被发明的还是被创造的？”，“逻辑证据和统计证据有什么区别？”等等，这些问题有助于加深学生对数学知识的理解，让他们看到这门学科在日常生活中的运用。
The Extended Essay and Internal Assessment introduces students to research work. Most students around the world get to read or write an academic paper probably in their undergraduate studies or beyond. This is a great privilege for a high school student to begin research at such an early age. Students are asked to write an essay on a mathematics topic of their choice and they are encouraged to pick something they are interested in or familiar with. An example is a student in Xiaoshi IB Center who was very active in drama and also interested in mathematics and decided to write an EE about ‘the optimization of stage lights’ which was an impressive research by a high school student. No wonder she got an offer from Imperial College mathematics department.
扩展论文和内部评估论文引导IB学生进行初步的学术研究。世界上大多数的学生可能在本科或以后的学习中阅读或撰写学术论文。对于一个高中生来说，在这么小的年纪就开始学术研究是多么宝贵的经验。IB数学要求学生就自己选择的数学主题写一篇论文，我们通常鼓励他们选择自己感兴趣或熟悉的东西。例如效实IB的一位毕业生，她对戏剧方面抱有极大的热情，对数学也很感兴趣，她撰写了一篇关于“舞台灯光优化”的拓展论文，这对于高中生来说是令人印象极其深刻的研究，难怪她拿到了帝国理工大学数学系的录取。