Not to derail, but why the heavy push for memorizing multiplication tables?
I’m a college math professor. I have STEM students who have to get out a calculator every time to multiply basic numbers and do perfect squares. While they can use tools, knowing basic addition and multiplication facts aids in doing higher level algebra as it becomes more rote and quicker. Multiplication plays a huge role in factoring which plays a huge role in calculus (using this week’s lessons as an example). Without that foundation of multiplication tables, my calculus students will spend excess time on a problem and not get to the higher order skills.
Yes! Even long division is much harder if they have to keep trying to work out how many times 3 goes into 9. Early math is a building block.
Sounds normal to me. If she hasn't memorized the times tables, make sure that happens no matter what the school does.
Not to derail, but why the heavy push for memorizing multiplication tables?
They need it for math in 4th and 5th grade. Some kids don’t still have it in 5th grade, but it makes math including how they teach long division and multiple digit multiplication much much harder.
Not to derail, but why the heavy push for memorizing multiplication tables?
I’m a college math professor. I have STEM students who have to get out a calculator every time to multiply basic numbers and do perfect squares. While they can use tools, knowing basic addition and multiplication facts aids in doing higher level algebra as it becomes more rote and quicker. Multiplication plays a huge role in factoring which plays a huge role in calculus (using this week’s lessons as an example). Without that foundation of multiplication tables, my calculus students will spend excess time on a problem and not get to the higher order skills.
This definitely tracks. DD is in 6th and was learning square roots and perfect squares and she was never great at memorizing the multiplication tables. I could see it took her a little extra time doing the problems because she had to think about it more. That made me push for her to work on them more because I know it's just going to get more important.
Except during Covid, neither of my kids had homework in elementary school. I never had homework, either. It seems like busywork for a kid that age. Plus, there is so much inequity in how work can be handled at home: some kids have their own room and other quiet, peaceful places to study. But other kids don't; why should they be penalized, or miss out on learning that other kids get, for something they can't control?
Post by hbomdiggity on Oct 27, 2023 19:26:01 GMT -5
I’ve mostly blocked out 1st grade homework, but there was something nightly.
2nd grade was the weekly packet. Sent home Monday and returned following Monday, so you had the weekend if you needed, which my kid did because he has a lot of activities and got my procrastination gene. It was basically 1 sheet front and back a night.
3rd grade is back to nightly. It’s a math sheet and some form of spelling exercise a night. We are supposed to also be reading 20mins but we haven’t managed to fit that in yet.
In full disclosure, my kid goes to a catholic school - not public. I don’t think our public schools have any form of homework in elementary.
Not to derail, but why the heavy push for memorizing multiplication tables?
I’m a college math professor. I have STEM students who have to get out a calculator every time to multiply basic numbers and do perfect squares. While they can use tools, knowing basic addition and multiplication facts aids in doing higher level algebra as it becomes more rote and quicker. Multiplication plays a huge role in factoring which plays a huge role in calculus (using this week’s lessons as an example). Without that foundation of multiplication tables, my calculus students will spend excess time on a problem and not get to the higher order skills.
a genuine thank you for this thoughtful answer!
my oldest is 2nd grade but is doing a bit of multiplication and division. i actually think he'd like learning the tables.
i promise i wasn't challenging it. i just usually hear that learning concepts is more important than rote memorization, but i definitely understand it more now as a stepping stone. thanks again
I’m a college math professor. I have STEM students who have to get out a calculator every time to multiply basic numbers and do perfect squares. While they can use tools, knowing basic addition and multiplication facts aids in doing higher level algebra as it becomes more rote and quicker. Multiplication plays a huge role in factoring which plays a huge role in calculus (using this week’s lessons as an example). Without that foundation of multiplication tables, my calculus students will spend excess time on a problem and not get to the higher order skills.
a genuine thank you for this thoughtful answer!
my oldest is 2nd grade but is doing a bit of multiplication and division. i actually think he'd like learning the tables.
i promise i wasn't challenging it. i just usually hear that learning concepts is more important than rote memorization, but i definitely understand it more now as a stepping stone. thanks again
Yes, thanks for this explanation. DS's first grade teacher sent home some math to practice (the program they use is Spring Math if anyone's familiar) because she said he is taking a long time figuring it out (it seems like they time them for 2 minutes and they're supposed to be able to answer about 20 problems, and he's getting like 9 or 10). I was originally kind of like WTF why does it matter if hes fast, but your explanation helps that make sense to me.
Post by ellipses84 on Oct 30, 2023 13:53:08 GMT -5
My 2nd grader has been getting the most homework ever, even more than my 7th grader. He goes to a Spanish immersion school that switched from a 50-50 program to 90-10, which is 80% Spanish and 20% English in his grade and increases 10% English each year until it hits 50-50. They mostly send home English homework because I think the teacher is concerned they will fall behind in English reading/ writing with the new %s. It was honestly too much some weeks and the teacher said do as much as we can, it won’t impact their grade. It’s handed out on Tuesdays and due 1 week later. As a working parent I curse teachers and who don’t allow the weekend for weekly homework since we may be gone from home for 12 hours a day on some weekdays and I have told teachers in the past my kid will turn it in on Monday.
Homework each week is 20 minutes of English reading /comprehension, 20 minutes of Spanish reading / comprehension and 20 minutes of math, all on the digital school programs. Then he has some short books/ worksheet reading which sometimes relates to physical worksheets. There are usually 6-10 double sided English language arts worksheets (like spelling, grammar, writing) and 10 double sided timed math problem worksheets (which was a little unclear if we were supposed to do them all in a week or do a couple sheets per week).