Funny, Strange, Random Pics
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Bubbles
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Chris
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Hi, Maths Teacher here:
The number of steps done is irrelevent it's all about having children who cannot subtract complete a subtraction problem using a skill they do have (addition). It's not meant to be the final method used by the child forever, it's a teaching tool to get them closer to using "the old method" or even better mental arithmetic.
Again same thing as the last pic, these methods are called "chunking" in the UK where you break a method down into managable parts. It helps the child understand the real concept of what you are doing and not just learning out of context methods by rote where they don't know what the fuck it actually means.
Maybe Mr.Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering wants to teach his differential equations to his young child. Oh wait he would build up to it gradually over years? Damn. Yeah you can teach column subtraction to anyone, but they won't understand wtf it means unless you show them with methods like this. Personally I teach students who are a little older and wouldn't use these myself, but I understand the point of them.
They are doing subtraction by adding in easy steps. How the fuck are people having a problem understanding this?
The number of steps done is irrelevent it's all about having children who cannot subtract complete a subtraction problem using a skill they do have (addition). It's not meant to be the final method used by the child forever, it's a teaching tool to get them closer to using "the old method" or even better mental arithmetic.
The mistake is that the 1 ten was skipped and they used the 6 units as 6 tens instead in the numberline method. I would expect an adult engineer to be able to spot this, first time I've seen this exact method too.
Again same thing as the last pic, these methods are called "chunking" in the UK where you break a method down into managable parts. It helps the child understand the real concept of what you are doing and not just learning out of context methods by rote where they don't know what the fuck it actually means.
Maybe Mr.Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering wants to teach his differential equations to his young child. Oh wait he would build up to it gradually over years? Damn. Yeah you can teach column subtraction to anyone, but they won't understand wtf it means unless you show them with methods like this. Personally I teach students who are a little older and wouldn't use these myself, but I understand the point of them.
The part that confused me is where those numbers came from (3, 5, 10, 2). Makes sense now, but seems stupid as hell... why wouldn't you just teach easy subtraction?
moonarchia
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khalid
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So rather than just straight up teach subtraction, you teach an intermediate step that they won't use afterwards? How much time is spent teaching this intermediate method?
SimSimSalabim
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It looks stupid and pointless to anyone that already knows how to subtract, but everyone learns differently. If it helps some children grasp the concept that they couldn't previously grasp, then it works.
Chris
Potato del Grande
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So if you just teach the subtraction method then yeah they can parrot it and do subtraction fairly easily. Like a monkey could. Then when they see it in a different context, such as in the real world, they can't use it because there are no columns printed for them or a subtraction sign etc...
If they actually understand subtraction then they will be able to apply it in different contexts or find their errors. Like knowing that they are taking the hundreds from the hundreds and tens from the tens, or that borrowing 1 ten gives you 10 units.
I teach 11+ and wouldn't really use these methods unless something was seriously wrong with the child (I worked with one child with mild learning difficulties at 11 who needed them). I'm not qualified to say how much time is spent on these for younger children but I would guess maybe two years between the ages of 5 and 7?
khalid
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Well, then how did everyone else manage to figure out how to do it in the real world without this system? I really am not trying to be argumentative and will drop it now. I guess you are teaching this way to get to the students who wouldn't be able to figure it out, so teaching to the lower denominator of students, which is good.
Chris
Potato del Grande
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I expect that you weren't taught it out of the blue once at age 5 and then just practiced it for 11 years. I'm going to guess that at some point you were shown a number line or problems which could be solved by either addition or subtraction. You just forgot because you were very young and as I've said it's not meant to be a method you actually use in the future.
The problem is over testing which means that there are now exam papers for this to show up in, forcing teachers to teach specific methods and hold children back because the real method would fail them. The english version of this in the UK has children spelling things wrong on purpose, which while useful for teaching phonics, any child beyond that stage spellings things correctly fails the test. So there is a valid critisism here and real damage being done - it's not the methods themselves it's their use in standardised testing.
Did "everyone else manage"? How many people working at cash registers can do quick mental math to figure out change? "It's so easy!", yet when it comes to real world application, a vast majority of people don't really use it.
Big Phoenix
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Are our children too fucking stupid to comprehend basic subtraction in this day and age? What voodoo magic is going to be taught when theyre learning calculus?
Short answer, yes.
Seems like the majority of people are getting more stupid as time progresses. I personally think its reverse Darwinism. The weak and stupid dont die off anymore, we save them with medicine and coddle them in schools to make them feel better about themselves.
Oblig pic
