Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Movie Monday - well not really, but I do get to a movie - finally
I have been so bogged down lately that I even have the draft of Knitting Friday post for last Friday which never got past that stage.
What has grabbed my attention? Without any notice or announcement, they changed the math and language arts curricula in our school district. NJ is now part of a national Core Curriculum program (TX, VA, all of the north-west states, and others are still not on board - if they ever will be - state's rights, you know.)
I first got drift of this when I read the parent's math answers for the 4th grade which comes home weekly so parents will know the answers of their kids' pesky math problems. This time, the sheet had a backside with all sorts of math terms and a line which struck me: We will be introducing algebra. Now, most of you expect algebra in high school but it's part of the 4th grade curriculum. Holy shit! (No, that last sentence fragment was mine, not theirs.)
Well, I should have figured out something was a-changing since just days before we were working with mean, mode, median and range problems (To digress: I have no problem with introducing more complicated conceptions in early grades. I do have a problem when one day is spent on probability and statistics, the next on addition problems and the next on geometry. This rapid fire approach to math is not suitable to 4th graders [I'm talking regular kids, not savants] who are still grappling with times tables and need an in-depth, not "Boy, will this look good when we send this to the NJ Dept. of Education" curriculum.)
After this eye-opener, I happened to be cruising the school web site (hoping they had a weekly parent's sheet online since I had misplaced ours) and I clicked Academics, then Mathematics...... and the rest is history.
Reading the delightful concise wording of some Doc, or post-Doc Ed.D. (that's sarcasm), I learned just what was now involved with the new, improved (and sorry-assed) math curriculum.
So for the last week, I have started to play catch-up with the boy's math homework. No longer do I view it as a steady progression of a typical 4th grade curriculum. This stuff is now wicked. When the homework on polygons comes home, I'd better be sure that he understands all that's involved with those pesky little creatures; all their characteristics; be able to identify all types; and, of course, be able to spell those little devils.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Just three years ago, I remember with the girl in 4th grade measuring geometric objects in the house and vandalizing magazines for pictures of shapes. That exercise is probably taught in pre-school now. (And, the girl is a real math whiz now; so go figure.)
That's the long version of "How I Have Been Spending My Days." Studying math. Did I tell you that I love math but lack the brain cells to grasp that age-old problem: If an airplane leaves from CA and a train leaves from NY....... ? You know the famous distance, time and rate one. I just don't get it. This year should be interesting.
OK, enough palaver. I also have a newsletter to punch up today.
Let be leave you with a movie pick I'll review next Monday: Pirate Radio. Take a look at it. It's not perfect but I just loved it. It hit all the right buttons for me. In fact, I'm going to compare it to Invictus, which is so sincere, like watching sincere paint dry.
More next Monday.
What has grabbed my attention? Without any notice or announcement, they changed the math and language arts curricula in our school district. NJ is now part of a national Core Curriculum program (TX, VA, all of the north-west states, and others are still not on board - if they ever will be - state's rights, you know.)
I first got drift of this when I read the parent's math answers for the 4th grade which comes home weekly so parents will know the answers of their kids' pesky math problems. This time, the sheet had a backside with all sorts of math terms and a line which struck me: We will be introducing algebra. Now, most of you expect algebra in high school but it's part of the 4th grade curriculum. Holy shit! (No, that last sentence fragment was mine, not theirs.)
Well, I should have figured out something was a-changing since just days before we were working with mean, mode, median and range problems (To digress: I have no problem with introducing more complicated conceptions in early grades. I do have a problem when one day is spent on probability and statistics, the next on addition problems and the next on geometry. This rapid fire approach to math is not suitable to 4th graders [I'm talking regular kids, not savants] who are still grappling with times tables and need an in-depth, not "Boy, will this look good when we send this to the NJ Dept. of Education" curriculum.)
After this eye-opener, I happened to be cruising the school web site (hoping they had a weekly parent's sheet online since I had misplaced ours) and I clicked Academics, then Mathematics...... and the rest is history.
Reading the delightful concise wording of some Doc, or post-Doc Ed.D. (that's sarcasm), I learned just what was now involved with the new, improved (and sorry-assed) math curriculum.
So for the last week, I have started to play catch-up with the boy's math homework. No longer do I view it as a steady progression of a typical 4th grade curriculum. This stuff is now wicked. When the homework on polygons comes home, I'd better be sure that he understands all that's involved with those pesky little creatures; all their characteristics; be able to identify all types; and, of course, be able to spell those little devils.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Just three years ago, I remember with the girl in 4th grade measuring geometric objects in the house and vandalizing magazines for pictures of shapes. That exercise is probably taught in pre-school now. (And, the girl is a real math whiz now; so go figure.)
That's the long version of "How I Have Been Spending My Days." Studying math. Did I tell you that I love math but lack the brain cells to grasp that age-old problem: If an airplane leaves from CA and a train leaves from NY....... ? You know the famous distance, time and rate one. I just don't get it. This year should be interesting.
OK, enough palaver. I also have a newsletter to punch up today.
Let be leave you with a movie pick I'll review next Monday: Pirate Radio. Take a look at it. It's not perfect but I just loved it. It hit all the right buttons for me. In fact, I'm going to compare it to Invictus, which is so sincere, like watching sincere paint dry.
More next Monday.
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