Why Johnny Can’t Subtract « PWC Education Reform Blog:
by pwceducationreform
School Board Report for January 16, 2013 The meeting began at 7:08 PM. All members were present. Editor’s note – the was live blogged on our facebook page (here) Consent Agenda The Consent Agenda only had one item on it, approving the minutes from the January 2, 2013 meeting. It was approved with a unanimous [...]
by pwceducationreform
Many parents and teachers have complained to me that their children can’t subtract. While most of us managed to get through grade school generally getting subtraction, the whole concept seems to be beyond our children’s abilities.
In the past I’ve blamed Math Investigations and it’s approach to teaching subtraction. But those complaints have continued this year, even with our new instructional resource. In fact, the complaints have gotten louder, with many parents upset that Connects moves through material quickly and doesn’t give kids the time to understand and learn procedures.
This pace, which is leading to frustration and a profound lack of understanding, is intentional. Not because of Connects, but the PWCS Math Department.
When the Math Wars erupted in Prince William County one issue stood out in the fray – the issue of the Standard Algorithms, which representatives of the PWCS Math Department and the creators of Math Investigations persistently and incorrectly call the US or American Algorithms. The Standard Algorithms for Addition and Subtraction are the procedures we all remember from grade school where you stack the numbers by place and then add or subtract by place, carrying or borrowing from other
