<p>More than 30% of my school is taking some form of remedial math class.</p>
<p>Because people were struggling so much with 9th grade math, they had to implement a Pre-Algebra and an 7th grade level math class called "Fundamentals of Pre-Algebra."
It just baffles me how many people accept their poor grades and simply say "I'm not a numbers person. I'm more of a words person. I'm not going to be able to get any of this no matter what I do because it's how I was born. I'll just stop trying now."</p>
<p>I asked a parent with a failing math student what she thought about this and this is what she told me,</p>
<p>"They have done many studies and students who take Alg 1 before 9th grade do extremely poor in all other math. Most children's brains aren't developed enough to understand an abstract math concept like that before 14. Not that these children aren't smart its just that their brains physically aren't ready for the information. </p>
<p>Anyone letting children take Alg 1 in 7th grade or even earlier is a moron who knows nothing of child development or educational theory. The 'standard level' is too fast for most normal and smart students. This leaves the lower students in the complete dust."</p>
<p>This is completely ridiculous in my opinion.
It just feels like people are making excuses for their poor grades...Every day I feel like the American school system is falling more and more behind.</p>
<p>Kids are bad at math and science. Now they are bad at reading and writing too, because they never read.</p>
<ol>
<li>A lot of adults suck at math too. Ask some random non-scientist adult in your life what they remember about high school algebra. </li>
<li>A ton of the people in honors math classes, who get As in them, suck at math too. At my school it’s taught in a stupid manner. You learn the formulas and remember them and forget them. Nothing is ever explained. People aren’t willing to spend very much time on difficult problems, trying different approaches and/or screwing up and starting again. </li>
</ol>
<p>“Not that these children aren’t smart its just that their brains physically aren’t ready for the information.”</p>
<p>I don’t know about PHYSICALLY, but I needed a certain amount of maturity before I started learning calculus, outside of just knowing algebra/trig. I tried it once in 10th grade and couldn’t understand anything despite having the prerequisite knowledge. A year later it was more comprehensible to me for no reason other than that I’d grown up a little.</p>
<p>I’m not a numbers person. I never will be, and when I say this, I’m being completely serious. I’m in four AP courses, and the only class I struggle with is Honors Pre-Cal. I don’t think this is indicative of my intelligence, though.</p>
<p>I can grasp the most abstract tenses, moods, cases, and voices in Latin, many of which do not even have a standard English translation. I can analyze political rhetoric and pick out social, economic, and environmental continuities throughout the course of human history. I understand what poisons rivers and how to perfectly shade a sphere with charcoal. I will just never understand pythagorean identities and composing trigonometric equations. Oh well.</p>
<p>I think it has everything to do with the fact that math, being the most objective of all fields, has no “easy” way to do things, as there’s often only one correct way to do things. It requires hard, constant work and builds on itself. There’s no “Interpretation” like in humanities classes. You can’t slog through it all in one single all-nighter. Math is a fine skill requiring time management and a little bit of innate intelligence. It just takes more effort and critical thinking overall… which isn’t good for a country with a history of anti-intellectualism and religious fundamentalism. I acknowledge that I’m soapboxing. Sorry to offend. I’m open to hear your views on the matter.</p>
<p>I took Algebra I in 8th grade and it is my biggest regret academically. It’s not that I wasn’t mentally ready for it. I just didn’t have the drive to learn and retain the information. Not to mention, my teacher had no idea what she was doing. I didn’t think that it mattered so I didn’t really apply myself. I reaaally hope that they review in Algebra II next year. I took Geometry this year and I loved it but algebra, I just wasn’t devoted enough to.</p>
<p>I took Algebra I in 6th and Algebra II in 7th, and I’m more of a humanities-type student XD
But I think RenTrance is right. Math is very objective and direct, so you either get a question right or wrong. This isn’t to say that math is necessarily harder, though. I personally think writing is harder because it requires more creativity to write and support an unusual thesis than it does to do calculus.</p>
<p>Even the kids who come in from the eastern boarding schools and took “calc 3 BC” or whatever, half of them are taking intro college math. In other words, yeah, most American high schoolers suck bad at math. Can learn more for free on youtube.</p>
<p>I think students suck at math because they don’t put the time into it. There is no way you’re going to learn how to solve for x: X-5=10 Unless you are told to. They don’t keep at so early as 7th grade because some honor students take Pre-Alg that year (at least in this area). That is also where you learn to do the above problem. In 11-12th grade a problem like y^2+3x-4=0 is so simple to most people, even older ones with three different ways to solve for y (Of course older people probably won’t have the quadratic equation memorized).</p>
<p>Then why not social media then? People can look up youtube videos on any version of math. Go to Kaplan Academy. Use Yahoo’s Answers to ask someone to solve a difficult problem (assuming you ask about how to do the problem and not just the answer.) Use Facebook. Text someone smart (study buddy, smartest guy in class, etc). </p>
<p>Yet, it is all up to the students. But no I do not think the average students suck at math. I think they are just lazy or unmotivated.</p>
<p>They mistake their laziness for inability. Anyone can improve with enough dedication.
Example? I’m a humanities kid. History, politics, literature. It all automatically fascinates me. But I’m majoring in a STEM field. I devoted time to understanding and retaining scientific concepts and I discovered a love for Biology.
It just takes time and effort.</p>
<p>I thought I was terrible at math my sophomore year. I was in honors Trig/Precalc struggling. Got to Calculus and guess what? Everything clicked. My teacher was amazing. Even now when I go over my notes that I took trying to relearn Calc, everything makes sense. Let’s not discuss how I performed on the AP test, though. We shall ignore that.</p>
<p>Also, it’s about one’s learning style. I’m musically inclined and I love learning things by song. I’m also a “word person.” I recall making up songs to remember formulas and writing detailed notes in order to do okay in Calc.
Just my thoughts. <em>^▁^</em></p>
<p>I forget who said this, but the quote is, “Think of how stupid the average American is. Then remember that 50% of Americans are dumber than that”.</p>
<p>I am in pre-calculus/trig as a junior, I am able to understand the material just fine, the same is true for the sophomores in my class. At my school most non-honors students take Algebra 1 or Geometry as freshman, while honors students usually start in Geometry or Algebra 2. Though I know of people who have taken pre-calc as freshman. The parent is right to some extent. We have to reach the formal operational stage of our neuro-development to understand abstract concepts commonly found in Algebra 1. That being said many reach the stage as early as 12 (which is usually when people are in 7th grade)</p>
<p>I think that the foundation of math is awfully taught. Kids think they’re awful at math due to their lack of understanding of basic multiplications/division tables. It needs to be reinforced countless times for students to feel confident. Not only this, but as someone said before on this thread (not sure who, sorry) nothing is ever explained. We are taught the formulas and kids forget it instantly as we move on to the next chapter. One last thing, the average kid at my school, at least, always asks, " When are we going to actually use this in real life?" which is why students tend to ignore a formula’s importance.</p>
<p>I’m no expert but I kind of get the opposite feeling at my school. Everyone else is awesome at math and I’m the dumb one. Even many of my friends who I consider to be way less smart than me in practically every other subject still seem to be better at math! There is even a 10 point gap between my ACT reading score and math score. I think some people accept it because they literally can’t do much to change it. They’re never going to just study enough to finally “get it.”</p>
<p>Oh and for what it’s worth I took Pre algebra in 7th grade and Algebra I in 8th haha</p>
<p>The average American approach to math is what is “bad”. People say they aren’t numerically-minded without understanding that math, like everything else, takes practice. Yes, some people “get it” more easily. But everyone can be good at math, and Americans often don’t believe this. The standard viewpoint I’d that you’re good at math or you aren’t, which is simply not true.
That’s why Asian countries often do so well with math. Those kids practice and they don’t say math is an innate skill.</p>
