Reply to Math - pushing Math

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Do math with your kids if you want to, or don't if you that suits.  Past the early years and unless you derive your self worth from bragging about your kids, it seems to matter little.  Here's what I've seen.

1. Kids who are smart in math tend to do well in math, whether they're pushed at the beginning or not.  Case in point, my oldest now in college used to remark that he was behind in math because some  kids in his class were doing multiplication in the 1st grade.  He had passed those kids by 3rd grade and was teaching himself math on his own.  By high school he was taking college courses; again, without pushing.

2.  Now that it's become fashionable to push kids in math, skipping math 7 and 8 to take Algebra and Geometry in middle school (or even earlier in 6th grade), FCPS teachers are increasingly seeing kids who don't have enough grasp of the basics to succeed in high school math (starting with Algebra).  My second child's 8th grade Geometry teacher recommended half of her classes retake Geometry in high school (that's right 50% of kids were not ready).  Ask a sixth grade teacher at your kid's school how many parents she tries to discourage from pushing their kids ahead in math and still insist on doing so to keep up with the Jones'.  It's sad.

3.  Most kids pushed in math will run out of math classes at their high schools by junior and most certainly senior year unless they're at TJ.   That's fine if they're math whizzes and want to pursue college courses, but could hurt kids who have been tutored and pushed in math and then forget what they've learned when SAT taking rolls around.

4.  My brother is a math whiz who pushes his kids relentlessly in math.  One is good at it and has been fine.  Another is okay at math, but has started to develop a complex about his abilities since he can't seem to meet Dad's expectations.  I think you really need to ask yourself why you're doing extra work in math with your kids.  If it's because you don't think the schools can teach it, you'd be wrong.  Plenty of kids excel in math around here simply by showing up to class and doing the work.  What's changed is panicked parents demanding perfection from kids in all subjects as if their kids won't have a future if they don't get all A's.  That's not any more true today than it was when we were all kids.  There's a lot more to education than book work.  [/quote]

Could not agree more.[/quote]

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