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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

MEANWHILE - the kids in Singapore, India, Japan, Korea, China...all use textbooks along with other means of learning....and are beating the kids in USA hands-down in Math.

Really? Please use common sense. Have a book that follows the curriculum, and builds upon knowledge systematically.

I am doing that for my son, because what they are teaching to him is hap-hazard at best.

And yes, this kid is in HGC...not because of brain power or excellent teachers or anything like that, but because concepts are taught to him by me in a systematic manner.  Using a textbook.

My question is - why are parents, school system, teachers  - not on the same team? Why are parents marginalized? When we cannot have a sense of how are kids are doing because of stupid report cards and grading?

When the curriculum is comprised of a series of buzz words that add up to nothing and when text books are not used so that parents can help their children at home - the kids do not stand a chance.

I am sooooo tempted to start a school, because, my God, these kids have the capacity to shine. And we are just setting them up for failure.

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Amen.  What textbook(s) do you use?  For what grade?[/quote]

I am using Houghton Mifflin Math books for 3, 4, 5th grade. You can also use Singapore Math books to teach other methods of solving problems.

However, I found Houghton Mifflin Math books to be quite well  even kids to follow by themselves. Different ways of looking at the same problem is also shown.  Supplement with Khan Academy and other sites and workbooks if you want.

I rely just on these textbooks (bought on Amazon.com - 2nd hand) to teach and get a grasp on curriculum..  The thing is that teachers jump from one topic to another very rapidly before the kids have actually internalized the concept, and they do not have a systematic way of teaching. There is a disconnect between what is being taught today and what was taught yesterday.

You will start seeing this disconnect when long division, long multiplication, decimals, fractions, percentage and ratio comes into play in ES.   The kids do not understand the co-relation between these concepts.

I have no problem with curriculum 2.0 or whatever. But I also did not have a problem with the curriculum before that.  I do have a problem with the way the kids are instructed (and I volunteer a lot in the Math classrooms, so I know what is going on) and the way textbooks are not used in MCPS ES.

BTW - I feel that most of these textbooks are well written. I am surprised then that they are not being used and handed to kids to keep at home.

I am all for incorporating new tools, techniques and technologies in the way Math is being taught, but I do not think that text books are redundant. I think the teachers are in a rush to complete units and teaching the way the textbooks are written will not allow them to rush through it.  So they end up doing a piss poor job, because that is the direction they are getting from the school administration.

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