Frustrated with Quality of Math at Beauvoir?

[Anonymous]

To all those parents who are concerned, take control.
I teach my ds math at home with Singapore. Yes, his day is longer, but I "shorten" his EDM homework. I just told the teacher what I was up to, and she left us alone. There is an online math tutorial that you can pay for by Cybershala, but I can handle the elementary years by myself. Yes my son has to memorize (he gets rewards). I do believe that at the end of second grade, he was the only one who had his multiplication tables up to 12*12 memorized. He consistently scores very very well on math standardized tests, and he ain't no genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To all those parents who are concerned, take control.
I teach my ds math at home with Singapore. Yes, his day is longer, but I "shorten" his EDM homework. I just told the teacher what I was up to, and she left us alone. There is an online math tutorial that you can pay for by Cybershala, but I can handle the elementary years by myself. Yes my son has to memorize (he gets rewards). I do believe that at the end of second grade, he was the only one who had his multiplication tables up to 12*12 memorized. He consistently scores very very well on math standardized tests, and he ain't no genius.

I love that you said this. Just totally awesome. Thanks. I may try this with my 2nd grader.

[Anonymous]

I dunno...for $27,000 a year, I'd like to think I wouldn't have to come up with my own supplement to the math curriculum. (Even if it is not terribly difficult.)

[Anonymous]

I dunno...for $27,000 a year, I'd like to think I wouldn't have to come up with my own supplement to the math curriculum. (Even if it is not terribly difficult.)

Darn it, you beat me to it. That's exactly what I was going to say. I mean, really. How many parents at these $28K schools would put up with this IF the deficiency was in reading comprehension instead of math? Well, Sam doesn't really understand too much that he reads, but next year in 5th grade we think we'll start teaching him ourselves, or perhaps add to his day by doing vocab before dinner ....

[Anonymous]

PP, that is true. But there are so many isues at these schools, from EDM to "low student teacher ratios", never mind that it is really two teachers. They think we're dumb.

[jhuber]

I have no opinions to offer about the quality of math at Beauvoir, the original topic of this post, but as the subsequent discussion has wandered into math instruction in general, I thought I'd add an observation. It seems that a sure-fire way to generate heat and discussion in this forum is to debate the merits of math instruction!

My former school chose not to use Everyday Math as its textbook series, and spent more time emphasizing what is considered "traditional" methodology, such as quick mental mastery of math facts. Many students thrived under such an approach, but an inherent challenge was the need for students to translate these facts and calculations into real-life situations. In other words, 5x6 posed little problem, but if offered a word problem that required the same computation, it was more difficult. As a result, my former school spent more time emphasizing real-world problem solving with supplemental activities.

At my current school, we (like many) use Everyday Math as our main Lower School series, but have found great success supplementing with First in Math to emphasize memorization of math facts in a joyful way. There are also opportunities for students to compete in MathCounts, which emphasizes very quick (frightening quick!) mental math.

I taught Latin for years, and this same debate (writ smaller) played out in Latin classrooms. What good is it to have students memorize their Latin noun declensions and verb conjugations if they can't read a paragraph? Conversely, what good is it to have students dive into a paragraph and translate if they don't have the underlying grammar memorized? Through years of teaching, I tried to find the perfect blend - for each grade, for each student - of grammar mastery and reading approach.

So, as with many things, it's ultimately about balance. For a family that worries that Everyday Math doesn't provide enough requirement for routine memorization, it is worth asking the school / teacher / division director how this is addressed, for each grade, for each student.

- John Huber

[Anonymous]

MR. Huber, they just need a new text and curriculum. You shouldn't have to tweak it, it should all be in there. Also, there is nothing wrong with making kids memorize some facts, as much as they complain, that's life. That is, joyful or not, it has to be done. Yes, joyful is better, but we just have to do it.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know if Beauvoir Mathematics will be discussed at the next Parent Coffee? If so I wonder if parents are going to be forthcoming with their feelings about the program?

[Anonymous]

I think it was already the subject of a recent coffee, but I imagine Paula would put it on the agenda again if asked.