What exactly is "new math"?

We have all heard the rumblings…so what is “new math,” exactly? 

By Kristen Powers
TPL Concierge Specialist
March 26, 2024

Have you ever had the experience where you sit down to work with your child on their math homework, or if you are a homeschool parent, you’re planning your child’s math curriculum, and your outlook is, “OK, I can do this, it’s elementary math, surely I can figure this out!”  However, as you begin to look over the material, it is loaded with vocabulary and strategies you have never seen. Number lines? Bar models? Friendly numbers? Number bonds? What is this? Suddenly, this math feels confusing and for some, downright overwhelming. You are not alone. Many parents have been confronted with understanding the “new math” that their children are learning in school. What is “new math”? Why has it been integrated into a majority of learning environments? We’re here to walk you through it.

What Is New Math?

“New math” is the colloquial term for Common Core math, which originated as an educational initiative in 2010, focusing on streamlining what students were learning across all 50 states. Common Core math focuses on developing problem solving skills, conceptual understanding, creating and using models and tables, and understanding flexibility and fluidity with numbers. Unfortunately, the majority of today’s parents and caregivers (and teachers!) did not grow up learning math this way, and are frequently confused by this educational paradigm shift. 

Why New Math?

The solutions to math problems have not changed- math is math, afterall.  However, the “new math” approach is based on students showing their work and demonstrating their problem solving ability by reasonably explaining how they solved an equation or word problem, instead of simply memorizing formulas. By deemphasizing calculations and focusing on conceptual understanding, students will be able to apply the concept to a variety of different problems rather than being able to answer only the problems they’ve memorized. They will also be better prepared for higher level math like algebra, geometry, and calculus. Teaching students to reorganize numbers and recognize patterns helps them practice abstract and qualitative reasoning– important skills across all educational content areas. Additionally, new math celebrates students using different strategies and finding their own preference for problem solving- thus leading to better content retention. 

Final Considerations

What your child learns in math class, be it at home or in a school, should be engaging, relevant, and rigorous. Ultimately, as we mentioned before, math is math; “new math”, or Common Core math, is simply a different method of instructional practice that has become widely implemented in the last decade within the educational world. Unfortunately, Common Core has gotten a bad wrap due to a lack of understanding from parents, and a roll out that coincided with a global pandemic. However, shifting the perspective around this new way of teaching and learning math with an understanding of the foundational “why” may help parents to embrace it and feel better equipped to support their children in their learning.

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