The first-grade teacher in Bloomsbury, New Jersey, assigned Carolann Smith’s daughter a math question sheet. After a numerical problem (19 + 45 = ____) on the sheet, one of the questions was, “Tell how you know.” Her daughter’s answer was hilarious, and Carolann shared it on social media. She wrote a short caption for the image, “My daughter can’t be bothered with these questions, I guess.”
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As parents, we know the math we learned will get the same answers as “new math” or “common core” math. However, how we figure out problems is entirely different from what they are teaching now. That makes it challenging to help our kids with homework. When Carolann saw her daughter’s response to the math question, she laughed (like any good parent would) and let her daughter turn the assignment in.
The paper returned with a circle around her daughter’s answer of, “I just know.” Probably still laughing, Carolann discussed the “inappropriate” answer with her daughter. Together, they came up with a more suitable response. Carolann’s daughter still couldn’t explain HOW she knew; she just knew. Looking at the entire sheet, it is clear how her daughter “knew” the correct answer. It was on the sheet with the problem before all the confusing squiggly lines and graphs they want kids to use.
Every parent has probably struggled with homework, especially for math. Hopefully, if you don’t understand how the “new math” works, you have a neighbor or friend who can help. We’ll probably continue laughing at Carolann’s daughter’s funny homework answer and do our math the old way! Please share this if it made you giggle. Parenting is challenging enough without making us learn new math.
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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