I am an engineer/scientist and have taken almost every college math course there is. I have also taught my kids and grand kids what they need to be successful in math. As a result of my kids and grand kids I have had long lasting battles with my local California school districts, over the last 40 years, as to why they refuse to teach basic math in elementary school. Here are the 2 basic secrets required to reach math to anyone: 1) be able to count and 2) memorize and I mean memorize the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division math facts for example 2+1=3, 2+2=4, 2+3=5, etc. Once your 7 year old child can spout back the math facts, without thinking, he/she will be able to master math for the rest of their life. If a person does not memorize the math facts, they will never master even the basics of math such as fraction operations.
When I was in the first and second grade in 1953 and 1954 we spent half of every school day practicing these math facts. That was all we did.
Today, when I ask the elementary school teachers and admins why they refuse to teach kids math facts, they tell me it is boring to the children. So as a result, 80% of the high school graduates live in fear of math.
My now teens went to a Lutheran grade school. The teacher for the primary levels drilled and drilled those math facts! All three of my kids are mathematically competent. That school also did not allow calculators (through grade 8) and my kids have no problem calculating things in their heads.
Well there's one caveat - do not, under any conditions, allow them to try to understand how a number can approach infinity in their first calculus class. Just make them learn how to work the problem and find the answer, and force them to postpone any deeper thought on the issue for the future.
Trust me.
Good post. I this was the biggest fight my wife and I ever had, me saying my son memorizes math facts and her siding with the education system.
That memorization also gives you speed in operation and that makes trying different solutions to a problem easier.
When I was in 3rd and 4th grades, we folded a sheet of paper so we could do math problems. There were about 6 or so problems across our math book and the whole page would be full. We folded the paper to a new row and wrote the answers-—addition, subtraction, division,, and multiplication. Is that clear as mud?