Anonymous wrote:HS & MS teachers can you please explain what is behind the general obsession with mathematics (beyond an elementary level)?

Student don't understand it or have any ability in it, most higher level math courses have no application to 99.9% of students. Why not make math an elective in hs? It seems like an enormous misallocation of resources not to.

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Anonymous wrote:Personal finance is good, but so would be a math for citizenry course. People should understand that student loans carry higher interest rates than mortgages because they are unsecured. They should understand probabilities. As government gets more and more into health care they need to understand why not paying for a pap smear every years may be the rational choice when health care dollars are limited. And there are many, many more examples where citizens literate in the math of everyday political choices would be better informed when they go to vote.

Those aren't examples of understanding math so much as it is understanding how the system works.

They both involve probabilities/statistics and an understanding of expected payoffs.

And what do we teach instead? finding areas of circles and volumes of hypothetical objects

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you a homeschooling parent who isn't very good at math and resents having to teach it?

Math is incredibly important. The next time you go to a Starbucks or retail store or restaurant, hand someone $7.03 for your $6.43 check after they've already opened the drawer. You'll figure out pretty quickly who is good at math. See how long it takes some friends to figure out how to tip on a check. Do you have friends who are always short of money because they can't do a budget?

Plus in the future, science/tech jobs will be some of the best jobs. Kids need to be equipped to take those jobs.

Everyone should have a base of knowledge. Not everyone needs to take calculus, so that can probably be an elective.

Anonymous wrote:HS & MS teachers can you please explain what is behind the general obsession with mathematics (beyond an elementary level)?

Student don't understand it or have any ability in it, most higher level math courses have no application to 99.9% of students. Why not make math an elective in hs? It seems like an enormous misallocation of resources not to.

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Anonymous wrote:Why do we have to read Shakespeare and books written by dead authors in school, much of which I found depressing, boring, and hated the characters. It's useless to me in everyday life.

Literature increases vocabulary, provides exposure to other cultures, introduces ideas and concepts that can further one's understanding of society and human nature. Higher level math does none of this. For most people, it is simply pointless number puzzles.

See, you missed the point entirely. High level math teaches you to think critically, logically, which is also important in life. I am a math person, but actually understand literature and can appreciate it. My DH, also a math person, doesn't get most of the literature he had to read. He doesn't feel it's helped him at all. It was the bane of his existence in school.

But how often do you sit around thinking or having conversations about mathmatical concepts?

I don't sit around thinking or having conversations about Shakespeare, either. Like I stated up thread, higher level math is not about math, per se, but about solving more complex problems, developing higher level critical thinking skills. The current and future job market for highly paid jobs require complex critical thinking skills, not just rote memorization of math. I read an article about how CEOs are looking for problem solvers for complex issues. I'm not saying only higher level math can teach this, but it certainly helps use a certain part of your brain to develop these skills.

Oh come on. So that's the reason to make kids suffer through years of math courses most will never use? Using that logic you might as well just teach them chess. At least they would be learning something that they might actually do in their real lives.

LOl... so because we don't want kids to "suffer" we shouldn't make them take hard classes that will teach them to think critically beyond a 9th grade level? Like I stated, I don't find Shakespeare useful, but the reason schools make students read literature is to broaden their horizons and make them use a different part of their brain. Maybe we should just make school optional after 9th grade like they used to way back when most people had no use for higher level education? Now, there's a great solution.. let's make America great again by making people uneducated and not able to think critically beyond a 9th grade level. Clearly, you don't realize that math makes you use a different part of your brain than language arts.

But, I agree, chess is a great thing to learn and should be taught. We've taught our DCs.

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Anonymous wrote:Personal finance is good, but so would be a math for citizenry course. People should understand that student loans carry higher interest rates than mortgages because they are unsecured. They should understand probabilities. As government gets more and more into health care they need to understand why not paying for a pap smear every years may be the rational choice when health care dollars are limited. And there are many, many more examples where citizens literate in the math of everyday political choices would be better informed when they go to vote.

Those aren't examples of understanding math so much as it is understanding how the system works.

They both involve probabilities/statistics and an understanding of expected payoffs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personal finance is good, but so would be a math for citizenry course. People should understand that student loans carry higher interest rates than mortgages because they are unsecured. They should understand probabilities. As government gets more and more into health care they need to understand why not paying for a pap smear every years may be the rational choice when health care dollars are limited. And there are many, many more examples where citizens literate in the math of everyday political choices would be better informed when they go to vote.

Those aren't examples of understanding math so much as it is understanding how the system works.

Anonymous wrote:Personal finance is good, but so would be a math for citizenry course. People should understand that student loans carry higher interest rates than mortgages because they are unsecured. They should understand probabilities. As government gets more and more into health care they need to understand why not paying for a pap smear every years may be the rational choice when health care dollars are limited. And there are many, many more examples where citizens literate in the math of everyday political choices would be better informed when they go to vote.

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Anonymous wrote:Why do we have to read Shakespeare and books written by dead authors in school, much of which I found depressing, boring, and hated the characters. It's useless to me in everyday life.

Literature increases vocabulary, provides exposure to other cultures, introduces ideas and concepts that can further one's understanding of society and human nature. Higher level math does none of this. For most people, it is simply pointless number puzzles.

See, you missed the point entirely. High level math teaches you to think critically, logically, which is also important in life. I am a math person, but actually understand literature and can appreciate it. My DH, also a math person, doesn't get most of the literature he had to read. He doesn't feel it's helped him at all. It was the bane of his existence in school.

But how often do you sit around thinking or having conversations about mathmatical concepts?

I don't sit around thinking or having conversations about Shakespeare, either. Like I stated up thread, higher level math is not about math, per se, but about solving more complex problems, developing higher level critical thinking skills. The current and future job market for highly paid jobs require complex critical thinking skills, not just rote memorization of math. I read an article about how CEOs are looking for problem solvers for complex issues. I'm not saying only higher level math can teach this, but it certainly helps use a certain part of your brain to develop these skills.

Oh come on. So that's the reason to make kids suffer through years of math courses most will never use? Using that logic you might as well just teach them chess. At least they would be learning something that they might actually do in their real lives.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Why do we have to read Shakespeare and books written by dead authors in school, much of which I found depressing, boring, and hated the characters. It's useless to me in everyday life.

Literature increases vocabulary, provides exposure to other cultures, introduces ideas and concepts that can further one's understanding of society and human nature. Higher level math does none of this. For most people, it is simply pointless number puzzles.

See, you missed the point entirely. High level math teaches you to think critically, logically, which is also important in life. I am a math person, but actually understand literature and can appreciate it. My DH, also a math person, doesn't get most of the literature he had to read. He doesn't feel it's helped him at all. It was the bane of his existence in school.

But how often do you sit around thinking or having conversations about mathmatical concepts?

I don't sit around thinking or having conversations about Shakespeare, either. Like I stated up thread, higher level math is not about math, per se, but about solving more complex problems, developing higher level critical thinking skills. The current and future job market for highly paid jobs require complex critical thinking skills, not just rote memorization of math. I read an article about how CEOs are looking for problem solvers for complex issues. I'm not saying only higher level math can teach this, but it certainly helps use a certain part of your brain to develop these skills.