That Confounding "New Math"

So Thursday night was Back to School Night. It pretty much went off without a hitch, until we got to the math part. My district participates in a curriculum called Everyday Math, which basically teaches kids to do math unlike the way any of us have learned. All problems are done from left to right, like reading, and there is no carrying. I'd give an example, but the alignment won't work right on Blogger. But from what I hear, it actually works. First graders are able to add things more quickly in their heads than an adult using a calculator.

Try telling this to an adult who is attempting to help his 8-year-old with his homework.

After we were finished our presentation and parents were either leaving or hanging around to chat, the father of one particularly mischief-making child approached me.

Dad: This makes no sense!! I knew the answer before she even started writing the second part! Me: I know, it seems weird, but eventually the kids are able to do it in their heads very quickly.
Dad: No! It is way more complicated! This is not the way the real world works! What’s going to happen when he gets into the real world and he is adding numbers like this?!
Me: Well, the thing is, he’ll be able to do it in his head, so—
Dad: (interrupting me) YOU KNOW IT’S MORE DIFFICULT!! YOU KNOW IT IS!!
Me: Well, I don’t really think it is, it’s just diff—
Dad: YOU KNOW IT IS!! THE REAL WORLD DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT!! (Storms out of the room.)

Hm. Okaaaayyyy… I can see why your son has anger issues.

But anyway, the thing is, I was just impressed that that kid’s parents came at all. Less than half of the parents came, and most of them were parents who you would expect anyway. And that was really the only incident. Had I been there alone, I’m not so sure how it would have gone. I was nervous, and still don’t know a lot about the goings on in the school, so I deferred to my coteacher a few times. And that was that. There were two sessions, but we only had parents during the first session, and then we went home.

And if there was ever a week when TGIF applied, it was this one.