Parents shouldn't be mystified about what their kids are learning in school. No wonder teachers and parents have trouble with these reforms. The teaching that parents most likely hear about is conducted by their children's peers. The second complaint centers on the downgrading of basic skills. Students who mastered the 16 manipulations embedded in this knowledge, including when and how to employ them in solving problems, were in good shape to move on to higher math.
Basic skills are now de-emphasized.
They represent the facts-based learning that math reformers abhor. Memorization isn't an option because it's boring. It's even inferred that computational skills are becoming unnecessary with calculators in wide use. Besides, math reformers argue, the insistence that students learn these skills before progressing in the curriculum condemns countless youngsters to a low-level, repetitious math program. The problem with this argument is that it's based on conjecture.