8th grade math homework

[Bailey Guns]

If that was written in English I might be able to understand it.

[BigBear]

HA! I AM a teacher and I have kids in class try to get me to help out.... Sometimes I have NO clue what they are talking about... I just reply, "I'm a musician, I just count to four" or "stop looking for the x (ex), they are not coming back"... HA

[Erni]

It's not you, it is the books. The books are are beyond awful, almost criminal. Not sure if it is due to common crap (core) or some other factor. I spend more time trying to figure out what rhe book is asking then solving the problems. Then there is the touchy feely questions, and the squish we want to make the child think crap that has no real answeres. Those are not checked so I just tell my kids to maake crap up, and they get full credit.
No wonder so few kids get adequate at math.

[ray1970]

Some of the new math they are teaching these days is plain stupid.

I saw simple problems that could be solved in five seconds with about three simple steps but the way it was being taught to my kids the problem would take fifteen minutes, have about thirty steps, take up half a page, and still end up with the same answer.

I just didn't understand the logic behind taking a simple task and teaching someone a long, difficult, time consuming way of doing it. Must have been trying to prepare my kid for some kind of government job I guess.

[smchop]

Some of the new math they are teaching these days is plain stupid.

I saw simple problems that could be solved in five seconds with about three simple steps but the way it was being taught to my kids the problem would take fifteen minutes, have about thirty steps, take up half a page, and still end up with the same answer.

I just didn't understand the logic behind taking a simple task and teaching someone a long, difficult, time consuming way of doing it. Must have been trying to prepare my kid for some kind of government job I guess.

This right here! It's the way THEY WANT to teach them that makes it so difficult, and I agree sometimes the questions they ask are so vague that they are harder to figure out than the answer is. It's not even about math anymore. My kids have trouble trying to figure out what they are asking for most the time, once they know that they can almost do the math by themselves. And they are only in third and fifth grade!

[Erni]

And to boot the new math insists on letting the kids "learn organically" or whatever the latest buz word is. Memeorizing addition and multiplication of the basics is not taught leading to prolonged math work where the kid tries to figure out what 5 plus 7 is for the umpteenth time, instead of building on that principle.

And then eveeyone wonders why the ruskies and comies are better at math than us.

[TEAMRICO]

I tell my son to ask his teacher when was the last time they used this math at the grocery store or while balancing thier checkbook.

[BigBear]

The biggest problem with all these "new ways" of teaching 1+1 is that the powers that be (that we VOTE for school boards, etc) are trying to get the kids to think "how/why" instead of rote memorization.... I can preach on the pros/cons of both ways, but I do see the "dumb-ing down" IS a very real problem.

and that is a Doctoral Thesis in one sentence....