My son has Everyday Math in his school. He's in first grade, and the 2nd week of school, he was bringing home single-digit addition without ever going over the meaning of addition, what the signs mean, working with manipulatives, then pictures then numbers (concrete to abstract....which is how all math should be taught)!!! I am a first grade teacher in a different district, and we don't start teaching addition until the children have a solid number sense (what numbers really mean, counting, etc.). Then, we start with what addition means and teach (and practice) how to count with manipulatives, using a number line to count on, etc). Since then, my son has "learned" subtraction, skip counting by 2's, 5's, 10's and get this...3's, time (give me a break...this is such an abstract concept to many kiddos), money. It's only October! O.k., enough ranting. I prefer the "old fashioned" way along with lots of problem solving activities that build thinking skills.