Parents mad over new math curriculum
BevK November 29th, 2005
http://www.harktheherald….ticle&sid=69573
They’re not exactly counting on their fingers, but some parents in the Alpine School District are taking math into their own hands.
The district has implemented Investigations in Number, Data, and Space, a math program officials say satisfies the state’s requirements and teaches students “basic number facts.”
The curriculum uses a practice called “debriefing,” during which students share their methods for solving math problems, and the class then discusses that method. Traditional methods for solving a problem are acceptable, but other methods are allowed, as well.
But parents say the curriculum does not teach children multiplication tables or long division and leaves students unprepared for higher education and careers. Some parents are turning to homeschool, charter schools and private schools for the math instruction they say their children need.
What they don’t get at school, they’d better get at home. I’ve seen parents spend hours with their kids helping them learn what the school can’t find time to teach. When the amount of material reaches a tipping point, parents realize that life would be easier if they did it all. Usually these parents are already doing all the hard stuff, the learning that is difficult for their child. They get the tears and frustration and never the fun and joy that learning with their child should be.
