Reply to I push my kids and have NO shame! You should too!!!

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Reply to "I push my kids and have NO shame! You should too!!!"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Lol! I agree to an extent except I think algebra in 7th is the stupidest trend.[/quote]

Sounds like the rhetoric of an underachiever. [/quote]
I have a STEM PhD from an elite school and agree with this.  Elementary math is too easy.  But it doesn't need more acceleration, it needs more hard problems that force kids to conceptualize the math.   More depth, not more speed.

There's no reason kids can't take Algebra in 8th and still finish Calc BC by senior year.  That's plenty to major in STEM in college.  I actually think it's better to take the next math classes (e.g., Diff Eq and Linear Algebra) when you're taking them at the same time as science or engineering classes that use that math.  It's more immersive and provides better context.  [/quote]

I always thought that part of the issue was the people teaching elementary math are typically not math people. Now don't get me wrong, my mom taught ES for 25 years. I knew many of the teachers both as a child and as an adult. They were dedicated and caring professionals, but I doubt many ever considered why division by zero doesn't work or pondered different infinities. There are many interesting problems they never touch on, and although AoPS is an improvement for some kids, I don't think that's a solution for the majority. Perhaps, drawing on AoPS rigor to a point but adding more math games would help. I did both with my kids but I'm hardly an educator.  I think the other issue is the current approach is basically one size fits all. Maybe if there were a way to have smaller groupings, but then people complain that's tracking.[/quote]

This is what I thought too until I homeschooled. The problem could be solved by just doing Singapore math. It’s extremely easy to understand and then teach. Like, now I know why, if you’re dividing fractions, you flip the numerator and denominator of the divisor (is it the divisor? I guess I don’t remember that last) and multiply. And I know why long division works.

Another problem is outsourcing multiplication drills to apps that kids are just supposed to do without supervision. Not all kids do it and then they are stuck struggling with math facts when also trying to do long division. Really annoying. [/quote]

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