Can one person really make something happen? Can two people? Annette (co-author of this blog) and I talked and wondered what can we really do, anyway? She thought we should at least try to do something.
I think I can help my own kids (ages 10, 8, 4 and baby on the way). I love being a mom and love teaching them (OK, I admit I secretly wish I was a homeschooler) and because of my son's speech & language delay I am a little more concerned with keeping my children's progress going....for both their strengths and their weaknesses.
I love math so how can I help but encourage a love of math, the learning of math in my children? I started supplementing my two oldest's math with Singapore Math workbooks pretty early. And when my daughter balked at the standard addition algorithm (you know, add the ones and carry into the 10s) I had to tell her that the school way was fine and she could do that at school, but I also wanted her to learn this way too.
My next door neighbor with older children had passed along her horror stories. My old roommate was involved in a group that was trying to take action in Washington (wheresthemath.com) . I was suddenly aware of stories of parents who didn't realize their was a problem until their child was in 6th grade and in tears, and the parent discovered long division and all the regular, efficient, quick method of math computation was never taught to their child.
I decided an ounce of prevention was the way to go. That has been my focus the past 2 or 3 years. It has included a year long stint with Kumon (private math program with a monthly fee) and now, for a change of pace in time for the baby, back to Singapore.
I've talked to my friends and family (many of whom live in other states) about the state of math in the US, and the circumstances of why Washington is worse off than some other states. Non-parents, or parents of young children didn't really get what I was saying. But parents of slightly older children would agree with me, or suddenly understand why their children's homework was so strange, or why their children's teacher wouldn't explain how to do a problem and tell them to ask their neighbor instead.
Despite my mild soapboxing, I knew there was nothing I could do. Too many factors were to blame. You can't blame the teachers, because it is the curriculum. And the curriculum was picked based on philosophy of the education community and the WASL math questions and very poor and vague Washington State Standards.
We are at a critical time. The State Standards are being re-written right now! The Edmonds School District is reviewing and choosing new curriculum right now! Maybe a change for the better can happen, and maybe there is something one parent, or many parents can do to tip the scales.
So, I'm going to go ahead and do a small part, and see what happens.
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2 comments:
I love singapore math. Its the curriculum I used when I homeschooled. I now give them to my six-year-old when she complains there's nothing to do and loves it.
I'm glad you guys are bringing everyones attention to this. The past couple of years have been very frustrating for my husband and I to reinforce math at home in particular our 4,5,6th graders. I hate the WASL and I don't know any grown up that could explain their reasoning for answering specific questions, much less a 3rd grader.
Thanks for visiting this blog. I think there are a lot of parents out there like us who are frustrated with the WASL math and how it has affected what our kids are taught in school.
I hope you can email your legislator in the next few days, because right now is when they are making changes to the state standards which means they will change the Math WASL by 2009 to meet the standards....and I hope it gets a major overhaul!
Julie
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