Math vindication!

One of things I do at day care is provide space to do homework and will help if asked. Its only a few that really want to do it, and others do it for more play time at home. I don't push but a couple parents have asked if I could mention doing homework at 4:30 to their kids (school is out at 3:20) especially on guides/dance/gymnastics days.

I'm horrible at math. I have absolutly NO head for numbers. I was telling my grade 5 girls last week that I got an F in grade 5 math (on the first trimester report card, I did manage to end with a C) I've come up with my own little shortcuts and memory devices and can usually do it in my head but its so not the way I was taught. The grade 5s started a new unit Monday and looking at the worksheets I am totally vindicated! Its one of my shortcuts being taught! (its a breaking up the question and doing different parts separatly then going back to the final answer) I'm gonna go tell the teacher about it tomorrow.

 

Glad that they finally hit a section you can help them with. Luckily numbers came easily to me. Unfortunately DD sounds more like you so we find our coping methods.

 

It was fun while it lasted. They've moved from multiplcation to division (which I'm sooooo good at) but they've changed that too. Its totally weird and I had a girl in tears today trying to do it.

 

QUOTE(Kendra @ Nov 6 2007, 12:10 AM) [snapback]482704[/snapback]
It was fun while it lasted. They've moved from multiplcation to division (which I'm sooooo good at) but they've changed that too. Its totally weird and I had a girl in tears today trying to do it.




I can so relate to what you are saying! I am terrible in math! The math they teach these kids nowadays is like a foreign language. I found two good pages for math lessons. math.com and themathpage.com. I found the mathpage the most helpfull. You could have your students look at these.

 

I was helping my 4th grader with division tonight and she was getting upset that I didn't understand the method they were using. It was just crazy. I've decided I'll help with the spelling homework and my husband can deal with the math.

 

I think this is the biggest issue with me working with DD on math, is the teacher explains it one way and I explain it to her a different way. I am not looking forward to multiplication and division.

 

It's amazing how they have changed the algorithms over the years. When I took my math methods class recently, they did all these different regrouping shortcuts that I never used and it is hard to retrain yourself. I think you could teach today's math, Kendra, very easily then!

 

The new division is easy to figure out its just soooooooooo different. Of course I was also stuggling with the grade 3 word problems yesterday so it was not a happy time for me. I much prefer language arts homework.