Most students need to learn math concepts

Published 11:28 am Friday, February 26, 2010

I have two children in the Bellevue School District, a sixth grader and a third grader. I am a product of the Bellevue School District and a former teacher in the Lake Washington School District.

I’ve been following the math adoption process in Bellevue. My concerns about the district adopting an inquiry based textbook series, such as Discovering, is that students are not taught math concepts directly and to mastery. For students who are able to put together pieces of learning to understand the whole of a concept, an inquiry-based method is okay. However, for most students, math skills need to be taught directly and sequentially. They need to master one skill before moving on to another to be successful.

My sixth grader had the inquiry-based TERC math for most of her elementary education. I chose to supplement her math curriculum at home from her second grade year through her fifth-grade year. My third grader began using the district adopted Math Expressions last year in second grade. I am pleased with this program. The Math Expressions program curriculum is much more balanced in its approach to teaching concepts and skills. I would hope that the Holt textbook is chosen because it is more aligned with the current elementary curriculum.

Karen Eng, Bellevue