“My student isn’t doing math the way I used to!”
If you haven’t thought this
yet, you may very well be thinking
this before the end.  This year
in math we are indeed in
teaching math a bit differently.
Before, we always taught kids
“how” to add, subtract, multiply
and divide by teaching them a
series of steps to follow. These
series of steps is called an
algorithm.
However, what researchers
are telling us, is that teaching
student the algorithm too soon
leads to a shallow understanding.
They do it, but they don’t know
why. Instead, it’s better to delay
teaching the algorithm, and let
students figure out their own ways
to solve the problem. We call
these “invented strategies”.
Taking time to let kids use
invented strategies leads to
deeper understanding. In fact,
there are countries that never
teach a standard algorithm, and
they consistently out-rank our
math scores.
Invented strategies allow
students to use what they already
know and understand to solve
bigger, more complex problems.
What we’re seeing in the
classroom is that students are not
only getting correct answers—
they understand it well enough to
explain themselves.
That’s not how I
learned. Why are
they teaching you a
different way?
What does this mean for
parents and guardians?
 Let your student teach YOU
how they solve the answer.
 Ask why. Have students draw
pictures or use counters to
show their understanding.
Have them explain how it
works.
 Don’t teach the algorithm.
Remember: delay, delay,
delay!
If you have any questions about
this, please feel free to contact
me at school. Thanks for
partnering with us!
Heidi Komorech
660-935-2514
[email protected]