New Math- I can’t figure out my 7 Year Old Eloise’s Math Homework

What kind of cockamamie math is this??????

15 thoughts on “New Math- I can’t figure out my 7 Year Old Eloise’s Math Homework

  1. Each dot represents one. Each stick represents ten. Each block represents one hundred 🙂 If you have ten dots, turn it into a stick. If you have ten sticks, turn it into a block. The answer for number 2 should be two sticks (representing 20).

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  2. As a teacher, I can tell you that kids take more easily to this than adults, who’ve learned their math differently. However, for many children, sometimes it’s good to learn regrouping the new way, & also the old way, too. In the long run, whatever works best for them, to find success & accomplishment with math, is the end goal.

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  3. As a teacher, I can say that, often, kids pick this up much more easily than adults who’ve learned math differently. However, it IS a ‘twist’ that is difficult for many. I believe kids should learn the new AND the old way, as a back-up. Many times they are more comforatble with one way than the other. End result should be that the child(ren) find success & are able to be confident with math. ‘New’ is not always best for all kids….. & their parents, as well.

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    1. Excellent point, Judy B. Everybody learns differently and it’s our job to figure out which learning style resonates with each child and use that. Being confident in your ability to learn depends on discovering your own learning style, which a good teacher can help you do. Keep up the good work, Judy B! (BTW: I was as confused as Joey was by that page and had no clue what to do with it. Numbers are far more intuitive to me than squares, dots, lines, etc. But that’s probably because I was good at the “old” math, which always just seemed intuitively obvious to me. ~ Peter)

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  4. We experienced a very similar freaky math teaching method when I entered 2nd grade (in Germany, 1973). Every poor kid received a box filled with sticks and cubes, each stick and cube represented a certain number, exactly what Brooke Gray explains above. The horror!!!! It a) made me suffer from a math phobia for life, because I also got slapped in the face by the teacher in front of the entire class for not understanding anything, and b) made my Grandma participate in a gazillion “tudoring” lessons, so she could at least help me somewhat. Idiotic!!!!!

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