“Hello, I just wanted to ask, why did Summer get number 3 wrong?'' Mr. Sanders said under the math question that her father and I reflected on her mistake and told her how to stay on the right path. I wrote that I wanted to confirm that I was there.
Summer's teacher explained that the correct answer was actually “27” and replied: “Hello, this is the new math we are teaching her. She wants her to know that having two 10s and 7 1s is the same as 27 1s.”
“New Mathematics”
Frustrated by the reaction, Sanders wrote on Facebook: “New math is not IT!”
Sanders went on to clarify that she was not angry at the teacher because she was “just telling her what to do.” But as an educator himself who has taught in elementary schools for the past six years, Sanders found it difficult to accept the correct answer.
And it wasn't just the Texan mother. Sanders' Facebook post has since gone viral, garnering more than 4,800 comments and 19,000 shares, with many online users scratching their heads over the math problem.
“Well, maybe I'm not very smart because I'm with Summer,” one Facebook user wrote.
Another said, “I'm a math major and I've never heard of 27 in my life.”
Many people took issue with the way math problems were presented, calling them “unclear” and “ambiguous.”
One netizen pointed out, “They should have written 10 2 and 7 1 = _____ 1 because the equal sign shows they are looking for the total number.”
Also, “I understand what the teacher is saying, but neither the parents nor the child are wrong. It is the instructions that cause misunderstandings.”
Many educators also expressed their thoughts on “new mathematics.”
“I hate teaching! (I) would be just as confused as the parents,” one teacher wrote.
Another person opined: “I taught mathematics. I lead the mathematics department as vice principal. Mathematics at Eureka is tough for those of us who didn't learn it that way. Students use the language until fifth grade. ”
According to the website Math4Children, Eureka Math is a comprehensive mathematics curriculum that focuses on conceptual understanding, problem solving, and mathematical reasoning.
It was developed by the nonprofit organization Great Minds in 2013 and was reported to be the most widely used math curriculum in America in 2017.
But the program has been criticized by parents, teachers and school administrators who say it is too demanding for younger students, according to the Times-Picayune, a Louisiana-based news website.
Closer to home in Singapore, netizens were similarly stumped by a Primary 3 math problem last May.
A heated discussion erupted on the online forum Reddit after a user posted about a multiplication sum problem in his nephew's workbook. Even though my nephew's method of calculation was correct and appeared to give him the correct answer, his teacher marked it as incorrect.
Reddit users have considered various theories as to why this might be the case.
