Community Chat

[WORKING GAL]

My twin 8 yr. old grandsons are doing great in 2nd grade.  They are being taught math completely differently than my husband and myself (about 70 yrs. ago) and even my daughter in the 80's.  We were taught to add or subtract in vertical columns.  They are being taught to do it horizontally.  I asked my dtr. to send me a sample of their math as it makes no sense to us or to her.  She ended up asking my grandsons to teach her their math so she can learn how to do it.  If any of you have elementary school children or grand children, how are they being taught math.  My grandsons live in a suburb or San Antonio,Texas.  Live and learn as they say!

[on the bay]

@WORKING GAL,

Maybe last year I was sitting next to my grandson watching him do his math homework. And I remember saying you don't do this?

No, he said. It was nothing like anything I had seen so I knew not to "help."

We actually were told not to help with "our math" when my children were in elementary school.

It seems there are new methods every few decades!

But of course, ours was the best and most sensible way lol!

[Desertdi]

I was truly "bad" at math, but almost all of my jobs involved accounting.  

I used one of these...until electronics made my job a LOT easier:

[songbird]

It's not a "new" way of teaching Math.  Just differently.  Doesn't matter how you do it, so long as you get the correct solution.  My dad was a wizard in Maths.  He taught me tricks to get the right answer.  They've been teaching maths for years in schools in Europe/Asia that way. 

[Puppy Lips]

When our middle son was in grade school, he was having trouble with fractions.  My DH and I went to see his teacher, along with our son.  This teacher was teaching fractions using the hands of a clock, an actual clock.  It made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever, and I am good in math.

I finally asked the teacher, "Is this the best way to teach this?"  Her response was that this was something new they were trying.

I get that some people struggle with math.  But the way I was taught years ago was simple, straight forward, and it made sense.  Not everyone is going to be good in every subject.  Throwing all these different methods at students is a mistake I think.  Not only is it confusing to the teachers and students, but the parents can't help either.

[Desertdi]

I missed 4th grade when long multiplication and long division were taught, because of rheumatic fever.

My grade school lessons were sent home, but I just couldn't "understand" the math.

My dad was an engineer, and used much higher levels of math...and my mother "kept the books" by using budget envelopes.

I guess I could work in accounting, because it's mostly putting the figures in the RIGHT PLACE.

[Neetgal2]

I agree.  I am 73, GD, 9.  I have not much of a clue here.  She works on a division sheet, a placemat I bought.  I showed her how to check her division by multiplication, and she was shocked. Her mother teaches first grade and doesn't quite understand fourth grade math in the same hello school! I told her you better go find out how! You have another one following this one following this one.

[Carmie]

Back in 1962-1963, I was in third grade.  My teacher taught " new math."  My mother as well as my friend's families couldn't help or figure it out.

My father was a mathematical genius.  He looked at it and helped me.  He also taught me other ways of gettting the answers in my head.

In addition to the new math, I had to learn the the old math.

A few years ago, when I volunteered at a local elementary school, there were quite a few children who could not figure out the new math and their parents couldn't help them either.

Some teachers also didn't know how to do it when the kids asked for help in the lunch room.

Boy, were they shocked when I said...I know how.  Funny, the new math is not new to me.

1+1 will always be 2 no matter what method you use.  Math is a science.

So, I went to school from 1 to 8 grade in a four classroom school.  We had one teacher who taught two grades at the same time.  There were about 30 kids in a classroom.. That was primitive by today's standards, but 100% effective.

My kids learned the "old" way as well as my grandkids, but the kids at my local public school are learning the "new" way.

It really doesn't make a difference.  I am just thrilled they are learning.  Maybe, they will be able to do basic math without a calculator or count change back.

[chrystaltree]

Math is math but they do indeed do the calculations differently from the way I learned and even from the way my girls who are thirtyish learned.  It's IMPORTANT that you not interfere and confuse the kids.  The must do their calculations they way they are taught in school.  Not the way we learned back in the older days.  My 11 year old niece's mom learned so she could help her daughter with math.  The dad had to be told "hands off" when it came to math because he was just confusing the child.   Things change in education.  My niece now wants to learn cursive because she thinks it's pretty.  Cursive is not part of the school curriculum and middle school kids are not allowed to use it.  They mostly do their assignments on their laptops.  

[Ainhisg]

I have been retired from teaching for 14 years.  During the last year that I taught (third grade), we had to teach "new math" with the problems being written horizontally.  The kids not only had to get the correct answer, but they also had to explain why it was the correct answer.  The problem?  Third graders don't have the life knowledge and experience to understand what they're doing let alone explain it. Math can be very abstract for younger children.  If they did manage to explain it correctly, they were just regurgitating what I had taught with really no understanding for the most part. They also had to do lots of extra steps to come up with the correct answer.  I found the whole thing ridiculous and was very glad that it was my last year of teaching.

As far as cursive, I taught it to students my whole life...until I didn't.  The last year I taught, we third grade teachers were told not to teach it at all--that the fourth grade teachers would teach how to write in cursive.  I have no idea if they did or not, since I retired.  But in today's world, the skill really isn't needed except to sign a check or legal documents.