today's math: 2+2 is still 4

As the year proceeds and math instruction continues to challenge our students, many parents want to help with the practice at home. We often hear that math looks different, and this is a struggle for the adult who wants to help. Sometimes it's called "new math" or "Common Core math." Rest-assured, math hasn't changed. Admittedly though, our expectation of the depth to which children understand it has.

Being fluent in basic facts such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts from 0-12 is still very familiar and expected. If your child is struggling with basic facts, assistance might look like making flash cards (remember them?) or playing basic fact games. For example, you could try Math War. You'll need a deck of cards. Remove the face cards and deal the deck between yourself and your child. Each of you flip over a card and then add, subtract, or multiply the numbers on the cards. First one with the correct answer wins and takes the cards. The person with the most cards at the end wins.

Explaining and modeling mathematical thinking is probably where math looks the most different from past methods of instruction. We expect children to take their understanding of math and apply it to unique questions. We also expect them to come up with multiple methods when solving math problems. Math is amazing, as there are often several ways to solve a problem! We then want students to be able to explain their thinking through words, numbers, symbols, and drawings. Finally, we want them to understand the necessity for accuracy, having the correct answer and efficiency, being able to solve directly and as simply as possible. In the past, the most efficient method was often taught as the "only way" to solve a problem, without explanation. Now, we want children to understand why it's efficient and accurate. If you ever learned to divide fractions, you were likely taught to "invert and multiply." Do you know why that is accurate and efficient? We want our students to know these things so they can apply mathematical thinking throughout their lives.

Mathematics is a beautiful, complex language. We look forward to building our students' fluency each day!

TIPS FOR PARENTS REGARDING CELL PHONES

The following information is taken directly from an article titled, "Tweens, Teens, and Phones: What Our 2019 Research Reveals." Click on the link for the full story and explore commonsensemedia.org for more quality resources on technology and children.

Ignore cellphone pressure. Though a majority of kids have a phone by 11, base your decision of when (or whether) to get one for your kid on your family's actual needs and your kid's maturity level.

Enjoy videos and apps with your kid. Co-viewing and co-playing are bonding experiences, whether they happen on the big screen or a mobile device. Download games you can play against one another, subscribe to YouTube channels to watch together, and listen to audio books and podcasts. If you can't watch together, ask about what they’re using; most kids love to talk about media.

Encourage (actually, enforce) balance. The Census proves that media use only increases as kids get older, so make sure you're actively protecting your kid's homework time, downtime, and family time from tech intrusion. You can set up screen-free times and zones (such as the dining table, the bedroom, and during homework).

Model healthy phone use. With some kids getting phones as early as 8, it's important that you demonstrate the habits you want your kids to pick up. When you have to use the phone when you're with your kids, tell them why. Make a show of turning off your phone for family time. Tell kids how you set limits for yourself.

Get to know YouTube. The census confirms what many of us already know: Kids really love YouTube. The platform has made changes to slightly improve the appropriateness of related videos displayed to kids. But you can use a few tools, such as subscribing to channels you've approved or signing up for an ad-free, paid membership, to cut down on exposure to iffy stuff. Try to make time to watch with your kids when you can. Check out our YouTube channel reviews to find the good stuff for kids.

Encourage creativity. Though the creative platforms that are popular with kids, such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram, each have pros and cons, they do offer incredibly sophisticated image-editing tools that allow kids to really let their imaginations go. Consider experimenting with them together. You can also nudge kids toward other creative tools, such as writing, coding, 3D modeling, and building games to get them into creative hobbies.

Increasing feelings of safety between students

Chet F. Harritt is dedicated to creating an environment where students feel safe and connected to their school. Recent survey data from our intermediate and Middle School students shows that some are struggling with feeling safe around their peers. Reaching out to our primary students and teachers shows the same. Upon reflection, this makes some sense. When we left campus in March of 2020, we stopped being all together in one place. During the hardest time of the pandemic, they were home or then back to small classes with less social times. This year students have been working to get used to being on campus for full days, with full-sized classes and all together during unstructured play times like recesses and lunches with many more peers. Now all that interaction is back and with it has come the need to get along, but not necessarily all the skills and experiences to do that well.

Our survey data did show children understand our expectations, but their struggle at times with their peers makes them feel less safe. Considering this information, our action plan includes implementing structured Bullying Prevention curriculum through the Second Step Program. Students in grades K-5 will be focused on a specialized unit this month with weekly lessons and activities. Middle School students will (re)visit the bullying portion of their curriculum as well the curriculum focused on interpersonal relationships. These lessons allow the entire campus to have common language and understanding about how we treat each other, what we allow, and what we will not tolerate. While this is a focus this month, we know this will be an expectation at all times.

Below, please find family letters about this instruction and what to expect. In grades K-5, feel free to scroll to the bottom of the letter and use the access code to get a deeper dive online into what's happening.

Parent Handbook - Reminder

The above information about the driveway and more can be found in our Parent Handbook. Take a look if you haven't already!

Chet F. Harritt Parent Handbook