Desperately want to get rid of Everyday Math! - Reader comments at The New York Sun

Recent Blog Posts

Reader comment on:
Texas Challenges City on Math Curriculum

Submitted by Mary F., Nov 30, 2007 11:38

Everyday Math is a terrible math program for elementary students! If you school wants to adopt it, speak up!

We've been using it for 2 years and I'm ready to pull my kids out of school over it! I'm an engineer with enough math education to know that the process they're using only serves to confuse the child even more! I have two children, one that is a math whiz and would pick up on math no matter how it is taught. She's doing fine, but because they teach 3 different methods to add, subtract, multiply and divide, it's getting her confused. Their new algorithms take longer to do than the standard algorithms and are more confusing. (Especially the lattice method for multiplication.)

The program does not believe in doing "repetitive and boring" practice problems for the math facts and so yes, the kids are not very confident in their math facts! Duh! This program is ALL about "Critical Thinking". Well at this age, they are concrete thinkers and it's harder for them to see the math in the 'big picture'. Not that they should never do problems that ask them to reason, but NOT at the expense of the basics! They spiral the math so that they never spend a long enough time on one topic to ever master it! They are trying to do fraction problems without having mastered division.

RUN far away from this program!

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.

Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
I am a member of our local school board and after adoption Everyday Math our scores plummeted from many years... [MORE]	Ira Schoppa	Jan 21, 2008 15:06
As a parent of a freshman in high school now I have to respond to this article. If you want... [MORE]	CF	Jan 9, 2008 06:55
Dallas ISD stands alone in their success in improving math test scores when compared to other large school districts in... [MORE]	Jesse Arnett	Dec 5, 2007 12:41
The real truth behind DISD is that it's one of the worst districts in the state, and a set of... [MORE]	JG	Dec 19, 2007 03:24
JG'a response is typical when a disgruntled parent is faced with the facts of success. They always resort to name-calling... [MORE]	Jesse Arnett	Jan 14, 2008 19:10
To previous poster Jesse Arnett In regard to your association with Everyday Math It appears that one Melissa Arnett is a TX... [MORE]	Elizabeth Carson	Jan 24, 2008 13:11
Everyday Mathematics is published by McGraw Hill, the same idiots profiteering from NCLB. These big Bush supporters are making millions... [MORE]	Richard Skibins	Nov 30, 2007 22:09
Everyday Math is a terrible math program for elementary students! If you school wants to adopt it, speak up! We've been...	Mary F.	Nov 30, 2007 11:38
The secret but poowerful Fabian socialist movement in academia has just one purpose,and that is to convert us to socialism.... [MORE]	Alex Stuart	Nov 30, 2007 10:52
It has been in use for 7 years in the Wauwatosa School District. It was adopted without a track record.... [MORE]	I Potkonjak	Nov 28, 2007 17:13
California has recently conducted a mathematics textbook adoption review. In order to be approved, a mathematics program must be judged... [MORE]	M. Jekabson	Nov 25, 2007 23:44
District 2 uses TERC, which isn't that much better. [MORE]	Ari	Nov 21, 2007 01:30
I am a huge advocate of the EDM Program. Having taught elementary math for 10 years prior to the purchase... [MORE]	Linda Black	May 8, 2008 11:21
"Not all New York City elementary schools follow the curriculum; some — including many schools in District 2 — have... [MORE]	Mel	Nov 20, 2007 10:06
My daughter is in the 2nd grade in Houston ISD. Early this year we noticed an incomprehensible series of worksheets... [MORE]	JG	Dec 19, 2007 03:32
Whie you are checking out "private" schools in Houston, take a look at River Oaks Baptist School. I was on... [MORE]	Jesse Arnett	Jan 14, 2008 18:58
As far as disgrunted parents versus instructors and PhD's who "developed" the program, might I add that you may want... [MORE]	Susan	Mar 21, 2008 17:17

Reader comment on:Texas Challenges City on Math Curriculum

Other reader comments on this article

Comment on Texas Challenges City on Math Curriculum

Reader comment on:
Texas Challenges City on Math Curriculum