Hello winterwind,

I have been contemplating this comment for several days and hope you may further enlighten me. I am intrigued by your comment about pattern recognition. I wonder if I might impose upon you and ask if you could elaborate. Could you provide a specific example of how and where you used this to its best advantage?

Best wishes,
O.A.

Hello winterwind,
Thank you for your informed perspective. I have related my experience. I recognize it as opinion and do appreciate that a one size fits all approach is not the best. Perhaps this is why I would grant teachers more freedom to tailor their methods as required and object to some of the aspects of government mandated Common Core.

I only wish I still had the ability for rote memorization that I possessed as a child...

I applaud your efforts.
Regards,
O.A.

"Traditional methods" [whatever they were when/where you learned them] was easier FOR YOU; the vital words in your questions are "for most". There are people [I am one] who find rote memorization very difficult to make "stick". I used it because it was all that was presented and later, when I discovered patterning, finally can remember most of my times tables most of the time.
Your last sentence contains a flaw: I don't think ANY modern methods are superior to ANY traditional methods except as they apply to the individual. And finally, most people can't make change because it has not been shown to them - most of them have never even seen someone do it. I taught it to a bunch of students [ages 8-14] and they learned it, for the most part, quickly and could do it, for the most part, correctly. Most of them even thought it was cool and loved getting into the variations in which they were given more than the amount owed so as to get specific change. There were also some that were hopeless with it and had to follow the printed steps posted on the "store" every single time they did it.
One of the easiest errors to fall into as a teacher is to assume that because something was easy for you, it will be easy for a student [and vice-versa].

I think you hit on a very substantial point: Common Core is like much of liberal thinking - more concerned about the method than the result. It's more important to portray one's self as being kind than to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars. It's more important to be inclusive than to set and maintain standards. It's more important to be "compassionate" than to hold people responsible for their actions.

Nice observation.

I think of this as a 'scissors action'. On one hand, you have increased difficulty in 'employing people' (unions, regulations, education, work habits); on the other hand, you have the increased capability of robotics and self-driving cars. I think that these 'scissors' are going to make it attractive to replace people with robots wherever possible and 'cut' the available jobs off at progressively higher 'chops'.

You are right - the only kids who will be 'above the cut' are those people who have some sort of skill or talent that cannot be replaced by automation.

The plus side is that we will all have an affluent lifestyle without lifting a finger. But what will society look like then??? This worries me sometimes, in the middle of the night...

Jan

Don’t get me wrong. I think the common core questions are confusing and ridiculous. I think you are right. When were you introduced to algebra? I wasn’t introduce to algebra till high school, but my kids were expected to pass it in junior high. Perhaps since the introduction of more challenging math to a younger-age group, educators have seen more students falling behind. Instead of going back to a program of study where the introduction is made at a later date, holding back those kids that did get it, they thought they could booster the slower kids by introducing some concepts at a younger age. (I’m speculating, btw.) It just seems when I read these bizarre common-core questions, I vaguely see concepts of the distributive and associative rules of algebra. It’s there in the mist.

That may be so, but I don't get that from the article.
How is A:
5 - 2 = 3
significantly different than B:
5 - 2 = ?
2... 3, 4, 5
1+1+1 =3
For preparing for Algebra.

Additionally, where is the evidence that these methods work well (or better)?
This reminds me of socialist economic propaganda that people argue about the results of continuously because they are obfuscated with poor experimental methods.

Yes, but the method they are using to examine addition and subtraction problems is laying the foundations for understanding algebra. That’s why it is making so many parents go crazy and run from the room screaming. Algebra is not everyone’s cup of tea.

IT'S NOT THE METHOD, IT'S THE MADNESS!

In our dim memory of "getting the right answer doesn't matter, as long as you understand the method", many people think that any alternative methods of doing arithmetic can't possibly be "right".
"Right" should be defined as "getting the single correct answer", not "using my favorite method to get that correct answer".
Every single person should do the problem the way it works most easily for him - coming up with the single correct answer.

I [essentially] do a lot of arithmetic the way that's shown in the photo, but if I tried to explain it that way, I too would be doomed. and I'm not the only one.
The easiest way for me to do almost all ARITHMETIC [math is what you call it when you start algebra] is to add or subtract from one of the numbers given so that I get a round number I'm comfortable with, do the arithmetic, and add or subtract my "magic number" back in. Thusly:
294 - 18 = 276
I'd add 2 to the 18, so I could do easy subtraction to get 274, and add the 2 back in to my answer: 294 - 20 = 276; 276 + 2 = 278.

I have to admit that I'd do their example with a couple of numbers on a piece of paper, because there is no easy subtraction or addition I can think of.

My point, however, is that no one method works for all people on all problems and anyone who maintains that it does has authority or imagination disorders.
Insist on the right answer, and don't torture students with "the right way".
/steps down from soapbox

As jlc says, I have a background with some math, so I may have a different perspective, but it seems fine with me.

"When robots take over the entry level job market, the common core trained people are the people who will be displaced"
Everyone with kids should be preparing for robots to take over much of the job market. There will be huge opportunities for wealth creation, but it will be one disappointment after another for those who expect things to be the same as in the recent past. Automation is shaking everything up.

Some of the older teachers are real teachers. From my observation, most of the younger "teachers" now are completely uneducated and incapable of passing high school exams of yesteryear. They don't even know basic English.

cudos. I should have and did not....I will be very supportive of my grandchildren homeschooling. In fairness, both of my parents were teachers. they were great teachers and understood their influence. the profession is different for many teachers now. But many on this site are teachers and understand the importance of their profession. I admire their skill and influence.

I did my part by homeschooling my kid. A few others are doing the same. The rest of the morons give birth as a biological side effect of having sex and are most happy when the government babysits their brood so that they don’t have to interrupt their favorite tv show.

Yes, but nobody is using Alinsky's methods as a counter. Alinsky versus Alinsky. Should be interesting. In the example I provided, what would the cops do if ALL parents with held their children from attending school? Arrest them all? How long would the public and private schools hold out? See what I mean? It would collapse the whole system. The jack arses who are forcing kommon kore in the school are COUNTING on the WILLING participation by the parents. If all the parents step up and hold back their kids, indefinitely until kommon kore is wholly rejected, the Establishment WILL crumble.

Traditional teaching of basic math was easier and required fewer steps. Rote memorization of multiplication tables etc. and traditional addition and subtraction seemed easy enough when I was in elementary school. It came as naturally as speaking English. Everyone learns their native language when young in this manner naturally. This may be fine for some but it seems convoluted and unnecessary for most. IMHO If modern methods are so superior, why is it that young people can't even make change for me at a cash register without help?

Read the standards for yourself: http://www.corestandards.org/read-the-st...

The implementation and interpretation by the education establishment is where this is all coming from.

Oh, they'll cover that in the 4th grade!

But they are using Saul Alinsky's method, and achieving the intended results...

That's very different than what my mother-in-law (a teacher) is telling me. They dictate the materials, which in turn dictate the methods.

I've been helping my two oldest daughters with their homework and their math worksheets on the bottom proudly claim the author to be Common Core. That would seem to directly refute your assertion.

Exactly.

Remember Common Core is a standard. It does not define or limit how mathematical operations are taught. The Text Book Author's and Teacher's implementations are creating the limitations.

Khan Academy (http://khanacademy.org) math lessons can be mapped to Common Core standards. This site does not limit the way a math problem is solved. It does provide instruction in videos and hints for students that are stuck. Khan Academy tracks Common Core math skill mastery (not solution methodology) so students, parents and teachers can see which skills a student has mastered and which skills a student needs to work on.

It actually is that way, but thanks!

Recommend you look into dual enrollment for her senior year. My younger brother and I both did college calculus through diff eqs and physics at a local college our senior years, and got credit in high school and college allowing graduation in 3 yrs.

You know, this sort of thing isn't new. I remember "new math" in fourth grade, when all of a sudden they were talking about sets and things and my high school cousin was trying to explain it to me, because my parents didn't get it at all.

I went on to get a computer science degree from an engineering school, so I guess I figured it out eventually.