Friday, November 14, 2014
Newer New Math | RealClearPolitics
Here's what parents are up against...
At RealClearPolitics.com, Erick Erickson provides this in an article I think you should read:
"Her assignment involved one of several methods of subtraction she must learn. The way most people learn to subtract -- carrying numbers and borrowing -- is derisively called the 'Granny Method' and is discouraged. The task at hand the other night involved subtracting using the 'Counting-Up Subtraction Method.'
This method of subtracting actually uses addition. For example, like the example given in the book, subtracting 38 from 325 can be derived by counting up. Raise 38 to 40, by going up 2. Raise 40 to 100 by going up 60. Raise 100 to 300 by going up 200. Raise 300 to 325 by going up 25. Then add the jumps together so that 2 + 60 + 200 + 25 = 287. That would be the answer.
There is only one page in the textbook that explains the 'Counting-Up Subtraction Method,' and that is the only example given. Again, this is third grade."
