By Marielle Combier-Kapel
Submitted to The New York Sun
Edited version was published August 29, 2002
Parents are making tutors crazy calling them all the time because TERC math ("On Way Out, Community Board Assails 'Fuzzy Math'," August 26, 2002). I a going into 5th grade at PS 6 in District 2 and kids don't have time to do anything anymore because all they do after school is get tutored in math. Citywide math scores are failing but Board of Education officials say that the District 2 math scores on the standardized tests are high and that means that the TERC math curriculum is a good thing. But parents are spending money on tutors.
TERC math shouldn't be the only thing taught. Just because some students aren't that smart, the schools are sending out flyers to parents saying that they should not teach their kids long division: "When your child brings home problems, encourage your child to explain his or her strategies to you. Ask questions, such as 'How did you figure that out?' and 'Tell me your thinking about this problem,' but don't provide answers or methods. Show that you are interested in how your child is thinking and reasoning about these problems. "Please don't teach your child step-by-step procedures for computing multiplication and division. Too often we find that children at this age memorize the multiplication and division procedures but cannot recognize situations in which multiplication and division are useful. We will gradually support students this year in developing several strategies fro carrying out multiplication and division problems, but we would prefer they not memorize procedures at this time."
One of my sister's teachers at Stuyvesant told my mom that the Stuyvesant math at the freshman level may have to be made easier, as kids from District 2 who are getting in are having trouble. Middle school teachers are surprised that kids in 7th grade from District 2 schools can't do long division.
Is it fair that I may be unable to compete for college places because my math teachers are not teaching what I should know?
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