Scruffy's math program for kids

[scruffy]

Tennessee gets it.

Tutoring works.

Bring in the specialists in the areas where the generalists fail.

These districts are bucking the national math slump

Middle schoolers lost ground during the pandemic and haven’t recovered. But by investing in teacher coaches, data and more math time, two Tennessee districts are seeing students do better than before Covid hit

hechingerreport.org

Science backs up this general idea. Math takes practice. Repeated sessions with interruptions are the best way to carve new brain pathways. The ideas take time to gel, often more than 24 hours. If you force the brain to recall lessons from 2 days ago it makes the memories easier to access next time.

Scientists discover a better way for kids to learn math

New research shows that children learn math fluency best through a balance of timed practice, conceptual reasoning, and classroom discussion.

www.earth.com

People don't realize that most of the important math today is only 100 years old. Hardly anyone teaching today learned modern math - instead they learned old math the old way.

My son is into robotics. He started by flying drones when he was just a kid. Somehow I sensed where his interests were headed, and helped guide him with the math. Now he's a whiz, he's tearing up one of the best robotics schools in the country.

The problem with many teachers is, they can't tell the kids WHY they should learn calculus. Kids are like, "what is this stupid shit? I'm never going to need this. Why should I memorize derivatives and integrals?"

Well, it's because "learn to code" became data science and AI. You can't do diddly with machine learning unless you can differentiate a cost function. You want your robot to avoid obstacles? Learn to differentiate an objective. Learn to change coordinates so you don't have to calculate arctans all the time.

This stuff is EASY but it has to be taught at a young age. The brain has to be shaped to think mathematically.

 

[scruffy]

Middle school math is considered a benchmark metric by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Many Ohio students take algebra in eighth or ninth grade, with some students taking the algebra one course over two semesters. The state is still lagging well behind pre-pandemic levels, with just 55.9% of students proficient in algebra, down from 61.1% in 2018-2019.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/education/2025/05/05/how-middle-school-math-sets-students-up-for-high-school-success/83193514007/

 

[scruffy]

In Math, Foundations Matter - Beyond Chron

SFUSD must base policies on facts

beyondchron.org

 

[Captain Caveman]

Most students struggle with anything beyond basic arithmetic

Most adults rarely use algebra or geometry let alone calculus.
Basic probability and statistics are valuable

Because it's not taught in layman's terms and how/where it's used.

Parrot fashion algebra, geometry, and calculus out of a book is called teaching. Using words that the average person uses and showing where and how maths is used, that's called educating.

I hear I forget.
I see I remember.
I do I understand.

 

[scruffy]

Because it's not taught in layman's terms and how/where it's used.

Precisely!

Parrot fashion algebra, geometry, and calculus out of a book is called teaching. Using words that the average person uses and showing where and how maths is used, that's called educating.

I hear I forget.
I see I remember.
I do I understand.

Games help. Kids love games.

You're President Trump and you've decided to give an illegal alien a chance. You give him two boxes and a dozen red and white ping pong balls. You say, "you can divide the balls any way you want, but when you're done I'll pick one of the boxes and pull a ball out of it at random, and if it's a red ball you get deported". How should the alien arrange the balls to ensure he has the greatest chance of remaining in the US?

 

[scruffy]

Start here. In 3rd grade.

 

[toobfreak]

Start here. In 3rd grade.

Not a bad video, however, I might like it taught in the reverse order, starting with the global concepts like level 4 first, then working to go finer and smaller concepts breaking the levels down to 3, 2 and finally 1 working backwards from the abstract and complex to the more mundane and simpler, that way, each is more easily understood and related to within the subset of the level above it.

I find it best to tackle the hardest stuff first because once you get a handle on it, you are in like flint and all the rest just gets simpler and easier, while carrying the concepts of the higher levels down with you each time, whereas going up from Level 1, you never have any idea of where you are going ahead, the big picture along the way, until the very end.

I have a fabulous textbook covering the entire physical universe, and it likewise does a similar thing; while most textbooks begin with the Earth and moon, branch out to the solar system, stars and finally galaxies and the universe, this one book brilliantly begins by explaining the universe FIRST, then breaks it down into smaller and smaller details until at the end, it finally gets to planets, geology, Earth science, life, biology and man and the like bringing the macro along to our micro world instead of dragging us from the obvious around us first onto bigger and bigger things and constantly being hit with increasing complexity while trying to keep track of all the simpler things within.