Third grade "basic multiplication and division facts", how basic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the Archer orientation, we were told to just make sure they know multiplication & subtraction.

Sorry, I should have said addition & subtraction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they even teach math facts in school anymore? I've had to teach all of them to both of my kids. They seem to give timed tests on facts that they never actually teach. It's bizarre.

I spent half the year helping out the third grade at my daughter's school and I would say that I noticed the same thing you did. They give timed tests on the facts, but they really don't spend any class time trying to get the kids to memorize them. It seems to me that the only kids who get them memorized are the ones whose parents work with them on it at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they even teach math facts in school anymore? I've had to teach all of them to both of my kids. They seem to give timed tests on facts that they never actually teach. It's bizarre.

I spent half the year helping out the third grade at my daughter's school and I would say that I noticed the same thing you did. They give timed tests on the facts, but they really don't spend any class time trying to get the kids to memorize them. It seems to me that the only kids who get them memorized are the ones whose parents work with them on it at home.

I'd be surprised if this was the case in an AAP classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they even teach math facts in school anymore? I've had to teach all of them to both of my kids. They seem to give timed tests on facts that they never actually teach. It's bizarre.

I spent half the year helping out the third grade at my daughter's school and I would say that I noticed the same thing you did. They give timed tests on the facts, but they really don't spend any class time trying to get the kids to memorize them. It seems to me that the only kids who get them memorized are the ones whose parents work with them on it at home.

DC's second grade class spent time in class working on memorizing addition and subtraction facts. I only know because DC got in trouble for goofing-off when he should have been participating. Some of the math time is spent in stations, where the kids rotate through different tasks. On of the tasks was flash cards with addition and subtraction facts. The kids work independently (in my kid's case, he didn't really work but played around with the kids in his group). We know how he is and the school format, so we taught him multiplication and division through the 12s before 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they even teach math facts in school anymore? I've had to teach all of them to both of my kids. They seem to give timed tests on facts that they never actually teach. It's bizarre.

I spent half the year helping out the third grade at my daughter's school and I would say that I noticed the same thing you did. They give timed tests on the facts, but they really don't spend any class time trying to get the kids to memorize them. It seems to me that the only kids who get them memorized are the ones whose parents work with them on it at home.

I'd be surprised if this was the case in an AAP classroom.

This was exactly the case in both of my kids third grade classes. They were given packets and expected to learn them at home. Same thing with cursive and typing. They don't teach it, but they do expect it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they even teach math facts in school anymore? I've had to teach all of them to both of my kids. They seem to give timed tests on facts that they never actually teach. It's bizarre.

I spent half the year helping out the third grade at my daughter's school and I would say that I noticed the same thing you did. They give timed tests on the facts, but they really don't spend any class time trying to get the kids to memorize them. It seems to me that the only kids who get them memorized are the ones whose parents work with them on it at home.

I'd be surprised if this was the case in an AAP classroom.

This was exactly the case in both of my kids third grade classes. They were given packets and expected to learn them at home. Same thing with cursive and typing. They don't teach it, but they do expect it.

A lot of kids in my DC's third grade AAP class didn't know their multiplication facts cold, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was an AAP class. In fact, some of them STILL didn't know them in 5th grade. AAP is not what many here paint it to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they even teach math facts in school anymore? I've had to teach all of them to both of my kids. They seem to give timed tests on facts that they never actually teach. It's bizarre.

I spent half the year helping out the third grade at my daughter's school and I would say that I noticed the same thing you did. They give timed tests on the facts, but they really don't spend any class time trying to get the kids to memorize them. It seems to me that the only kids who get them memorized are the ones whose parents work with them on it at home.

I'd be surprised if this was the case in an AAP classroom.

This was exactly the case in both of my kids third grade classes. They were given packets and expected to learn them at home. Same thing with cursive and typing. They don't teach it, but they do expect it.

A lot of kids in my DC's third grade AAP class didn't know their multiplication facts cold, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was an AAP class. In fact, some of them STILL didn't know them in 5th grade. AAP is not what many here paint it to be.

This is so very true. My DC is rising 4th grade AAP and the same can be said for her class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they even teach math facts in school anymore? I've had to teach all of them to both of my kids. They seem to give timed tests on facts that they never actually teach. It's bizarre.

I spent half the year helping out the third grade at my daughter's school and I would say that I noticed the same thing you did. They give timed tests on the facts, but they really don't spend any class time trying to get the kids to memorize them. It seems to me that the only kids who get them memorized are the ones whose parents work with them on it at home.

I'd be surprised if this was the case in an AAP classroom.

This was exactly the case in both of my kids third grade classes. They were given packets and expected to learn them at home. Same thing with cursive and typing. They don't teach it, but they do expect it.

A lot of kids in my DC's third grade AAP class didn't know their multiplication facts cold, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was an AAP class. In fact, some of them STILL didn't know them in 5th grade. AAP is not what many here paint it to be.

From what I've seen, the classroom focus tends to be on teaching strategies for solving multiplication problems instead of relying on memorization. The kids can get by despite not knowing their facts because they have learned how to solve multiplication problems by using repeated addition, skip counting, etc.; but the process is long and cumbersome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they even teach math facts in school anymore? I've had to teach all of them to both of my kids. They seem to give timed tests on facts that they never actually teach. It's bizarre.

I spent half the year helping out the third grade at my daughter's school and I would say that I noticed the same thing you did. They give timed tests on the facts, but they really don't spend any class time trying to get the kids to memorize them. It seems to me that the only kids who get them memorized are the ones whose parents work with them on it at home.

I'd be surprised if this was the case in an AAP classroom.

This was exactly the case in both of my kids third grade classes. They were given packets and expected to learn them at home. Same thing with cursive and typing. They don't teach it, but they do expect it.

A lot of kids in my DC's third grade AAP class didn't know their multiplication facts cold, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was an AAP class. In fact, some of them STILL didn't know them in 5th grade. AAP is not what many here paint it to be.

This is so very true. My DC is rising 4th grade AAP and the same can be said for her class.

We were told quite specifically by the third grade teachers that math facts were to be memorized at home with review at school in the form of timed quizzes.

And we need to keep in mind that kids in AAP may not be evenly advanced. Some may be more talented in verbal skills, others may be more talented in computational skills. The child who gets every problem right in a timed quiz may struggle when it comes to literature study or essay writing.