Teaching Math In Uncertain Times

Students, parents, teachers, school principals, and school personnel are you feeling the overwhelming stress of Covid-19? Have you been laid off from your job? Are you trying to work from home and deal with your children? Are you trying to teach your children something that you are not even sure about? Here are some practical ideas to help relieve your stress.

What Districts Expect

Packets of math worksheets. Drill and kill math fact worksheets. That is exactly what they are doing, killing our student's love of math.

Alternative Ideas

Now, I am a reading teacher at heart. My M.ED. is in Reading and Language Arts with a Specialist Credential in Reading and Language Arts and an additional Credential in Teacher Librarianship. What I do know about math education is, drill and kill does not work, just like teaching sight words or phonics in isolation do not work. 

Think about this:
​During this time of quarantine I know our children are learning math while at home. They watch or help their parents pay for needed groceries. They sit and listen to their parents add the dollars while trying to figure out how to pay all of their bills. During this difficult time, our children are learning how to budget, how to pay bills, and how to count money through real-world application. I hope that parents are teaching students to count change at the grocery store as they pay. I wish this type of learning was being encouraged instead of having parents try to figure out how to use a school assigned computer with their young children. I wish these authentic math lessons were being supported instead of sending home page after page of math facts and math worksheets. What a way to kill a love of math!

I remember my mom had a desk drawer with files for each bill. In each file she had cash money to pay those bills. I learned about money and budgeting by watching my parents. During this time where we are forced to slow down, lets encourage parents to teach their children math through real life financial situations and let's stop stressing parents out!

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