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Are there any school districts left in New Jersey that teach traditional Math? Or are they all now aligned with the "Common Core Standards" where they jump around from one subject to another without mastering anything? All the "good" schools I had been considering have apparently jumped on the constructivist, spiral bandwagon, which is what I was trying to move away from. I'm starting to realize no matter where we move, I'll probably have to plan on tutoring them myself.
Though not all schools are alike, public schools in New Jersey are required to provide instruction according to the state's core curriculum standards. I'm unaware of the problems you refer to but if you're unsatisfied with the standards, you can try having them changed.
There are many online helps available for enhanced learning – some free on youtube. Khan Academy has a great reputation.
Beyond that, for a variety of reasons, many people in NJ choose to home school their children. There are a number of fine home schooling associations in NJ easily found through standard search engines.
We have Everyday Math and I have come around to seeing it's merits.
A big driver for how math is taught in this school is the NJASK which pulls concepts that are reinforced in these new math curriculums.
I think the spiraling really only works in a strong school system with teacher's who really "get it". We are in Millburn and so far, so good. I am actually quite impressed with the things my child is learning---very advanced mathematical concepts compared to what I had at the same age. My child is studying high school level math whereas at this point, my other child (who went to school out of state) was barely tackling fractions.
I am a teacher and I am also not a fan of the Everyday Math Curriculum (not teaching to mastery-spiraling). However, my daughter's district is also using it and I thought I was going to have to tutor her as well...it seems however that there has been a change to the Everyday Math program since I taught it 3 years ago and my daughter is doing fairly well with it.
That said, Livingston does a more traditional program called Calendar Math. You may want to look into it.
Hated Everyday Math. Another term for Chicago Math. My son was in 3 far-flung districts (only one in New Jersey) that used it. At the end of 4th grade, he had gotten an A in math and I found a piece of paper with 14 written 12 times in a column and he was trying to add them up. I panicked and signed him up for Kumon over the summer. Lots and lots of fighting to get him to do it but at the end of the summer - with not a lot of effort, he knew how to do long division and multiplication the normal way. He's now a senior in high school taking AP Calculus. All the kids in his grade came through with Everyday Math and we have many science and math geniuses. Probably many other kids also got some outside help - but really not a lot was needed. Now our school is going to Singapore math which is probably what you're looking for.
It turned out to not be as much of an issue as I thought it would be. If you have average to bright kids, they can learn to do math.
OP does not specify 'Everyday Math' but gripes of 'Common Core Standards'.
Is it safe to assume that it's Everyday Math that's being questioned? (IDK - legitimately asking your opinion.) Regardless, OP fishbott hasn't been back!
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoYanks34
Can someone explain what everyone here is talking about? I assume they are teaching math differently, but how?
OP does not specify 'Everyday Math' but gripes of 'Common Core Standards'.
Is it safe to assume that it's Everyday Math that's being questioned? (IDK - legitimately asking your opinion.) Regardless, OP fishbott hasn't been back!
I actually had to read a few different articles to understand what the heck they were talking about. IMO not a good idea for the basics in elementary school but I could see the benefit for it with Algebra. I was always horrible at math and I hated it. Especially Algebra. I could never grasp the whole letters representing numbers in an equation. Confused the hell out of me and never made sense until I was in a pharmacology class in undergrad. My teacher wrote an algebraic type equation on the board and I immediately wanted to cry, LOL. Then she asked me something along the lines of: If a dog weighs 50 lbs and needs 5mg/kg of a drug that has a concentration of 10mg/ml how much do you give? I immediately gave the answer (with the assistance of a calculator) and she said "you just did that algebra equation!". That's when I finally started to understand algebra - my last year of undergrad! It was no longer a letter but something concrete that went into those spaces for me. So conceptual teaching is good for some things but from what I was reading they're not teaching long division or "times tables" which is not a good idea IMO if the articles I've read are correct.
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