"Less is More" can be Boring to Many

I came across an article highlighting efforts to teach math at an elementary school in rural Florida the other day. I agree whole-heartedly that students need to understand where and when numbers are coming from. I call it "building your math toolbox," and when the going gets tough in the math classroom, students can rely on those nuts and bolts lessons to kick start problem solving.

In the "Less is More" article they shared a day in a classroom where only four problems were covered.  On one, the teacher worked out a division problem that modeled 72 divided by 6 and proceeded to tally mark all 72 "somethings" into six circles.  This is necessary to demonstrated the operation of division, I've used the strategy myself (never with 72, however, as that would take FOREVER, she must love tally marks!) to distinguish two forms of division (when you know the groups but now how many is in the group or when you know how many are in the group but no idea how many groups there are). She is building number sense and experiences like this lead to numerical fluency in multiplication and division facts.

For the students who "get" division, though, that was probably the longest hour of their math lives.  Students with a rock solid math foundation would have picked up the process and procedure early on and were probably anxious to try their own. Only the class was stilllllll counting out 72 tally marks.  Maybe the class could have broke off into smaller problem solving groups or pairs for kids to try some on their own. That wasn't covered in the article, so it is unfair to say it didn't happen, but it does provide a snapshot of when your kid comes home and says they are bored in math class.

Enrichment in math is essential for kids who have the interest, requisite skills, and motivation to learn more.  Mathnasium is the perfect place for this as we build a customized learning plan around your student's abilities. Holes are filled initially (if there are any), but then introducing new concepts follows, and this sets your child up for success as their math options diversity after elementary school. Having a solid understanding of elementary leads to algebra-readiness.

Give a call to learn more and see how our Power Math Workouts will benefit your child long term.  858-312-8888.

The full article can be read:  http://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/why-less-more-rural-florida-school-preparing-common-core#.UwvdcFJLp4c.facebook

Sunglasses image retreived on 2/26/14 from: http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl.t10.4/search/images?fcoid=417&fcop=topnav&fpid=2&q=72+tally+marks&ql=