American Students Lagging in Math and Science

[Anonymous]

My husband is a scientist, he is American. He says that Europeans have a much better fundamental understanding of science than Americans. They are also very creative. The difference is that there are more obstacles there WRT advancement. So many of them come here. BTW, many stay there too.

We have to stop trying to figure out an easy way to learn science. I take my kids to the museums every week. Yes, every weekend we are looking at fossils, exploring flight, or checking out old light bulbs. We try to make it part of every day conversation. Their grandfather also has a talent to explaining science to them. My son already knows what at transformer does. This reduces the burden when they have to study it later.
As far as math goes, it is very much about memorization in the early years. No two ways about it. I hear so many parents saying that their child is a --- type of leaner, which really means that they won't ask them to memorize. My kids would try to get me to believe that they learn better by not memorizing too if they thought I would buy it.

But here is one problem: They highest earners in this country push paper. Some of the richest people I know can't even tell me what they do. It is always something vague, that has little to do with hard facts. So are we sending a message? Scientists rarely starve, but they don't get rich.

[Anonymous]

I read somewhere that the best paid jobs of the future will be in areas like statistics and algorithms. Paper pusher work will be further outsourced and compensation greatly decreased.

[Anonymous]

I found so ridiculous when I arrived here in the US to see a chart at the stores with the regular price, the % discount and the final price of the merchandise.
People can't calculate % here without a calculator!!!
Kids are taught early in school how to use one. Instead why don't we teach them to memorize their multiplication tables?

by the way. I LOVE KUMON!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read somewhere that the best paid jobs of the future will be in areas like statistics and algorithms. Paper pusher work will be further outsourced and compensation greatly decreased.

I have yet to see evidence of that. The whole real estate boom made paper pushers very rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read somewhere that the best paid jobs of the future will be in areas like statistics and algorithms. Paper pusher work will be further outsourced and compensation greatly decreased.

Being in sales makes people very rich and you don't even have to be that smart. The highest compensated people, much more than the engineers who design the products are the sales reps. I have no college degree, but sell IT and my average year is around 300k, with my best year being more than double that. I have an engineer I drag around with me who talks the technology and I play the politics. We have a small army of people from India, with last names 25 letters long who design these products and are on the bleeding edge of technology, my understandig is that they are all on H1B visa's. They are the brains of the operation and we are the engine.

[Anonymous]

scroll down for a very informative video

http://michellemalkin.com/2007/11/28/fuzzy-math-a-nationwide-epidemic/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read somewhere that the best paid jobs of the future will be in areas like statistics and algorithms. Paper pusher work will be further outsourced and compensation greatly decreased.

Meant statistics (ie search engine results) and algorithms (ie data cryptography)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also disagree on the pay comment. This definitely has something to do with the fact that in other countries, education is valued a whole lot more than in this country. Where I come from, going to college was not even something to question. Parents work their asses off to send their kids to school so that their kids can have a better life than the previous generation. When my family first moved to this country, my parents were definitely struggling financially but even then found a way to pay for college for all 3 of their kids. Athletics and the social aspect of school, areas that are valued in the American culture were not viewed as important. It was all about how well we did in our classes and what grades we recieved.

Are you Korean or Indian by chance?

I'm from India and college is NOT OPTIONAL in most families and doing well leading up to college is a clear expectation. Also you better not even consider getting what might be seen a silly degree such as communications or sociology. Being a doctor or engineer is pretty much a staple. In India, school is not free and one must work really hard to even get into a competitive middle or high school. Families from modest means will come together and do just about anything to get their children into the best school they can be accepted in, even if that means mom and dad working 2 jobs each. I hate to say it, but this is all very apparent in American culture, as most top engineering talent at many corporations is imported from India. Good thing America can buy talent from other countries, because we (speaking as an American myself) have quite a hard time growing it at home. Whenever I'm looking for a medical specialist, I'm amazed at how many familiar Indian names I see listed at options.

This is one thing, I will not lose from my culture, my kids are American in many ways, but my DH and I work hard to keep up the Indian expectation of achievement.

I'm actually from the Philippines and I am glad my parents taught me the value of education, however I disliked the constant pressure they put upon us kids to go into specific fields. In this aspect, I will raise my kids differently. Although I will always expect from them to do their best and to make education their priority, I will never put pressure on them to go into a field that they are not interested in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read somewhere that the best paid jobs of the future will be in areas like statistics and algorithms. Paper pusher work will be further outsourced and compensation greatly decreased.

Being in sales makes people very rich and you don't even have to be that smart. The highest compensated people, much more than the engineers who design the products are the sales reps. I have no college degree, but sell IT and my average year is around 300k, with my best year being more than double that. I have an engineer I drag around with me who talks the technology and I play the politics. We have a small army of people from India, with last names 25 letters long who design these products and are on the bleeding edge of technology, my understandig is that they are all on H1B visa's. They are the brains of the operation and we are the engine.

I have noticed this. It is sad. That is why so many people say scrap the ard science, go for the sweet talk. Talk is easier that studying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found so ridiculous when I arrived here in the US to see a chart at the stores with the regular price, the % discount and the final price of the merchandise.

Maybe it was for marketing/psychological purposes to make buyers think, wow, what a great buy. But don't they use pictures of the food at the McDonalds registers?