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This is a link to a summer packets for EM that I found last year while trying to align my son's practice with EM. It will give you an idea of what they are doing. Hope it helps.
Summer Math Review Packets (http://www.bloomington.k12.mn.us/departments/curriculum/committees/SummerMathReviewPackets.htm - broken link)
DS going into 6th grade still not getting how to add fractions accurately each and every time, and is still off by one, two, ten or more when trying to divide. The more he practices, the more he gets it. Unfortunately, there isn't enough basic practice to solidify concepts in this curriculum IMHO.
That's because they flit through topics. They count on spiraling back to reinforce them but you can't reinforce what was never learned in the first place.
What killed my dd was being taught three different methods for subtraction, none of them involving borrowing (taboo I guess). She lumped everything into one bucket called subtraction and couldn't do anything. She didn't understand why different steps went with the different methods. This is where practice would have helped her.
Sylvan had to unteach her the three methods first before they could teach her the standard algorithm involving borrowing which they reinforced with practice. As a high school science teacher, it makes, absolutely no sense to me to teach math without LOTS and LOTS of practice. You just can't learn it without practice. At least me and my kids can't. I don't think we're that unusual.
That's because they flit through topics. They count on spiraling back to reinforce them but you can't reinforce what was never learned in the first place.
What killed my dd was being taught three different methods for subtraction, none of them involving borrowing (taboo I guess). She lumped everything into one bucket called subtraction and couldn't do anything. She didn't understand why different steps went with the different methods. This is where practice would have helped her.
Sylvan had to unteach her the three methods first before they could teach her the standard algorithm involving borrowing which they reinforced with practice. As a high school science teacher, it makes, absolutely no sense to me to teach math without LOTS and LOTS of practice. You just can't learn it without practice. At least me and my kids can't. I don't think we're that unusual.
Agreed. I have the good fortune to have teachers who are willing to work with me in finding the best method for my kids. Personally, I think they are beginning to see the light; however, they really can't say it - ya know, it's that "save face" thing. I placed emphasis on the "Trade First" method for subtraction (traditional borrowing) because I noticed in short order, my 3rd grade daughter would always add up and get the wrong answer in the process. There are actually 5 algorithms that they are taught basically at the same time (in my case anyway): Trade First, Counting Up, Left-to-Right, Opposite Change, and Partial Differences. This is a link for explanation:
IMHO, as hopeful for success as it is, I can't frankly see enough time in a school year to solidify one much less five of these concepts, and by the time they are reviewed the next year, most kids have forgotten at least four of them. Just an observation from a simple mother here.
EM stresses finding more than one way of arriving to an answer. Unfortunately, since they bounce around so much, in my case anyway, my kids tried to use more than one way at the same time and ended up with an incorrect answer. This did little for their self-confidence; ergo, they don't care much for math now. I can only imagine the nightmare that Special Ed teachers who deal with ADHD kids have in trying to get their pupils to master core concepts.
We will be dealing with Connected Mathematics next year - here is a link that I found illustrating some practices.
Agreed. I have the good fortune to have teachers who are willing to work with me in finding the best method for my kids. Personally, I think they are beginning to see the light; however, they really can't say it - ya know, it's that "save face" thing. I placed emphasis on the "Trade First" method for subtraction (traditional borrowing) because I noticed in short order, my 3rd grade daughter would always add up and get the wrong answer in the process. There are actually 5 algorithms that they are taught basically at the same time (in my case anyway): Trade First, Counting Up, Left-to-Right, Opposite Change, and Partial Differences. This is a link for explanation:
IMHO, as hopeful for success as it is, I can't frankly see enough time in a school year to solidify one much less five of these concepts, and by the time they are reviewed the next year, most kids have forgotten at least four of them. Just an observation from a simple mother here.
EM stresses finding more than one way of arriving to an answer. Unfortunately, since they bounce around so much, in my case anyway, my kids tried to use more than one way at the same time and ended up with an incorrect answer. This did little for their self-confidence; ergo, they don't care much for math now. I can only imagine the nightmare that Special Ed teachers who deal with ADHD kids have in trying to get their pupils to master core concepts.
We will be dealing with Connected Mathematics next year - here is a link that I found illustrating some practices.
Unfortunately, we had the misfortune of being in the school when EDM was brought in. From what I saw and what I've heard about other districts, when it first comes in it has some very strong cheerleaders. Dd's teacher was instrumental in bringing it in (ironically, she retired two years later ) and kept repeating to us that it didn't work if you mixed methods. She actually forbade dd from using the methods Sylvan taught her. The last straw for us was when I went to the school and told them to just pull her from math when the rest of the class did math and let her learn it at Sylvan. The only way I could have done that would have been to have showed up at the school and pulled her out myself every time they did math. With a full time job, I couldn't do that so we moved her to a new school with a different math program.
She's transferring back to the district as a 9th grader next year. She'll be one up on her peers who have been struggling with the jump to algebra. While she can do higher math than she'll be doing next year because of it, I figure it will let her build some confidence in a new school so it works out.
From what I saw and what I've heard about other districts, when it first comes in it has some very strong cheerleaders. Dd's teacher was instrumental in bringing it in (ironically, she retired two years later ) and kept repeating to us that it didn't work if you mixed methods. She actually forbade dd from using the methods Sylvan taught her.
Yes, I know all about the cheerleaders . In our case however, the first few times the kids were dinged for not following the methods to the letter, parents in our area were quite, oh, how shall we put it? Vocal in their disdain for Jr. flunking the test even though the answers were correct, but the "show your work" section wasn't in line with the program. I guess we are small enough to make a difference in that the schools have at least some modicum of respect for parents in terms of knowing what their talking about when it comes to how their children learn things.
I'm sorry OP, I know you weren't looking for "opinions" but as you can see, there are many strong ones when it comes to this program. They are literally everywhere on message boards from Educational to Scrapbooking. Facebook alone has a "Parents Against Everyday Math" section. To say it's a "hot topic" is an understatement IMHO. I hope the links I posted help.
May I also suggest that you search for EM discussions and see for yourself the good, the bad, and the ugly of what people think. I know you will find plenty of "parents with pitchforks" but there are some legitimate concerns, and the numbers of people with those concerns grows daily IMHO.
It is very scary that a lot of us on this board have had very similar experiences when dealing with the educators. They seem to have an almost fanatical devotion to EM.
Quote:
The last straw for us was when I went to the school and told them to just pull her from math when the rest of the class did math and let her learn it at Sylvan. The only way I could have done that would have been to have showed up at the school and pulled her out myself every time they did math. With a full time job, I couldn't do that so we moved her to a new school with a different math program.
I know a woman who did this in our school district, but math was the first subject of the day, so she just brought him to school for the second period. I know every state has different rules for part-time homeschooling, but its ridiculous that they wouldn't let him just sit quietly at his desk. The school obviously didn't want other kids to notice and tell their parents.
I was also thinking of pulling my son out, but I also found the other subjects to be quite lacking. His homework also was just busy work--like word searches.
Before I looked at private schools, I was looking for a school somewhere in the northwest Chicago suburbs that didn't teach a fuzzy math program like EM or Connected Math, and I couldn't find one! I wouldn' have minded moving just to avoid the private school cost. I was looking on Illinoisloop.org, which deals with the education system today, and gathers info on all the math programs in our state.
I guess we are small enough to make a difference in that the schools have at least some modicum of respect for parents in terms of knowing what their talking about when it comes to how their children learn things.
I'll correct my grammatical "faux paux" of using "their" instead of "they're"
This is a link to a summer packets for EM that I found last year while trying to align my son's practice with EM. It will give you an idea of what they are doing. Hope it helps.
Summer Math Review Packets (http://www.bloomington.k12.mn.us/departments/curriculum/committees/SummerMathReviewPackets.htm - broken link)
Fantastic link! Thank you so much.
Our experience with EDM has been spotty. Our daughter seems to get it now, but it took eighteen months in Kumon math to augment what she was learning in class. I worry about our son, who will be using the program in the second grade. His first grade teacher used a combination of math programs throughout the year, so we have yet to see how he'll do with EDM.
Our experience with EDM has been spotty. Our daughter seems to get it now, but it took eighteen months in Kumon math to augment what she was learning in class. I worry about our son, who will be using the program in the second grade. His first grade teacher used a combination of math programs throughout the year, so we have yet to see how he'll do with EDM.
You're welcome - I'm glad they helped. I spent the entire summer last year looking for things like that, and I promptly forwarded them to my son's teacher, who in turn, shared them with the other teachers at the school. Apparently, they were running off the copier like hotcakes.
I really do believe the Kumon played a significant roll in your daughter's success. While I can accept the need for understanding, I also think there's a place for the old standby "Keep it simple" and practice, practice, practice, at least in the lower grades.
I really do believe the Kumon played a significant roll in your daughter's success.
Without a doubt! It was the best money I've ever spent, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Some children instinctively make the leap from conceptual math to mastery with little practice. My daughter was not one of them. Neither were many of the children in her class. About a dozen of them were also enrolled at our local Kumon center. Only one of her classmates was truly a math prodigy. The others, like my daughter, needed the extra practice just to keep their heads above water as EDM flitted from topic to topic.
My son did about six months of Kumon in kindergarten, but it was very obvious that he was still too young for the program. I'm in awe at kindergarten boys who can sit still and do worksheet after worksheet. My son was just too active and completely incapable of retaining the information. Given EDM's spiral strategy, I fear he's going to crash once he hits second grade. We may try Kumon again this fall now that he has developed a slightly longer attention span.
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I placed emphasis on the "Trade First" method for subtraction (traditional borrowing) because I noticed in short order, my 3rd grade daughter would always add up and get the wrong answer in the process. There are actually 5 algorithms that they are taught basically at the same time (in my case anyway): Trade First, Counting Up, Left-to-Right, Opposite Change, and Partial Differences. This is a link for explanation:
Just an observation from a simple mother here. 
. In our case however, the first few times the kids were dinged for not following the methods to the letter, parents in our area were quite, oh, how shall we put it? Vocal in their disdain for Jr. flunking the test even though the answers were correct, but the "show your work" section wasn't in line with the program. I guess we are small enough to make a difference in that the schools have at least some modicum of respect for parents in terms of knowing what their talking about when it comes to how their children learn things. 
