Demystifying Elementary Math (from a Secondary Perspective)

  Estimation is the one task from elementary school math that drove me CRAZY! Why would I estimate if I could just FIND the answer OR measure OR count and find the "REAL" answer.  It's taken awhile, but I've come around to appreciate this skill a bit more - check out why I think estimation is a reasonable (and important) skill for students of all ages to practice and hone to be better consumers of data.   Estimation is Reasonable What do you think? Do you estimate regularly? Do you ask your children to estimate? 

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...