Canada Is Failing Math

The numbers are out and they are unimpressive 

"Canada has dropped out of the top 10 in international math education standings, a decline that is raising alarms about the country’s future prosperity."  

“The largest declines in student performance were in Manitoba, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Scores in Alberta, once a Canadian leader in math performance, have fallen 32 points over nine years.” 

The current math curriculum in Alberta schools is watered down and boring. It doesn't challenge the kids nor does it excite them about a subject that is part of everything they do now and will be necessary for just about every one of the cool jobs they will want to do in the future. They learn more math playing Minecraft than they do in school but only a handful of teachers even mention that Minecraft is math.

Both of my kids can do math beyond what they are taught in school because they have been given an opportunity to do more than and to discover they are capable, every kid is. They have been going to just one hour a week of enrichment at Bright Minds Math now for a couple of years and what they get from it is confidence, an understanding of how math works, an opportunity to play games that strengthen what they learn in the books, puzzles that challenge the skills they have been taught in class and an chance to tackle stuff that will take them more than five minutes to figure out. 

And, most importantly, they are being taught by people who love math, not dread it. My daughter had a 20 year old woman teaching her, she is a physics genius and rocket scientist, a real one, and Clancy looked up to her, saw possibilities in her she had never considered before. We were lucky, our kids got "good at math" before they heard people say it was hard, awful, easier for boys than girls.

Some folks think that if their kids show an interest or aptitude for something that isn’t math based that they will only need enough math to figure out the tip and fill in their tax return. I can tell from personal experience that that notion closes and locks too many doors. I was interested in language, hit a rough patch in math, fell for the “it’s not our thing” speech and took what was affectionately called Moron Math, squeaked through the exams with a sigh of relief and never looked back - until a few years later when I was keen on taking an interior design course and was told I needed math, when I had to stay late at one of my first jobs because it took me four of five tries to balance a small cash, when I found myself in debt more than once in my adult life because I can’t manage money properly. 

The days of finding a career that will allow you to side step numbers for your entire adult life are over. Assuming our kids need just enough to get by is a mistake. The world that awaits them will be full of amazing opportunities and few will be available without confidence in math which gives them the confidence and skills in problem solving, critical and creative thinking, logic and reasoning ... math is essential.

When we first started Bright Minds my kids fought it but I explained that they were not going to grow up and look back and ever ask : “Mom, why did you make us go to those math classes?” Recently my daughter was going over notes for a school math test and and I asked her if she was all set.  She said; “Easy peasy lemony squeezey Mom, I’ve got it.” Music to my ears, money and time well spent.

The system is allowing our children to fall behind in a critical skill, it’s inexcusable. It’s crippling. It’s negligent.