[aspasia]

I’ll need to teach my grand-kids reading and math before kindergarten

How else? If they're normal kids, they'll love it and you'll love it. But you'd have to see them every other day, at least. Which isn't a bad thing.

[LibertarianLiz]

My eldest daughter married a man who had a young son from a previous marriage. He was an involved father, as much as he could be. His son lived with his ex-wife and went to an elementary school in that district. He couldn't read, at all. Not quite a year ago, my son-in-law's ex-wife committed suicide. His son was staying with him and my daughter for that weekend.

My daughter was not ready to be a full-time mother, she has had to adapt. Her husband is very involved with the child rearing, which helps.

Now, the point of this story is that when the boy started at a new school, it was a school with a much higher rating than the one he had previously been attending. After less than a year in this new environment, he is one of the top students in reading comprehension. Also, he is at the top in math. The school our kids attend makes a big difference. So does the teacher.

My brother-in-law went to a teacher's conference for one of his kids. He spoke to the principal about not being happy with the teacher his child had gotten that year. The principal said that they try to make sure that a student doesn't get a "bad" teacher two years in a row. He went home and thought about that, and it was true. His daughter had a good teacher, then a bad teacher, then a good teacher, etc. What a system.

[Colinsky]

The problem with math is that it disrespects consensus. Plus, it often gives us unacceptable answers. Math is too rigid.

What we need is common-sense math. Pi = 3 is good enough for most purposes.