Sunday, November 7, 2010

Decelerated Math

Faithful readers of StopHomework will remember that accelerated math was a big factor in our decision to take our older daughter out of public school.  Now there's word that Montgomery County, Maryland has come to the conclusion that they've been pushing accelerated math too hard.  Good.

I hope this is the beginning of much-needed change in our affluent school districts, including the one I live in.  In my experience these districts are all about achievement at the expense of learning, and at the expense of our children's health.  The result is kids with killer college applications who wind up needing remedial classes in their elite college, or have a nervous breakdown in their first semester.

It is astonishing how much schoolwork a child can do, and how many honors she can rack up, without actually learning anything.

11 comments:

  1. FedUpMom, I had never read that particular post of yours on Stop Homework until now. I'm just amazed that any educator would think that using letter grades in fifth grade is a good idea, or that giving a big red "F" to a ten-year-old is anything other than abusive. Seriously, what next?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chris, that teacher is a piece of work. But he gets the bright kids! And parents make excuses for him, like "he really gets the kids ready for 6th grade." Terrific, start abusing the kids in 5th grade so they'll be completely numb by 6th grade.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FedUpMom, I just read your post at StopHomework, too. That math teacher sounds like yet another "educator" who seems to know very little about kids. My town is trying to "accelerate" everything, too, and I'm fighting it every step of the way. Maybe I'll forward the Montgomery County stuff to our Superintendent. I have to say that I enjoy the look of panic that I see in his eyes when he sees me coming now. And my daughter's just in first grade! I love how the parents say the 5th grade teacher gets the kids "ready for 6th grade." Uggh! Thanks for fighting the good fight with us, FedUpMom!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Kim! I've got a new post where I'm collecting resources about the problems with accelerated math. I hope that will be helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete