Not a believer in Everyday Math

Just to let you know, our child’s math scores are going up.

How is this possible with everyday math (EM)? Simple—I spend over $100 per month to take my child to (a private learning center) where she is taught the concepts correctly. Amazing—repetition and reinforcement of concepts does work.

Let’s see, we have a school board complaining that they don’t get enough money, and I am constantly being asked to donate money to the local school. If I didn’t have to spend $1,200 at (the private learning center), I certainly could have donated some of this money to the local school.

  It has always struck me as odd that all the past learning techniques are considered wrong and that a new system must be devised every so often. What this tells me is that someone in the school district must justify their position by presenting different programs rather than focusing on what works.

  Back in the "dark ages" we employed flash cards, we wrote out in pencil the full problem and we were not allowed to use calculators until we reached the upper grades after we had mastered the concept. There was repetition of the concepts, reinforcement and time spent tying in each concept to the next.

 What does the current program produce? Clerks who don’t know how to add or tally purchases correctly without a scanner, people who can’t figure out a tip at a restaurant, and cooks who don’t know how to increase ingredients on recipes for more than one serving.

The only people who are really fans of EM must be those who offer tutoring courses and their willing accomplices, the school board.

Pete Gessert

Thousand Oaks