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dumbing down second-grade math

I taught second grade today.  There was a math lesson dealing with mental math (seems like I *always* get mental math to teach, and I don’t remember ever *learning* mental math as a kid — I kinda think that once you can Do Math reasonably well, it gets increasingly automatic and thus can sometimes be done without pencil and paper… but I digress), and the introductory text (the “math story”) (!) had this kid in it whose thought process was outlined as follows:

I have 50 cents, which is 5 dimes.

This thing costs 30 cents, which is 3 dimes.

5 dimes take away 3 dimes is 2 dimes, so the change is 20 cents.

“Take away.”  Seriously.  Can we please use some correct terminology in American education?  Please?  (I read the story aloud, and I substituted “minus.”  I am, in fact, fairly likely to judge people based on how articulate they are.  Even if they’re seven.)

Earth Science Week, Oct. 13-17, 2008

I got the following email this morning from an educational group that I’m part of.  Looks like a good resource and a good way to punch up science education and research.

13-17 Oct: NASA Scientists Address 5 Big Questions in Earth Science

Teachers and Students,

Log in during Earth Science Week 2008 as scientists from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center answer 5 big Earth Science questions.  Each day, a 2-minute video clip of scientists addressing these questions will be featured at <http://www.nasa.gov/goddard> along with the links to additional Earth science educational resources.

Following is the schedule:
1. Introduction. How is the global Earth system changing? 10/13/08

2. What are the primary forces of the Earth system? 10/14/08

3. How does the Earth system respond to natural and human-induced changes? 10/15/08

4. What are the consequences of change in the Earth system for human civilization? 10/16/08

5. How will the Earth system change in the future? 10/17/08

NASA is a sponsor of Earth Science Week 2008. For more information visit <http://www.earthsciweek.org>.

The GLOBE Program
http://www.globe.gov/

five-year-old hilarity

1. 4:30 yesterday afternoon, Adam dismantles a pink marker (one of about eight in my house that are NOT WASHABLE) and squeezes the little ink tube till it bleeds.  I learn of this when he decides that he shouldn’t touch the bathroom faucet with such very pink hands, and he comes to ask me for help.
2. 9:15 yesterday evening, I notice that neither my bobby pins nor the bathroom drain stopper are where they should be.  As a mother who knows her child, I don’t even bother to ask questions before taking the drain apart.  I am surprised when a Very Large Clump of bobby pins falls out (I was expecting only the two that I could see in the drain, silly me), and I say something like, “That’s kind of a <em>lot</em> of bobby pins.”  From his room, where he is supposed to be asleep, Adam says, “Oh, I did that.”  Yeah, of course you did.
3. 2:45 this afternoon, Adam calls me into his room during his putative nap.  He beckons me close and says, “I made a new plan for myself that anyone who comes into my room loses all of their dollars and I’m keepin’ ‘em.”