When do kids learn multiplication in school?

[Anonymous]

Sure, 21:01! Great idea! Since we can't afford private school (because they would already be there if we had the money), I guess I should quit my job and homeschool...great idea! But wait: then how will we pay the bills if I quit my job? Damn. Guess THAT won't work.

I guess it's not a big deal if they stay in mcps...where everyone gets a P in elementary school, and the vast majority of (white and native English speaking) kids are (magically) placed in "honors" classes in MS and HS (to make parents think they're kids are receiving a great education). Maybe I should just drink the kool aid and play along.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure, 21:01! Great idea! Since we can't afford private school (because they would already be there if we had the money), I guess I should quit my job and homeschool...great idea! But wait: then how will we pay the bills if I quit my job? Damn. Guess THAT won't work.

I guess it's not a big deal if they stay in mcps...where everyone gets a P in elementary school, and the vast majority of (white and native English speaking) kids are (magically) placed in "honors" classes in MS and HS (to make parents think they're kids are receiving a great education). Maybe I should just drink the kool aid and play along.

If you sincerely thought that MCPS was nothing but daycare, you would find a way to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Pp, you are hilarious! Completely out of touch with reality (as you pass judgment from the safety of your bubble), but hilarious

Not all of us have the financial wherewithal to send our kids to private school...especially those of us with more than a couple kids. It's just not possible. You see, we already don't live in a McMansion, or have a cleaning service or lawn service, or drive fancy cars, or take fancy vacations, etc. So there's no magic way to come up with money for private school. Period.

So, we supplement at home...and it's exhausting. And it's not sufficient.

[Anonymous]

So, parents are expected to work with their kids outside of school? Why? Why can't the teacher's meet the individual needs of every one of their 20-30 students all day every day? Why should parents be expected to do that at home? Insanity!

[Anonymous]

get a 3rd grade kumon multiplication work book. it's step by step drill. by the end your child will know his/her tables. then do the division book. after that he/she will never forget them.
they may hate you for a few year but that is what therapy is for

[Anonymous]

To 21:42 - I assumed I'd have to help my kids with homework. I did not assume I would have to teach them entire subjects from scratch because they aren't being taught.

Here's an example: because the teacher is cycling through groups for math and reading (and this eats up 3 hours of the day), your kid is "learning" grammar on his own by doing a worksheet in a "literacy center" (fancy word for a table in the corner of the room for worksheets where kids sit together quietly and figure things out while the teacher is with another group).

I had a grammar book when I was in elementary school. I was diagramming sentences in 4th grade. This doesn't happen in mcps. So I'm supposed to buy a grammar book and find time to teach my kids grammar (essentially from scratch), plus handwriting, plus math.

PS - because three hours a day are dedicated to math and reading, there's very little time for social studies and science once the kids have had their specials, lunch, and recess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp, you are hilarious! Completely out of touch with reality (as you pass judgment from the safety of your bubble), but hilarious

Not all of us have the financial wherewithal to send our kids to private school...especially those of us with more than a couple kids. It's just not possible. You see, we already don't live in a McMansion, or have a cleaning service or lawn service, or drive fancy cars, or take fancy vacations, etc. So there's no magic way to come up with money for private school. Period.

So, we supplement at home...and it's exhausting. And it's not sufficient.

No, I'm not in a bubble, nor do I live in a McMansion or have a cleaning service or lawn service, or drive a fancy car, or take a fancy vacation. In fact, by DCUM standards, I am a poor who lives in the middle of nowhere.

I'm merely saying that education is obviously important to you, and therefore, if you really thought that your children were getting nothing out of school at MCPS except daycare, you would figure something else out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, you are hilarious! Completely out of touch with reality (as you pass judgment from the safety of your bubble), but hilarious

Not all of us have the financial wherewithal to send our kids to private school...especially those of us with more than a couple kids. It's just not possible. You see, we already don't live in a McMansion, or have a cleaning service or lawn service, or drive fancy cars, or take fancy vacations, etc. So there's no magic way to come up with money for private school. Period.

So, we supplement at home...and it's exhausting. And it's not sufficient.

No, I'm not in a bubble, nor do I live in a McMansion or have a cleaning service or lawn service, or drive a fancy car, or take a fancy vacation. In fact, by DCUM standards, I am a poor who lives in the middle of nowhere.

I'm merely saying that education is obviously important to you, and therefore, if you really thought that your children were getting nothing out of school at MCPS except daycare, you would figure something else out.

+1

[Anonymous]

I have figured something else out: supplementing at home.

[Anonymous]

Last year our kid's 4th grade teacher sent a panic email to all parents saying that everyone needed to work on multiplication facts since kids were struggling and not passing whatever assessment they were doing. While multiplication was introduced in 3rd grade, they sure as heck didn't drill it into them the way they used to when we were kids (probably too busy decomposing some ridiculous math problems and teaching kids the five steps of some crazy "strategy" instead of the straight forward stuff like basic math facts).

PS - this is in a "good" school with hardly any farms or ESOL.

PPS - a friend recently moved to another state, and she was called into her kid's school (4th grader) because the teacher couldn't figure out why the kid (whose mcps transcript indicated he was super smart) couldn't do basic math. In short, he was sort of doing math...but his decomposing and other 2.0 bizarro math notes on the worksheets were freaking out the teacher. After a semester at the new school, he's finally learned math "the right way" and is doing fine. Sadly, my mcps kids will never learn math "the right way." Sigh.

I know, it's unbelievable, my kid was sent home with flash cards and told to review them at home, and everyone complained about having to teach at home. Oh wait, that was BEFORE 2.0. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Anonymous]

Sadly, my mcps kids will never learn math "the right way." Sigh.


Pre-2.0 my kids learned a very odd (to me) method of multi-digit multiplicaction. All kinds of diagnal calculations. Drove me a bit crazy but it worked for her and she is in algebra now and mulitplies just fine. I don;t think there is a "right way"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I know, it's unbelievable, my kid was sent home with flash cards and told to review them at home, and everyone complained about having to teach at home. Oh wait, that was BEFORE 2.0. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In fact, for my pre-2.0 kid, the school explicitly told us that it was the parents' responsibility to make sure that the kids learned their math facts. For my 2.0 kid, they practice the math facts at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sadly, my mcps kids will never learn math "the right way." Sigh.


Pre-2.0 my kids learned a very odd (to me) method of multi-digit multiplicaction. All kinds of diagnal calculations. Drove me a bit crazy but it worked for her and she is in algebra now and mulitplies just fine. I don;t think there is a "right way"

My 3rd grader learned this (she called it the "lattice method") last month in 2.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I know, it's unbelievable, my kid was sent home with flash cards and told to review them at home, and everyone complained about having to teach at home. Oh wait, that was BEFORE 2.0. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In fact, for my pre-2.0 kid, the school explicitly told us that it was the parents' responsibility to make sure that the kids learned their math facts. For my 2.0 kid, they practice the math facts at school.

+1 but we did also practice at home. To the parents that are complaining that their teacher/schools told them that it should only be practiced at home, that is a teacher/school specific issue because some schools in MCPS are indeed practicing them in class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sadly, my mcps kids will never learn math "the right way." Sigh.


Pre-2.0 my kids learned a very odd (to me) method of multi-digit multiplicaction. All kinds of diagnal calculations. Drove me a bit crazy but it worked for her and she is in algebra now and mulitplies just fine. I don;t think there is a "right way"

My 3rd grader learned this (she called it the "lattice method") last month in 2.0.

Here's a little information about the lattice method (I'm not the PP):

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/LatticeMethod.html

I think it's interesting, particularly for math-minded kids.

I am 100% certain that kids will also learn the standard algorithm.