JUMP at Home

"Daddy, I can't figure out this math homework." Dreaded words. Not because I dread the math (I like math and like trying to teach it to my kids), but rather because I have problems with how it is being taught, and because the textbooks are dreadful.

"Can you show me how they subtracted 16 from 34 and got 28? I don't get it." I look where she's pointing. Sure enough, the example in the book is 34 - 16 = 28. (JUMP at Home, Grade 5, Number Sense 1, page 46, if anyone cares.)

We work through the questions on that page together. She turns the page. The example on the next page is 56 - 18 = 18. (That one's on page 47.) I hit the roof. Leah says, "why are they getting all the answers wrong, Daddy?"

I look at the page more closely. It is full of tiny copy editing mistakes, and occasional not-so-tiny ones too.

So I looked up "JUMP at Home" on the net, and was floored at what I found:

http://anansi.ca/titles.cfm?pub_id=247

Anansi is one of the most careful publishers in the country. What in hell is going on? Presumably this is just some sort of distribution deal -- but how can someone like Anansi put their name on the sort of math book where 56 - 18 = 18?