One of my kids is in Kindergarten, he can add and subtract almost any number. (eg. 201 + 31) and is getting pretty good at division and multiplication (eg. he knows 2 for $3.00 is $1.50 each, but doesn't do so well on 2 for $3.25).
He brought home his report card the other day and got a failing grade in math, apparently, he won't draw lines between numbers (eg. connect two apples to the number two.) His mom went to talk to the teacher with my son, the teacher explained all the tasks, in front of the teacher she asks my son what's 32+21, 53 he says, the teacher gets wide eyed in amazement and then informs his mom that they can't put him into a more advanced math class because the first years are concentrated on getting the english kids conversational in french. According to the school French > Math, C'est la vie!
Oddly enough he just got an award for embracing the french culture, I personally think it's very french of him to avoid doing pointless work.
I had the same problem in school, I wouldn't do the homework, would ace the tests and get questions about cheating because I never did the homework. I avoided higher education for much the same reasons, I'd rather just open a book, teach myself and move on rather than engage in random excersizes. You only need to do the a^2+b^2=c^2 a few times to understand the concept.
The school system has no interest in mathematics but has an intense interest in making kids perform strange rote tasks that have something to do with numbers.
"They still need to teach them at home for them to turn out intellectual."
This last part isn't quite right. I don't think it is sensible to imply that you can't turn out intellectual without some kind of home teaching. Lots of parents don't have the capacity, or the time, or the inclination to home teach or even home assist. Their children are not doomed to a life of poor intellect. In some cases all you have to do is get the hell out of the way and let the child learn without being punished for taking their own creative path.
As programmers I think we have a special relationship with meaning, pedagogy. Also we read about people like Alan Kay that brings math to children and see how they play with it, often to our great surprise.
I see here and there (khan academy, psychology publication in Europe) a tendency to kick painful myth out of learning, but I'd like to see a cohesive effort to rethink the learning systems we call schools. Especially the early years. If any of you here knows people working on this I'd be happy to read about their thoughts.
Check out Maria Montessori's works, methods, and materials.
My 3-year old daughter has been at a Montessori school since August last year and the progress she's made --in manual work, counting, drawing, and reading, is incredible. Her vocabulary is now equivalent to a 5-year old.
He brought home his report card the other day and got a failing grade in math, apparently, he won't draw lines between numbers (eg. connect two apples to the number two.) His mom went to talk to the teacher with my son, the teacher explained all the tasks, in front of the teacher she asks my son what's 32+21, 53 he says, the teacher gets wide eyed in amazement and then informs his mom that they can't put him into a more advanced math class because the first years are concentrated on getting the english kids conversational in french. According to the school French > Math, C'est la vie!
Oddly enough he just got an award for embracing the french culture, I personally think it's very french of him to avoid doing pointless work.
I had the same problem in school, I wouldn't do the homework, would ace the tests and get questions about cheating because I never did the homework. I avoided higher education for much the same reasons, I'd rather just open a book, teach myself and move on rather than engage in random excersizes. You only need to do the a^2+b^2=c^2 a few times to understand the concept.
The school system has no interest in mathematics but has an intense interest in making kids perform strange rote tasks that have something to do with numbers.