Math Night for parents
Martina Leimgardt always thought she was good at math. That is, until a few years ago when she started helping her son do his homework.
“When he was in Grade 6, I was trying to help him with his math homework,” said Martina, of her son James Watt, who is now in Grade 10 at Stayner Collegiate Institute. (Her children Janneke and Xander Watt are in Grade 7 at Nottawasaga and Creemore Public School.) “I showed him how to do division on paper and he said, ‘Mom, that’s not how we do it!’ I was surprised because I had always been good in math at school.”
Martina is not alone. There is indeed a difference in the way math is now taught than when today’s parents were students themselves. To help parents understand the “new math,” which came into the classroom about 20 years ago, NCPS will host a Math Night next Monday.
“The focus in math has changed since we were kids,” said Heather Birchall, Principal of Nottawasaga and Creemore Public School. “It is now about the thinking processes in math. Kids need to know how to communicate in math, just as they do in English. So they are being taught how to explain their thinking; how did they arrive at the answer? Which (of several) strategies did they use? It’s trying to bring it up from simple memorization (which some people are good at and some people aren’t) to understanding what multiplication is.”
Math is no longer a matter of a + b = c. Math lessons are now taught in three parts with a focus on collaboration, Birchall explained. First, children learn the “big idea” of the lesson. Then, they start to solve the problem, usually in groups, building on each other’s results using discussion. Finally, they pool their ideas, share their strategies and articulate what they have learned. Then, the whole group discusses which answer worked best and why.
On Monday, January 27, parents are invited to the senior site of NCPS at 240 Collingwood Street from 6 to 7:30 pm. There, math “guru” Trevor Brown will facilitate a workshop so parents can become familiar with their children’s way of doing math.
This is not NCPS’ first time educating parents in the new ways of math. In spring 2010, Troy Comish (a former math consultant with the Simcoe County District School Board who is now principal at Nottawa Elementary School) visited NCPS to explain the system.
“He taught the new way of performing multiplication and division,” said Martina, who is Secretary on the NCPS Parent Council. “It gave me the understanding to be able to help my children at home. It was a big learning curve and I am glad that I went.”
