Reply to Why is the math so terrible? Can parents do anything?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]I'm a PP in IT, and I totally agree with the bolded. I see this a lot in the many developers I work with. And this is because the old way of teaching math in a lot of the Asian countries were just rote, memorize the formula and plug in the numbers. But even they have started to change how they teach math. They now include more critical thinking in their math curriculum as well.
[/quote]

Critical thinking has ALWAYS been a part of the American system, just like the other poster explained in that post the PP quoted.  Math instruction was not so broken that you had to revert to dumbing it down and putting all abilities into one homogeneous class.  [/quote]

Did you read the thread about the teacher not understanding the new math?  Unfortunately, many adults, including teachers, have a weak understanding of math. I don't think the issue is 2.0 math.

This is part of the problem with the way math used to be taught.  As long as you could come up with the right answer, you could pass. You didn't have to really understand why something was done the way it was.   I remember formulas that I learned and the steps, but I don't remember why that formula works because we spent most of the time rote learning rather than understanding why it was done the way it was - explaining in depth why the answer was right.  This is how math used to be taught, for the most part.

I'm pretty impressed by my 4th grader when DC can explain why 1/4 is less than 1/3.  There are adults in the US who were educated here that can't answer why 1/4 &lt; 1/3.

Math minded people will do well no matter how it's taught. For the rest, not explaining why the answer is xyz doesn't help them understand math.[/quote]

I guess I don't really understand what kind of explanation would be appropriate for the 1/4 vs 1/3 question.  I mean, I could draw a picture that would show it.  Or if I had to do it verbally, I'd say "because if you cut something into 4 equal pieces those pieces will be smaller than if you cut it into 3 pieces".  Is that a sufficient answer?
I am a parent, and I was definitely a "math" kid.  I'm also very verbal, so that part doesn't scare me.  But it does seem like they've injected a lot of "edu-speak" into the "new math" that makes it unnecessarily inaccessible to parents (and it looks like some teachers as well).  [/quote]

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