I'm green with envy ...

[GreyGeek]

I taught math (and other classes) from the 9th grade to College for 18 years.

At the 9th grade level, in 1978, I used an Apple computer to raise the math ability of some kids who were placed in the "Educable" track, meaning they were "dumb". The program I wrote gave them 75 math problems a session, beginning with addition and subtraction through a 12X12 multiplication and division grid. Only they and I knew how well they were doing. By the time the semester was over those kids were computing amortization tables on 5 year car loans and 30 year house loans, something the Pre-calc class couldn't do.

Now, kids have the Kahn Academy. Even better is the software Kahn has developed for teachers to use to manage the education the kids can obtain from his site.
http://www.youtube.com/v/hw5k98GV7po&rel=0&hl=en_US

I really like the way the Kahn videos "flip" the teaching paradigm to one where the kid watches the videos (over and over if necessary) and then does the practice problems given on the site. The teach tutors the kid to help him overcome the hard spots. No time is wasted trying to keep the kids lock-stepped at the same level by listening to the same teach lecture and doing the same problems at the same pace.

With this kind of instructional power I see no reason why the average kid couldn't master calculus and DiffEq by the end of their 9th grade, and certainly by the end of their senior year.

[SteveRiley]

Re: I'm green with envy ...

Educational practices seem stuck in "memorization" mindsets.

Earlier today I had to sit for a networking certification exam. 67 questions in 180 minutes. Of those, 57 were multiple choice. Most correct answers required that you recall from memory a particular item on a particular menu or a long command line with several arguments. 9 questions required you to select procedures from a list and order them correctly; 1 question was a simulation. I passed the test; I know I got the simulation and ordered list questions correct and I liked them because they test practical knowledge. The others felt like a waste of time and reminded me how much different the real world is. Here, outside the rarefied halls of academia, no one memorizes the eighth choice in the fourth menu of the second item; instead, we rely on surrounding visible context and that great (small-o) oracle of all: Google.

[oshunluvr]

Re: I'm green with envy ...

I'm going to check this out. My eight year old (3rd grade) is in a charter school and they're teaching math in a non-standard way. They're actually trying to teach them how number theory works now rather than dumping them into multiplication tables! Crazy huh?

My wife is nervous because the method sort of ensures that the kids fail the "standard" tests. at this grade level. When I explain to her my theory that our primary education system was design to get workers off the farms and into factories during the industral revolution, she calms down a bit - just a bit . It helps too that the teachers assure us she'll be years ahead of her peers by high school.

[GreyGeek]

Re: I'm green with envy ...

I'm going to check this out. My eight year old (3rd grade) is in a charter school and they're teaching math in a non-standard way. They're actually trying to teach them how number theory works now rather than dumping them into multiplication tables! Crazy huh?

Crazy doesn't even begin to describe it. I've seen that trash in action and I've seen the results. You end up with kids who can't even count change at the cash register.

My wife is nervous because the method sort of ensures that the kids fail the "standard" tests. at this grade level. .....

When you sign up she'll be able to use the apps shown in the video link I posted to keep track of your child's progress. Your child will LOVE it. The practice session programs will insure that she knows her stuff. Quite bluntly, if your child does not know by heart (and only rote will get you there), instantly, the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division tables, 12X12, they won't be able to do anything else because simple facts like 7X8 will stop them dead in their tracks. That's how those kids I taught in the 9th grade got into remedial math in the first place. But, with proper practice they learned and gained confidence. Then, when they did word problems, or such, they could concentrate on the specifics of the problem and not become befuddled because their first attempts failed simply because they didn't know the correct answer to some simple multiplication or division problem. The only kids who do not need to practice the math tables are those with photographic memories.

The Kahn Academy will do for your child what the school won't...