I tend to agree. I think what is wrong is that the US compares their scores
against other countries and we are found lacking. However, other countries do
not follow the same educational process we do. They are testing their best and
brightest, we are testing ALL of them. No comparison, of course. Nevertheless,
the US if found lacking and the powers that be go into a panic and begin to
cram more and more math in younger and younger. Nevermind the basics, they
need algebra by 1st grade! If they would calm down and let these kids learn
the building blocks, the rest would be more doable for ALL of them. We are
leaving kids behind left and right! But not on paper, oh no, we are miracle
teachers, our students do not fail.

I have another theory, too. I think toys are becoming too electronic, too
non-thinking. Do toddlers still play with shape sorters where they hold the
figure in their hand or do they just click on the shape? Do they use building
blocks? Do kids still play Monopoly WITH MONEY? What kid couldn't make change
when they played Monopoly? So many games we played challenged us to think,
mathematically, logically. Concentration, a memory game with a picture behind
the tiles that was to be translated into words. That used several parts of the
brain all at the same time. Games like Jacks developed small motor and eye
hand coordination. Clue for "if then" reasoning, building models for scale
factor sense, Yahtzee for probability sense. I could go on forever. If you
have little ones, play games!

Another vent, electives. They are the first thing to go (when we pass kids who
"aren't left behind", we put them in Successmaker or some skill builder class
instead. They NEED art, music, technology, keyboarding, CAD. All of those tap
into parts of their brains that need exercise. They also give them other
skills, scale factor, fractions, completing projects, training the brain
through repetition. All important skills. High stakes testing is minimizing
electives, and the kids need them and they need to take them seriously.

OK one more. I believe that in ALL tested subjects (I'm in Texas) we have
fallen into a memorization of facts rather than learning. In History they are
given a list of 100 facts to learn at the beginning of the year. No cause and
effect, no true understanding of what and why, just memorize facts. I wrote
the number 1775 on the board in roman numerals and asked them what happened
that year. They told me NOTHING happened in 1775. I made a mistake, they said.
It was 1776 that something happened! Nothing? Maybe something, maybe a
revolutionary war? Yes I teach math, but I stopped right then and there and
made them THINK. They have to be able to THINK!

On 6/23/09, I may get flamed this but . . . wrote:
> I think a major problem with today's math -- we are pushing the
> skills/objectives lower and lower with greater frequency. Students are
> not being given the time to truly master the basics before new is added to
> this.
>
> My philosophy in math may be quite simplistic -- -- get those basics
> mastered, then branch out.
>
> By basics, I mean basic age-appropriate math facts; putting those basic
> math facts to use in computing greater, still age-appropriate, math
> problems; basic problem-solving strategies using the basic math facts and
> computation skills; and so forth.

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