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.

[monicakm]

@WORKING GAL 

My grandbabies are 18 and 16 and they grew up with the " new math".  It wasn't broken to begin with so why did they introduce a totally new way to add 2 + 2. And it doesn't matter if you can come up with the right answer, you have to come up with the right way of figuring the right answer.  Math is and was my least favorite subject.

[monicakm]

@Desertdi 

YIKES!  That looks like something you'd find in an archaic torture chamber ( to someone who hates math).

[monicakm]

I supplemented my daughter's math workbooks with these. They don't teach a new way of math they just help with learning. They're called wrap ups. We had them for division multiplication subtraction and addition. We also had a set for learning state capitals. I homeschooled  her through the third grade. She graduated college with a double major, one of her majors was math.