I was pleased to see Jennifer Bardsley’s column about the common core math curriculum.
For several years I have been a volunteer algebra tutor in one of the local high schools. This school year I also volunteered to help 4th and 5th grade students with their math homework in one of the local elementary schools.
Very soon I noticed that many of the concepts that are now being taught in elementary school math with the common core curriculum are the same things that high-school algebra students struggle with. The elementary-school students are actually calculating answers using the concepts they are learning instead of regurgitating memorized answers.
I’m confident that when these elementary students are in high school they will understand and build on the concepts that they learned in elementary and middle school, and succeed much better at high-school math and beyond.
The only thing I disagree with is the headline to Ms. Bardsley’s article: Common core math is not simply different from the old math, it’s far superior to it.
Note that I’m not part of the education industry, so this is an objective view from an outsider.
Jerry Fraser
Lynnwood
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