Confused about math(s) now

[Anonymous]

1. Its too slow and imposes artificial ceilings. There is way too much repetition.
2. It isn't challenging. I saw that my kids were bored. More worrisome was that they saw math as super easy and requiring no effort to always get the right answer. It became obvious that they were not appreciating or absorbing any of the concepts or strategies that were being attempted to be taught because the problems were just too easy. They were showing work because they were told to do it and it was just an exercise in following instructions. This is no different than memorizing formulas. I don't think MCPS realizes how badly they missed the mark with removing more complex or harder problems.
3. The flow is just strange and seems to jump to something entirely different before ever developing any mastery or depth of understanding of the prior concept. Its isn't a speed issue but they will oddly do the same thing again and again and then just switch to a new topic. The whole cycle repeats again later.
4. It doesn't address the need for number and equation fluency. You can draw circles the first time but you need to be able to do faster mental calculation to move forward in math.
5. It presents complexity rather than simplicity which is entirely the opposite of what math intends to accomplish. Again, just strange.
6. Ironically, it misses on the depth factor. Worksheets will come home and I can understand what they are trying to convey but they always fail to teach the kids why this strategy or way of looking at a problem is important. They always miss the important component. For the kids, it just seems like a labor intensive process to produce an answer that you could have found in a simpler way. It takes supplementation to present the actual concept.
7. The paragraph writing to explain the strategy that you were told to use is just bizarre. There's more focus on writing composition now in math than actual mathematical reasoning, fluency, relational understanding, and computation. There is real danger that they are missing the ability to understand equations and symbols.
8. It removes the fun, sense of accomplishment, and drive to solve problems because its easy, laborious, and counter intuitive.
9. Someone in MCPS needs to provide some Q/A on the worksheets. There are grammatical errors and this makes a difference with word problems.

I would add that there is also no motivation for kids to do well. My child has a tendency to go fast and make careless mistakes. Getting everything right results in a P but making lots of careless mistakes also results in a P. In a real test situation, a wrong answer is a wrong answer. The new system makes it hard to impress on kids that its important to guard against careless mistakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

1. Its too slow and imposes artificial ceilings. There is way too much repetition.
2. It isn't challenging. I saw that my kids were bored. More worrisome was that they saw math as super easy and requiring no effort to always get the right answer. It became obvious that they were not appreciating or absorbing any of the concepts or strategies that were being attempted to be taught because the problems were just too easy. They were showing work because they were told to do it and it was just an exercise in following instructions. This is no different than memorizing formulas. I don't think MCPS realizes how badly they missed the mark with removing more complex or harder problems.
3. The flow is just strange and seems to jump to something entirely different before ever developing any mastery or depth of understanding of the prior concept. Its isn't a speed issue but they will oddly do the same thing again and again and then just switch to a new topic. The whole cycle repeats again later.
4. It doesn't address the need for number and equation fluency. You can draw circles the first time but you need to be able to do faster mental calculation to move forward in math.
5. It presents complexity rather than simplicity which is entirely the opposite of what math intends to accomplish. Again, just strange.
6. Ironically, it misses on the depth factor. Worksheets will come home and I can understand what they are trying to convey but they always fail to teach the kids why this strategy or way of looking at a problem is important. They always miss the important component. For the kids, it just seems like a labor intensive process to produce an answer that you could have found in a simpler way. It takes supplementation to present the actual concept.
7. The paragraph writing to explain the strategy that you were told to use is just bizarre. There's more focus on writing composition now in math than actual mathematical reasoning, fluency, relational understanding, and computation. There is real danger that they are missing the ability to understand equations and symbols.
8. It removes the fun, sense of accomplishment, and drive to solve problems because its easy, laborious, and counter intuitive.
9. Someone in MCPS needs to provide some Q/A on the worksheets. There are grammatical errors and this makes a difference with word problems.

I would add that there is also no motivation for kids to do well. My child has a tendency to go fast and make careless mistakes. Getting everything right results in a P but making lots of careless mistakes also results in a P. In a real test situation, a wrong answer is a wrong answer. The new system makes it hard to impress on kids that its important to guard against careless mistakes.

I don't agree with a lot of what you quoted, but this is spot on IMO. We went from A/B/C's in 4th to P/I in 5th and my child has no real idea how she's doing anymore.