UA Math App Blends Numbers, Animal Lessons

[JoGee]

http://uanews.org/story/ua-math-app-blends-numbers-animal-lessons

Interesting.... This sounds like a great way to improve kids' math scores and knowledge of animals.
Math shouldn't be boring or confusing, or just a lot of memorization and not learning the functions. One of the best ways for learning is using the math for a purpose.

Do you think you will pass this on to other families with children?

[JoGee]

I think this article touches on something called Common Core in education. I've only recently heard about Common Core, and I heard it mentioned on TV last night...the contestants on Jeopardy were teachers! I think one of them mentioned it briefly.
Our education system had been at a point in backsliding...kids weren't taught all the things they needed to know. We are below standards taught in other countries.
But Common Core has established a minimum table for education. Apparently it works well for the states that have adopted this guideline, and I for one am hoping this system will be adopted in all of our states.
They are looking for ways to make the classes more fun as well as more effective.
If I thought a number of my classes were dull, dry, and boring....well, after seeing my kids' schoolwork and teachers, they had it worse. My kids were half home schooled in order to graduate. One math teacher didn't appreciate I didn't do math her way -- I taught the kids basic math and how to check their work to insure correct answers. I told her if she was actually "teaching" them, they wouldn't have 4 hours' of just math homework every night; I had cut it down to 1 hour using a legitimate method......which any kid could understand. E taught them the higher math.
We also were sticklers for Spelling and Grammar. Without the basic groundwork in place, they couldn't learn to express themselves clearly.

I was disappointed to not get any responses on this post, as I feel that education is extremely important. Anything they could do to make kids more enthusiastic about what they are learning is a very positive step forward for the future.

Had my science teacher put his prejudice toward girls aside, I may well have been a physicist today. I did the work quickly in my head and got perfect answers. Even the top students needed pages of "scratch paper" to secure answers, whereas I needed none.
Had I known how to research info on career fields back then, I could have pursued it myself. That wasn't taught either. I feel that the teacher had closed a lot of doors on my future. I wonder how many teachers had done that to other students?