We get a quarterly mailing from our local school system.\u00a0 We live in a rural area with a consolidated middle and high school that serves parts of two counties.\u00a0 Not a huge school, but bigger than the less-than-500-total K-12 school I attended!<\/p>\n
This issue was about math.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, I’ll be the first to say that I know there are many wonderful, caring teachers in many schools.\u00a0 I don’t fault them.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s the system that isn’t always in the best interest as someone in Washington tries to “standardize” academic learning as if children are widgets on a factory conveyor belt.<\/p>\n
The title of the main article was how mathematics proficiency is about understanding and application.<\/p>\n
I certainly agree with that!<\/p>\n
This particular paragraph amazed me, and then tickled me.<\/p>\n
We know that what children need to learn in mathematics today is vastly different from what they needed to learn only a few years ago.\u00a0 Computation, basic math skills, and memorizing formulas remain important, but math proficiency today is all about understanding and application.\u00a0 Students must be able to connect mathematics to other subjects and the real world….”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I found myself scratching my head that until today, apparently, understanding and connecting math to the real world wasn’t as important?!\u00a0 I don’t think that’s what the writer really meant….was it?!<\/p>\n
I know when we used Math-U-See,\u00a0 Steve Demme had shared how some of his students in class knew the basic operations, but not when to use them.\u00a0 Both are important!\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few paragraphs later:<\/p>\n
Schools in the United States traditionally teach mathematics an inch deep and a mile wide while schools in other countries teach for a deeper understanding.\u00a0 We can no longer teach\u00a0as we have always taught.\u00a0 Today’s children must be able to apply mathematics skills to everyday situations; they must\u00a0know how, when and why to do it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Again, I find myself wondering…what have <\/em>they been teaching?\u00a0 And up until recently we haven’t taught this way?<\/p>\n
I think if\u00a0we look at the history of education, someone may find that 100+ years ago math was taught quite differently in our schools.\u00a0 A quick look at Ray’s Arithmetics, which were finished in 8th grade, would show that they knew their math waaaayyyyy better than most college bound seniors today!<\/p>\n
I agree that schools teach math (and other subjects) an inch deep and a mile wide–it’s the nature of the system.\u00a0 There have certainly been strides in many schools to change some of that, but quite frankly, you can only do so much when you have a student for 1 hour a day, in a class of 20-30 students with all their varying degrees of need and abilities of understanding.\u00a0 I have learned from teaching piano that you can’t go home with the student and motivate them–especially if they don’t have the support at home.\u00a0 I really feel for public school teachers who really care and try–they have a hard job!<\/p>\n
I think the acknowledgement of needing to teach math differently and make sure it applies is commendable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I also think homeschoolers have been doing this for a long time!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
I am perpetually “behind” in math, it seems, yet my children have always seemed to have a strong conceptual understanding.\u00a0\u00a0 I always felt if I had to err on one end of it or the other, knowing the when and why was a bit more important than speed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Soon I’ll be reviewing a new math program we are trying and are really<\/em> liking!\u00a0 One that I believe fits the criteria the article in our local school’s mini-magazine is looking for, but this one\u00a0was developed by a homeschooling mom for use by\u00a0homeschoolers (although those wanting extra help remediating math could use it, too!)\u00a0 Stay tuned in a few weeks for the review!<\/p>\n
It was funny how the captions to the pictures all involved math–a young man saying how music helps him with his math, another saying, “Believe it or not, there’s a lot of math involved in sewing!”<\/p>\n
Not news to us!\u00a0 \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n
I’m not\u00a0knocking the school–kudos to them for trying to do a better job.<\/p>\n
It just makes me feel good to be able to homeschool and be on the cutting edge–even ahead of the public school!<\/p>\n
I think I might keep this one and put it in my “Why I Homeschool” file!\u00a0\u00a0 If I’m ever questioned, I can show how we were doing this before it was the “going thing”!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isn’t it nice to know the public schools are catching up to us?!\u00a0\u00a0 \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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