Why parents can't do maths today?

Long division and long multiplication have been replaced in schools by chunking and gridding. While the new methods are meant to make maths easier, parents have been left scratching their heads, writes Rob Eastaway.

I used to think I had a good understanding of maths - until my daughter started going to primary school. That's when I discovered a revolution had taken place in the way arithmetic is taught, and there were techniques and terminology that meant nothing to me.

Let me give you a flavour. In most primary schools, maths lessons are called numeracy. Children work using number lines and learn their number bonds, they fill in Carroll Diagrams, and they calculate using the grid method and something that carries the peculiar name of "chunking".

Like most parents - numerate or otherwise - my first reaction to this was annoyance. Why have they changed it? Now my child gets cross when I try to explain using my methods. Is this why some people reckon the country's maths is going to the dogs?

I decided to find out more, and ended up writing a book aimed at parents, like me, who wanted to have a better understanding of how young children learn maths these days.

Researching the book was a revelation.
What became clear is that at school I was one of the lucky ones. Being strong with numbers, I had no problem learning the black-box techniques of long multiplication and long division, and usually got the right answer.

But for a huge proportion of children, these techniques were a meaningless chore. Ask most adults today to carry out a long multiplication or division sum and they will look blankly at you.

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Courtesy: bbc.co.uk