EDMONTON — An Alberta mother who believes the current method of teaching mathematics doesn’t add up has brought forward a petition that calls for a return to basics in the province’s classrooms.
The petition bearing thousands of signatures was delivered Tuesday to Alberta’s deputy education minister by Nhung Tran-Davies, a Calmar resident who says her daughter is in Grade 3 and has been struggling with math.
Tran-Davies says she’s convinced students are not learning basic addition and subtraction because of changes to the curriculum and she wants a fast return to multiplication tables, long division and memorization.
Christine Henzel, director of mathematics for the Alberta Department of Education, says a new model of teaching math that was introduced in Alberta in 2008 acknowledges there are several ways to get an answer.
A redesigned curriculum that will include mathematics is expected to be in place for spring 2016.
Henzel says input from teachers, education experts, industry and parents will influence how it’s shaped.