Another response on Every Day Math

Dear Steve,I would like to voice some concerns that we have about Everyday Math.Please share these with the rest of the school board.

1. TOO MUCH, TOO FAST. There are some good concepts in Everyday Math, but they are presented in a *chaotic way. And that is part of the underlying philosophy, so it isn't going away. The philosophy is to throw a lot of concepts at the children and then try to tie them all together in the end.I disagree with the philosophy. In fact we have been told "don't worry if your children are getting confused along the way and if it seems they are not mastering the concepts. It will all come together in the end". That remains to be seen. Many of us are sending our children to places like Kumon where one concept is mastered before moving to the next. We can see that working.

2. TOO SCRIPTED, TOO AUTHORITARIAN. Everyday Math is a cookbook approach.Every teacher has the same cookbook, every teacher must follow the same recipes. Or else! Teachers are afraid that if they deviate from the "Book"they could get into trouble with the School Board. I have heard teachers express this fear. Even if their Principal tells them they have some leeway and to do what is right in their own class for their own students, they are afraid of going against the Board. This is not a recipe for good education.

3. TWO PLUS TWO. Everyday Math prohibits memorizing the math facts in class. In fact, at the meeting we had at Hoover Elementary in September to quell parents' concerns over Everyday Math, a representative from the School Board answered the question "Will individual teachers be allowed to cover memorization of math facts in class?", by saying "No. But parents are welcome to do that at home." Children need to be taught the math facts at school AND at home. And teachers should be allowed the freedom to teach them in class without fear of retribution from the School Board. This makes a great case for home schooling.

Here is a suggestion from a parent: There is some good and some bad in Everyday Math. Now that we know what it is about, let's stop paying for it,use the good, throw out the bad, and allow teachers some leeway in determining how best to teach their children. Now there is a plan we could all live with!

* In FIRST GRADE the children have covered money, temperature, grids,number lines, graphs, word problems (that the children can't read),fractions, addition, and subtraction. They solve the addition and subtraction problems by using a chart since they don't know the addition and subtraction facts.