If Phonics and Decoding Are Gold Standard, What Is the Maths Equivalent?

[Highlander]

Hmm?

Direct instruction some info. here is one of the most effective ways of teachnig Maths (google Project Follwthrough for fascinating history of its use in largest educational experiment ever) but not used widely in British schools, more is the pity.

cheers moondog.

we have a meeting at school next week, and they're going to tell us how the school is going to teach maths. Quite interested as I loved Maths at school, but paradoxically I was utterly shit at it! (I was devastated when I only got a C for O level)

moondog, thanks for that very interesting link. It would be great to know if there are any course books that break all of the steps down in this way. This could be very useful for a pupil to use as a self-study tool with help from a parent

Direct instruction is a teaching method that is used across subjects and is not only applicable only to mathematics. Teaching phonics is to some extent Direct instruction.
Children are encouraged to engage more in enquiry based learning and problem solving plays a big part in the curriculum.
There is a new publication due which is expected to be the maths equivalent of the governments phonics program.

This is the website for National Association of DI
Tremendous people.
Biggest names in it are Zig Engelmann and Michale Maloney. Both amazing people-websites look folksy but don't be fooled.These guys know theri shit as they say (Engelmann very involved in Project Followthrough)
Maloney does a lot with home education too so precedent for using it in this way. He has a regular spot on Canadian radio and publishes some incredible research. I am going to be hearing him speak in the States later this year and can't wait.

I recommend this book very highly to anyone interested in evidence based practice in education (one would assume everyone interested in education is, but they aren't). It's tremendous and a highly enjoyable read.

moondog do you have any UK based evidence as the school system here is very different as you will appreciate

It's what I am involved in at present MRZ with some small scale stuff, but it doesn't seem to be used that widely to my knowledge (and I don't work in education directly).
There are some really inspiring people in UK though.

Do you know of Jonathon Solity (Ed. Psych) and his work with Early Reading Research? They use a lot of these methods and have some fabulous data too.

Yes I've heard him speak at my LA SEN conference and have read some of his work on reading and the myth of special education

Ah, interesting.

I think he is coming to our uni soon.

I use Maloney's Maths and English products (not affiliated to him in any way, either professionally or comercially)with my own child as I do not trust her school to teach her these things properly and I am very impressed indeed. She has learnt a huge amount and really enjoyed it too.

moondog, is this the Michael Moloney of teachyourchildrenwell.
His products look great, but would I be right in thinking that they don't cover the entire primary syllabus e.g. measures and shape etc. Also do they extend into secondary school level mathematics up to A level?

Yes, it is he.
I'm not sure Calig.
For a start, he is Canadian so obviously looking at it from perspective of whatever they do over there I would imagine.

At this stage, I am familiar with its use with kids under 10, a lot of whom have SEN (althoguh his products not specifically designed for this group).

As I sadi, I'm not a teacher, so don't have in-depth knowledge of syllabus.

moondog, thanks for the info. I will keep an eye on that website, and see if he expands the syllabus covered, but as you say, sadly he's not likely to gear it to UK needs.

Are yuo linked to Maloney website?

This is revamped and save in favourites for me but when you google the old one comes up which is truly shocking. Needs some serious work!

thanks, I was going via google. This new one looks a lot better

Isn't part of the issue with using DI in UK schools that it gets best results used in a class of children of similar levels of starting ability (or something along those lines) which works well in countries where moving up or down out of a chronological year group is commonplace but less well in our highly age-focused school structure?

(Which isn't to say that DI isn't a good idea, just that introducing it here would require a radical overhaul of the organisation of our educational system, and would be problematic to do on a school-by-school basis).

Well, point of DI is to group children of similar ability together which is a bone of contention for some people. Personally I have no problem with this. less able children don't improve by some sort of magical osmosis by being put with more able children!
They need to start off from where they are at and work through a syllabus step by step. rather like building a house-if the foundations aren't solid, why on earth start to put in the windows and roof!
DI used best hand in hand with my other great passion Precision Teaching.

I use Precision teaching with my class and SEN groups

Oh do you?
Tell us more of what you think and how you chart/take data. I love it.

I use it in a very simple form www.aminuteaday.co.uk/
the child has to give 30 correct answers in a minute to move onto the next sheet. The adult working with the child records how many achieved each attempt and the child's target is to improve on the previous attempt. Because they practise daily it becomes automatic and for many children this "overlearning" helps to develop instant recall of number facts (I use the number version only)

Mrz it that similar to the approach Kumon Maths takes?

I'm afraid I know very little about Kumon maths other than they do lots of worksheets and we often have to pick up the pieces after children have attended.