Reply to No doing well with Common Core, but we'll with Singapore math

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

This. These strategies are mental math tricks. Highly effective in understanding numbers. Countries who do well on PISA tend to emphasize these a lot more. I grew up in China and did all sorts of calculations like this. [/quote]

I grew up in Russia.  We had a very strong math curriculum and math culture when I was growing up. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703740004574513870490836470

We did not do any of these tricks.  We had a very strict, very rigorous system.  We were not allowed to use calculators, at all.  No multiple-choice answers EVER. We had to learn to prove all theorems ourselves.  We had to memorize a lot of things.  All the concepts were drilled, drilled, drilled to ensure we had a good foundation before moving on.  I bet most of my Russian friends, after thirty years of not touching algebra or geometry will still be able to recipe Pythagorean theorem and solve a system of linear inequalities.

And no there was no way you would get to 7 by doing 4+4-1.  My math teacher's favorite saying was "You shouldn't scratch a left year with a right hand", meaning that a math problem should be solved the simplest way.

I agree with PP. I don't see the link to critical thinking.

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