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Take a look at this video. You will see why parents think this new textbook is just not good enough. It discusses the 'new math' and textbook mentioned in the v

• rkts 19y ago
  Amusingly, the methods she described are almost exactly how I do arithmetic. And when I can't solve a problem mentally I do just grab a calculator. I don't recall using long multiplication or long division since I was in elementary school.
  • randrews 19y ago
    I do long multiplication all the time... In the Emacs "multiplication puzzle" mode.
• tolmasky 19y ago
  I love the magic seven technique for division. It's essentially "given x / y, keep subtracting y from x until x is 0, then count how many times you did it!"
• abstractbill 19y ago
  That video totally backfires. I think many of the techniques she's bashing are better than what they are replacing - I'll certainly use some of these when I have kids. (Semi-relevant I guess: my PhD is in mathematics).
  • menloparkbum 19y ago
    the video does indeed backfire. the 'standard algorithm' is less efficient than most of the other mental calculation tricks. in the trivial case of multiplying two 2-digit numbers it looks easy, but it becomes cumbersome when you're multiplying a column of three 4-digit numbers. it is even worse for division. the reason why old school math teachers like it is because it is easy to teach and grade. regarding other countries: the countries where people are stereotypically good at arithmetic don't teach the 'standard algorithm' as primary. on the other hand, i've seen those books (math teachers in the family) and they aren't very good. text books are a scam. students would do better with a good teacher and cheapo dover paperbacks. there are a couple great ones on speed arithmetic.