Ok, my oldest son is in the 4th grade. Some of the things he brings home to do for homework make DH & I just shake our heads. Like recently, he's started learning long multiplication. Ok, no problem. Today I was looking over how he does it and it just baffled me. They have him making some kind of grid and doing the work. It's really odd and looks lik way more work than the method I learned. Is anyone else seeing this? Is it something new? Am I just too old? Any input is appreciated.

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Join the NEW math world........lol
It is the new way, they dont want to teach them the old way, but they do come out with the same answer. Don't ask me why??? I just follow directions.

Actually most kids have a hard time with the adding and carrying the numbers. This way they can see the mistakes instead if re-doing the whole problem.

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"Madison AnnMarie " 6/13/2008

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I have a 4th grader.

And no, he seems to be being taught and doing it the "old fashioned" way!

Of course, he's teacher is an older teacher(I'd say she's been teaching 20 yrs or more)--maybe that's the reason???

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

also, when they get older they will convert back to the OLD way...... I'm teaching 6-8 Handicap kids the new way. I also do the old way, wait until the divide! yahoooooo!

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"Madison AnnMarie " 6/13/2008

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"And no, he seems to be being taught and doing it the "old fashioned" way!"

I was a reenactment School marm in an 1892 one room school house. We taught a bit of most of the subjects and this is the way we taught math. We had found it in a math "textbook" from the 1890s

It REALLY confused me but the kids really grabbed onto it for some reason

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Nutella,....
proving some of the best things in life come in a jar.

I'm surprised the teacher is teaching the old way......... according to state law and rules, teachers have to teach the way the state recommends. Maybe they don't have that where you are Marilynk.

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"Madison AnnMarie " 6/13/2008

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It is called lattice multiplication. If you google it, you will find out more info. A lot of newer teachers teach it that way. To be honest, it doesn't make sense to me.

I don't teach my students to multiply that way, but I do teach them to divide differently than I was taught. I can't explain on here though. Wish I could draw a picture lol!

The new method was used when DS (7th grade) was in the 5th grade to teach those that hadn't caught on the old fashioned way. The teacher explained it to me and I thought it was one of the silliest things I'd ever seen. Seems to be the long way around to me.

I hate it. My DS (now 8 and in 3rd grade), started learning it in 2nd grade (he's advanced in math) and I was like "Huh" when he showed me his work. Luckily, he knows how to do it cuz it's all greek to me. It seems they are adding extra steps into the work these days (and I'm not that old!)

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Thanks for the proper name airbornearmywife, I googled it as I'd never heard of it. I have 4th and 5th grade DDs and our school must not teach this method at all because I've never seen it. I would think if you were learning it all from the beginning, it would be as easy to catch onto as the method we learned IF you could draw a good lattice LOL!!

Oh my gosh, I just watched a podcast presentation of lattice multiplication - yikes how complicated. I'm so glad my 4th grade DD is learning it the old fashioned way!!

I have a 5th and 6th grader and have never heard of it. It sure looks like it takes a lot more time then just doing regular multiplication.

oh my gosh what a joke with this new way. I am hoping my 3rd will not be learning this way. they have already started learning it the old way.

You are welcome My students are REALLY struggling with math this year, and a friend suggested I show them this way. I agree with what others have said- it is a lot more work. Most of my kids just don't know their times tables, which hurts them. We just keep practicing over and over with what we have learned (got to love spiral review!)

My 3rd grade son brought home some algebra problems the other day where x= a number and I did it "old school" way, and he showed me a process of elimination way??? I still don't get his way??

They understand it, I guess that's all that matters.

Here's a link to lattice multiplication for us parents to start studying

Lattice Method -- from Wolfram MathWorld

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I appreciate all your input! Especially with the name so I could look into it a little more. This way looks like so much more work than the way I learned. And I agree that it's good if he at least understands it, whether I do or not. I think what I am most concerned about is if this is a method of teaching that he will see in his upcoming years? If he leaves the 4th grade and next year or in 2 years he's faced with the "old" (I'm only 30, don't feel like my way is old) way, won't learning this lattice thing have done more harm than good? Anyway, thanks again for your responses and for listening to me rant a little.

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Unless the whole school district embraces the lattice method I can see the students having problems when they get to middle or jr. high. It is a very involved method, IMHO, and would use it only if the student was having problems with the traditional, old fashion method.

I can't get the page to come up, so I don't completely understand what you're talking about.

Last night, my 4th grader came home with graph paper so he could do his long multiplication. It actually seemed like a pretty smart thing. It made him keep his numbers aligned in a way he's not apt to do 'freestyle". lol

Yeppers - that is the lattice method.

Are anyones children learning the partial products method? (the columns aren't prperly aligned in my examples)

245
x23
4000
800
100
600
120
+15
5635

Versus the traditional
245
x23
735
+4900
5635

Between lattice and partial products my 5th graders (Learning support) are a mess when we try to teach them the traditional method.

Wait until you see partial products division!!!

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My youngest ds learned this method in 4th gr. He's now in 7th and is struggling with multiplication/ division. He's pre-algebra, so needs to know the old method. I home school now and had to spend two weeks helping him relearn both. As far as I'm concerned, this way should be a last ditch method to use.
Judy

My DS is in 2nd grade and they are learning addition & subtraction with two digits (like 27+39). My DS showed me how they taught him to do it and I am still shaking my head about that.

It drives me nuts that they have to come up with some 'new' way that is supposed to make it easier for them and then next year, they will go back and teach them the 'old fashioned' way of carrying the '1'. I don't understand why they just can't wait until kids are ready to learn the 'regular' way and not change the method.

They did this with spelling -- the first 1/2 of first grade, they stressed phonetic spelling (spelling how you hear the word), then, all of a sudden they switched to correct spelling. My poor DS -- he had just mastered the phonetic spelling and then he got everything marked wrong because now they wanted him to spell correctly <ugh>.

Sarah.......mom to Jason & Devin

Ok...this is NOT the way we teach in the One Room Schoolhouse, but it is basically the same thing using more of a pyramid then the lattice

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Nutella,....
proving some of the best things in life come in a jar.

I teach in a private school. I am a old teacher. I teach 5th grade math. I had not heard of the lattice method because our 4th and 5th grades were not self contained and I did not teach math. For the past 3 years, I have taught math. I teach it the "old fashion way". We either method student need to know their math facts. If they don't they will have problems both ways.

I think partial products is the "new" way I have taught my kids to do division.

graph paper is an easy way to keep them neat... but I have another hint (shhhhh it is a secret- j/k)


I have my messy kids turn their paper sideways. That way each place value has its own row. Keeps them organized every time.

Shhhh That is a "old" method, that I used over 25 years ago when I taught 4th grade math.

The neat thing about education is that if you wait a while, the old becomes new again!

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