Line segments, rays, and lines, oh my!
We've survived the 1st 2 weeks of school! Yay parents! (Oh, good job to the kids and teachers too!) I feel like I've already learned quite a bit. I can label all of the northeastern and southeastern states on a US map (pretty quickly too, I might add!) and I can explain the difference between a parallelogram and a trapezoid! If you're impressed with my knowledge, you should see my 4th grader!
Seriously, I am blown away by how much these kids know! I feel like I get a good challenge when I'm helping my daughter with her math homework (thank goodness for those answer sheets! lol). Most of you are familiar now with Everyday Mathematics, the curriculum that West Fargo Schools adopted a few years ago. I'll be quite honest, it's been pretty hard teaching this old dog new tricks, but we're getting there! I'm kind of excited to go through this curriculum from the beginning with my son. I'm hoping to build a fresh foundation for myself. There have been many new methods I've picked up the past 2 years that I never learned to do as a child and I really like how the curriculum uses math in practical ways!
Hang in there, if it doesn't seem to make sense to you at first. I have discovered that usually when the curriculum is introducing a new method, they break it down. Sometimes, the 1st couple of steps the children practice seem a little odd, then everything gets put together and it makes perfect sense (and is usually easier than the method I was accustomed to!). The really nice part about Everyday Mathematics is that the children get several options of methods to solve problems.
When your child brings home their user name and password for Everyday Mathematics, really encourage them to practice online. I've found that when I watch my daughter, things start clicking for me as well! (Then I can at least feel as smart as a 4th grader! Ha!)
-Lori
We've survived the 1st 2 weeks of school! Yay parents! (Oh, good job to the kids and teachers too!) I feel like I've already learned quite a bit. I can label all of the northeastern and southeastern states on a US map (pretty quickly too, I might add!) and I can explain the difference between a parallelogram and a trapezoid! If you're impressed with my knowledge, you should see my 4th grader!
Seriously, I am blown away by how much these kids know! I feel like I get a good challenge when I'm helping my daughter with her math homework (thank goodness for those answer sheets! lol). Most of you are familiar now with Everyday Mathematics, the curriculum that West Fargo Schools adopted a few years ago. I'll be quite honest, it's been pretty hard teaching this old dog new tricks, but we're getting there! I'm kind of excited to go through this curriculum from the beginning with my son. I'm hoping to build a fresh foundation for myself. There have been many new methods I've picked up the past 2 years that I never learned to do as a child and I really like how the curriculum uses math in practical ways!
Hang in there, if it doesn't seem to make sense to you at first. I have discovered that usually when the curriculum is introducing a new method, they break it down. Sometimes, the 1st couple of steps the children practice seem a little odd, then everything gets put together and it makes perfect sense (and is usually easier than the method I was accustomed to!). The really nice part about Everyday Mathematics is that the children get several options of methods to solve problems.
When your child brings home their user name and password for Everyday Mathematics, really encourage them to practice online. I've found that when I watch my daughter, things start clicking for me as well! (Then I can at least feel as smart as a 4th grader! Ha!)
-Lori
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