About the Curriculum Resources and Guides

Honestly speaking , this was the first time I was exposed to the math curriculum books , guides and resources in Canada. Since math has been my favourite topic to teach besides English, I had a good time to look at the math curriculum. It was interesting to see the same old things I used to do with the children way back home, the numbers, patterns of numbers and shapes, measurement, estimation etc. The texts seemed very interesting for grades 1 and 2 but grade 3 onwards I felt they had a language which was confusing even for me and the problems could have been written in easily understood words. A striking difference between the curriculum we had way back home and here is that it seems to be easy here than home. The students back home, in kindergarten do counting up to 100, grade 1 do counting up to 500 and grade 2 do it up to 1000. By the time a child is done with grade 2, they know addition (with carry over) and subtraction (with borrow) up to thousandth places. They can do place value up to thousandths and multiplication up to hundredth place X one digit, expansion and contraction of numbers etc. It was interesting to note the kindergarten books , they were so colourful and simple. I long to see how these topics are taught in classes and how different the classrooms are , what activities are used by teachers to engage the children and how they ensure that the outcomes are achieved. 

I must say , I miss going for observation days. 

YOUCUPED

YouCuped is a non profit site and makes sense the way it makes us aware and awakened about the state of facts. Jo Boaler, the CEO of YouCuped states that the myth that math is a gift that some students have and some don't , is one of the most damaging ideas that pervades education in the US (actually, everywhere in the world) and that stands in the way of students’ math achievement. The best thing is that the site for the first thing begins on a positive note saying that all children have the potential to learn and how children's ideas about their learning can help them do great at math. This makes us see our role as parents and teachers (which he makes clear later) how teachers can make a difference. Another good thing is that the site provides tips for parents. I know a lot of parents want to help their children at home with math but cannot do so firstly because the children are so attached and tuned to the teachers ways that they would not just take any other explanation or solution from anyone else (even their mom or dad). Secondly, the parents also do not want to confuse the child explaining in their ways which may be different from the teacher. Thirdly, the parents not being professionals at teaching may be at their wits end as to how to explain a thing to their seven year old in a way that he/she understand it properly. Before anything else, it prepares the parents to help their children with math by giving them useful tips to follow while working with children. The site also provides some wonderful games to play with math and what's more, it lists some good math Apps which anyone can access anytime on phones or computers.The site however is not fully functional but promises to provide free and affordable K-12 mathematics resources and professional development for educators and parents.The fully operational site states to be filled with tasks, materials, and video ideas. It will  also provide help with moving to teaching math in a more engaging way with examples of the Common Core Standards, featuring the math worked on in today's innovative companies. The website states that once YouCubed is fully up and running it will  provide customized professional development plans that would include video, resources and workshop options designed to improve math teaching and learning.