How is math taught in your town's schools? (Chicago, Naperville: real estate, credit)

[Sodium]

What are your experiences with how math is taught in your local schools? Are you happy or livid about the ways your children are taught math?

The problem is fuzzy math, the notion that somehow kids will learn math if they do lots of group projects, answer inane questions without definitive answers, and become dependent on their calculators.

Unfortunately, about three-fourths of the Chicago suburban school systems use some flavor of "fuzzy math", such as Everyday Math ("Chicago math"), Trailblazers, TERC Investigations, Connected Math, or Interactive Mathematics Program. But there are a handful of districts where kids still learn how to multiply without using calculators, and where practice and thinking about math problems are still the norm. So, where are these GOOD towns and villages? And which are the ones to avoid?

Here is a listing of Chicago suburbs with what is known so far about math in schools: Illinois Loop: Math, District by District
What about other towns and villages? And what is correct/incorrect about that listing?

This is something parents really need to know when choosing schools!

[hsw]

Would argue parents who can't teach their kids math/stats/economics/finance at home (and/or kids not smart enough to self-teach) as an adjunct to any school have larger issues anyway.....

Still recall a colleague's story from mid-'90s (he was a 17yo grad of a mediocre public HS in Midwest, who was a ?soph-junior in terms of credits when he entered Wharton undergrad, which he finished in 2yrs summa c.l. in Finance).....he was in a jr-sr lvl Real Estate class.....many of the students grew up in Manhattan/Greenwich; attended whatever legendary pvt schools; pa was likely a senior investment banker.....interestingly, an early discussion in class involved prof asking students what is rough cost of residential land in Greenwich backcountry.....all these allegedly sophisticated, well-educated students, despite ?2-3+ yrs at Wharton hadn't a clue.....my colleague easily knew the answer, just from casually reviewing asking prices of houses in NYT (pre-Net era; now, a site like realtor.com easily allows one to determine rough land costs in Eastern LF/Greenwich/Woodside)

Sometimes, Common Sense and Shrewdness is superior to alleged coursework, even at the supposedly best schools....need both smart/shrewd students and parents to achieve a useful education that incrs odds of gainful, post-grad employment.....most achieve their objectives, despite, not b/c of, best efforts of "professional" educators, who are often tolerated simply b/c of brand value they add early in one's career....

[purplesky]

Thanks for the info. My son is going into second grade and is advanced in math (per his 1st grade teacher), but that research both angered and scared me. I live in Schaumburg, so I'll have to do some checking on what texts they use.

I have him doing some math exercises (for free) on Beestar.org. I was thinking of sending him to Kumon next spring/summer. Apart from a few parents who have raved about it, I haven't heard much else about it.

Anyone here try Kumon for their kids?

[purplesky]

Ugh--I just found the link where it states that my school district 54 uses the "fuzzy" math. I'm going to try to find the textbook for the traditional math and teach him myself. I'll also be addressing his school with my concerns.

Thanks again for the info!!

[Chicago-Newbie]

Originally Posted by Sodium

What are your experiences with how math is taught in your local schools? Are you happy or livid about the ways your children are taught math?

The problem is fuzzy math, the notion that somehow kids will learn math if they do lots of group projects, answer inane questions without definitive answers, and become dependent on their calculators.

Unfortunately, about three-fourths of the Chicago suburban school systems use some flavor of "fuzzy math", such as Everyday Math ("Chicago math"), Trailblazers, TERC Investigations, Connected Math, or Interactive Mathematics Program. But there are a handful of districts where kids still learn how to multiply without using calculators, and where practice and thinking about math problems are still the norm. So, where are these GOOD towns and villages? And which are the ones to avoid?

Here is a listing of Chicago suburbs with what is known so far about math in schools: Illinois Loop: Math, District by District
What about other towns and villages? And what is correct/incorrect about that listing?

This is something parents really need to know when choosing schools!

We have Everyday Math here and I am not a fan. The focus seems far too heavy on advanced concepts before a lot of kids are ready for them and doesn't spend nearly enough time on foundations. Advanced math ability is great for those with the interest or aptitude, but we also need kids who can count change, do simple fractions and add/subtract/multiply/divide in their heads.

[Careless]

A bit horrifying to see that your old school is using Everyday Math now.

[purplesky]

The scary thing is that I can't find any schools in the northwest suburbs that are not using some form of the fuzzy math. There is one Catholic School, St Hubert, in Hoffman Estates that teaches the traditional math, but the tuition is about $6500 per year.

Has anyone used Kumon?

[mommyjnny]

We homeschool, so no clue about the public schools around here.

[Lookout Kid]

So someone posts something questioning "Everyday Mathematics", and you all just believe it right away without question? Since seeing this post and reading the links, I've asked three teachers about this program (I was alarmed), and they all think it's fine. My own sister was one of the teachers (she teaches second grade in Wisconsin and uses "Everyday Mathematics" per the school curriculum), and she said that they still teach addition, subraction, and muliplication the same way we learned it back in the 70s and 80s. She said that the only difference is that at the end of each assignment there are some conceptual problems that are supposed to build on one another (the "spirals" they talk about). There are NO calcualators in her classroom, and they all still use flashcards and old fashioned pencils and paper to work out problems. She also said that it has helped to raise the test scores in her school.

Perhaps you should all research this a bit before getting worked up into hysterics. I think the individual school and teacher are probably a bigger factor than the textbooks they choose to use.

[Coddie]

While Naperville (D204) uses Everyday Math, it is used to compliment basic math concepts. The kids still learn math the old fashioned way - they actually use flashcards for memorization! I have a hard time believing that school districts would attempt to use a program like Everyday Math without teaching the basics as well.