Math Parent Letter

The Beaumont High School Math Department would like to first of all thank you for the opportunity of partnering together as we navigate through the transition with the adoption of new curriculum. Every year mathematics becomes more important for students to be successful in nearly every job or profession.  The skills learned this year will be part of your child’s preparation for college and career readiness. To support your student’s academic preparation, our district continues to implement the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). These standards are broken up into two categories; the mathematical practice standards and the content standards.  More information regarding the Common Core State Standards, is available at www.corestandards.org.

COLLEGE PREPARATORY MATH PROGRAM

Beaumont High School has selected a new math curriculum called College Preparatory Mathematics (CPM) to help our 21 Century students learn math. This program has been successfully implemented by thousands of schools over the past 10 years.   In this course, your child will learn to use new models and methods to think about problems and solve them. Students develop powerful mathematical skills and learn new ways of thinking about and investigating mathematical situations. They will be making connections, discovering relationships, figuring out what strategies can be used to solve problems, and explaining their thinking. Learning to think in these ways and communicate about their own thought processes is useful in the context of a math class, other subjects in school, and situations outside the classroom. If you would like more information regarding the decision process for CPM please visit this link Frequently Asked Questions Regarding BHS and CPM

RESEARCH BASED CURRICULUM

This research based curriculum contains all of the content and practice standards required by the Common Core, which in turn will be reflected in the new end of course assessments.  The problem-based lessons provide a balance of basic skills, conceptual understanding, and problem solving strategies. Each lesson has a mathematical objective and focuses on one of more of the mathematical practices.  Homework will practice ideas from the current chapter and previous topics, but spread the practice over several days and weeks so that students have time to become proficient with ideas and skills. Assessments will reflect the philosophy of balancing newly acquired skills with previously mastered material.

COLLABORATION

Together, teams will complete problems and activities that will help them discover mathematical ideas and develop solution methods. I will support your child as they work, but I will encourage your child to take the opportunity to think and investigate with their team. Each topic will be revisited many times and will connect to other topics. Learning math this way has an advantage: as long as your child actively participates, makes sure everyone in their study team is involved, and asks good questions, they will begin understanding mathematics at a deeper level than ever before. By the end of this course, they will have a powerful set of mathematical tools to use to solve new problems.

In addition to the support provided in the classroom, CPM has also created online resources to help you, including help with homework, and a parent guide with extra practice. You will find these resources and more at https://cpm.org/.