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FUZZY MATH FIZZLES

By Charlie Sykes

One district after another is bailing on 'Everyday math."

 

Michelle Malkin has the sorry details.

Do you know what math curriculum your child is being taught? Are you worried that your third-grader hasn’t learned simple multiplication yet? Have you been befuddled by educational jargon such as “spiraling,” which is used to explain why your kid keeps bringing home the same insipid busywork of cutting, gluing and drawing? And are you alarmed by teachers who emphasize “self-confidence” over proficiency while their students fall further and further behind? Join the club.

Across the country, from New York City to Seattle, parents are wising up to math fads like “Everyday Math.” Sounds harmless enough, right? It’s cleverly marketed as a “University of Chicago” program. Impressive! Right? But then you start to sense something’s not adding up when your kid starts second grade and comes home with the same kindergarten-level addition and subtraction problems — for the second year in a row.

Monday, Dec 3 at 9:43 AM Rick L wrote ...

The whole 'new curriculum' of the past 20yrs strikes me like so many sci-fi show themes where the people don't know how their own technology works. It seems like kids in the US today are being taught to use technology, not how to create it.

Monday, Dec 3 at 9:31 AM Rick L wrote ...

Chris...who cares? It is not as successful as teaching all basics. I have always been cantankerously smart, especially doing math even with multiple steps in my head. I would fail an 'estimating' chapter, because I know the real answer. What is that?

Friday, Nov 30 at 8:47 AM Chris wrote ...

Are their impartial websites to show outcomes of success, (or no success)? What are the coutcomes of success? Can competent kids in math excel in this program? What school systems/states have abandon this strategy or accepted it?

Wednesday, Nov 28 at 11:13 PM Peter THEB wrote ...

I posted about this and references your old saw about the kid who thought 4 = 3 = 8 because the teachers thought that telling him that 4 3 = 7 might make him feel bad about himself.

Wednesday, Nov 28 at 3:46 PM nora wrote ...

My fourth grade daughter had a math assignment last night that was all estimations. When I told her to write the correct answer she told me she wasn't allowed to because she would be marked wrong.That's crazy.

Wednesday, Nov 28 at 2:49 PM Cato wrote ...

This is not new, as it is clearly an offshoot of "The Think Method" employed by Professor Hill in "The Music Man"

Wednesday, Nov 28 at 2:36 PM Amy P. wrote ...

If done properly, block scheduling can actually *enhance* education...but it all hinges on whether or not the subject matter is taught effectively and proficiently, by well-trained educators.

Wednesday, Nov 28 at 11:59 AM Tamara S. wrote ...

This is breeding a generation of people who can't do simple addition without a calculator! Why does anyone find this as an acceptable form of education?

Wednesday, Nov 28 at 10:42 AM Dan wrote ...

If yo think fuzzy math is crazy, check out block scheduling!

Wednesday, Nov 28 at 9:42 AM Amy P. wrote ...

This stuff goes on in our classrooms and people wonder WHY our kids can't compete with kids from other nations, or WHY girls aren't as involved in math-related careers. Fuzzy Math is a joke, and ruining our children's education.

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