Fifty Years of Math 1959 - 2009 (in the USA)

HRCNICK11 · 04-01-2009, 10:11 AM

As the parent of 2 boys in 8th and 9th grades I can tell you I had to help with math in the last few years and they way they teach math now is scary.

My son tried to explain how they make them multiply and divide numbers with several digits these days and I did not understand and I am great at math. I thought my wifes head was going to explode when she tried to help them and she is a engineer for god sakes. They call it "new math" no its the same old math they just screwed up the mind doing it.

My son was haing trouble with times tables and I showed him that he could break up the number to make it easier and he told me "you can't use addition to figure out a multiplication problem". I had to draw pictures to show him how in the end its really the same. His grades in math went from C's to A's in a week it was like flipping a light switch. It was some thing simple like he was having trouble with 5x20 and I showed him that is just twice as much as 5x10 an answer he knew.

04-01-2009, 10:11 AM	#7
HRCNICK11 Canyon Carver Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 429	As the parent of 2 boys in 8th and 9th grades I can tell you I had to help with math in the last few years and they way they teach math now is scary. My son tried to explain how they make them multiply and divide numbers with several digits these days and I did not understand and I am great at math. I thought my wifes head was going to explode when she tried to help them and she is a engineer for god sakes. They call it "new math" no its the same old math they just screwed up the mind doing it. My son was haing trouble with times tables and I showed him that he could break up the number to make it easier and he told me "you can't use addition to figure out a multiplication problem". I had to draw pictures to show him how in the end its really the same. His grades in math went from C's to A's in a week it was like flipping a light switch. It was some thing simple like he was having trouble with 5x20 and I showed him that is just twice as much as 5x10 an answer he knew.