NEW New Math

It's back to school, and if you need to help with math homework, good luck...

Don't feel bad if you don't get it. It's not just new math, it's the NEW new math. Some teachers seem to love it, some parents, not so much. Here's the general idea. Memorization is no longer emphasized, nor are the mechanics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, the way most of us learned. Now, kids are encouraged to use language and problem solving skills to find answers, and in many cases, they don't even have to be exact!

Those in favor of the NEW new math say it's not the math that's new, it's the teaching method. Kids are more engaged with it now. And if you don't like it, you're not alone. Some parents are outraged, and some mathematicians hate new math, citing it won't prepare students for college math.

Source: Dr. Sylvain Cappell, NYU Courant School of Mathematics