Math question

[tooge]

Ok, so my 10 year old daughter comes home last night and asks me to help her with her "base 10 blocks" for proofing long division. Huh? so, anyhow, I look it up on line and after being utterly confused, I find a few youtube videos about it, and now I get it. What I don't get, is why these little hieroglyphic looking pictures are used to "proof" something that is super simple. My daughter has no trouble with the long division at all, it's only the "simplified" drawings that are confusing to her. Did any of you use this to learn division?

[J Diddy]

Nope. I just learned it. I remember telling my son's teacher that I didn't get it and wasn't even remotely going to try and learn it.

[Katipan]

Learned it in Iowa, and it makes math sad.
We homeschool in Colorado so we ditched it.

[Kman34]

Calculator.....Done

[NewChief]

This may or may not apply to Base 10 Blocks, but this article explains a lot of the issues people have with the CC math.

http://www.vox.com/2014/4/20/5625086...ated-heres-why

I'm not going to paste it all in because there are a bunch of embedded images and infographs that are necessary to really understand it.

Here's the gist, though:

This math is frustrating to parents and to some students — with good reason. Elementary school math has become more complicated since the introduction of the Common Core state standards, which require that elementary school kids not just know how to subtract, multiply and divide, but understand what they're doing and why.

Common Core still requires students to learn and understand the standard algorithm, the techniques for adding, multiplying, and dividing that generations of schoolkids have learned. (Erickson says the standard algorithm is derogatorily called the "granny method," but if so, that term is not widely used in math education or textbooks.) But it also requires them to understand other methods, and those methods can make easy math look more difficult.

How Common Core math is different

Arithmetic has usually been taught like it's a recipe: Take the raw ingredients (the numbers), follow a series of steps, and end up with a result (the answer). While an experienced baker knows why you cream butter and sugar before adding eggs, then add flour last, a beginner just following the steps is in the dark. They might know what to do, but they can't explain why.

In the past, "students had this sense that math was some kind of magical black box," says Dan Meyer, a former high school math teacher studying math education at Stanford University. "That wasn't good enough."

One goal of the Common Core math standards is to make American students better at applying math in real life — a skill that's crucial for science and technology jobs, but one at which American students are particularly weak compared with peers around the world.

The theory is that if students understand why they do math the way they do, they'll be able to apply their skills more flexibly.

[Katipan]

Are other countries practicing this method?

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Katipan

Are other countries practicing this method?

Yes. Other countries who kick our asses in mathematics. One popular math curriculum is actually called "Singapore Math."

The entire article really is worth a read.

[Katipan]

Originally Posted by NewChief

Yes. Other countries who kick our asses in mathematics. One popular math curriculum is actually called "Singapore Math."

The entire article really is worth a read.

Sigh, always with the homework.
KIDDING.
On my way.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by NewChief

This may or may not apply to Base 10 Blocks, but this article explains a lot of the issues people have with the CC math.

http://www.vox.com/2014/4/20/5625086...ated-heres-why

I'm not going to paste it all in because there are a bunch of embedded images and infographs that are necessary to really understand it.

Here's the gist, though:

I can see that point, only for understanding the underlying concepts—not for real world use. So I like what the "Frustrated Parent" with a BS degree in Electronic Engineering wrote: " In the real world, simplification is valued over complication."

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

I can see that point, only for understanding the underlying concepts—not for real world use. So I like what the "Frustrated Parent" with a BS degree in Electronic Engineering wrote: " In the real world, simplification is valued over complication."

That article does a really nice job of showing how we actually, in the real world, do a lot of these tricks anyway. We break complex math problems down into a series of simpler math problems (think of how we figure 15% tips in our heads).

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by NewChief

That article does a really nice job of showing how we actually, in the real world, do a lot of these tricks anyway. We break complex math problems down into a series of simpler math problems (think of how we figure 15% tips in our heads).

I was just going to post the same comment. I was surprised to find that I used some of the same techniques all the time when doing math in my head.

However, in this example

Cell phones with built-in calculators have made it easy to get the tip ($3.70). But many adults still do it in their heads: Move the decimal point over. OK, that's 10 percent, or $1.85. Now you need to double it. But multiplying a three-digit decimal still isn't easy. So you think about it this way: $1.85 can be broken down into $1.50 plus 35 cents. $1.50 times 2 is $3, and 35 cents times 2 is 70 cents. Tip $3.70.

I probably would have done "10% of 18.50 is $1.85, or almost $2. 2 x $2 is $4, then subtract out the difference (2 x $.15) for $3.70." Pretty much the same idea.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by NewChief

That article does a really nice job of showing how we actually, in the real world, do a lot of these tricks anyway. We break complex math problems down into a series of simpler math problems (think of how we figure 15% tips in our heads).

I know what you mean. I do that myself. But that's simple mental math. A tip is simple enough. I would think some problems are too complex for that approach like in engineering. Are engineers going to figure all their math out in their heads, especially like that? Like I said, it's fine for some things.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

I know what you mean. I do that myself. But that's simple mental math. A tip is simple enough. I would think some problems are too complex for that approach like in engineering. Are engineers going to figure all their math out in their heads, especially like that? Like I said, it's fine for some things.

I would be more upset about this if they weren't teaching the standard algorithms along with the CC stuff. It is simply to teach the concepts behind the standard way. I think that is pretty important.

[Katipan]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

I can see that point, only for understanding the underlying concepts—not for real world use. So I like what the "Frustrated Parent" with a BS degree in Electronic Engineering wrote: " In the real world, simplification is valued over complication."

HEY! What she said!

[Amnorix]

Bottom line is we SUCK at math. No, seriously, Americans across the board are getting thier asses absolutely handed to them in the math and sciences by, especially, certain Asian countries (India and Japan, to name two). Have been for many, many years. We import a huge number of foreigners to help support our scientific efforts here in the US, or export the work to those countries.

We need to get better, and there are a number of different ways we're doing that. To us old folks, some of it makes no sense (I'm in that category), but they're trying to teach it in different ways so kids can do better at it, especially in the long run.