Mark
Posts:
4
Registered:
12/3/04
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Investigations: An Extremely Weak Math Program
Posted:
Aug 23, 2002 4:44 PM
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As a parent of a fifth grader, I feel compelled to include my
feelings/concerns regarding the Investigatons program. As a former
fifth grade teacher, I share the following concerns:
1. There is a definite lack of a home/school connection. So many
times, my son has brought homework home where it was nearly impossible
to give him help. A general lack of focus and instruction within the
homework is, I believe, to blame.
2. There are absolutely no previsions for students who may be absent
and miss instruction or group work. The program is like a freight
train and it just keeps on moving on. On a couple of occasions, this
presented an extremely difficult problem for my son.
3. There is a definete lack of on-going assessment with little or no
accountability as recommended by NCTM.
4. As I have studied the NCTM standards, these standards call for
students to become proficient in basic facts and algorithims. For
some, if not many students, this takes practice and memorization. I
am not, and never have been, a proponent of "drill and kill", but a
certain amount of practice IS ESSENTIAL!
5. Have we all forgotten that in California, the Department of
Education called for a special math adoption to rid the state of
constructivist math - ALL DUE TO FALLING TEST SCORES!
We now homeschool all of our three children. One of the contributing
factors to this was our districts decision to continue teaching math
using the constructivist model. What a pity!
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