Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
But math, especially for the younger grades, needs to rely on rote memorization. The CC has done away with it, bottom line. Most children are no longer being instructed basic math facts (times tables, etc).
Disagree. The countries who focus on rote memorization of math facts in early grades do poorly in international rankings. The countries who top the rankings virtually ignore rote memorization in early grades.
Are you seriously trying to tell me that a grown adult cannot learn grade school math by reading a textbook? Is that why no one likes it? It's too hard and no one understands it?
I admit I am very good at math, perhaps it's hard for me to realize how other parents / teachers may not be able to grasp it.
Perhaps the problem is that all the adults in the country who are good at math are busy being engineers instead of being math teachers? I could definitely get behind better training, higher qualifications, and better pay for math teachers. I would support that.
Now you're getting into how people process information. I happen to be a visual learner, so I'm okay with learning it from a site or book to re teach my child. But a lot of people are tactile and/or audio learners. So, no, I wouldn't expect a lot of parents to "get it". If the teachers need to be pulled out of the classrooms to learn this method, idk why you think the parents wouldn't need the same instruction to reinforce at home what's being taught in school.
Most people who are math whizzes have no patience for this new math because it takes a simple equation and turns it into an unnecessary several extra step nightmare. So your arguments are surprising to me.
Now you're getting into how people process information. I happen to be a visual learner, so I'm okay with learning it from a site or book to re teach my child. But a lot of people are tactile and/or audio learners. So, no, I wouldn't expect a lot of parents to "get it". If the teachers need to be pulled out of the classrooms to learn this method, idk why you think the parents wouldn't need the same instruction to reinforce at home what's being taught in school.
Most people who are math whizzes have no patience for this new math because it takes a simple equation and turns it into an unnecessary several extra step nightmare. So your arguments are surprising to me.
I was just reading a report about the differences between US education system and those of the top performing countries, including Finland and China. One of the biggest differences was that we provide much less training for our teachers, and we assign teachers to teach subjects they are not trained in. So absolutely one of the problems is that we are not giving our teachers good enough math training (and the additional salary needed to make it worth their while). Another difference is that the U.S. does a lot more standardized testing than the top countries. I absolutely agree we are testing way too much.
But the common core math is not the issue.
The first time I saw a common core math problem turning a simple problem into a multi step nightmare, I agree with you I was appalled. But then I decided to teach math to my kids. And guess what? Harder problems are made easy using the weird multi-step patterns. The steps are easier to teach on simple problems, where a child can do the problem easily in their head, and therefore the child better comprehend the steps, and can also check their answer to make sure they are getting the steps right. THEN, after they have mastered the steps with the easy problems, they can then do the steps on the much harder problems, and then boom your 6 year old is doing 734-648 in their head in a matter of seconds (86) because they don't have to write it down and borrow from the tens place anymore, they can see in their head the two numbers on a number line, how big the jumps are to each number from a central point of 700, and add them with ease. It's a very powerful way to do math.
You are incorrect. CC has done away with rote memorization. Even if a child is expected to complete a CC math assignment, they still need their rote, basic, math facts. Do I really need to cite a problem as an example?
many of today’s parents learned to add whole numbers by using the so-called standard algorithm: lining numbers up vertically and adding each column, carrying when necessary. This traditional method is still required by Common Core. But how many of today’s parents understand why it works? If you learned this way, it’s likely that the “how†of doing the calculation has been drilled into your head, but the “why†has been lost. Knowledge not supported by understanding is fragile.
Quote:
The Common Core standards are not curriculum.
Through the standards, your child will be able to explain the math, not just “do the math.â€
The math problems that you remember are still important.
The more we emphasize memorization to students the less willing they become to think about numbers and their relations and to use and develop number sense (Boaler, 2009)
Common Core is arguably a move toward the Finnish model.
If you're okay with moving toward any new model, it's going to involve some transition pains. It's not like if we copied over the Finnish methods directly, parents would know any better than under the new methods people confuse with Common Core.
I know something about the Finnish model. What is your observation on how CCSS moves toward the Finnish model?
Don't listen to jo boaler. She has lots ideas and grand vision. She will show many bullet points but little substance. If you want to learn film making, learn from the directors and producers, not from a film critic. If you want to learn sports, learn for a coach or a player, not from a sports commentator.
Search "superstar teacher" on youtube. Real Singapore teachers show you how to solve real math problems. No nonsense.
Is your school using a spiral method curriculum like Every Day Math?
Common Core itself doesn't actually "do away with memorization". It says the kids have to learn this topic, and this topic, and this topic, in this year. It doesn't say whether or not the curriculum should require memorization of the facts.
There is a new fad in math curriculum styles called the spiral method (which is one of the many curriculum styles that have been adapted to Common Core). As far as I can tell, the spiral method DOES actually do away with math fact memorization, because it asserts that the students will revisit the facts over and over again so they don't have to memorize it. In talking with other parents, their children who use this method in school are suffering with their fluency of math facts because of this.
My children's school also uses Every Day Math. However, my child's school also realizes the deficiency in this particular curriculum, and ALSO has the kids do Reflex Math on the computer, which is specifically targeted at memorizing and becoming fluent with math facts. But it's still all aligned with Common Core.
It's not Common Core that you are seeing this issue with. It's the spiral method.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
