One very good reason why I like homeschooling so much better than sending my kids to public school:

Math.

Math is a huge reason that I prefer homeschooling over public school.

From the very early days, when my Kindergarten son would bring home random worksheets that didn't seem to be related to anything at all, and we were expected to do them for homework, I've been perplexed with what passes for math.

This article appeared in my Facebook feed this week, and led to some discussion of math instruction in various groups.

Why do Americans Stink at Math?

I thought this article was well written, and it emphasized the need for math teachers to receive better instruction in math itself, and in how to actually teach math.

One thing I did not entirely agree upon in the article is that the traditional way of teaching math has no value.

I do agree that the newer methods of teaching math can probably create a greater understanding of the concepts behind math problems, and that the variety of ways there are to solve problems can appeal to the variety of ways children learn.  What I disagree with is the emphasis on concepts over actual performance.  It's terrific if you understand that multiplication is basically skip counting to a certain number, but if you can't quickly round up and estimate the cost of 3 cans of beans at the grocery store by multiplying the price of one can, it doesn't matter if you understand the concept.

I even understand the theory behind teaching different methods.  Take multiplication again.  I see that using the lattice method or extending out each place value can really make clear to a kid what exactly is happening when you multiply large numbers together.  The problem with these methods, though, is that they are more complex, with more steps in which to make errors.  So, yes, demonstrate with these methods, but teach the traditional algorithm, too, so that the kid understands what they are doing, but can do it quickly.

Another problem, is that I'm not sure how the research was done to evaluate the age/grade level appropriateness of some of these concepts. It seems that kids are being asked to explain how they arrived at answers when they don't even have the language skills yet to do so.

Math at our house

Now, back to this past fall, when my kids were briefly re-enrolled in our local public schools.  Every night, there would be detached workbook pages in the homework folder.  Invariably, the kids would have no idea what they were supposed to be doing on the math homework.  I would ask, "Well, didn't you cover this in class? Isn't this just practicing something your teacher showed you?"  And, invariably, the responses would be, "I don't know." or "Maybe."or "I'm not sure."

My husband and I are well educated, literate, intelligent human beings.  I know that we've never been instructed in some of the new methods for solving math problems, but we never even got that far with the homework.  We couldn't even understand what half of the questions were asking.  The language and new math terminology were so convoluted that it took excess brain power to even figure out what  information was being requested by the questions.

So, being an old-fashioned kind of mom, I'd say, "Well where is your math book?  Don't you have a math book that explains what you're supposed to be doing?"  Again with the "I don't know.", "Maybe.", and "I'm not sure."  I'd get frustrated at this point and demand to know why my children didn't know whether or not they had math books.

So, I emailed the teachers.  Oh- there are math books.  They're online.  You can search for the tiny link on the teacher's website and voilà, the math book will be on your computer.  So, if you're a dinosaur like me, and you need to reference the math book, math homework can only be done in the location of the desktop computer.  I didn't have a laptop or tablet at that time.  I do have a tablet now, but I was just flabbergasted at the limitations that we encountered while trying to help our kids with math homework.  It wouldn't have been so bad if my kids had actually come home with an understanding of what they were supposed to be doing on this homework, but they didn't.  We, the parents, were left with the onus of trying to figure out how to help them.  And, we certainly weren't able to instruct them in these unfamiliar methods.

So, I'm glad to be back to homeschooling.  It's so much more convenient.  If we don't understand a math concept, we have many different ways of finding out what we need to learn.  We have internet, DVD, and actual books that we can take with us.  The curriculum I've chosen is self explanatory and logical and easily reviewed.  And the kids test well in math, so I'm not going to worry about trying to meet some new standards that I don't understand.  If my kids leave my house able to balance a checkbook, pay their bills, read their bank statements, estimate their expenses, and calculate percentages and understand compounding interest, I'll be happy.  If they can find the sine, cosine, and tangent of a right triangle, I'll be ecstatic.