- LATE BREAKING - parents like you have made a difference - after a 14 month
hiatus real math is trickling back into our classrooms. It's Christmas in February as it becomes crystal clear - even
to PWCS - that MI doesn't deliver - you too may now be seeing real math worksheets that don't require the drawing of squirrels
and "describing a button!" Keep the heat on the county - demand your children's rights to a "real math" education in
PWCS!
- Buy flash cards and drill your children on basic age and grade appropriate math facts. Just as children memorize
the alphabet they need to commit basic math facts to automatic knowledge. Make it fun, challenge your kids with rewards
for correct answers - speed is not critical; you want them to learn the basics without added pressure of time constraints.
- Teach your children the standard algorithms for addition and subtraction by "stacking" numbers and carrying and borrowing
-- the rest of the world uses these most efficient and simple of algorithms; don't buy the PWCS "deeper, conceptual" convoluted
algorithm theories.
- Teach your children (Grade 3) multiplication tables and simple "long" division. Long division is not taught in Investigations...even
by 5th grade! It is essential for progression to higher mathematics.
- Purchase some standard traditional mathematics workbooks and drill the basics. Walmart, K-Mart, school supply stores
all stock these.
- Consider an after school tutoring program to ensure your child doesn't get left behind by PWCS.
- Practice, practice, practice - "Investigations" does not provide your children with enough practice in basic computational
skills for them to master arithmetic; you will have to make this up at home. 10 problems or so 4-5 days a week will
do the trick; once they are proficient they will own the concepts - and have no need for "Investigations" complex strategery...
- Teach your children what an "algorithm" is. An algorithm is a systematic method of solving a certain kind of problem.
Your children must painstakingly explain their work in sentences in "Investigations." Teach them to use standard math
algorithms and to write, "Because I used an algorithm,"
as their explanation.
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