What's new about the new math curriculum?

New provincial math curriculum for grades 1 to 8 was introduced last June. You’re probably wondering what’s really new about the math curriculum and how these changes will affect your child.

Grade-by-grade expectations organized into main topics

One new feature is grade-by-grade expectations - specific statements about what students should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. All of the expectations are mandatory, and they are the same across Ontario.

Read the expectations for your child’s grade - and for the grade before and after. That will give you a more complete picture. We know children learn math in a developmental way - not every student learns the skills in exactly the sequence outlined in the curriculum. Even though the new curriculum gives expectations for each grade, it does not show how any one skill develops and increases in sophistication from grade to grade.

Are the expectations more 'rigorous'?

The new curriculum shifts some content to earlier grades, to prepare students for the new four-year high school. For example, grade 6 expectations now include rate, ratio and per cent. These concepts were previously taught in grades 7 to 9. One of the challenges is that in grade 6, for example, learning rate and ratio depends on first learning concepts and skills that have been moved to a previous grade. Teachers will have to help students fill in those gaps.

The new curriculum is also more rigorous because students will need to learn more math. But it won’t be more of the same math. There are five "strands" or major areas of math knowledge and skill:

number sense and numeration
measurement
geometry and spatial sense
patterning and algebra
data management and probability

The new curriculum still requires students to memorize necessary math facts and to perform traditional "paper and pencil" math procedures (such as long division). But it’s not good enough anymore to just memorize - students need to understand the concept. They will gain the more complex skills of estimating and doing mental math. They will investigate, solve problems, use technology and other resources, think critically and apply what they learn to other subjects and to real-life situations.

Problem solving is the focus of the whole math program. After all, the reason we learn math in the first place is to allow us to solve problems in real life.

What will be happening in your child's math class?

Here is what your child’s math classroom should look like, sound like and feel like when the new curriculum is successfully in place:

Work is done both individually and in small groups - much like work task and problem solving in the real world.
Students explore and investigate to discover math concepts and solve problems.
They talk and write about math, explaining their problem solving strategies and solutions to others.
Students use words, graphs, diagrams, equations, tables and charts to explain their math work.
In their work, students use math tools - rulers, compasses, protractors, calculators, computers and other technology.
Students use concrete objects - anything from blocks and beans to interlocking cubes and geoboards.
Teachers use textbooks, resource books, computer software, newspapers, picture books and other resources to help students learn math.
There is extensive opportunity to use all strands of math to solve problems - in math class and in other subjects.
Activities involve students in the mathematics of everyday life.
Assignments vary in length and complexity - from simple paper and pencil assignments to activities that take several days.
Students enjoy doing math.

When you read this description - or when you visit your child’s class - it probably doesn’t look like the math class you remember from your school days. Why isn’t your child learning what you did when you were in school, and why is the teacher using different methods?

Well, students are learning the math you learned - just in a different way. Students still learn their multiplication tables and how to do long division on paper. But students learn those skills differently than you probably did. Instead of drills and repetitive practice, students develop math skills through the process of solving concrete, "real life" problems.

But students today also have to learn more math than you did. Here’s one way to look at it. At the beginning of this century, it was possible for mathematicians to know all of mathematics. By 1950, even the most brilliant scholars could know only 20 per cent. By the year 2000, that will be only a fraction of one per cent.

That’s the challenge. The good news is that, if you show a grade 1 student of today how to use a graphing calculator, that child can probably answer 90 per cent of the questions in the math textbook you used in grade10.

And what about calculators?

It’s important for you to know that in the new provincial curriculum, students are expected to begin using calculators and computers in math from the time they start school. The Peel board has new operating procedures for calculator use. Your child’s school can give you a copy.

How do we know students are learning math?

With the new math curriculum, teachers will continue to measure student progress in math through "performance-based" methods. That means the teacher looks not only at a student’s "answer" to a math problem, but the problem-solving approach the student used to come up with the answer.

Assessment is done through more than tests and quizzes. Teachers continually observe students engaged in activities and collect assessment data based on their observations. Assessment includes assignments, projects, portfolios, numeracy scales - and much more.

The purpose of assessment is to help the student learn and succeed. For this reason, we know assessment works best when it’s part of the whole learning program, not just something tacked onto the end of a lesson. Your child’s math teacher can give you more information about the strategies she or he uses to measure student progress.

What are teachers already doing to implement the new math curriculum?

Teachers, schools and the Peel board are responsible for beginning to use the new provincial curriculum this year. Here are some of the things we’re already doing to meet that requirement:

Teachers are attending evening workshops to learn more about the curriculum. They are developing new learning units for their classes, based on the new expectations. They are using new teaching and assessment strategies to help students meet the expectations.
Many schools are buying new classroom resources for math - everything from texbooks and student activity books to calculators and computer software.
The Peel board is doing presentations and holding workshops for teachers and parents about the new math curriculum.

You have an important role to play

Here are some of the ways you can help your child be successful in learning math.

Look at the curriculum. Copies are available in your child’s school. You can also request your free copy by calling the Ministry of Education and Training, 416-326-5300 or 1-800-668-9938, or on the internet, www.edu.gov.on.ca.
Your school also has many other resources about math education.
The Peel board has done presentations to many parent groups about the new math curriculum. Talk to your principal if you wish a presentation at your school.
Speak with your child’s teacher about what is happening in your child’s math class and how you can help at home. Visit your child’s class to see today’s math classroom in action.
Encourage your children to talk about what they are learning in math and how they solve math problems. Look for applications of math at home - everything from measuring ingredients for a recipe to comparative price shopping at the mall.
Your feelings about how well you did in math when you were a student may influence your child. Keep a positive attitude about your child’s ability to succeed in math - emphasize to your child that success in math comes from "hard work" rather than from "being smart."
For more information about the math program of the Peel District School Board, please talk to your school or call the Program Services department, 905-890-1010, ext. 2546/1-800-668-1146, ext. 2546.

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