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I do think worksheets should have a prominent role in the teaching of math, but I also think they are way overused, at least in the school that my sons go to. And that makes it b.o.r.i.n.g. They grew up in New Zealand until we moved to Southern California two years ago, and math is taught in quite a different way. Worksheets were used there, but only minimally and they still got enough practice to be very competent. They also had far less homework (but that's a whole other thread...). Our 11 year old in particular likes math, still likes math, but was much more engaged with it at his NZ school. I just hope he can stick with it because this year (5th Grade) in particular he has really complained about the repetition in parts of the curriculum between 4th and 5th grade, and finding it boring to relearn stuff they've already done.
Do you mind elaborating a bit more. Is the boredom bc your sons are having to repeat work they have already mastered in NZ and therefore maybe need to have a bit of accelerated work on their level or is it hte nature of doing problems on a worksheet in and of itself?
Would you mind elaborating on how math is taught/handled differently in NZ that made it more interesting for your sons? I am very curious about what other approaches to teaching math can be done so that I will have a full understanding of what I am/am not seeing if/when I walk into a classroom someday and observe.
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloudwalker
I do think worksheets should have a prominent role in the teaching of math, but I also think they are way overused, at least in the school that my sons go to. And that makes it b.o.r.i.n.g. They grew up in New Zealand until we moved to Southern California two years ago, and math is taught in quite a different way. Worksheets were used there, but only minimally and they still got enough practice to be very competent. They also had far less homework (but that's a whole other thread...). Our 11 year old in particular likes math, still likes math, but was much more engaged with it at his NZ school. I just hope he can stick with it because this year (5th Grade) in particular he has really complained about the repetition in parts of the curriculum between 4th and 5th grade, and finding it boring to relearn stuff they've already done.
I can only talk about the elementary level, but there's a greater emphasis on practical math or applying math in project work in New Zealand. They still have to learn the theory and processes and use worksheets, but it's not as abstract when it's applied in a real world way and just seems more engaging. Math homework was limited to fast facts - gaining proficiency and speed in simple addition, subtraction, and times tables. Common curriculum, but no textbooks. Handouts pasted into workbooks when needed.
The repetition he complained of seemed to be specifically something he had learned in 4th grade here and then was covered again in 5th grade, but I need to quiz him further to find out what it was. He's stopped complaining about that, so maybe it was just review in advance of expanding a topic. I'll find out more.
Another key difference is the actual teaching structure. For example, at the school my sons went to, there were usually four classes in each grade level. From second grade on, for math only, kids were divided roughly into ability groupings. Each "class" or grouping went to another teacher for math. This was usually straight after recess so they'd had a chance to run around and come in fresh. Plus going to a different physical space seemed to make them a bit more alert as well.
School runs in four terms of around 9-10 weeks each, with a 2 week break in between, and 6 weeks over summer. Each term, each math class rotate to a different teacher, but everyone taught the same thing at the same time. There were several advantages of changing teachers - each teacher teaches in a slightly different way so one method may speak more to a kid than another. Also, where there was a poor student-teacher fit (and we all know it happens at times), they at least got a break from each other for part of the day. To be fair, they are doing this partly for 5th Grade science at our current school, but just rotating whole classes, not dividing into ability groups. It has a lot to commend it.
Teachers also get a 1/2 day per week for professional development and they meet to discuss what's coming up in the syllabus, who is doing well, who is struggling, new and different approaches, etc. Rotating also made it more interesting for teachers. They got to know the different students well and all of the students that they taught at one time were of similar abilities, so no-one was being left behind and no-one was bored. They all learned the same stuff, they just applied it in more or complex ways.
Here, teachers seem to teach pretty much on their own. With not as much support. And having to manage such a wide variation in student ability. But of course, I'm sure there are schools here in the US that operate differently, I'm only talking about the two schools I have experience with.
Something to consider....there are varying types of homework worksheets.
The ones who are what you (OP) seem to mention the most have only drilling of the basic math skills. I think they are fine when the students are just beginning to learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. After that they should become thought provoking, solution finding based problems.
Kindergarteners and 1st graders benefit by doing these drill worksheets for adding and subtracting. 2nd and 3rd graders benefit from doing the drill sheets for multiplying and dividing. After that almost all worksheets should be solving problems that take thought to find the solutions, not drills. Drills by that age are nothing more than busy work for most students.
We have a little guy and are looking at schools for the future. I want to gain a better understanding of the common wisdom that worksheets are no longer good for kids to do. Where does this come from? I have a couple of math-related degrees and we did worksheets when I was growing up in order to ensure we could do math, not just a project or group-based work in math.
Is there a problem with worksheets nowadays or is the concern moreso that children will ONLY get worksheets and not be taught the understanding behind what they are doing? I imagine that if they are also taught the understanding, worksheets for practice would be fine.
What are your thoughts?
Also, anyone able to point to any studies or research on the use of worksheets? I am really trying to gain a sense of my own thoughts as opposed to just following the conventional talking points as I mentioned, I have a couple of math-related degrees and, for me, practicing math is how I became good at it.
Another question. For kids who are not visual and cannot follow a demonstration of something visual about math, but who can do the problems, do the new project-based approach really serve these children?
Thanks in advance.
There are still math worksheets, as far as I know. I think the issue is more with reading, where worksheets are pretty useless. The only math worksheets that would be bad would be those that are really repetitive and have a kid doing 50 of the same exact problem when ten would be enough, or of course if that is the ONLY math they ever do.
Except no one running education today was an education major. Or has even taught or worked in a school.
And back in the *old days* when teachers went to NORMAL schools instead of university, those schools did emphasize pedagogy although they also had academic courses. Fascinating how we think teaching was so much better back then, but we insist that we need to change teacher training today.
The first of the public normal schools, educating primary-school teachers, was established in 1839. By 1900 there were more than 330 normals, public and private, enrolling over 115,000 students. Their programs, originally a year long and later longer, included academic subjects but emphasized pedagogy and in-school training.
Not really. Who is Joe A. Silverman? I suspect he is a political hack. The article is an opinion piece. Note that many education majors drop out. Also note that many TEACHERS are not education majors - particularly secondary academic teachers.
Fewer than half of all education majors (or even intended education) majors become teachers. Can someone tell me why eduformers are always squawking about ed majors’ SAT scores?
Quote:
In the 2002-2005 cohort, elementary school teachers’ combined SAT score was over 1000, nearly 40 points higher than the overall mean that Richwine and Biggs use. Secondary school teacher scores in academic subjects are much higher–math and science teachers are above the national average in both, and English/history teachers above in verbal and slightly below in math.
Now, these reports are only for 20 states and DC (California, for example, doesn’t use Praxis tests and so wouldn’t be included). But it’s far more accurate than SAT scores for ed majors.
But Biggs and Richwine use education major SAT scores, when a Google search reveals actual teacher SAT scores for a huge number of states, and then, as before, they conflate elementary and secondary school teacher scores (to say nothing of PE and special ed instructors).
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