Calling Teachers or Parents

[Rebjane]

Melissa,

I can totally relate. My son who is 9 and he is VERY good at math; this year they separated the kids into levels and Sammy is in the highest level. Anyway, I CANNOT help him with 4th grade math <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0">. It's embarrasing. My husband helps him with it, I joke around that I need to sit in on their lessons together. My husband thinks it's disturbing since I'm a nurse, but somehow I can figure out drug dosages but not 4th grade math?!

 

[Rebjane]

Melissa,

I can totally relate. My son who is 9 and he is VERY good at math; this year they separated the kids into levels and Sammy is in the highest level. Anyway, I CANNOT help him with 4th grade math <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0">. It's embarrasing. My husband helps him with it, I joke around that I need to sit in on their lessons together. My husband thinks it's disturbing since I'm a nurse, but somehow I can figure out drug dosages but not 4th grade math?!

 

[Rebjane]

Melissa,

I can totally relate. My son who is 9 and he is VERY good at math; this year they separated the kids into levels and Sammy is in the highest level. Anyway, I CANNOT help him with 4th grade math <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0">. It's embarrasing. My husband helps him with it, I joke around that I need to sit in on their lessons together. My husband thinks it's disturbing since I'm a nurse, but somehow I can figure out drug dosages but not 4th grade math?!

 

[Rebjane]

Melissa,

I can totally relate. My son who is 9 and he is VERY good at math; this year they separated the kids into levels and Sammy is in the highest level. Anyway, I CANNOT help him with 4th grade math <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0">. It's embarrasing. My husband helps him with it, I joke around that I need to sit in on their lessons together. My husband thinks it's disturbing since I'm a nurse, but somehow I can figure out drug dosages but not 4th grade math?!

 

[Rebjane]

Melissa,

I can totally relate. My son who is 9 and he is VERY good at math; this year they separated the kids into levels and Sammy is in the highest level. Anyway, I CANNOT help him with 4th grade math <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0">. It's embarrasing. My husband helps him with it, I joke around that I need to sit in on their lessons together. My husband thinks it's disturbing since I'm a nurse, but somehow I can figure out drug dosages but not 4th grade math?!

 

[izemmom]

Ooooh. I wish I had seen this sooner! I teach second grade, so Jazzy's math might have been a bit unfamiliar, but, I do know a lot of the new "Lingo" much of which is actually old lingo. Feel free to call me next time you are in a bind, I'll help if I can.

And for everyone who said they can't do 4th grade math, you can. The operations haven't changed. What has changed is the way math is thought about and talked about. The focus now is on the process as much as (and sometimes more than) the answer. The currently popular math programs are designed to makes kids think their way through the work and understand it, not just get an answer by rote repetition.

I can make a case for the "new" method, for sure, but, most parents are intimidated by it, so, in my opinion, it's contributing to the "Barbie syndrome" that it aims to squelch. And, as my engineer husband points out, those who use math for a living do EVERYTHING by rote repetition. Watching him do math with the girls in a few years is going to be a HOOT!

Good luck Mel. Call if you need help! Sorry I missed your post.

 

[izemmom]

Ooooh. I wish I had seen this sooner! I teach second grade, so Jazzy's math might have been a bit unfamiliar, but, I do know a lot of the new "Lingo" much of which is actually old lingo. Feel free to call me next time you are in a bind, I'll help if I can.

And for everyone who said they can't do 4th grade math, you can. The operations haven't changed. What has changed is the way math is thought about and talked about. The focus now is on the process as much as (and sometimes more than) the answer. The currently popular math programs are designed to makes kids think their way through the work and understand it, not just get an answer by rote repetition.

I can make a case for the "new" method, for sure, but, most parents are intimidated by it, so, in my opinion, it's contributing to the "Barbie syndrome" that it aims to squelch. And, as my engineer husband points out, those who use math for a living do EVERYTHING by rote repetition. Watching him do math with the girls in a few years is going to be a HOOT!

Good luck Mel. Call if you need help! Sorry I missed your post.

 

[izemmom]

Ooooh. I wish I had seen this sooner! I teach second grade, so Jazzy's math might have been a bit unfamiliar, but, I do know a lot of the new "Lingo" much of which is actually old lingo. Feel free to call me next time you are in a bind, I'll help if I can.

And for everyone who said they can't do 4th grade math, you can. The operations haven't changed. What has changed is the way math is thought about and talked about. The focus now is on the process as much as (and sometimes more than) the answer. The currently popular math programs are designed to makes kids think their way through the work and understand it, not just get an answer by rote repetition.

I can make a case for the "new" method, for sure, but, most parents are intimidated by it, so, in my opinion, it's contributing to the "Barbie syndrome" that it aims to squelch. And, as my engineer husband points out, those who use math for a living do EVERYTHING by rote repetition. Watching him do math with the girls in a few years is going to be a HOOT!

Good luck Mel. Call if you need help! Sorry I missed your post.

 

[izemmom]

Ooooh. I wish I had seen this sooner! I teach second grade, so Jazzy's math might have been a bit unfamiliar, but, I do know a lot of the new "Lingo" much of which is actually old lingo. Feel free to call me next time you are in a bind, I'll help if I can.

And for everyone who said they can't do 4th grade math, you can. The operations haven't changed. What has changed is the way math is thought about and talked about. The focus now is on the process as much as (and sometimes more than) the answer. The currently popular math programs are designed to makes kids think their way through the work and understand it, not just get an answer by rote repetition.

I can make a case for the "new" method, for sure, but, most parents are intimidated by it, so, in my opinion, it's contributing to the "Barbie syndrome" that it aims to squelch. And, as my engineer husband points out, those who use math for a living do EVERYTHING by rote repetition. Watching him do math with the girls in a few years is going to be a HOOT!

Good luck Mel. Call if you need help! Sorry I missed your post.

 

[izemmom]

Ooooh. I wish I had seen this sooner! I teach second grade, so Jazzy's math might have been a bit unfamiliar, but, I do know a lot of the new "Lingo" much of which is actually old lingo. Feel free to call me next time you are in a bind, I'll help if I can.

And for everyone who said they can't do 4th grade math, you can. The operations haven't changed. What has changed is the way math is thought about and talked about. The focus now is on the process as much as (and sometimes more than) the answer. The currently popular math programs are designed to makes kids think their way through the work and understand it, not just get an answer by rote repetition.

I can make a case for the "new" method, for sure, but, most parents are intimidated by it, so, in my opinion, it's contributing to the "Barbie syndrome" that it aims to squelch. And, as my engineer husband points out, those who use math for a living do EVERYTHING by rote repetition. Watching him do math with the girls in a few years is going to be a HOOT!

Good luck Mel. Call if you need help! Sorry I missed your post.