Offer Math Choice
    It is sad that the Okemos school board and administration cannot see their way clear to offer our children a choice in math so they would have an option to get out of the "dumbed down" math now being offered and into a more rigorous program.
    Perhaps they have been exposed to the "new math" for too long and lost the ability to perform a simple calculation. This "fuzzy" math has been fully implemented in only one school and yet as many as 60 parents have shown up to voice their opposition at the usually sleepy board meetings which are typically attended by as few as three people.
    I urge Okemos parents who care whether their child(ren) will be prepared for college to attend the board meeting on Monday, June 15 at 7:30 p.m. to demand that a choice in math be offered.

                                                                            Math Battaglia
                                                                                    Okemos
 
 

                                                         Behind in Math
    Advocates for dumbed-down math such as the Connected Math Program in Okemos middle schools justify the program based on poor performance of U.S. students in math compared to students from Singapore of Hong Kong (June 19).
    I have textbooks from these two countries. They have nothing in common with the Connected Math units. These textbooks teach math in an organized, incremental and clear fashion, no unguided discoveries or excessive exploration, no homework problems using chips.
    The math taught in Singapore Primary 4 textbooks is similar to the sixth grade Connected Math units. Such is the sorry state of our math education under math reform -- a curriculum nearly two grades lower than the Singapore schools.
                                                                    Betty Tsang
                                                                        Okemos
 

                                Math Choice Matters
    With Betty Tsang (Point of View, June 7), I am an Okemos parent concerned about the math program in our schools, particularly the Connected Mathematics Project in Kinawa Middle School. It doesn't give students the necessary tools for success in math and will not prepare them for high school math.
    Children certainly need to understand math, but they also need to be competent in basic math skills to establish a foundation on which more advanced math emphasis can be built. The new math de-emphasizes math competency.
    Currently parents have no choice about whether or not their children are part of the connected math experiment. I think this is wrong. Let those who want it for their children sign up, but let those convinced this is not teaching our kids math have a traditional alternative.
                                                                Kerry Jurmu
                                                                        Mason
 

                                     It all adds up
    "Whadaya mean you can't fix my car? You're a licensed mechanic!"
      "Yeah, but I learned through the 'Exploratory Mechanics' program. I problem solved and gained an understanding of you car's breakdown, but, ya know, I haven't a clue about how to fix it. But I do empathize with your frustration and perhaps we can problem solve it by discussing together."
       "You're kidding?!"
       "Oh no, you see this wonderful learning program was enacted by our school administrators who thought they could make this program work even though it failed miserably everywhere else.
       "Anyway, they saw we were 28 of 41 repair garages in our written tests. Now we can take written tests like nobody's business. But for some reason this 'real world' work is so confusing. Say, can you help me add up your bill?"
       Go get 'em Betty Tsang and other parents asking for choice in Okemos math programs!
                                                            Daniel O'Malley
                                                                         Haslett