"Is it cheating," Alexander asked. "If I write down the word PEMDAS on my paper? Because I have a question that involves parentheses, multiplication, and addition and I just need to be sure that I remember to do everything in the right order..."
That is not cheating, actually.
"It's just that we didn't learn PEMDAS this unit..."
Testing is cumulative. You are allowed—encouraged, required—to call on prior knowledge.
*****
"I have a slight problem with this question because it wants me to find out, like, what is 15*6 and 4*15 and so I did that! I said 15*6 is 90 and 4*15 is 60 and I added those up and I got 150. But then I remembered that this test is focusing on the distributive property and I could have solved this much faster if did 15*10, which is 15(6+4). So I just hope it's okay if I did it another way even if it is slower and takes more work. And it should be okay because this question also wants me to find out what 9*6 and 9*14 is so that I can find out the difference between those two answers, because I'm really trying to find out how much more money one of them earned than the other one. So if I go straight to 9(20), which is 9(6+14), for the second part, then I used the distributive property to get to the answer and it will still count, right?"
Buddy, they honestly don't care what method you use to get the answer. They just care that you get the answer. And you seem to know that the distributive property can help you calculate answers faster, which is what this unit was teaching you. Whether or not you use it is your call, but from my perspective you seem to understand it fairly well.
*****
I love this kid so much.
Math is his favourite subject, by the way.
I don't know what I'm going to do with him for the rest of the school year. Let him move on to fourth grade math? Seems a little bit much considering he's seven...
Wowsers!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as a former math major, and one who has studied the curriculum at Orem High while raising teenagers, here are my thoughts for what they're worth. The math curriculum in this country (as in our country of origin) is very watered down. You are so right to say that math students "are allowed—encouraged, required—to call on prior knowledge." When I studied each year's math text book, the first 80% was review of prior years, with only a little bit of new things. A strong student could finish the entire curriculum in a couple of years and move on to calculus, trigonometry, advanced algebra, even topology, etc. Mathematicians generally make their big contributions as young people, so getting a head start as a child seems like a good thing to me. So, not bad, IMO.
ReplyDeleteI think it is sad that we are so test-driven. "They just care that you get the answer." Yeah, probably so. But, what they really should care about is that you understand the concepts. Which: he does! I say, grade four and five for the rest of the year, or even more, so long as he's enjoying it and understands. There is so much ahead for him!
DeleteGood work! We start Beast Academy/Right Start Math next week!
ReplyDeleteAlexander likes it a little too much—he could spend all day on Beast Academy if I let him. :)
DeleteTo quote my former Seminary class, this is not fair, he is home schooled....
ReplyDelete