Math skills are life skills

Re: Put basic math first for young students — Sept. 24

Like letter writer Sue Calder, I am a retired teacher with over 25 years of teaching Grades 3 to 8. I totally agree with her plea to put basic math first for young students and to leave much problemsolving and other non-basic skills largely to Grades 4 and up.

Times tables should be mastered to 10 times 10 by Grade 4 and to 12 times 12 by early Grade 6. Short drills, flash cards and electronic games make the rote learning of basic arithmetic skills relatively painless.

I am also amazed how few children’s bedrooms or other wall spaces at home really reinforce latent visual learning. Not just the times tables, but difficult words to spell, new concepts and new formulas could be legibly displayed in bold magic marker printing three or four inches high on large sheets of paper, where the child can see them dozens of times a week. As new concepts or words are mastered, these can be replaced, but reviewed from time to time, with even a small reward for retained memory.

Children enjoying a good education will learn perhaps half of what they need to know at school. The other half is up to the home and the community. Thus, shared family meals at home, where few subjects are taboo can tremendously expand children’s vocabulary and understanding of the world, including many practical applications of mathematics, money, space and time.

Lastly, education goes through trends that evolve over years and decades. Experienced teachers know and adapt teaching styles, to not rely totally on the latest fad, which may not help all students. They will also consult colleagues who have discovered, or rediscovered, excellent and effective ways of teaching difficult concepts in mathematics. Alan J. Nanders Kitchener