🐴 Are we overcomplicating subtraction?

From simple subtraction to side quests: Is math getting too complex? Plus: How to make math enjoyable again.

March 10, 2025

3 Quick Bites:

🍎 Why modern math methods might be missing the mark
🍎 The surprising gap between math class and real life
🍎 This free app makes math feel like storytime

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💡 THOUGHT

ARE WE OVERCOMPLICATING SUBTRACTION?

Remember when 13 - 7 was just... 13 - 7?

Now, it's a three-step deductive reasoning exercise with boxes, dotted numbers, and probably a side quest we're missing.

📊 TREND

THE MATH IS NOT MATHING

Instagram user @yournaturallearner highlights some contradictions around the traditional math curriculum in U.S. schools:

  • 100% of U.S. workers must file taxes, yet than 10% of schools teach students how to do it

  • 77% of Americans carry substantial debt, but only 26% of schools offer financial literacy classes

  • 85% of high schoolers must take Algebra II, but only 6% of jobs require those skills

Advanced math may teach problem-solving skills – and be vital for some professions –but

🔨 TOOL

BEDTIME STORY (MATH APP)

Bedtime Math – Wirecutter's top pick for math learning apps – it turns math into a bedtime ritual, just like reading stories.

The free iOS and Android app delivers daily word problems wrapped in fun narratives about quacking turtles or flying toilets. Each story comes with questions at four difficulty levels, from pre-K through elementary.

Parents and teachers give it 4.2/5 stars, saying it gets kids excited about math and peer-reviewed study showed that students who used it boosted their math scores by three months in just one school year.

Want to make numbers part of your nightly routine? Download it free from the App Store or Google Play.

MEME MONDAY

That’s all for today! See you tomorrow.

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)

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