On Fuzzy Math and Dumbed-Down Schools

I read Michelle Malkin's post on fuzzy math, then scrolled through the many interesting comments which followed. As I read most of the comments I was nodding my head in recognition and agreement. When our children were in our local elementary school we had many of the same types of experiences.

Our school had the incredibly dumbed-down "Mathland" program. We protested but were, in essence, patted on the head and told we just didn't understand how to effectively teach math. By the time our oldest left the school, the district jettisoned Mathland due to tanking test scores and got a curriculum which was more rigorous...only then they went the other direction and started pushing academic math concepts way before some of the kids were developmentally ready for them, such as multiplication in 2nd grade. No such thing as a happy medium!

The teachers also emphasized to parents at one point how important it was for our children to learn together as teams, because that was "the workplace of tomorrow." If one child let the team down, they all suffered the same poor grade. We asked "What about developing independent thinkers who will be the leaders of tomorrow?" and were met with blank stares.

I could go on and on, but if this topic interests you it suffices simply to read the comments at Michelle's site. They cover a wide variety of the goofy things that go on in our public schools.