Are you trying to help your child with math homework, only to find out that you don’t understand it either?
According to a blog I just read, there is a possibility that it’s not your fault!
Annie Keeghan, in her Chronic Senseblog, details her experience in the textbook industry. Apparently, many
textbook publishers spend more money on marketing than on content, resulting in many errors in the final product. So
that math problem that just did not make sense to you may have been one of those errors.
And the problem is not limited to math. History books often misquote dates and distort the facts to support the political opinions of the authors or publishers. Critical historical events are left out to make room for articles about other events which reflect social justice issues, gender equity, and so on. Classic literature selections have been deleted from the language arts textbooks and replaced with modern selections which often lack the complexity, subtlety, and nuances found in great literature.
So what can we do about all of this? As parents, we need to be diligent about looking at the textbooks our children bring home. If there are blatant errors, point them out respectfully to school personnel. They may already be aware of them, but if enough parents complain, they may purchase better books the next time.
Homeschool parents, you are not off the hook here. Look carefully at the materials you are using with your children. Are they historically correct? Do they align with your family’s core values, or are you spending a lot of time teaching why the book is incorrect? At least as homeschoolers, you have the freedom to skip lessons you disagree with, and add or subtract from the curriculum at will, without calling a committee meeting and getting school board approval!
Here at eLearning, we allow parents to decide what to teach, based on their own values. Don’t like the lessons on comparative religions or evolution? No problem, you can skip them. We’ve solved the math textbook problem by using
Math U See, written by Steve Demme. When Mr. Demme teaches math, it makes sense! I only wish I had been taught this way. Algebra would have been so much easier if I actually UNDERSTOOD it instead of rotely working the problems step by step.Who knows? I might have been a scientist instead of a history major!