Very true.
And I believe that the term for that is "innumerate."
Regards,
That which you communicate is genuinely meticulous howbeit the cogency is reduced by a circuitous exposition.
I think the author is really confusing the basic arithmetics with math. Being able to arithmetic in your head and on paper is nice, but mathematical abstractions are a completely separate thing I think. My dad has a PhD in physics and his ability to count change is suspect.
Teaching kids through having them try to solve the problem themselves is not wrong. Even proving basic theorems in euclidean geometry by yourself is great to develop analytical skills and many kids can do it at 12 or even younger. Biggest problem I see is actually kids not being challenged enough.
“Maybe I’m missing something but, if [c]hildren in elementary school are being taught integers, coordinates, rational numbers how exactly does this equate to “dumbing down” and no wrong answers? These are actually more advance mathematical concepts. One of the problems I notice with the general population is they fail to comprehend these abstract concepts. Even if you could add, subtract and multiply like a human calculator, you would still be mathematically illiterate.”
My reaction too. I don’t understand how teaching this is a bad thing. If it’s a substitute for being able to add, subtract etc, then its a problem. But elementary school kids are perfectly capable of understanding these ideas if they are presented right. Give me a second grader, a spinner, and three pennies and I can teach them simple probability.
Because it is a lie. Children need to learn math in a logical progression, not be introduced to concepts early on. They need to learn how to count to 10, then 100, then higher. Then they need to learn how to add. Then they need to memorize multiplication tables, etc. Everything builds on top of another.
I don't have children, but I have nephews. I can see the results of this New Garbage when I help them with their homework. If a kid answers half the questions right and get half wrong, consistantly, then you know they are just guessing at answers and do not understand the concepts or the questions. Especially, with simple concepts like: Round these numbers to the nearest 10's: 35, 54, 12, 143. And the kid comes up with 30, 50, 20, 140.
Generally speaking, abstraction is done through analogy. If kids cannot understand trivial things, they won’t be able to progress to the more abstract.