She did a 90min workshop for parents, educators and business leaders called "Mathematics and Your Child's Future: The Basics and Beyond." She is very slick and persuasive but I have strong reservations about her methods. She wants to completely axe the teaching of the standard algorithms for doing arithmetic. A lot of her methods sounded really good and enriching and like they would build real understanding of math if taught by a knowledgeable teacher.
It's just that it seems like a huge "if" to me. And I don't think we should throw the standard algorithms out with the bathwater!
I think she is pushing some kind of curriculum and our district honchos seemed quite starry-eyed about her ideas.
Does anybody have experience with this kind of curriculum in the public schools? What were the results? Should I fight this trend? I have a bad feeling about it....
