Leap Year Day – A day that happens every fourth year to keep our clocks on pace with the rotation of the Earth around the sun. This is also the day my Grandfather gladly told us to celebrate as it was his birthday.

My Grandpa was born in 1898 and had seen many things in this world of ours. True this is the year 2008 and no he is not 110 years old as he passed away in 1996 from Alzheimer’s. He was the adventurous one of his family. Some would call him the black sheep of the family but he was just a bit eccentric in his quiet way.

He enjoyed his daily beer and his pipe for the majority of his 98 years on this Earth. He was never without the lack of a desire of a good laugh. When you got to talk with him (when Grandma was distracted), you gleaned much wisdom from his travels around these United States seeing everything from the world transitioning from horse and buggy to cars, the development of the airplane, and space travel. So much wisdom was to be learned from him.

But the day to be remembered was Leap Year Day – his birthday. He would remind us every year that he wasn’t as old as the calendar said as his birthday was only every four years.

That was the case until 1997 when we got to look at his birth certificate. We should have seen this coming. All 3 of his children, his 3 in-law children and I forget how many of us grandchildren should have seen this coming. After all, my last name is fairly unique only because my Grandpa changed the t to a d on our last name because he didn’t like how the t looked.

What awaited our eyes on his birth certificate? He was born well into March.

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There are a large number of issues considered to be a disability. Whether it is one of a myriad of potential physical disabilities ranging from temporary to degenerative to fatal, emotional based disabilities, learning disabilities or cognitive disabilities, there is one that stands above them all.

This disability is the most common disability held by many. There is no medication for this the most debilitating disability of all. I have taught children with Emotional Disturbances and a large portion of them have this. I’ve taught many Cognitively Disabled children and they do not have it. Those with Learning Disabilities are varied.

Men and women could be said to have it equally and it is not genetic. Age is not a factor either as it can strike just about anyone except the youngest. As I’ve said this disability is not based on genetics. There is no medication for it. But a cure does exist except the cure is hard to come by.

So what is this greatest disability that can ruin all aspects of your life? Some will know the answer immediately, while others will never be able to answer the question. The greatest disability in life is a bad attitude.

A bad attitude is not genetic based. There is no medicine for a bad attitude. There is no excuse for a bad attitude. But there is a cure. The cure is change. You choose what you are exposed to. You choose what information goes in your mind from what you watch, what you read, who you listen to and who you hang out with. Garbage in, garbage out. Do you want to get rid of a bad attitude?

Then you must be willing to do the hardest thing that a person can do.

Change.

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When the going gets tough in the academic arena, there are a few options. You can spend more and more time trying to figure out the topic on your own. There is the option of hoping your friends know what they are doing, have the time and the skill in teaching you. Or if a topic is really over your head due to a communication gap with the teacher, challenges with how the textbook was written or any other reason, then it is time to call in the pros.

Having been a tutor in the past and still doing private tutoring off and on today, I know it is useful to parents and kids to have resources to lean back on. So if you can arrange for a private tutor to help your child at school who has a teaching degree that would be the most ideal especially if you could access the pool of tutors from online.

Club Z! does exactly that involving degreed teachers and professionals that desire to help children with the curriculum they have in front of them. One on one tutoring in a subject of need at a time of the parents’ choosing is a valuable tool to be utilized.

So if anyone who is taking a class needs that little extra help to translate something tough into an easier way of understanding, this is a website to check out.

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The phrase is supposed to be “when you gotta go, you gotta go.” Normally that is the excuse to make a run for the bathroom or dash behind a tree, but not on the doorstep of the police department.

That'll teach him to tinkle outside

APPLETON, Wis. - An apparently drunk man picked the wrong place to tinkle. Appleton police arrested the man Friday afternoon after he reportedly relieved himself in front of the police department.

The 40-year-old was cited for public urination and jailed on a probation violation.

A preliminary breath test indicated a blood-alcohol level four times the legal limit, police said.

Information from: The Post-Crescent

Now there is a way he could have had protection from the police. It just DEPENDS on if the dude would use a little forethought before getting blitzed out of his shoes. Given how hammered this guy got the only answer would be the Maximum Protection he could afford.

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In my time as a teacher, I spent most of my time in the Special Education classrooms working with those with Emotional Disturbances and often the Cognitive Disabilities classroom. Those with physical disabilities were placed based on their intellectual capabilities. How many of these disabilities of the mental, emotional or physical sort was preventable is something I would not fully know.

Some of those disabilities are genetic but some of those could have been prevented. Perhaps a few were caused by improper prenatal care, some by poor parenting choices, and some created by malpractice. This is something I am all too familiar with as I was born with club feet and a combination of doctor errors starting when I wasn’t even 1 year old and others later in life. Speaking from experience, being proactive and taking preventative measures is far better than being reactive and spending a life of adjustments. Life is tough enough, no need to give a child more challenges to start with.

My sister-in-law is one who has suffered permanent brain damage courtesy of an error by a nurse. But there are other preventable forms of brain damage such as Kernicterus. Kernicterus is caused by untreated jaundice when a baby is born. My nephew was born with jaundice but the causes would generate a new entry. Fortunately for him, the jaundice was treated and that has not caused further issues.

Children with Kernicterus are given an unnecessary challenge much as I was. A good doctor similar to the one who made the error in my infancy readily admits to their error. He was forgiven by my parents as he was truly sorry for the error. But there is medical staff, such as that nurse that started the brain damage in my sister-in-law, guilty of incompetence and need to be removed from the profession for the greater good of all. A career path for a shortened life is more than a fair exchange.

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I promise, this is the last topic on fractions then I will move on. However, this is also the simplest one to demonstrate just how embedded fractions are in our lives in America and how easy it is to teach fractions to children.

Before I dive into this, let me comment a tad about my first grade daughter. Part of the great power of homeschooling it tailoring lessons to meet the exact needs and learning style of the child. As such, we introduced fractions to her as part of her curriculum. It took a total of 30 minutes, 2 pieces of folded paper, 2 coins, a clock, and a bowl of water for her to grasp the relationship of 1, ½, 1/3, and ¼. I’ll explain it later.

How do fractions relate to physical education? Quite simply, just about every aspect of P.E. involves fractions and can easily be modified to give young children a solid basis in mathematics. For example, the majority of sports involve a combination of periods of play within one whole game. In baseball, there are 9 innings unless it is the Little League level where there are 6. The game is not complete until all the innings are played or the game is called on account of bad weather. So 3 out of 9 innings is not a complete game but represents only 1/3^rd of a game.

In many other P.E. games, a required number of players are needed for a team or the team is not complete. Two out of three team members is not enough. 2/3rds of a team can’t compete. The examples go on and on but the easiest method to introduce fractions is the sports just about all the kids know. Soccer, basketball and football are all well known. Fraction terms are used throughout all of them but are so obvious, they are overlooked many times.

Soccer is played in two 45 minute halves. Football and basketball are played in quarters. Football is well known for its half-time. All of these lead to lessons with a clock which helps to reinforce half-past, quarter after, quarter to methods of reading a clock. Not all clocks are digital.

These terms can then be brought back full circle with another basic elementary math subject being money. Half-dollars, quarters and the fractions of how many nickels, dimes or pennies in a dollar all play a role in demonstrating how embedded fractions are in our lives. It also brings math closer to home so you can see the numbers.

The next step is to bring it back to sports. How much money is that athlete’s 6 year contract worth? What fraction is (s)he being paid each year? It goes on and on.

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Living near Houston apparently hasn’t helped Roger “The Rocket” Clemens learn a thing or two about a game named for his state. Texas No Limit Hold’em is the name of the game which Roger has flopped.

Whether you like reading the sports pages on MSN, Yahoo or ESPN they have all pretty much came to the same conclusion. Roger entered into this with a strong desire to make a big ‘deal’ of it. He ‘played his hand’ ‘in the dark’ with the attitude as if he had ‘pocket rockets.’ (2 aces)

Headed to Congress he tried to schmooze the professionals by acting like a ‘big slick’. (Ace, King) In the end though, they ‘called his bluff’ and sent his reputation down the drain in a ‘royal flush.’ The greater part of wisdom would have followed the advice in Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler.”

“You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money, when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin', when the dealin's done.”

Unfortunately, when it came to Roger’s ‘turn’ he had an Are You Thinking? ‘All-in moment.’ With 5 members of the FBI and an IRS member in the room, Roger Clemens ‘checked’ his ‘down cards’ to find a 2-8 off suit. Perhaps in review, he’ll realize that at the beginning of this ordeal the better option would have been to ‘fold’ and “walk away.” Instead, he may be looking at a trip down ‘the river.’

Anyone want to lay odds on the future outcome?

As a side note, the above clip is cool considering the time it takes for the research and synching it up with the right words in a song. Well done to thewhitewhale70 but to Roger I’d reference him to the last line of Rogers’ refrain. “There’ll be time enough for countin’ (years in the pen), when the dealin’s done.”

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In this time of politics, comments get thrown about by all sides making accusations of this and that. Some are mildly entertaining, some actually make a point. However, sometimes someone chooses to write something down they never should have. For those moments, we may need an alarm in a computer or keyboard that goes off when someone is about to write something stupid. *Whoop, whoop, STEP AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD, you are about to hit enter on something really stupid.”

But then again, I wouldn’t get the ammunition for this Are You Thinking Award. Enough of that let us get to the fun.

On a conservative political blog named Wake Up America, the author mpinkeyes wrote an entry on Ron Paul Blasts John McCain at CPAC Convention. Dr. Ron Paul does not find John McCain to be a true conservative and said so. The same feelings are held by mpinkeyes. Okay, no problem there. The opinions were well stated. But a commentator named Wyomingjohnnie should have heeded the warning from his computer. Dang, it wasn’t installed yet. Well, this is what he wrote:

“Wyomingjohnnie, on February 9th, 2008 at 7:15 am Said:

Bruce Majors, a Washington DC male hooker, is endorsing Ron Paul for his own illegal designs.

Bruce believes sex with minors of the same gender is a right under the Constitution, and is stating this publically

If this is the platform others wish to enbrace for Dr Paul, I will cast my vote elsewhere.

How does a group like this support such a perversion of truith ethis values and the law?”

Yes, all of those spelling errors are exactly as they were posted. Now just a few questions for this brain surgeon in Wyoming. (I would like to give my deepest apologies to the residents of Wyoming for this bad press.)

1) Do you realize the candidate makes the platform for people to embrace or reject? This goes back to remedial Social Studies.

2) Do you realize Dr. Paul is mainly running to get a message out and win re-election of his House seat?

3) Do you realize Dr. Paul is mathematically nearly eliminated from the Republican candidacy so whether or not you cast your vote is meaningless?

4) Do you realize Wyoming has a small population with few delegates and votes on 3/8/2008 by the time when McCain will likely have the nomination locked up?

5) Would you take the word of Charles Manson on a political candidate too? Would Manson the mass-murderer have any say in embracing a platform for a candidate?

6) Why are you listening to the ravings of a male hooker in Washington DC about his desire for legalized homosexual statutory rape in the first place?

7) Who gives a crap what Bruce Majors believes? If Schmo Schmuck endorses Hillary and believes all found guilty of statutory rape should be castrated, would that guide your decision making on Hillary?

8) Congratulations on winning your award. What is the name of the award you ask? Are You Thinking?

Dear Johnnie, Please check back in to school and finish your Social Studies class.

Now some students may not have had the best social studies lesson plans, but everyone should know a thing or two about politics. Understanding how politics has affected US history can help you make informed voting decisions, and there is plenty of online learning resources that can get you informed.

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So what do flatulence and impudence have in common? First, they are almost spelled the same. They are one letter shy of being the same length. Flatulence is a normal bodily function. Impudence is not though. But when the two meet, then there is trouble.

Those two met in the form of some 8^th grade boys causing a disruption by thinking it was fun to let’em rip when they thought it would cause the greatest reaction. Does this surprise me at all? Nope. I’ve taught at the Jr. High level enough to expect anything from 7^th and 8^th grade boys. But that is exactly what happened in at Camden-Rockport Middle School.

The informal school newsletter written by the eighth grade claims a new ban was put into place.

“According to this week's "Fire Cracker" newsletter though, an informal eighth-grade publication, the joke's on the boys as the penalty for "intentional farting" is now a detention.

"Strange, but true, thanks to a bunch of 8th grade boys, intentional farting has been banned from CRMS," the newsletter said. "It started out as a funny joke and eventually turned into a game. This is the first rule at CRMS that prevents the use of natural bodily functions. The penalty for intentional farting is a detention, so keep it to yourself!"”

That isn’t totally true either as the administration deems any disruptive behavior as subject to a detention. One might think the author of the “update” is using the power of the pen to dissuade what they are finding to be repulsive. I can’t blame them but if they want a future in responsible journalism, they need to get their facts straight.

Is any of this new? Again, no this is rather normal for the 7^th to 8^th grade levels. Way back when I was in 8^th grade in 1986, a group I knew of hung out in a little used area of the building before classes began. Some of the boys thought it would be fun to spit over the railing down the stairwell to see how big of a splat they could get on the stair. Don’t ask why, it was junior high. It all came to an end when one of the boys got a big load ready and let it drop only for it to land on the head of a teacher just starting to walk up the stairs. He was busted and got a detention for it.

But it wasn’t a normal detention. He was required to stay in the office after school until he could fill up a vial from the science department full of spit with no assistance of a drink of water. He couldn’t do it and vowed to not spit again. Sounds like a few boys need a gas version of that penalty. But then the ACLU or some parents will sue to keep the disruptive farting rights in place.

But the odds are good that the farting boys may have a date with sophomore initiation. That is if the ACLU doesn't stop that too. At least there is no lawsuit to stop the reputation that will follow them through the last 4 years of school.

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In another method of demonstrating how mathematics, particularly fractions, and music coexist, we can turn to a legendary performer who is coming out of retirement to perform at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Cher is coming out of retirement to perform once again but instead of going out on tour, people can go to see her. I would imagine that takes a little bit of the toll off of the body. But where does this factor into math lessons and fractions?

In a math and social studies combined with music research project, you can lead a 4-6^th grade class in discovering a load of interesting details on Cher and Caesars Palace. Start it off by dividing the class up into groups equal to the number of computers you have at your disposal for research.

One group or set of groups will be assigned the task of finding the total number of songs Cher has recorded. Then they need to follow it up how many of the individual songs became hits. From there, the group is to report to the class what fraction of her songs per album and what fraction of her songs in Cher’s entire body of work became hits. As a future lesson, you can take this data learned by the class to see if it holds true for other performers.

In another group or set of groups, they are assigned to figure out just how many seats are in Caesars Palace divided up amongst the three levels and 26 sections. They are to report to the class on the fractions of what seats are available at which level, side, center, or any of the additional parameters involved.

In the last group, they are assigned to find out how much revenue per show the production of Cher’s show can generate. Then that revenue total is to be broken down and represented as both a dollar amount and a fraction based on the variety of expenses. Then these groups are to submit their report to the class.

Finally, then comes the reward for this major research project that will incorporate Least Common Multiples, Greatest Common Factors and several other aspects of working with fractions. The reward, if your school lives close enough or is wealthy enough, would be Cher tickets at Caesars Palace. However, the more likely result would be getting a letter and fan package sent to the class from Cher’s PR group and copies of her music.

No one ever said math was boring. One just needs to spice it up to show how important it is.

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Objective: To introduce fractions as they occur in music. To demonstrate the common use of mathematics in other curriculum.

Materials:

Required: The below Youtube video, chalkboard & chalk or pencil and paper

Optional: Metronome, Sheet music of Old Time Rock & Roll, piano

Steps:

1. Introduce to the class the concept of fractions and how common they are in daily life.

2. Play the video the first time. If a piano, sheet music and sufficient piano skill (or the music teacher), play the music the first time on the piano.

3. Draw the first line of music on the board or paper. If the sheet music is available, distribute a copy of the first line or project on an overhead.

4. Set the Metronome to the tempo of Old Time Rock & Roll (I believe 4/4 time)or have one half of the class keep the beat.

5. Have the other portion of the class, tap to the rhythm of the music as a counter. Repeat 2-3 times.

6. Demonstrate how a bar is broken up into 4 beats. Show how the notes are written as whole, half, quarter and eight notes. Demonstrate the fractional equivalent to show how the same notes are represented in math terms.

7. Get ready for an excited class looking to you pointing out more such similarities to prove how math is relevant.

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Yes, you heard that right. This entry marks a 3-for-1 deal of epic proportions of stupidity. This time three awards are given out to three different winners in the same article with comments.

In the article, Ronnie Polaneczky: Oh, brother! “A judge threatened a man with arrest if he didn't pay twin's 17-year-old traffic tix.” Okay, that needs a tidbit of explaining before the Are You Thinking awards start flowing.

“It all started on Aug. 8, 1967, when Edward Stanley Harris and his twin brother, Edwin Shelby Harris, were born. Some might question the wisdom of a mother giving her twin sons, who share the same birth date and home address, such similar names.
…
In the fall of 1992, PennDOT's driver-licensing bureau notified Edward that his license would be suspended for nonpayment of tickets. Realizing that PennDOT had confused him with his twin, Edward went to Philadelphia Traffic Court to straighten things out. The court wrote PennDOT, confirming that the tickets belonged to Edwin, not Edward.

Thankfully, PennDOT withdrew the suspension threat. Nonetheless, between November 1992 and June 2007, the routine repeated itself, like a scene from "Groundhog Day":

Every year or so, PennDOT re-discovered those same, unpaid tickets of Edwin's, decided they belonged to Edward, and threatened to suspend Edward's license. Each time, Edward returned to Traffic Court, and the suspension threat got lifted.

So Edward assumed the same annoying scenario would repeat itself last Nov. 21, when he took his latest license-suspension notice before Traffic Court Judge Willie Adams. According to Edward, Adams wouldn't listen to his saga or review the copious paperwork that Edward supplied to support his innocence.”

So award #1 goes to the Penn DOT for doing the exact same screw up 17 years in a row!!

Award #2 goes to Judge Willie Adams for not know he is supposed to be following the law and reviewing evidence!!

But Award #3 goes to a commentator named gr8fuldeadgrl68 who gave the following ever so insightful comment.

“Anyone ever heard of a social security number? Perhaps this is why they were created.”

I’m thinking Grateful Dead Girl had one too many ‘shrooms that left her seeing pretty colors. Let us give a review of how high this ranked on the intelligent post scale.

Uh gr8fuldeadgrl68, Social Security numbers were created so individuals would have their own government run retirement account.

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As I promised, here is the follow up on the Fractional Dispute article. In the article and the news article from USA Today, Professor Dennis DeTurck is presented to the reader as a person trying to make waves (likely to increase book sales) on why fractions, long division and more are outdated and the teaching of them should be relegated to much later. My article delved into how such concepts, if not satirical, would be damaging to the curriculum of many other fields as well. This article is devoted to the impact it would have on the real world.

Professor DeTurck was quoted as saying the majority of the criticism is “They'd always boil down to: 'What would we do in cooking and carpentry?' Naturally, the comments section was ablaze with posts primarily opposed and some for the stated positions of the professor. One such comment supported the removal of fractions by claiming the objections could be overcome by making the cooking and carpentry tools with decimal based lines as opposed to fraction based.

To put it bluntly, such a concept may ‘solve’ the problem but it is an idea not grounded in reality. Yes, you could change the plumbing, construction, carpentry and cooking tools into decimal base but that will not address a key detail. Who would buy them?

In order to shift to a decimal base or for that matter metric based system, you need the populace to expend large amounts of money in exchanging their current tools and kitchen supplies from a fraction based system to a decimal based system. These tools and kitchen devices are not cheap so good luck explaining to the country why they should make that expenditure when the paychecks are stretched tight already. Let us not ignore the untold thousands of recipes online, handed down family recipe books, or other recipe books either private or public and the construction design equivalents which would need to be converted as well. That would also require a large expenditure of time to correct. Oh, the unit conversion calculations are also based on a strong understanding of fractions as well.

However before you can get the populace to purchase these hypothetical decimal based systems, you first have to convince the businesses to produce them when there is an insufficient market demand to justify it. It is poor business sense to mass produce something people will not purchase. Further, the same business community has millions if not billions of dollars invested in English measurement based or fractional based machinery that they are not going to replace either due to the cost.

For most persons, the need for math ends with cooking, carpentry and tending their personal budget. So how is it possible to crack this triangle for a professor’s whim of delaying the teaching of fractions? You have to get the changes in education to be matched by the demands of the people and the demands of the business segment to match at the same time. However, those who are not in school are reluctant to change and with all of the prior charts I’ve seen those who are not in school far outnumber those in school.

We must always be on our guard to not let knowledge and ideas to guide our path without being tempered in wisdom and common sense. To do so otherwise invites us to be declared the fool who follows the folly of his mind.

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While I agree that long division is possibly focused on too intensely to the point of turning some kids off with the duration of repetition, I whole-hearted disagree with teaching a dependence on the tools of the digital age and his stances on long multiplication and especially fractions. Fractions form a core segment of understanding mathematical concepts and are used in numerous other fields to the point that the delaying of teaching fractions puts an undue burden on other portions of the collective curriculum.

What other curriculum would this be in? Physical education, music, art, social studies, culinary classes, industrial arts, extensive in the sciences, and the majority of the required mathematical classes all use fractions in one form or another. A comprehensive curriculum across the subjects can easily be used to teach and reinforce the usage and concepts of fractions to elementary students. So in the regards of decreasing difficulty or increasing the fun of math, such arguments are weak.

So how are fractions used in those subjects? In physical education, many sports or team based games can easily be turned into lessons on fractions which would be impossible to duplicate to explain decimals. I will include a small lesson in a few days to demonstrate. In music, fractions are an integral part as the beat of the music is in 4/4, ¾, 3/8 rhythmic time with whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth notes all divided up into octaves on the pearly white 88 keys. Art is demonstrated when transferring a picture from a small scale into a larger scale or the ration blends of paints for the desired colors. Culinary and industrial arts are the cooking and carpentry statements which I will delve into in another entry. Sciences all requires the use of fractions as early as 5^th grade when instructions are given for the proper ratios of chemicals to blend for an experiment or other measured results. Come 8^th grade if your skills in fractions are not up to par, the kids are now further behind on comprehending chemistry, physics and biology (anyone remember the Tt and TT gene charts that are in ¼s).

Now how about the actual math itself?

“DeTurck does not want to abolish the teaching of fractions and long division altogether. He believes fractions are important for high-level mathematics and scientific research. But it could be that the study of fractions should be delayed until it can be understood, perhaps after a student learns calculus, he said. Long division has its uses, too, but maybe it doesn't need to be taught as intensely.”

There is a major problem in his concept as so described. First, this would shift the burden of teaching fractions to the music, social studies (think demographic pie charts), science, Art, culinary and industrial curriculum. To me, the shifting of the education of core mathematical abilities only serves to undercut the students and the overall quality of a well-rounded education for them.

Can you wait until after calculus for learning fractions? Again, the answer is no. You need a strong foundation in the application of fractions before taking the prerequisite math courses before calculus and calculus itself. First and foremost, story problems and numerous equations are not represented in decimal form. They are represented with variables into which data needs to be inserted for proper calculations.

So what is the list of math concepts impacted by focusing on decimals and not fractions?

Fractions summarize the fundamental mathematical concept of division. They are the most visual and commonly used term for the division of a unit into parts such as cutting a pizza into enough parts for a group of kids. Ratios and proportions are critical in the understanding of today’s world and are squarely dependent on fractions. The rational root theorem in algebra courses on how to find fractional roots of a polynomial is another example. The entire basis for Trigonometry and Geometry which are required prerequisites for Calculus are founded in fractions. Calculus is based on fractions such as the common definition of a derivative being rise over run. That isn’t even touching differential equations, abstract algebra or statistical analysis and other higher level math courses.

Also, carpentry and cooking are not the only fields where fractions are heavily used. There are the silly professions dealing with pharmaceutical medications such as the nurses who do not take calculus but do inject the proper ratios of medication into your body.

So in summary, I can only hope Professor DeTurck is being satirical. But with his position and history as our guide, I dread someone will take this seriously and mandate it on the masses.

What is your opinion on this?

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As anyone can tell from reading my blog, I am not someone who gets into saying what you need to say to be PC. But I definitely am into using my PC. I also am into sound budgeting and making my dollars go a long ways.

Also, I know the value of training a child on how to tend to their own computer hardware and remove any specter of fear of touching the components. So if you can save hundreds if not over $1,000 on PC Kits then why not if you need to upgrade your computer to a new one.

This can make for an interesting lesson for home schooled kids on computer electronics and budgeting. Since ground shipping is free, then it impacts the pocketbook all the less. With the current uncertainties in the economy, pinching every penny to relocate to savings or debt reductions is a wise move.

Home schoolers both parents and teachers can turn this into a lower cost tool for school without spanking too hard the budgetary pool. If you the parent do not know what to do, then you can turn to the professionals, your kids.

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In a current article found here, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania Dennis DeTurck is making waves with a declaration that decimals should be taught over fractions to elementary students. Also, long division, calculation of square roots and by-hand multiplication of long numbers are also on his target list of things he has declared are obsolete in this digital age.

His position has been described as ranging from satirical to absurd and many opinions in between. His primary response to criticism is "They'd always boil down to: 'What would we do in cooking and carpentry?' "

Since he has a book being published this year, all of this uproar is obviously generating cheap press for his material and will line his pockets handsomely. If this is a satirical attempt to generate discussion on mathematical pedagogy, then I would take pause at the wisdom of making grandiose statements and publishing controversial material. The danger is if one of the top brass in the US Dept. of Education or any other state curriculum members misinterpret his intentions and get a bright idea to try and mandate a potentially damaging curriculum change. It happened 150 years ago and led many astray. In today’s political environment combined with his credentials, anything is possible.

However, if he is serious about his position as stated in this short news article, then his overall understanding of fractions in daily life and cross curriculum usage is to be questioned. As quoted in the article, Professor George Andrews makes a fair point:

“Questioning the wisdom of teaching fractions to young students doesn't compute with people such as George Andrews, a professor of mathematics at Pennsylvania State University and president-elect of the American Mathematical Society. "All of this is absurd," Andrews said. "No wonder mathematical achievements in the country are so abysmal.

"Arithmetic is the basic skill. If children do not know arithmetic, they can't go on to algebra, which leads to calculus. From there you go on to other things," Andrews said. "It's fine to talk about it, but this is not a good pedagogy."“

Mathematics is cold, hard logic at its finest. For some children and adults, logic and subsequently mathematics will never be their forte. Some are more creative, left-brained, sanguine personality or whatever you wish to cite to be really good at it. Some students just do not have the aptitude for math while others do. For a fair number, their math will not extend past carpentry, cooking and balancing their personal budgets. But is that justification for a wholesale change in the core arithmetic curriculum?

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