Another homework complaint

[tridlette]

Whatever happened to the saying about "the end justifies the means?"

If we can teach the kids HOW to do efficiently, what is wrong with that?

Of course, if the kids use the efficient way, then the teachers feel obligated to call the kids "lazy".

I HATE HOMEWORK TOO!

[Linda]

:)Boy cat .....you sure struck a nerve with most of us ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[mothercat]

When it comes to homework this will be the third time I have been thru the 6th grade. With Math I got yelled at (yes yelled) for teaching Bud old math. New motto and favorite words are "gee Jared...I dont remember so how about we learn it together. "
Once in a while I will let him dictate and I will type but not often. I do HAVE to SIT Next to him the WHOLE time as it is the only way to stay on track. YES I HATE HOMEWORK!!!!!
I often wonder if it would be easier to homeschool....then we could have it over with earlier.

[TexasMom]

Steven has NO, yes NO books to take home. Try figuring out algebra with nothing to refer back to!!

Also, he had a project for Social Studies where he had to come up with a food from Afghanistan and something about the culture. Guess who actually did the project???

[JulieinSC]

Math is absolutely the WORST!!! They don't speak the same language anymore; from 4th grade on your kids have to know about "front end estimating" (HUH?) and my favorites, "stem and leaf" or "box and whisker" graphs. Math was always my worst subject but now I can't even speak the correct language.

Once they get into middle school, it's over! My kids are using graphing calculators and I don't even have a clue what it is they are doing!!!

[rosyred45]

One thing that I won't back down on for homework is the math. I will teach my child the way my child will learn. PERIOD.

They have this EVERYDAY MATH here. Oh can you say IT SUCKS

Let's just say a 3rd grader had trouble adding 300+300 because he got so caught up looking at the other problems----that weren't the same as each other. There's like 10 different problems for the kids to do.

I mean different.....one is with a graph, one is with money, one is estimating.....etc

They aren't being taught the basics so how on earth are they going to know what the heck to do
Sorry.......NEXT

[camismom]

On the subject of Math.... me and dh were at the grocery store the other day. In front of us was a man that was trying to cash his paycheck. Pet peeve of mine anyway.... I mean it's a GROCERY store, not a bank! Anyway, the cashier was telling him the store's policy is that he would have to spend 10% of the check on store items in order for them to cash it. He looked blankly at the check a minute and then held it up to the cashier and asked, "so how much would that be?" The cashier then took the check, looked at it and replied, "I don't know."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! I mean, I'm sure the man was embarrassed and I felt for him, but for the cashier... the girl in charge of taking our money and making change.... not to know, that just took the cake!

I quietly and politely asked the man what the amount of the check was and then told him how much he needed to spend. He thanked me and quickly walked away.

So.... moral of the story.... teach these kids the kind of Math they can use in the real world! Instead of confusing them with all this other crap that they'll forget anyway!

[catseye]

camismom- that poor man must of been so embarrased!

Has anyone else noticed that if not for the cash register telling a person how much change to give, the kid behind the counter would not be able to figure it out?

After she already rang me up, I found a dime to give the cashier, she had no idea that meant she didnt have to give me 90 cents and could give me a dollar... ARGH!

cat

[camismom]

Oh yes, I've noticed that many times.... and have done that many times to find it just throws them all off! I mean let's make sure our kids know how to add, subtract, and multiply before we start throwing the Algebra at them.

[rosyred45]

AND ANOTHER AMEN

I was trying to help this kid and he was looking at everything like it was greek. Example, if I remember this, and I tell my kids to do this too.

Think of decimals in terms of money. Penny, knickle, dime, quarter. Think of anything in terms of money and it usually helps because, at least my kids, visualize the coins and can add or subtract or just plain figure better.

Anyhow, 1 cm=25 miles. How many cm is 375 miles. So I told him to think in terms of quarters. He got it in 5 seconds. This after agonizing for 5 minutes and complaining he didn't understand it.

[camismom]

Kaiti, you need to join your mom in the teaching field... thrn show all the others how to do it!

[eaccae]

Math, math, math. It was not my best subject in school. And everyone here is right - they have teach it differently!!! They have different terminology . . . The teachers want us to help but we get yelled at for teaching them the "old" way or the "wrong" way - yet they don't provided us with any info on how they are currently doing it! They want us to help out and check their work - yet we don't necessarily know what it is the kids are supposed to do because the directions seem like they are written in a different language!!!

I will say that however they are learning - I can see the long term effects that it is already having - and DS is already far better at math than I am. For multiplication they are now teaching that to find the answer for 6 x94 instead of the normal

94
x 6

to get the answer you do it this way:

6x4, 6x90, add the answers . . .

It actually makes sense and the kids are learning to do large math problems in their heads . . . but when basic math like muliplication and addition (the kids didn't learn to carry the one) are so different and the terminology and directions are so different - and then when they get into more complex math . . . how are we supposed to properly check their homework?!! Much less help them out?

Currently for doing the problem 94x6 - showing the work is BIZARRE! First they have to do some chart with the boxes, then they have to do the "sentence explaining why the boxes are correct" - which really means exactly: "6x4=24, 6x90=540, 94x6=564" When I read the directions - I didn't have ANY clue what was wanted!! Thank goodness DS knew exactly what to do! I would never have done anything with boxes - they didn't mention boxes - I would never have even thought of boxes! And I CERTAINLY wouldn't have thought to do 6x4, 6x90! I would have done
94
x 6
and received an F!!

[rosyred45]

You have the same math we do, I was just shown that by Tara and her classmates the other day. ;D

What gets me is the fact that only a few teachers are teaching the basics FIRST. Some are just following the book and for me, it's confusing because they are pulling from 20 different different directions and the kids are having a hard time.

The parents are having a harder time because the kids don't know basics >:(and are trying to explain it, but we keep getting told we're doing it wrong...........

And Christy, Remember that school I was planning, we would have NO HOMEWORK BECAUSE WE WOULD TEACH TO THE KIDS THE WAY THEY LEARN :DAnd they would know it like the back of their hand

[eaccae]

Kaiti - my experience has been that when the teacher follows this "new" math by the book and UNDERSTANDS it - there isn't as much of a problem. BUT . . . when some of the teachers are doing the basics the old way and then they get a teacher that is doing it the new way - there is a lot of confusion. And THEN there are the teachers that are doing it the new way but don't understand it or feel forced to do it the new way - and that sends off a vibe of confusion! Luckily - even with DS's terrible teachers - they all followed the new math uniformly and understood it. He went from being somewhat weak in math to being very strong in math - as a lot of kids are.

It is hard because the basic math doesn't even start to make sense until 3rd grade and the lack of multiplication tables and late start to muliplying - barely any division - is only starting to make sense now in 4th! The kids that I find that are having the hardest times are the ones that had some teachers teach the "old" basic math first - or the teachers sending mixed messages due to their own confusion. Luckily - with all of the problems we have had with the school - MOST of the teachers totally get the new math - even though we parents sure don't!!!

I think also - there is more confusion because as parents - when we sit down to help or explain things - we are talking a different language generating confusion on both sides - if that makes any sense!

I remember being terribly frusterated because I didn't think DS was getting ANY of the basics. I would ask him questions and he would look at me blankly . . . I discovered in hindsight that I was aking him questions - sometimes with the wrong words so he didn't necessarily know what I was asking for, and other times I was frusterated that he didn't know how to add basic math when, according to my timetable and history of school, he SHOULD have. I couldn't figure out why in 2nd grade he was still learning what *I thought* was basic addition and subtraction . . . But then the next year he would start adding and subtracting muliple three digit numbers in his head in seconds . . . So when I thought he wasn't getting his basic math down and that it wasn't being taught correctly - I was going by old expectations of when he should know all of this but in reality he was slowly learning with a different approach on a different timetable so that he could do alot more complex basic math in his head. Does that make any sense. The teachers kept stressing that they didn't want the kids to just memorize their math. And know I understand why. But at the time I will admit I was beyond frusterated!!

I really like the new math - but I just wish that early on the teachers would say - "hey - the kids are learning math a different way now - it is different than the way we used to learn it, if you have any questions give me a call" Instead they don't say anything but expect us to help the kids out!

[camismom]

Kaiti,,, when you get it started let me know when to come register Cami!

You know what y'all are saying is so true for here too! And I'm like Kaiti... if I can teach it to Cami in a way she better "gets it" and understands, then by God I am. I can't cound how many times I have shown her something and she does this , then says, "dang! Why didn't the teacher show us that way? That is sooooo much easier!" She then whizes thru the rest of the problems.