My generation (almost all retired now) refused to teach nonsense. Why aren't today's teachers refusing? They're supposed to be professionals.
grrr......angry retired math teacher rant.
Memorizing the multiplication tables worked. Would still work if the educators had any sense and would try it.
7 x 1 = 7, five times.
I just count the fingers on one hand seven times.
Works quite well.
Actually... I recall these sort of problems... it demonstrates the Transitive Property in Multiplication... and factoring. Very valuable lessons.
41
This is a joke, right?
How would Common Core explain this situation?
Three men went fishing for the day and were so tired at the end of the day they decided to get a little sleep before the long drive home.
They split the cost of a $30 a day room and each paid $10.
Later the hotel clerk discovers he had overcharged them because the room cost is only $25.
He takes five $1 bills to the room and explains his error. Each of the men take $1 back and tip the clerk the remaining $2.
That means each of the three men spent $9 for their share of the room for a total of $27. The clerk received a $2 tip. That adds up to $29.
Where did the other dollar out of the initial $30 go? Does Common Core have an answer?
CC is trying to teach advanced techniques as entry-level basics.
Someone very good at arithmetic may very well approach such a problem by using various well-internalized techniques to break numbers down into more manageable pieces and juggle them to find the answer. Yes, I often do something akin to 7x5=7x(3+2)=7x3+7x2=21+14=35 ... but ONLY because I know how my mind manipulates numbers, and find such breakdown of numbers trivial to perform, easier than the novice approach. (Sure I know 7x5, but apply such techniques to numbers I haven’t memorized outright.)
Problem is, you can’t get to those advanced techniques until you’ve deeply internalized & memorized the novice techniques.
CC completely misses the progression of cognitive development, trying to get to “expert” without starting with basics.
Get your children out of the public schools (government indoctrination centers) - NOW!