Old Math

It looks like the discovery method in mathematics is in headlong retreat. The theory was that children would work more like professional mathematicians, discovering the facts of mathematics and figuring out how to solve problems by whatever means they could muster. It's not hard to see why this method was less than a rousing success.

To be sure, there were some worthwhile ideas incorporated, especially the idea that children should try to understand the meaning of concepts like addition, subtraction, and place value. This brainchild of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics might have had some theoretical merit, but in practice it has failed miserably. Concerned teachers hid their old math books, and tried to teach from them.

This New York Times story is about how mainstream math teaching is headed back to the basics.
The changes are being driven by students’ lagging performance on international tests and mathematicians’ warnings that more than a decade of so-called reform math — critics call it fuzzy math — has crippled students with its de-emphasizing of basic drills and memorization in favor of allowing children to find their own ways to solve problems.

At the same time, parental unease has prompted ever more families to pay for tutoring, even for young children. Shalimar Backman, who put pressure on officials here by starting a parents group called Where’s the Math?, remembers the moment she became concerned.

One plan parents turned to was Japanese plan of Kumon math.

Slate's human guinea pig, Emily Yoffe, had her own encounter with Kumon. With her daughter reaching fifth grade, she feared that she would not only not be able to help her with her homework, but wouldn't even understand it. She tells the tale in I'm a Math Moron.
I can barely add and subtract. Can I learn enough math in five months to help my fifth-grader with her homework?

By Emily Yoffe
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006, at 5:46 PM ET

Things weren't going well with my math placement test—things have never gone well for me on any math test. As I tried to solve 13 – 5, I lost track while counting on my fingers, and as I calculated 3,869 x 6, I couldn't remember the rules for carrying numbers. I decided to enroll in a math prep course when I realized I was unable to help my then fourth-grade daughter with her math homework. For this Human Guinea Pig—a column that requires a willingness to debase myself—I planned to go back to where numbers and I parted ways, to see if I could learn enough math to keep ahead of my daughter for a few more years.

The placement test put her at the 2A First Grade level. Kumon is based on intensive drill, repetition, and speed. The idea is to get students to the fully automatic mode of doing problems. Bad habits like Yoffe's finger counting have to be rigorously suppressed.

We tried Kumon with our kids, but they hated it passionately. They were quick learners, and the endless repetition was intensely frustrating for them. Correcting the papers was no fun for us either. Abandoning Kumon didn't seem to hurt their math skills though, and both progressed rapidly through the curriculum to Calculus and beyond.

Ms. Yoffe's five months of brutal drudgery paid off though, sort of. She did manage to become proficient in fifth grade math. Her daughter was transferred to the sixth grade math group though.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anti-Libertarian: re-post

The most pointed critique of social security and liberalism in general is the libertarian critique. The problem with libertarians, for a liberal, is that we have too much in common. We both believe in individual rights, tolerance of individual differences, and dislike government prescription of religion. The basic difference, it seems to me, is the different answers we give to Cain's (with thanks to the Captain - my original version had the corpse asking the question!) famous question: "Am I my brother's keeper?" That's not really my basic bitch against the libertarians though. My real complaint is the same as my complaint against most religion - its premise is a fraud. For those who can't stand to wait for the punchline, I believe that trying to implement libertarian principles leads to tyranny or social disintegration. Demonstrating that takes some historical (and pre-historical) context. For all but the last 15,000 or so of the 100,000 years the human spec
Read more

Uneasy Lies The Head

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown ........... Shakespeare Henry IV, Part II. So it is with us and our slightly distant primate cousins , so it seems. A 9-year study of wild baboons in Kenya by Princeton University and the Institute of Primate Research may turn conventional assumptions of alphas males upside down. The study found that alpha males have high testosterone levels, which allows them to dominate other baboons, get access to more food, and attract better mates. This is expected. Surprisingly, though, the alpha males also have high levels of stress hormone glucocorticoid, which scientists measured from their feces samples. In fact, the stress of alpha baboons was on par with low-ranking baboons. The convention wisdom is that access to food and females provides life security and thus less stress for dominant males. Conversely, weak males who are constantly threatened by starvation and physical violence from stronger males are thought to be more stressed. The st
Read more

We Call it Soccer

The US played its best, and maybe only good game of World Cup, but lost thanks to brilliant goalkeeping by the Swedish keeper and the bizarre method soccer uses to settle ties when three US stars could not put the ball on frame from the 12 yard spot.  At the end it came down to a blocked shot that spun in by maybe a couple of centimeters. Well, that's football - too much like life.   Which brings me to a modest proposal.  Replace the thirty minute overtimes with as many 7-player 15 minute periods as needed to settle it.  Scoring should be much easier with fewer players.
Read more