I am currently involved in compensating my 13 year old son for math skills that are no longer taught at his school. Many schools across the country have transitioned math curriculum to “Investigations”. Investigations was designed by a company in Cambridge, Ma called TERC. TERC receives funding from the National Science Foundation.

I recently discovered that my son’s school system began using Investigations when he was in elementary school. After learning about this, I tested my son and he is two years behind international math standards. According to research I”ve done on Investigations, this is the norm.

I’ve since learned that Investigations has been roundly condemned by college math professors as well as many teachers. My own son’s 7th grade math teacher was distraught that he is forced to teach his students with a curriculum that ignores basic math skills and algorithms. His job has been threatened if he speaks out.

Okay, so you get the general gist. Here’s the thing that disgusts me most. I was trying to figure out why Investigations is being used when it so obviously harms children. Guess what? TERC, the non-profit company that developed Inestigations curriculum, is a huge feminist driven organization. Their mission is to promote greater participation for women in the fields of math and science. They offer a mentoring program in this regard.

Investigations is described as a collaborative approach to learning math. That’s right! The teacher sits back and lets student come up with their own solutions for math problems! Who do you think is most likely to embrace a collaborative learning style?

The sad thing is that while girls may learn better in groups, math is a subject that requires rote memorizataion early on or higher mathematics are virtually impossible. So while Investigations is likely a feminist attempt to advantage girls, it is backfiring for all students.

I’d be interested if anyone here has any knowledge of Investigations curriculum, or the link between TERC and radical feminism?

It spreads to University. Mrs Amfortas the 1st (yes, I used to be an optimist) wanted to be a teacher. She had worked as a temp. Secretary and waitress for two years before we met and married. When married she had a three month stint as a sec to a Wing Commander on my airbase. That was her ‘career’ to date. So while I worked 70 hours a week as a military officer, she went to Uni.

After four years full time she did well and graduated with a first honours and got a job as a teacher. Just supply teaching. She lasted 6 whole weeks (actually 20 days all up) and ‘didn’t like it’. So back to Uni to do a Masters of Education. Three more full time years.

In the meantime alongside my working like a dog, – quite a happy dog mind you – I did two batchelor degrees and and a Masters of science. We both finished our Masters in the same month! My masters was full time and in just one year as I could not afford to make it last two. I had a family to support.

Then she wanted to do a PhD. So back to Uni she went. Seven more years. But she got it (with me writing half her thesis). Now, at last, after 14 years full time uni level education she would finish, I thought. She got a job as a research assistant. MONEY !! hahaha. The mortgage on our nice house could be paid of quicker. Our two cars could be afforded more easily. Our two children’s private schools could be managed. (it was costing me $18,000 a year just for their schooling). I had managed, just, so far.

But no, My money was ‘ours’, her money was hers. She needed to ’save’.

Bye Bye Mrs Amfortas (there were other issues too, of course).

She is now a Professor.

Her CV reads like a career woman’s dream sheet – and largely it is. Her temp sec workplaces are the venue for several imaginary ‘Executive in Industry, Television, the Law’; her sec stint is transformed into the Wing Commanders entire job on the largest airbase that Britain ever had; her six weeks pert-time supply teaching has grown to a ’successful career as a teacher in some of the best scools in England’. All lies and inflations but what the heck, no one challenges a career woman, especially in the Academic world. Its amazing how fast a woman can rise in that world. Fast-track they call it.

She loves lego.

What percentage of the nation’s teachers are female? What percentage of the female teachers would describe themselves as feminists?

If that’s too hard try another angle. How many teachers are:-
(a) Single and hoping to find a partner that can give them some respite from teaching (day after stressful day)
(b) Single/divorced and realise that sticking with teaching is their best hope of survival – even if means dealing with the results of dysfunctional parenting (day after stressful day)
(c) Political activists who want to make a name for themselves while pretending to teach (day after stressful day)
(d) Normal altruistic people who love their work.

Clue: Don’t rely too much on (d).

The prize? Free correction of sentences like “This shows how badly the communist/thinking have taken over the schools”. Not your fault. Your English teacher must have been somewhere in (a) to (c).

This is really sad news.

This shows how badly the communist/thinking have taken over the schools.

I once guessed how many legos’ were in a four foot statue of lego liberty in a K-Mart contest. I was off by two, but I won. (3,867)

The prize was……boxes and boxes of lego’s! My son made a gerbal home out of them that they enjoyed forever.

Clearly the teachers of this country have become gerbils. We should house them in a lego community.

I wonder if any students pondered stealing teacher’s car that day? The teachers shouldn’t mind at all.

We know the village has an idiot or three.