Answer: No. There are several reasons why copying the text of the problem is important:
1. Students at this grade level rarely can properly paraphrase the problem. They drop critical information or misstate parts of the problem. (If your son/daughter exhibits skill in paraphrasing, let's see what happens.)
2. Students at this grade level often read the problem in a cursory manner. They jump to conclusions without encoding carefully, without making sense of all the sentences and words and separating useful information from needless information. So, copying the text of the problem often improves "think time."
3. Many students at this grade level need to improve their writing skills (a skill which varies widely in a typical mainstream class). Writing, as well as other communication skills, are just as important in math as they are in other classes.
4. Students maintain selections of their work in personal portfolios. Completed POWs must be understandable to parents and teachers reviewing these collections The original handouts usually are not retained.
Answer: No. Unfortunately "new math" means too many things to different people. Often parents use the phrase for anything that's different from what they had in school.
CCMS teaches a balanced math curriculum, which combines exploration of mathematical concepts, operational (basic) skills practice, and exercises in problem-solving.
The time needed to master concepts varies widely among students. CCMS generally uses a "spiral" approach to mastery. Traditional "drill and kill" approaches are de-emphasized. When students merely memorize procedures and formulas to pass tests, they miss the opportunity to become powerful mathematical thinkers (and all too quickly forget the rote material anyway).
Answer: Yes, don't be surprised that your 6th grader is learning things that you don't know. Math is much more than arithmetic (something which is hard for students to understand also).
Your son/daughter has been working in their math book from page one. Expecting to be able to jump anywhere in the middle of the book and understand what's going on may not be easy.
You can help in many ways other than technical know-how. Ensure that your student has a good place to study and a regular time for doing homework. Make sure they have "study buddies" and know how to get help. Develop a mutually agreed upon plan to monitor and supervise their progress. Read through some assignments together now and then. Make sure that they can make sense of the sentences and words and link information, rather than immediately jumping to "the answer" or giving up. Ask them to explain what they did and why they think their approach or answer is correct. Active listening can be the best assistance.
Answer: Yes, such skills are encouraged.
There are some cautions, however. Students may sometimes leave their work on "the printer" and forget to bring completed homework to school. Sometimes the skills required to do an entire assignment on the computer exceed current ability. In these cases, encourage your student to combine handwritten and computer generated work. Sometimes "I'll do the work on the computer when I get home" is used as an excuse for not starting work in class.
Answer: The CCMS math department strongly encourages students to own their own scientific calculators. The 6th grade current uses the TI-34, which is available at the Student Store.
Experience in the classroom as well as at home with scientific calculators is important. CCMS cannot loan out calculators. Each year the math department spends hundreds of dollars replacing broken or "lost" calculators.