I’m so glad I read the messages about spiraling math curriculum. It’s been so hard for my son, but everyone I approach at school defends it (like they used to defend whole language?). He’s in third grade and was doing okay until they jumped into division. Up until now I’ve been able to explain things with manipulatives but so far he just shuts down when the word even comes up. Last week he pleaded with me that he’s just not ready for division and nobody believes him.I thought of using touchmath, since he learned addition and subtraction using it, but now considers it “baby” stuff. Would it be worth trying at home anyway? Is it as effective with division as it is for addition/subtraction?Add in the terms he is expected to learn (associative and commutative properties) and he is so totally overwhelmed he can’t even remember how to multiply 2x2.I know he’s not ready for this, and he knows it, but the teacher has to cover this material whether she wants to or not. What’s wrong with letting him really learn multiplication before they teach division?There’s no easy solution for us. I’ll keep showing him with manipulatives, and his teacher (who is wonderful) will keep trying, but I’m sure that by the time he’s able to handle the concept he will have completely shut down.
Re: Spiraling Curriculum vent
I believe your son, but since he will have to muddle through division whether or not he’s ready to learn it, I’ll pass along this technique that my son uses. Say the problem is 48 divided by 6- that means dividing 48 things into 6 equal groups. We make 6 columns and put 1 in each column, which makes 6. Try 2 in each column- that’s 12; 3 in each column makes 18, 4 in each gives us 24, 5 in each makes 30, 6 in each is 36, 7 in each is 42, and 8 in each column is 48- aha! 6 groups of 8 equals 48. We’re homeschooling, and I haven’t pushed memorization of multiplication tables- I think he may be getting more out of recreating them over and over again as he does multiplication and division problems. After doing a number of problems this way, he started just listing multiples of 3, 4, etc. and using the list to help with division facts.Best of luck to both of you.Jean: I’m so glad I read the messages about spiraling math curriculum. It’s
: been so hard for my son, but everyone I approach at school defends
: it (like they used to defend whole language?). He’s in third grade
: and was doing okay until they jumped into division. Up until now
: I’ve been able to explain things with manipulatives but so far he
: just shuts down when the word even comes up. Last week he pleaded
: with me that he’s just not ready for division and nobody believes
: him.: I thought of using touchmath, since he learned addition and
: subtraction using it, but now considers it “baby” stuff.
: Would it be worth trying at home anyway? Is it as effective with
: division as it is for addition/subtraction?: Add in the terms he is expected to learn (associative and commutative
: properties) and he is so totally overwhelmed he can’t even
: remember how to multiply 2x2.: I know he’s not ready for this, and he knows it, but the teacher has
: to cover this material whether she wants to or not. What’s wrong
: with letting him really learn multiplication before they teach
: division?: There’s no easy solution for us. I’ll keep showing him with
: manipulatives, and his teacher (who is wonderful) will keep
: trying, but I’m sure that by the time he’s able to handle the
: concept he will have completely shut down.
Back in the dark ages when I went to school, in a system that was loosely based on the old British system, division was not even mentioned until the end of Grade 4, when we went so far as to do simple division as reversal of multiplication, and long division per se was not taught until Grade 5. This system was so terrible and backward that every single student in every single school did algebra and geometry in Grades 8 and 9 — see, they had this weird idea that we actually knew how to multiply and divide and work with fractions and decimals already and that we actually remembered something from elementary school, so they didn’t re-teach all that stuff. So terribly old-fashioned and ridiculous. Then in Grade 10 they taught Euclidean geometry, which was actually a thinly disguised course in mathematical logic — again, this weird idea that we had learned and retained something from Grade 9 so we didn’t need to learn to use a protractor and name polygons all over again. School leaving age was sixteen, so after Grade 10 things actually got hard and non-mathematical people were then allowed to drop math. Yes, this system was so bad and old-fashioned and prepared me so poorly that after a rather long hiatus I was able to go back in the 1980’s and do an Honours Math degree with top marks in the class.In other words, your son is absolutely right and the people trying to force this curriculum on him are not in tune with reality. Please look up and read about the Third International Math Science Study. For example: Finland, Sweden — kids do not go to school until age 7. No kindergarten, and Grade 1 starts a year later than here.The prevailing philosophy is that young children need family, play, outdoor exercise, etc. Many children go to daycare, but it is mostly play-centered. In three years they have caught up to American kids on the Grade 4/ age 9 tests. In seven years, on the Grade 8/ age 13 tests, they pull ahead. By Grade 12/ age 17, they are a full two years ahead; the standard American curriculum (for good students) is Algebra 2 in Grade 11 or 12 and Pre-Calculus (if taken at all) in Grade 12; Scandinavian kids study calculus from Grades 10 through 12.You may have trouble communicating this with your school.(classic understatement) The options are all difficult — let him continue failing, let him be labelled, fight forever, home-school — each has its negatives. You may take consolation in one thing; all those kids in his class who appear to be doing well are using a short-term memory bank which is soon going to overload. Somewhere in Grades 4 and 5 there is a huge fallout in American math, where kids are labelled forever as “good” or “no good” at math, with the “no-goods” being the vast majority. (Other cultures believe you can be good at math like anything else if you just work on it. Much more positive for the self-esteem — and guess who is filling American grad schools of math and science.) If you can teach your son logical problem-solving, measurement and reality-based math, and a feel for numbers, he will pull ahead of the formula memorizers. He’ll break even by Grade 5 or 6 and pull way ahead in algebra. It looks a long way away now, but keep up the good fight.: I’m so glad I read the messages about spiraling math curriculum. It’s
: been so hard for my son, but everyone I approach at school defends
: it (like they used to defend whole language?). He’s in third grade
: and was doing okay until they jumped into division. Up until now
: I’ve been able to explain things with manipulatives but so far he
: just shuts down when the word even comes up. Last week he pleaded
: with me that he’s just not ready for division and nobody believes
: him.: I thought of using touchmath, since he learned addition and
: subtraction using it, but now considers it “baby” stuff.
: Would it be worth trying at home anyway? Is it as effective with
: division as it is for addition/subtraction?: Add in the terms he is expected to learn (associative and commutative
: properties) and he is so totally overwhelmed he can’t even
: remember how to multiply 2x2.: I know he’s not ready for this, and he knows it, but the teacher has
: to cover this material whether she wants to or not. What’s wrong
: with letting him really learn multiplication before they teach
: division?: There’s no easy solution for us. I’ll keep showing him with
: manipulatives, and his teacher (who is wonderful) will keep
: trying, but I’m sure that by the time he’s able to handle the
: concept he will have completely shut down.