The "Right" Way

By Stephanie

There is an interesting video being circulated around many homeschool lists. On it, an atmospheric scientist talks about how worried she is because the curriculum used in many schools in Washington state has gotten away from teaching the traditional math algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. She goes on to say that these new approaches result in kids who are dependant on a calculator and are not strong math thinkers. Both times I have seen the link to the video posted with a directive of "you have to watch this...it is a real eye opener".

It did open my eyes...and I found that it reinforced my reasons for homeschooling. You see, schools are limited and must pick one approach to use for all children. But all children do not learn in the same way. What this video misses is that different kids need different ways of learning things...not just one way.

I found it very interesting to note that the "wrong" ways for teaching math are exactly the way that my oldest son has been learning math. It is a way that makes sense to him. I do not plan on teaching him long division using the standard algorithm because it will not make sense to him. (I learned my lesson trying to teach him carrying and borrowing using the standard algorithm).

Typically in school, kids are taught how to calculate by following a step by step method to build a strong foundation. This works for many kids and it is what worked for me. Some kids, however, need to play around with the concepts and be given space to reason out a problem. Then once they get how it works, they can make better sense of the more traditional ways. Each way is "right" for that particular child.

The video sets up a false dichotomy, saying that one approach to math is "right" (leads to strong math skills) and the other is "wrong" (leads to weak math skills). The problem, however, is not with the approach itself but rather with the fact that the approach may not always match the learning style of the child. What is right for one child is not necessarily going to be right for another. But in school, you can't choose different curriculums to match the needs of the each child.

And that is why I homeschool.

As a homeschool parent, I can see immediately if an approach is working for my child and if not, I can look for another one. I can also see if there are any weaknesses and address those. So I don’t have to choose between teaching traditional algorithms and letting my child reason a problem out.

Learning does not have to be an either/or thing. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to learn. Homeschooling gives me the flexibility to find the "right for my child" approach.

Stephanie is constantly trying to find that elusive state of balance in her life while enjoying her two energetic yet vastly different boys. You can read about their ongoing exploits on her blog, Throwing Marshmallows.

Comments

[lori]

Beautifully said. When I watched the video, I thought that the "older" algorithms produced faster results, but that some of the "newer" ones, although longer/slower, seemed to enable a better conceptual understanding of what was going on mathematically. As someone who had a harder and harder time with math as it got progressively more abstract, I can say that I would have benefited from the "newer" methods. It might have been worthwhile for me to learn the "newer" ways first and then learn the older, shorter ways.

[loribird]

How interesting. I always had trouble with math as a kid, but had wonderful teachers (at a very small private school - bless my parents for scrounging to give me a good education!) who encouraged me to "figure it out your own way." They were able to work with me during and after classes to make sure the concept was being grasped; so long as I was coming up with the correct answers, the process getting there was okay. It was in a college calculus course, during a "review" section, that the "right" way to work out the problems finally clicked - I was so excited to see them BOTH ways that I laughed out loud - the professer was amazed that I'd been getting good marks without "understanding..."

[Jan]

I was taught these alternative algorithms back at UF when I was studying to be a teacher. I did use a few when the traditional algorithms didn't work for individual students. All children are DIFFERENT and the meteorologist seems to have lost site of that.

[Dana]

OK, I've seen it circulating, but haven't actually watched it. There is a lot of "bad" methodology in public schools, but a lot of it has to do with parents not understanding what is going on and oftentimes with teachers and districts latching on to a single aspect of a single approach.

For example, as much as "whole language" attracts the derision of many, it isn't all that it became in the schools. It is how I teach literacy, and how most people probably do. Now it tends to be called "balanced approach." You can't have a good reading program without teaching students phonics, and whole language as it was taught to me in teacher training has a good foundation in phonics. But it deals with the other aspects of reading as well.

I'm taking a guess that some of these math programs are similar. You cannot learn math if you do not understand basic computation. But basic computation isn't all there is to it. You need both.