I heard Mighton speak once, and was impressed with him. He has a n impressive intuitive understanding of learning and motivation.

A lot of the problem we see now is curricular in nature. The new elementary math curriculum does not require students to know the number facts, even addition and subtraction. Students can use calculators on all tests. Teachers cannot spend much instructional time on this “rote” learning even if we agree with the research showing it is essential.  The new math coaches in the schools make sure that teachers do not spend time on such “lover level thinking.”

Don’t know how you can change things. Parents need to teach their kids at home, if they can. Math skills however will be the new gate keeping the less fortunate out of well-paying occupations.

A good software program to teach math facts I have heard of but not tried is Quarter Mile Math. I can’t vouch for it but some parents have told me it is excellent.

I have borrowed the ideas of Mighton, and had them adapted along with other authors ideals in math. My child from the first go, had trouble in basic math. This was made much worse, by how it was instructed, and more so in areas where teachers demanded to follow a set of rules. Counting with your fingers was out, or figuring it out on another sheet, was out too. Today, she has a firm grasp in basic math facts, and automatic recall. When I see her slipping, out comes the work sheets for a week or so, doing simple addition or other simple facts. The funny thing, she can do a complex problem, without a calculator, but give her a problem such as 5 - 1, there is always a pause. The pause has shortened over the years, where we have seen steady progress, where practicing of the facts are still taking place, and hopefully into her adult years, in forms of math games. The irony, the kids who tease her about being really dumb in math, are the same kids who are well below my child’s grades. When my child come home and relates a story or two, where my typical response, would be, “You see, what did I tell you, learning your facts will pay off later on.” My child has an edge now, since the majority of kids in the classroom, do not have a firm foundation in basic math. What they can do well, is to explain how to arrive at an answer 5 different ways, but they cannot tell you the rule/law that governs the concept. Where my child will show you one method, and than the law that applies to it. The child who either got zero or half marks was my child, but since high school she is getting full marks, where the rules/laws of math are important to know, when doing algebra or geometry.

There is a huge disconnect between elementary school and high school in the teaching of math. In elementary they are more interested in a written explanation than in an actual mathematical explanation. One question that a local grade 5 class spent a day’s math period on was “What is your favourite number and why?” This will really help with algebra!

What baffles me is that the teachers see that the methods imposed on them are not working, so why don’t they speak up?  Relatively nothing from them.  What’s going on?

Teachers for the most part cannot speak up for their students. Between union, school boards and the education ministries, whose agendas often run counter from the teacher in the classroom. In my province, I have seen teachers suspended for talking in public about school issues. As a result, teachers find it easier to follow the mandates of those that are above them, rather than telling them these methods do not work.