Posted on 04/20/2016 8:31:32 AM PDT by Kaslin
This upscale progressive magazine ran a super-long, super-detailed article titled "The Math Revolution." It basically wanted to proclaim the happy news that extraordinary things are taking place in American education.
The Atlantic fell all over itself with enthusiasm. You would reasonably suppose that some fresh winds were blowing, and students in America would actually know how to add and subtract with competence, and maybe even multiply and divide efficiently.
What else does the word "revolution" suggest but wonderful sweeping change? At last, at long last, our public schools will redeem themselves and began to turn out little math experts.
Then the writer gave it away: "The students are being produced by a new pedagogical ecosystem almost entirely extracurricular that has developed online and in the country's rich coastal cities and tech meccas."
Ooh.
Please savor the words "almost entirely extracurricular." In other words, these superior, successful math students are not in essence attending American public schools. They are going outside of American public schools, to something separate, uncontaminated, and therefore superior.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Back when I was in college, nobody would have expected it of me.
Eventually your husband discerned your sterling qualities.
Now all kids are forced to take algebra.
Why?
Some kids can handle it.
Some need business math.
I used Saxon with all four. I have always liked the old 5/4 6/5...format.
We did use teaching text book with one. It was not online it was a CD. That worked with the unteachable one in the higher grades.
He dated two of my friends before I discovered that he had potential!
I think most students could learn algebra if they had learned arithmetic properly. My 12-year-old son had not previously demonstrated much math aptitude, but we drilled on fractions until a light came on, and then he whizzed through the rest of 6th grade math. Now he and my 16-year-old daughter, who is behind due to health problems, are both doing Algebra I.
James is doing better, because he’s not as distractable.
This is the son who started learning Greek at age 4. He’s peculiar. Khan Academy also has computer programming lessons.
The difficult thing with him is getting him to write anything. However, he’s recently taken to reading novels when he’s not doing math, so maybe a burst of composition skill will emerge.
I disagree.
50% of US students have intelligence of less than 100 IQ Points. IQ measures to a great extent,speed of processing and ability to abstract. The ability to do abstract math is directly correlated to IQ. One needs an IQ of about 110-115 and up to be able to understand and do algebra. That is not everybody, probably about 2/3 don’t have enough push to understand and do Algebra.
In the schools there are very different text books for different abilities. In high end schools with high end kids, there are thick math/algebra books with lots of information. In the low end schools, there are 100 page math/algebra books to teach basic rote concepts required by the educrats to keep the disability dollars flowing.
Most of these thin book kids would have been best served with real world and business math.
Added it to the Digging Deep archive:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2636478/posts?page=1821#1821
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