Can Kumon overcome Everyday Math

Anonymous
I am tired of arguing with my school (my child is getting EDM in private school). I am thinking of launching ahead with Kumon, is there any experience (evidence) that shows I can undo the mess that has been creeated?
Anonymous
I am interested in this too. How old is your child? Mine is 8, in a DC private that doesn't even make a pretense of augmenting EDM with anything (the way Sidwell assures people it does).
Anonymous
I am currently getting a masters that involves taking a great deal of coursework about how to teach math. This has helped me to see how misguided people on DCUM are about math instruction. Why exactly do you hate EDM? Can you please articulate this?
Anonymous
EDM sucks. Used a my daughter's private school and tests scores suck. We got her traditional math instruction via private tutor over the summer and she is finally back on track and at the top of her class. I have heard the same stories from my friends at different schools. If your schools uses EDM, stay on top of your child's education and be prepared to supplement.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I am currently getting a masters that involves taking a great deal of coursework about how to teach math. This has helped me to see how misguided people on DCUM are about math instruction. Why exactly do you hate EDM? Can you please articulate this?


My first grade child's homework sheet asked this question:

Write the numbers 7 - 10 on the lines below. Then circle the number you wrote best.

I started looking into Kumon the next day.
Anonymous
OP what grade is your child in? What exactly do you not like about it?

We're in public and our kids have used EDM since 3rd grade for AAP math in FCPS. They do 4th grade math in 3rd, 5th in 4th grade etc. It's been different but fine for the most part. I've learned several new methods for computation that I quite like. I've also loved seeing how many ways you can solve a problem. I grew up in the "drill n kill" era so it's a breath of fresh air. I only ever learned one way to solve a problem.

It can be confusing for some kids but thankfully they are allowed to use what most of us would consider the "usual" US methods by 4th grade or so.

The one thing that sometimes doesn't get stressed enough by some of the teachers is that the kids must practice the facts on their own until they have instant recall. That is not part of EDM and they really should find a way to include it.


Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am currently getting a masters that involves taking a great deal of coursework about how to teach math. This has helped me to see how misguided people on DCUM are about math instruction. Why exactly do you hate EDM? Can you please articulate this?


My first grade child's homework sheet asked this question:

Write the numbers 7 - 10 on the lines below. Then circle the number you wrote best.

I started looking into Kumon the next day.


Was that an Every Day Math worksheet, or one created by the teacher?
Anonymous
Good article here about someone who tutored a child in Singapore Math to recover from EDM.

http://www.educationnews.org/articles/one-step-ahead-of-the-train-wreck.html
Anonymous
OP here, 3rd grade.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I am currently getting a masters that involves taking a great deal of coursework about how to teach math. This has helped me to see how misguided people on DCUM are about math instruction. Why exactly do you hate EDM? Can you please articulate this?


Are you reading what the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has said? If so, you should be careful, they won't back down on this. Good teachers can use any curriculum, but most teachers aren't good, most are average.
Anonymous
I still don't get why these schools are defending the darn curriculum. When I hear a defense by teachers I automatically think "ignorant". That is often a cue to me to get right out of that school.
Someone once said that asking kids to learn by experience is really dumb, because it took the brightest humans 3000 years to work out fractions and decimals, now we want 6 year olds to get it on their own through experience.
Word has it that even the publishers of EDM are scrambling around looking for a substitute so they can bow out gracefully.
EDM will finally disappear once the law suits roll out.
Anonymous
17:04, thanks for that link. It really sums up the disaster that EDM is. They use it at Yu Ying PCS, provide no teacher training, have rookie teachers and then are puzzled why the kids are terrible at math.

Nice.
Anonymous
Do it, OP. I had my child do Kumon in the Fourth Grade, for one year, and it made the next two years of EDM bearable.
Anonymous
Is the home study Kumon with the books just as good as taking the clasees at the centers?
Anonymous
From a pure scientific perspective: Why on earth would anyone follow the Americqan educational lead when it comes to teaching K through 12 mathematics to our children? Can anyone make a case for this and the use of "Everyday Math" (I hope I got what folk are calling this great instructional paradigm)
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