A new way to teach Multiplication Tables

Submitted by Brooke Istas on Sun, 06/07/2015 - 18:35
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Hello All!

Has anyone heard of Waldorf Math?  I came across this video on a different method of teaching multiplication facts, https://youtu.be/mXLzLhfJgxM.  I have several thoughts about this but want to hear from my colleagues in the field.  What do you think of this methodology?  Are there advantages, disadvantages?  

Brooke
istasb@cowley.edu

If you don't want to post to this discussion, please feel free to email me.

Comments

    I like the circles but would still want students to work with actual quantities of *stuff* so that it isn't just one more twist on symbol manipulation -- a "touch math" for times tables.   

My experience from when I loitered on parents-of-kids-with-ld discussion groups  is that the whole Waldorf School is like a religious denomination; when it worked well for students, it was great, but if things weren't working they weren't going to change anything; *you* must not be thinking right.    http://abettereducation.blogspot.com/2009/07/waldorfs-approach-to-teaching-math.html has a fascinating explanation  

 

Hi Brooke and everyone else.  I was interested in your post about the Waldorf Schools largely because there is one in my area of Oregon. A friend was applying for a job there so I had to find out what the heck a Waldorf School was. I found this site helpful: http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/02_W_Education/index.asp.

So far as the math activity goes, it is not strictly a Waldorf activity.  The first time I ran into it was back in the late 70's when I was taking a class Miriam Leiva (who a bit later became president of NCTM) taught. Nonetheless, it was a good reminder for me and I actually used it for a few minutes in my very low level ABE math class. There were lots of "Oh wow's" and "Well duhs!" in the class as they worked through the multiplication tables creating patterns with the units digits.

There are many strong points made in the Waldorf publicity and trains of thought.  Certainly incorporating the art of mathematics in the curriculum makes for stronger connections and greater student enjoyment.

Thanks for the reminder about that activity!

Donna