[hsmomx3]

I vote for Saxon math!!

[Carry_Okie]

I vote for Saxon math!!

Saxon is great for practicing computation, but lousy for teaching application or theory.

[.cnI redruM]

(sarcasm/)No worries, the computers just do all of that for us. (/sarcasm)

[Hodar]

That ask kids what "color" they think math is

Easy one. At the grade school and high school (and Freshman/Soph college levels) math is Black and white; math is either correct, or it is wrong. There is no in between. However, when you start Relativistic physics, quantum physics, number theory and fuzzy logic; math quickly changes to puke green.

[kingu]

I like the program they have at my daughter's school. The goal of the program is to have every student ready for middle school algebra by the time they leave 5th grade. Every day, students turn in their answer sheets on a scanner sheet, the computer plops out a sheet telling them their 'score' and explanations of where they went wrong with their answers.

The self advancing program tracks what 'difficult' spots the students are encountering and recommends classroom instruction on that subject, while at the same time continually challenging students. One student is doing nicely on a series on 9th grade geometry, and the program discovered a huge problem with the lower grades in readying students for math.

Two computers equipped with scan trons and laser printers to print out practice sheets, tests, etc have been credited with raising the entire schools' achievement test results.

[Fudd]

One of the good things my parents did was not let me use calculators until high school. It led to the situation where I was tutoring an engineering undergrad in mechanics. We had worked out the algebra to solve a problem, and the last step was to plug-and-chug the numbers. The equation was not trivial (multiplication, division, a square root or two), but as the student started putting numbers in his calculator, I looked at it and told him the answer was about 75. He gave me a "we'll see" look, and found the answer to be 72.4. He just could not believe I could do all that math in my head.

[headsonpikes]

Numeracy and literacy merely reinforce the patriarchal paradigm.

Progressive educators know what they are doing!

[prion]

"Math is hard, let's go shopping!"

To be fair, those were two separate things Barbie said. They got paired in the press. I don't recall GI Joe ever saying, "let's knuckle down and do our algebra homework, boys!" or "what's seven times eight, maggot?"

[George W. Bush]

I agree with Barbie.

[GLSchnJR]

It takes me a minute to type went to public schools.

[Sloth]

Fortunately, what American students lack in fundamentals they make up in initiative and creativity. It's a constant struggle to get Russian students to 'think outside the box," while my American classes are always abuzz with interesting ideas.

True -- Americans innovate, then the Japanese (or whoever) come along and perfect whatever the Americans jury-rigged.

[PMCarey]

I vote for Saxon math!!

Saxon is not that good especially in the upper grades in which it's downright awful. On the other hand, I thoroughly recommend Singapore Math.

[FourPeas]

There is a big difference between a child who knows *why*

*Why* is the key. I excelled in math in grade school, then barely passed in 7th grade. The teacher had been teaching mathematics forever, but made no effort to explain or show *why*. I changed schools in 8th grade, went to the head of the class (and I was a year advanced) and never looked back. I'd again found teachers who understood what if their students understand the *why*. they can then figure out the *what* on their own.

[Land of the Free 04]

There is a big difference between a child who knows *why* six times seven is forty-two, and a child who merely pushes "6 X 7 =" on a calculator.

I give up---*why* is six times seven forty-two?

[lilylangtree]

To go along with the math, I was in a bookstore some time ago. Four older teenages (3 females and a male) walked in and started browsing. Overheard one girl talking about some books that she read. Another girl pipes up and says: "Oh, I remember reading a book but it was long time ago."

[Tribune7]

ping

[the_devils_advocate_666]

"Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe and not make messes in the house."
  -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love"

[AmericanVictory]

We favor Yoruba math, because we all know that the math now being taught is a white european plot and that it was stolen from the Yoruba, along with the space program.

[Elric@Melnibone]

Your school emphasizes children "discovering" or "constructing" their own techniques for arithmetic.

My 5th-grade daughter is in a "gifted and talented" math program at her elementary. As near as my wife and I can figure out, it is some kind of self-paced learning program where she has lots of "pre-tests" and practice tests but I don't see much instruction going on.

She brings these worksheets home and it falls to me to help her because I'm the Father (and, besides, I have a BS in Math). When she has trouble with a problem, the first thing I have her do is try to work it out and tell me what she thinks the answer should be.

About half the time, she will get an answer (which may or may not be right) but, when I ask her how she got it, she stumbles badly.

It is apparant to me that she is guessing about the answer and trying to justify it to me. Sometimes I think she has a glimmer of how to do things but often she is just grasping at straws.

When I try to explain how this stuff works, she gets very frustrated (I fully admit I'm not the best teacher in the world) because she really doesn't have enough grounding to understand the explainations about what she's doing.

[BJungNan]

Oh my gosh! The math snatchers are back. Yikes, they got me the first time around.

[BJungNan]

"Math is hard, let's go shopping!"

Tell me again, what is wrong with this little Barbie saying. Sounds just like my daughter.