Supplementing math is becoming the norm now?
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Anonymous
BUT, we don’t need everyone excelling in math and high tech work. Most careers don’t involved very advanced math. But students aiming for a STEM career need to prioritize it. |
Anonymous
Pre-algebra starts when the basics have been learned. It’s not impressive that the school is claiming pre-algebra for kids in their second year of school. They first need to memorize the times table, subtract and add 4 digit numbers, division, basic geometry shapes, percentages, word problems, adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators, decimals, brackets, parentheses with learning PEMDAS for for long equations. Unless they taught all of that in first grade to kids with photographic memories they couldn’t start learning algebra in 2nd grade. |
Anonymous
What’s the point then, if isn’t necessary to succeed here? |
Anonymous
You go to Kumon twice a week but you also are given work the other 5 days a week to do at home, so it ends up being a program that is 365 days out of the year. So the student who is doing 15-30 minutes a day of extra math from Kumon for 3-4 years is going to get ahead regardless of intelligence. So let's say an average of 20 minutes x 360 days a year (5 days off for holidays) = 120 hours a year, which is probably how much math instruction a student gets at school in a year. So a student can conceivably advance twice as fast in math. I am not Asian but grew up in CA and had many Korean friends. They almost all supplemented in math. I was in the highest math classes and did well but they all did better. I finally realized in high school that they just put in more hours into getting better at math. Several of them were required by their parents to do the upcoming math textbook in the summer with other Korean kids at a Korean tutoring place, so when the new school year arrived and the rest of us were learning math, they were reviewing math. . This of course makes it much easier to do well in the class. So when I had my kids I signed them up when they turned 5 for Kumon. They did it until the end of second grade, then we moved on to a different math program for a couple of years, then Kumon for a couple of years, then other math. The value of being fast AND accurate is underestimated by many math educators in the US. Being solid in math calculations makes it so much easier to problem solve. They could finish all their school math in class in 1/3 of the time other kids did and finish their school math homework at school, so there was plenty of time to do math enrichment at home. |
Anonymous
Everyone needs basic math. The kids who excel at math will probably be in a field where they use it. |
Anonymous
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We had to start my 4th grader at Mathnasium once I realized the math taught in AAP was being taught review style. A quick lesson, 1 page worksheet, then a new lesson the next day. My kid was so lost because the lessons were not good and there wasn't enough practice before moving onto the next concept. Feels like we're playing catch up still.
We also a started my 1st grader there. That kid loves math so it was more of an enrichment thing, but hopefully they also won't be in the same predicament as the older kid once they get to AAP math. |
Anonymous
It all depends about how you define "succeed." Some parents pay nearly 10K a year to put their kid in travel sports--maybe they have ambitions that their kids can be recruited as college athletes. Some parents pay the same amount for academic enrichment in math, which is obviously a necessary background for finance and STEM careers. |
Anonymous
Elementary students and most middle school students have not settled on a career yet. The future career is an unknown. (Sure, a tiny number of very very rare exceptions to this might exist.) Yet those are the exact ages where a strong math foundation needs to be established yo even have the option for a STEM degree in college or future STEM career. Having a solid math foundation is about not closing doors prematurely for students in elementary and middle schools. |
Anonymous
This is how I grew up. While I suffered as a kid, I’m benefiting from it in my life and career later now. Initially, I appreciated that kids here have a fun childhood here. While having a real childhood is important, I realized that they lack discipline, mental strength, and a solid foundation to sustain quality learning in the future. So I had to put them into tutoring programs after all. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
You don’t sound racist. That’s a poster who contributes nothing regarding the subject. Ignore it. |
Anonymous
| What’s strange is that these kids should be much stronger than they are for all the hours and years of supplemental math. Many are just keeping up with AAP— and with some kids who didn’t need the supplemental influx to be there. If these kids are getting an additional 120 hours of math from pre-K through 6th grade, they should be further along than 1 or even 2 years of math. I would hate to see if these kids had zero spoon feeding of math for 7 years. |
Anonymous
There are plenty of students who know that they have zero interest in STEM careers, or finance or economics or anything close to that. By middle school they have a good idea of what classes they enjoy and which classes are miserable grinds. Every student needs to have a solid math foundation. Not every student needs to accelerate math or be in advanced classes. I would hope that the kids who spent their free time at a math school and math summer programs use these skills in a career they enjoy. |
Anonymous
Every student doesn’t need discrete math and MVC in high school. But students with normal IQ and cognitive ability that are college bound should absolutely have calculus by 12th. In most districts, the normal pathway is Alg I in 9th, which isn’t enough IMO. The most typical advanced path puts students at Alg I in 8th, which isn’t crazy advanced at all, but students might not get enough math in K-5 to get there without supplemental math. It isn’t that they are dumb- it’s that school literally isn’t preparing them. It isn’t just about math, it’s about higher level thinking |
Anonymous
Posters here seem to only think about the same colleges with the big names and the Ivy Leagues. There are about 3,000 four year colleges in the US. Less than half require 4 years of math. The only ones that need calculus are students going into STEM or the top colleges and a few scattered reasons. Math is not the only subject that strengthens higher level thinking. All subjects do. The problem with students who spend all of their free hours on math tend to be weak in creative thinking, creative writing, they can be weak in the humanities where everything is not black and white like math. They may be weak in memorizing historical events and timelines because they don’t typically have to memorize. Students weak in math have an easier time because they can almost avoid it with taking the minimum requirements. A large majority of kids are average and they will have no problem finding a college that fits them. Average kids who do the work will get good grades in all of the basic maths. Most kids have a subject they like and are good at, maybe history or English. That will help them find their way into a major they will enjoy and do well in. |