To Twinkletoes: Yes smile

Also wrt gaps, I hear this a lot from our school. While sometimes they have a point my issue is that it really shouldn't take a year to fill in some of these gaps? Example, order of operations. Student hasn't ever really been exposed to exponents but knows basic order of operations. it shouldn't take weeks of teaching to explain an exponent, what it means and that it comes first after evaluating parentheticals? I'm thinking maybe a very short session, not weeks of practice, right? I'm constantly reminded by friends that my paradigm is off......