It's now boiled down to "use a calculator or do it a lazy way."
I caught a news blurb on television and meant to share it with you all here. The way that mathematics is being taught in American elementary schools has drastically changed. We were all probably taught the foundations of arithmetic in similar ways, but I saw a method of solving a double-digit multiplication problem I didnt recognize, and wanted to know more. I found this youtube video.
In it, you'll get to see the methods in the text books that school districts are using to teach basic arithmetic. The lady makes a pretty good argument why this is a bad idea.
But mostly, I'm stunned at what the textbooks lead teachers to spend class time on, and how at the end of the video, parents are encouraged to import textbooks used in another country and work through that if their child is struggling. Im concerned. There should be no need to outsource basic math education.
What do you think this all means? Assuaging my worries is also appreciated.
