re: Louisiana records nation's highest growth in reading after switching to a phonics based sy

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There's a lot of people out there that have no understanding of math. As a CPA, it's exactly the way I think about number. The way our kids were taught before was not working. Just because you can't understand it doesn't mean it's wrong.

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When I was in elementary and jr high I had a knack of solving math problems in my head but I didn't have the same thought process as was being taught so showing my work was an issue. I remember trying to explain how I manipulated numbers in my head to my mother (undergrad degrees in Chem and Math so it wasn't she couldn't "math good") and it never made any sense to her, in particular, it seemed unnecessarily complex to her. Life got easier for me in HS and college where there was no penalty for not showing my work as long as the answer was right and I never tried to explain my process to anyone else. I just figured I was on my own island and went about my way. When the fuss over common core came out I read some articles designed to teach teachers and it struck me that this is what I have always instinctively done. I think it is a process that if taught early enough is incredibly useful but to someone who learned the typical way it becomes like trying to explain it to my mother, it just seems stupid complex, and silly to them.

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The way our kids were taught before was not working

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So what’s so great and necessary about tape diagrams and number bonds for a quick addition calculation?