Math homework with your kids, might be a learning experience for the parents as well.
Students in Anglophone East are learning what they call, “New Math”.
Mike Ivey is a Math Teacher at Queen Elizabeth School…who also spent time working as a Numeracy Specialist with the District. He says the first step for parents is to understand why they are doing it this way, “We never asked the why, it just never came about. What happened was, we recognize that when students were graduating from our District, the feedback we were getting is that students can’t think on their own. They can’t problem solve. They can follow instruction, they follow direction well, but problem solving was a big issue, so we had to stop and rethink our teaching methods.”
Ivey says in the past, we were taught memorization and procedure. We were taught all of the steps, but we never really questioned why it was being done that way.
He notes, “We want students to struggle. I know that sounds cruel, but we want them to think on their own and solve on their own and not always be concerned with getting the right answer. Yes, the right answer is important, but the process is far more important.”
