DISCOVER
New Math vs.
Old School Parents Written by Katy Tierney
M
ost of us raising children right now grew up somewhere between the
late 70s and late 90s, when school was a place where we went to memorize lessons. You know, when hanging out with our friends in the hallway or at the high school football game was our main priority, cliques most definitely a thing and landlines were our main form of communication. Back then, the world just seemed a little smaller and a little safer. But just as the times have changed, so has learning and along
30 HENDERSON FAMILY
. February // March 2022
with that was a major shift in curriculum to the common core standards. A big part of the common core curriculum that I see posted about all the time on my friends’ social media pages is none other than “new” math. But if we take a second to really stop and think about it, new math is actually a really great concept and teaches our students a great deal about mathematical understanding. As a fourth grade teacher, I see my students apply the concepts they learn in math to other subjects like science, reading and in
everyday life. The point of the common core standards was to help students better understand the WHY. When you and I were in school, we memorized, memorized and then memorized just a little bit more. Multiplication facts, math algorithms, long division, and so on. But can you say that you truly understand what all those algorithms are for, how they are used and where else they can be applied? Probably not. I wouldn’t be able to if it weren’t for the fact that I teach it everyday. I’m going to break down
