Reader objects to Everyday Math

Everyday Math is used in all Conejo Valley Unified School District K-6 classrooms, but it is not a curriculum approved by the state of California as it fails to meet the California Key Math Standards.

Everyday Math does not emphasize the standard algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division but instead presents a variety of often confusing methods. This curriculum has been publicly denounced by more than 200 mathematics and science professors from some of the most prestigious universities in the country.

It is telling that CVUSD has produced a video to show the parents how to perform just a few of the esoteric algorithms our children are expected to learn. The video shows how a great deal of classroom time is spent utilizing manipulatives rather than putting pencil to paper in order to build basic mathematic proficiency. Computational skills are essential for success in higher-level math courses from middle school on into college, yet Everyday Math places little emphasis on acquiring them.

Everyday Math encourages using calculators throughout K-6, thereby providing a crutch to those students who fail to master their math facts. The school districts and publishers of Everyday Math rely heavily on parents to fill the gaps including, if necessary, outside tutoring to help children acquire the concepts that are not being taught in the classroom anymore. Be prepared to see district officials take the credit for your hard work when standardized test scores are announced.

If you would like to voice your opposition to the Everyday Math curriculum to the school district, contact the Save Our Children from Mediocre Math website at http://socmm.home.att.net to obtain a petition and Web links.

This organization is dedicated to giving parents the "choice" of having their students taught using a curriculum which meets the California Key Math Standards.

Jo Anne Cobasko
Thousand Oaks