Posted on 07/30/2012 10:56:30 PM PDT by grundle
Getting rid of algebra and beyond in our public schools is equivalent to an average American failing algebra because they just didn’t care. If we throw in the towel instead of emphasizing the fact that hard work and self-responsibility aren’t essential qualities in a person, what kind of example are we setting? Furthermore, how can we truly prepare students to go into the workforce if they think they can just drop out of something too difficult instead of putting in the hours and hours of work that is required?? It doesn’t make sense.
(Excerpt) Read more at simplepolitiks.wordpress.com ...
“Here’s an example of Congressional math:...”
Exactly.
Its quite fashionable to blast teachers, but I can tell you, that, in many cases, its the PARENTS who don’t want their children “pushed” or “pressured”. Its the wussification of America that’s partially responsible for killing education in the United States. As was mentioned, Algebra should be taught early, in the second grade. Add Latin to that as well. At age 7, your brain is like a sponge. Parents, stop making excuses. Your children can do the work.
I do not see the point of this post. Please elaborate.
Liberals must think they’ve “evolved” beyond a need to learn Algebra. They seem to believe that they’ve evolved beyond a lot of things including common sense and logic.
All they need is a smart phone with one button that plugs into their smart car.
The way algebra was taught in school made it impossible to understand; the math had no point to it, no context.
I agree 100%
I learned almost nothing in my high school Math class. It didn’t help that the teacher would have been lost without her teachers guide. I had no problem with the math in Chemistry and Physics. Those classes were where I learned math.
Kids can’t do algebra because they don’t know their addition and subtraction fact families or their multiplication tables!!!!!! All they do in the elementary grades is teach math concepts. No emphasis on solving problems. All that is considered “kill and drill”.
“You didn’t solve that!”
I think the reason we do so poorly in math is because not enough mothers are breast feeding their babies. At least that is what Mayor (Nanny) Bloomberg is saying. I think... :-))
When you have this kind of crap going on in the schools claiming to be arithmetic, it’s no wonder they don’t even want to try Algebra anymore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y29XL99qM6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1qee-bTZI&feature=related
It just ASTOUNDS me that any parent would trust THE ENTIRE future of their kids to these menaces...but they do, I guess because they feel like they have some control over it? LOL.
I think you’re right. Kids are given calculators far too early in the learning process and those eliminate the need to understand simple atithmetic. I taught basic algebra to adults in the Army and I always started out with a simple question that everyone could answer, such as “If a two-pack of batteries cost $1.00, how much does each one cost?.” They all said “$.50, they had learned to do simple mental math to the nearest quarter of a dollar” I would ask the same people “If a six-pack of beer costs $3.60, how much does one cost?” They couldn’t answer and didn’t even know how to find the answer if you gave them a calculator. I always had to teach basic arithmetic before I could even begin to ask those same questions in algebraic form such as “ If 2x=1, what is x?”
“Its quite fashionable to blast teachers, but I can tell you, that, in many cases, its the PARENTS who don’t want their children “pushed” or “pressured”. Its the wussification of America that’s partially responsible for killing education in the United States. As was mentioned, Algebra should be taught early, in the second grade. Add Latin to that as well. At age 7, your brain is like a sponge. Parents, stop making excuses. Your children can do the work.”
They are more interested in competitive sports leagues than competitive math leagues. Someone who is good in math is also considered to be ‘not normal’ or ‘nerdy.’ People are worried they’ll be like a ‘Sheldon’ from the Big Bang Theory show. There’s an entire culture to deal with.
Algebra teaches you to work hard and be responsible? Is algebra the only way to teach someone to work hard and be responsible? Is algebra the best way to teach someone to work hard and be responsible?
What are the opportunity costs of forcing people to study algebra?
That is utter madness. That “lattice method” may well work (in the sense of getting the correct product) but it completely obscures the reason for the placement of the numerals (1s, 10s, 100s etc place) and it introduces needless complication.
When I was a kid (I’m 53) we took Algebra in 9th grade. Now they are teaching it to 8th graders. Why was this change made?
“That is utter madness. That “lattice method” may well work (in the sense of getting the correct product) but it completely obscures the reason for the placement of the numerals (1s, 10s, 100s etc place) and it introduces needless complication.”
“utter madness”, the British term. I never liked that term because it implies that the people doing it are idiots that have no clue regarding what they do.
While I can’t claim to be an expert on Britain, I will say that our enemies are FAR from mad. They are BRILLIANT and, I think, smarter than us. They know EXACTLY what they’re doing and continue to succeed at it, regardless of who we elect or what we want.
Once in a while we try to call them out, and we get CLOBBERED. An example here in Texas is when our state school board tries to turn the clock back a few decades with regard to math and history teaching - to get math back to where kids learned it the right way, and get history back to where it was unbiased. You’d think that the school board members came right out Nazi Germany, given the media coverage - and many, many, conservatives thought that too.
This is why:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Math
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