Eureka Math is a rigorous, coherent, and common core-aligned math curriculum program. This program focuses on conceptual development and critical thinking of math problems. Yet, this curriculum can be time-consuming, complicated, and challenging for some students and teachers.
Some teachers, parents, and school administrations may not be satisfied with this math program. Because it’s hard for teachers to keep the pace of teaching this curriculum while meeting students’ needs. Only proper learning will develop students’ fluency in solving challenging math problems with solid reasoning.
Throughout this article, we will discuss the Eureka Math pros and cons. Hence, if you are a teacher or your children are under this curriculum, tag along till the end to know more.
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What Is Eureka Math?
Eureka Math is another name for EngageNY Math. A nonprofit organization named Great Minds has developed this comprehensive math curriculum. This curriculum aligns with the Common Core State Standards.
Though this curriculum has local roots, it also maintains national ties. You can even find this curriculum in most of the schools in the United States. The main focus of this math curriculum is to provide a deep understanding of mathematical concepts.
Though you will find similarities between the Common Core and the Eureka Math, they won’t be identical. Yet, this EngageNY Math will meet the standard. Unlike the Common Core Standard, EngageNY math will consist of a “sprint” program.
This program will increase the speed of your children’s math-solving capability within a limited period. Concisely, this math curriculum will provide a timetable and roadmap to increase fluency in Common Core Standard problem-solving.
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Pros Of The Eureka Math
We will show you the advantages of this math curriculum which are responsible for making it efficient. Those advantages also make this math program enjoyable, and easy to teach. Let’s see several benefits of the Eureka Math curriculum:
1. Coherent Method
Eureka Math follows a rigorous and coherent method to develop a deep understanding of mathematical principles. It will focus on the progress of the concept from kindergarten to the 12th grade.
Thus, your children won’t only get the discrete skill sets, instead, they will get a complete idea of the mathematical knowledge. Your children will use the same models and methods year after year to solve problems. But, with this, a new concept will layer over the old one in each new grade.
2. Conceptual Understanding
The main benefit of the Eureka Math curriculum is, it focuses on the conceptual development of math strategies.
- Multiple Strategies: You may find that this curriculum includes solving a problem with different strategies. For example, suppose you gave your student any addition or subtraction math. Now, your students can solve that using Rekenerk or the number towers
- Logical Reasoning: Interestingly, this curriculum focuses on logical reasoning more than the correct answer. The initial step can be an incorrect answer with little reasoning. Eventually, the final step will be getting the correct answer with solid reasoning.
- Eliminating Rote Memorization: Students won’t need to memorize the process of math solving in this program. Instead, you can say that this program helps students depend on their conceptual understanding instead of rote memorization.
Hence, if your children’s idea about math concepts is clear, they can explore different strategies. Not only that, they will be able to give justification and logical reasoning for the problem-solving strategies.
3. Promote Critical Thinking
The EngageNY math program promotes the critical thinking ability of the students. It will also help your children to understand math problems and to make connections with the real world.
This curriculum will give them chances to discuss the problem in a group. This engagement will encourage your students or children to develop their reasoning ability.
Also, your children will analyze the problem carefully and will think critically about different strategies to get a solution. Gradually, they can solve real-world math problems with their mathematical reasoning.
4. Common Core Alignment
This characteristic of this curriculum includes clear goals and expectations for students. It will ensure that students learn all the essential skills and content they need in their respective grades.
Edreports compared this math program with 20 other programs to check Common Core Standard alignment. Among them, the EngageNY Math program had met the criteria of alignment with the Standard most.
This curriculum fulfilled expectations for every grade level that the reviewers reviewed. Hence, this curriculum will be helpful for your children or students in their academic and professional life.
5. Supportive Resources
This curriculum provides extensive support for teachers, students, and even guardians:
- Teachers will get resources including teaching scripts, detailed lesson plans, and instructional strategies. As a teacher, you can arrange the strategies accordingly to implement the math program effectively.
- Students can also get online resources including lesson videos, and problem solutions according to their grade level. They can also practice their math skills through practice sets that are available online.
- There will be resources for you to help your children with their homework. You will find many parent guides like homework guides, examples, explanations of solutions, etc online. With this, you can also support your children’s learning program.
Cons Of Eureka Math
Some teachers, parents, and school administrations criticize this curriculum. Let’s know, why Eureka Math is bad in their eyes:
1. Heavy Content Load
The curriculum covers a wide range of mathematical topics in depth. Sometimes, as a teacher, you may find it challenging to cover all the topics within a certain time limit. Thus, you may notice, most of the teachers are adjusting the topic keeping only the essential one.
This may reduce the efficiency of your children’s or students’ conceptual development. Even if the teachers are not adjusting the content, it’s difficult for your student to understand all the concepts quickly.
2. High-Level Problem
Sometimes the problems are of a higher level than the student’s intellect. They may end up wasting a large amount of time-solving them. Though each problem has limited time to solve, those complex ones may even take a day to solve.
Hence, this curriculum can be frustrating for some students. If you check the reports on the usability of this curriculum, you will find it more appropriate in lower grades.
Because, at kindergarten or till grade-5, this curriculum will fulfill the expectations of usability and instructional support. In this case, the point on usability is 33/38 till grade-5. Yet, in grades 6-8, it will be 25/38 meeting the usability expectations partially.
3. Complex Transitional Phase
Eureka Math can be challenging for both students and teachers due to its conceptual approach and rigorous standards. Thus, students and teachers who are habitual with other math programs may require more time and effort to become familiar with the curriculum.
Though lesson plans are available online, some teachers complain that they aren’t enough. Differentiated worksheets, supplemental resources, and proper training may help them to implement this curriculum in the classroom effectively.
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Summarization Of Pros And Cons Of Eureka Math
Let’s summarize the pros and cons of Eureka Math curriculum:
| Pros | Cons |
| ● Follows a coherent and rigorous method. ● Has complete alignment with the Common Core Standard. ● Develop the conceptual understanding of math principles and eliminate rote memorization. ● Encourage students in critical thinking for solving math problems and logical reasoning of solutions. ● Available supportive resources for teachers, students, and parents. | ● It provides a heavy content load on students as it covers a wide range of topics within a limited time. ● Can be overwhelming for children as they need to face higher levels of math problems at early ages. ● Students and teachers will face challenges to adapt to the Eureka math curriculum initially. |
Conclusion
The Eureka Math program will develop your children’s in-depth understanding of math knowledge and apply multiple strategies for solving a problem. Yet, as this curriculum covers a wide range of concepts, students and teachers will need time to adapt to this curriculum.
Though this program has a few drawbacks, it can be highly beneficial for improving your students’ or children’s critical thinking. Mainly, the effectivness of this curriculum will depend on the teacher’s expertise, implementation, and the specific needs of the students.
