kitchen table math, the sequel: Tom Loveless on automaticity

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Tom Loveless on automaticity

Question from Alison Corner, Principal, Pawtucketville Memorial, Lowell MA:

Their is alot of emphasis in K-4 on teaching math as a problem solving exercise. How would you recommend incorporating teaching computation skills for automaticity?

Tom Loveless:

Some lessons have to be devoted to computation alone, including why procedures work. Automaticity involves both accuracy and speed so I would stress both in memorizing basic facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division and in the use of algorithms.

The State of Math Standards - transcript


I don't know how I managed to remember automaticity (which I have in theory been trying to achieve with C.), but forget speed.

Actually, I do know how: my years of ABA, when Jimmy and Andrew worked to a 90% criterion for mastery, dominated my memory of what mastery meant.

One year in KUMON ("speed and accuracy") wasn't enough to overwrite 4 years of ABA, or however many it was....

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