Common Core math taught me a Biblical Lesson
Some years ago when Abby was in Elementary School she brought home some math homework. It looked easy enough so we sat down at the kitchen table to have some father daughter bonding time. I thought I remembered how to do the problems she was working on but as she begun working the first problem I couldn't figure out what she was doing. After several minutes of struggling to figure out what she was doing I did what all good parents do when they are stumped by their children's homework, I went to Google. After searching for a few minutes I realized that I did know how to do the problems. So I begin to show Abby how to do them. This didn't go well.
As I showed her the method I learned that only took a few steps and mostly could be done in my
head she wouldn't listen. She kept telling me that wasn't the way her teacher taught her. Now I purposely left our her grade and her teacher because I loved all her teachers at Sawmills and I am Facebook friends with many of them so it is possible they could read this blog. I do not want to offend them or for them to think I did not appreciate all of their hard work teaching my daughter but after almost an hour of trying to get Abby to try my way I finally told her that her teacher was wrong and that her way didn't make any sense. I told Abby if she did it my way and got any of the questions wrong it would be my fault but that we would get all the right answers. I thank Abby finally agreed to do it my way not because she thought I was right but because I was her daddy and she was ready to do something besides homework. Within minutes all of the problems were solved with the right answers. I felt pretty good.
The next day I couldn't wait to pick Abby up so I could see "my" 100 on her homework. I did see a 0 but the rest of the numbers were missing. The look on my daughter's face said it all. I couldn't believe I got the answers wrong. I took the homework from her and I realized I had the answers right, but I didn't use the method they were using. But since her teacher was a good teacher she realized that Abby's old school father had helped her with her homework so she sent it home for Abby to redo. She even worked a few of the problems on the homework so Abby's dad could understand this method she was teaching. It took me a while but I finally got it and I am very grateful for the great teacher that let "Abby" redo her homework.
What I realized was that we were starting in the same place (the math problem) and we were going to the same place (the answer) but we were using different methods of getting there. My method seem to be quicker and easier while the teacher's method seem to be longer, have a lot of unneeded steps and was confusing but to get the right answer you had to use the right method which was the teacher's method. It is kind of like this. When most people see "2 + 2 =" they would just say "4" and move on. The method the teacher was teaching went something like this:
2+2 = (1+1) + (1+1) = 2+2 = 4
Now that may not be the correct way it goes but it was the way I understood it and was able to help Abby with her math homework the rest of the year. Did I like doing math this way? No, but I did it that way because that was the only way to get the answer right. Learning the method was as important as learning the answer. Do I think my way I learned is better? I do, but I also thought that throwing rocks at girls was an acceptable recess activity when I was in elementary school so I do not claim to be the authority. I learned my lesson though. Do it the teacher's way and get it right. The purpose of this blog is not to discuss Common Core or the evils of "new math". Remember I told you it taught me a biblical truth and that is what I want to share with you.
Let me give you the cliff note version of a story that happened in Numbers 20. We find that the Children of Israel doing what they did a lot of, whining and complaining. There was no water to be found in Zin for them to drink or to give their cattle to drink. Instead of asking God for water they decided to complain. They went to Moses and Aaron to ask them why God brought them into the wilderness to thirst to death. They whined about there not being any fruit to eat. Moses and Aaron went to God and God told Moses how to get water. He said gather the people around, tell the rock to
bring forth water and it would. So Moses and Aaron gather the people, Moses grabbed the rock and hit it. Why did he hit it? Well, that is what he did last time (Exodus 17) and Moses wasn't sold on the idea that just talking to the rock would bring the water. After all he had to hit the rock last time. Now water flowed from the rock, so he got the right answer. But his method wasn't God's method so he got the problem wrong. Here is what God said.
But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them." Numbers 20:12 (HCSB)
You see this event was not just about getting water to the people. It was also about teaching the people to depend and trust on God. That is where Moses failed. Was his method a bad method? No. Had this method worked in the past? Yes. Was it the correct method to use? No, because it wasn't how God instructed him to do it. Just like my method to solve the math problems worked but wasn't the way the teacher instructed the class to it. Christians we are the same way. We think just because we get the results we wanted it didn't matter how we got there but it does.
Look at it this way, how many times has an event or mission project been announced at church and you felt God calling you to be a part of it. You pray about it and feel God is calling you to be a part of it but then you think about all the time and effort it will take so you toss money into the offering plate for it. The project is a success and your money helped so you got the right results but your method was wrong. You missed the blessings God had for you by doing it His way. There may have been even greater results if you had done it the way God had instructed you. So you got it wrong. There is reasons why God wants us to do it His way and not ours. It is time we fully surrender and do things God's way even if it is not the way we want to. After all, He is the All-Knowing God and we are not. So His way will always be the correct way.
Parting Thought: Here is a math problem for you. I have 4 pieces of bacon and you have one. You ask me to share a piece with you. How many pieces of bacon do you have? None, because I ate your bacon while you were asking me to share.
As I showed her the method I learned that only took a few steps and mostly could be done in my
The next day I couldn't wait to pick Abby up so I could see "my" 100 on her homework. I did see a 0 but the rest of the numbers were missing. The look on my daughter's face said it all. I couldn't believe I got the answers wrong. I took the homework from her and I realized I had the answers right, but I didn't use the method they were using. But since her teacher was a good teacher she realized that Abby's old school father had helped her with her homework so she sent it home for Abby to redo. She even worked a few of the problems on the homework so Abby's dad could understand this method she was teaching. It took me a while but I finally got it and I am very grateful for the great teacher that let "Abby" redo her homework.
What I realized was that we were starting in the same place (the math problem) and we were going to the same place (the answer) but we were using different methods of getting there. My method seem to be quicker and easier while the teacher's method seem to be longer, have a lot of unneeded steps and was confusing but to get the right answer you had to use the right method which was the teacher's method. It is kind of like this. When most people see "2 + 2 =" they would just say "4" and move on. The method the teacher was teaching went something like this:
2+2 = (1+1) + (1+1) = 2+2 = 4
Now that may not be the correct way it goes but it was the way I understood it and was able to help Abby with her math homework the rest of the year. Did I like doing math this way? No, but I did it that way because that was the only way to get the answer right. Learning the method was as important as learning the answer. Do I think my way I learned is better? I do, but I also thought that throwing rocks at girls was an acceptable recess activity when I was in elementary school so I do not claim to be the authority. I learned my lesson though. Do it the teacher's way and get it right. The purpose of this blog is not to discuss Common Core or the evils of "new math". Remember I told you it taught me a biblical truth and that is what I want to share with you.
Let me give you the cliff note version of a story that happened in Numbers 20. We find that the Children of Israel doing what they did a lot of, whining and complaining. There was no water to be found in Zin for them to drink or to give their cattle to drink. Instead of asking God for water they decided to complain. They went to Moses and Aaron to ask them why God brought them into the wilderness to thirst to death. They whined about there not being any fruit to eat. Moses and Aaron went to God and God told Moses how to get water. He said gather the people around, tell the rock to
But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them." Numbers 20:12 (HCSB)
You see this event was not just about getting water to the people. It was also about teaching the people to depend and trust on God. That is where Moses failed. Was his method a bad method? No. Had this method worked in the past? Yes. Was it the correct method to use? No, because it wasn't how God instructed him to do it. Just like my method to solve the math problems worked but wasn't the way the teacher instructed the class to it. Christians we are the same way. We think just because we get the results we wanted it didn't matter how we got there but it does.
Look at it this way, how many times has an event or mission project been announced at church and you felt God calling you to be a part of it. You pray about it and feel God is calling you to be a part of it but then you think about all the time and effort it will take so you toss money into the offering plate for it. The project is a success and your money helped so you got the right results but your method was wrong. You missed the blessings God had for you by doing it His way. There may have been even greater results if you had done it the way God had instructed you. So you got it wrong. There is reasons why God wants us to do it His way and not ours. It is time we fully surrender and do things God's way even if it is not the way we want to. After all, He is the All-Knowing God and we are not. So His way will always be the correct way.
Parting Thought: Here is a math problem for you. I have 4 pieces of bacon and you have one. You ask me to share a piece with you. How many pieces of bacon do you have? None, because I ate your bacon while you were asking me to share.
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