I agree. It's not simple to relearn it this way. But if this is how our kids are taught now from the beginning, it may just lead to great things.

Sometimes we parents have to let go a bit and trust the educators.

A big key for your kid, even if you don't like or agree with the new method, is to not let that show. Encourage him/her and try to get the kid to buy into what he is doing, for his own good. Kids will follow your lead and if you are complaining and moaning about their homework, guess what? They are not going to be very excited about learning new things. Psychologically, kids need to feel good about what they are doing and take a positive approach to learning. We adults should foster that and help them celebrate the small victories along the way. If we have concerns, we can express them in private with the teacher/administrator when the kid isn't listening.

It's funny, one of the common complaints is about how our kids are being outperformed by foreign students/kids from other countries. We know our math skills (and other skills as well) are starting to lag behind. Common Core is a way of addressing that. Change is always difficult. And I fully admit that I'm not completely comfortable with the process. But just from my own experience, I did great at math up through the early part of high school. And then suddenly, at higher levels math became a struggle. As I look back, I'm great at memorizing things. Learning multiplication tables was always easy for me, simply because I could remember them. I never had to work hard, or ever really dig deeper, and when that became necessary in Trig, and Calculus I suddenly went from well above average to average pretty quickly. And that was a common theme, and likely a main reason as a country we aren't producing the critical math thinkers that other countries are producing.

 

Is common core the answer? I don't know. But anything that promotes deeper thinking and understanding which can facilitate higher learning needs to be given a chance. Memorization isn't learning or understanding.

My only question is say it gets a lot more difficult in 6th grade through high school how are we as parents going to be able to help with work and homework? I guess we'll just have to pay for instruction for the kids?

I see what is trying to be accomplished, it's not about the simple math problems and finding the hardest way to solve them. It is about solving more complex questions easier.

 

Without knowing it, I have kinda used a similar method when I add a large list of numbers without using a pencil. I used that method in most cases to get an approximate answer. In my former job I used numbers all day, every day and being able to figure things on the go without taking time to add them up on paper or with a calculator was a handy skill to have.

My only question is say it gets a lot more difficult in 6th grade through high school how are we as parents going to be able to help with work and homework? I guess we'll just have to pay for instruction for the kids?

 

Yes that's a problem. But we shouldn't be basing our curriculum on what makes it easier for parents to help their child. If there a better way to teach, we should be using it, period. We don't dumb anything else down. Technology, automobiles, construction all continually develop and use new methods to create better projects and get better results. Sure that means mechanics have to learn to fix new things, or builders have to learn to use new tools and materials. And some of those require steeper learning curves. But we move forward because the end result is better. The goal of education is to teach and create better students, and not moving forward because parents don't (or refuse to ) understand is not the right thing to do.

Yes that's a problem. But we shouldn't be basing our curriculum on what makes it easier for parents to help their child. If there a better way to teach, we should be using it, period. We don't dumb anything else down. Technology, automobiles, construction all continually develop and use new methods to create better projects and get better results. Sure that means mechanics have to learn to fix new things, or builders have to learn to use new tools and materials. And some of those require steeper learning curves. But we move forward because the end result is better. The goal of education is to teach and create better students, and not moving forward because parents don't (or refuse to ) understand is not the right thing to do.

I'm not saying I disagree entirely but if we go down that path then I don't want to hear anything from teachers about not getting help from parents.

I don't see how this applies to higher math skills. It takes something simple and makes it complicated.

 

I'm comfortable in working in higher math, calculus and differential equations. I also know that if I have 9 donuts and add 6 donuts, I now have 15 donuts, not a conceptional relationship of numbers, but a real physical quantity and something easily understood by a child.

 

I'm also happy because I have so many donuts ... for me.

What are they going to do working with computers? We, now, have a 2 anchor and a 16 anchor. How many anchors will it take until you get pulled under and drown?

The most basic math skill is to add to add two single digit numbers. You can either memorize a 10 x 10 grid of computations or go through this silly thing.

 

At times I believe Common Core is way to make the day interesting for teachers - who admittedly have a hard job teaching basic things at times.

 

 

BTW,

 

The geeks know that 9+6 = F

More nonsense math from common core:

 

More nonsense math from common core:

After the leftists are successful in teaching our children to be non-linear thinkers, they'll use same tactics in areas such as economics and political science.

I have a question for everyone. It feels like we've fought this battle before.

 

Was anyone on this board a student in the 50s or maybe early 60s and learned arithmetic before the New Math was introduced? By the late 80s and early 90s when I was learning arithmetic, the New Math was firmly entrenched as the model for teaching mathematics, so I have no idea. I feel like people who were older found the New Math extremely puzzling and thought it made no sense and then we ended up using it exclusively for the next 50 years. What was the battle over the New Math like? Is this basically the same thing and in 30 years our kids will be puzzled that we ever learned maths by that crazy old method that doesn't make any sense?

You take one from 5 and make them both four....they're called doubles (4+4).

 

I have had 4 kids that have learned math like we did. Now my first grader is learning the "doubles plus 1" concept of addition.

I'm looking forward to seeing the whole process of this math concept from first grade up. I like it so far. I'm keeping an open mind.

More nonsense math from common core:

 

 

Some of what is part of CC math is just 'short-cuts'. Anyone who does enough math will develop the shortcuts naturally. Like tipping - 15%-18% is your target usually. Take total bill and take 10% - oh that is simply moving decimal one place. Then take 50% or half of that - and finally add together and bingo - you have your tip without knowing or using percentages at all. BTW, that will result in a greater than 15% tip since tax is in the total and usually not to be tipped on. So leaving the tax in helps round it up.

 

 

For the above I would this shortcut:

 

Original 325-38 = ?

 

Get to nearest 100s resulting in this modified equation:

 

(325-25) - (38-25) =

 

300 - 13 =

 

Now get to nearest 10

 

(300-10) - (13-10)

 

290 - 3

 

Now its real easy - 287.

 

No carries, no columns....

 

The thing is these are all just shortcuts (using acceptable math methods). Its really more advanced algebra - and understand the underlying rules should be part of the learning or understanding - not just showing some 'neat tricks'.