Demystifying Elementary Math (from a Secondary Perspective)

By offering multiple ways to arrive at an answer, we are more inclusive of how students think. And in the end, who does that inclusivity hurt? (Being exposed to multiple strategies harms no one and is considered a best practice of mathematics teaching.) And who does it help? (Everyone! Our brightest students benefit from hearing alternative thought processes, and our struggling students benefit from seeing peers solve using methods similar and different from their own.) WIN WIN!

Ah yes, I'm sure we've all seen this or similar postings around the internet - the famous "too smart for elementary school" parent who's really "showing those teachers". The problem I see here is a parent who despite his MANY years of education, failed. He failed to read directions. He failed to answer the question being asked. Without knowing what grade level this problem is aimed at (I'm assuming 1st or 2nd grade), the problem here is not that "math has changed". The problem is that the problems have changed. This highly educated parent (and many of those educated as much or less who see and share this) all fail to see that the question is NOT 427-316 = ??? Instead, the question is demonstrating a method of subtraction (more on that strategy here ) and asking what went wrong for the student. It's about error analysis. I bet if Mr. Engineer Dad had seen the problem labeled Error Analysis his chest would've puffed with p...

                                              I know it's not exactly the most comforting advice to adults who have been through a lot of change, but 1 thing I know for sure is that no school, no teacher, no administrator, no aide wants any child to be poorly educated.  Instead those teachers, administrators, aides, and school officials all know that there is a building process from Kindergarten (or 4K) through senior year of high school.  There is a progression that they've spent (countless) hours working to align so that every topic is covered, every concept is given time to develop, and every student has access to the material when they're ready. The long and short of it is that there is a well thought out process - please trust it.  While it may be frustrating for you at times, remember that you have all the "keys to the castle" as an adult who's be...