math class from Hell (aka Banty's nightmare)

"toypup" wrote in message
m...

"toto" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 01:03:24 GMT, "nimue"
wrote:

However, forcing people into algebra and geometry
when they have no inclination in that direction can be damaging.

Is forcing people to read literature when they have no inclination in
that direction damaging? My ds would argue that he had no need to
read any fiction book at all since he was going into engineering and
hated reading in general, but fiction in particular and poetry even
more so especially when he was asked to analyze it. So should he
have been excused from doing English literature in High School?
Algebra I and Geometry are high school level curricula. And, if
taught well, every student can learn the ideas. I believe that kids
need exposure to math and science far more than they need English Lit
although I love reading myself.

I would have preferred not to have English lit myself. Never did interest
me. I like to read, just not English lit.


The only English class I ever liked was with Mr Gorski doing Beowulf. He was
perfect. But I had the love of reading squished out of me by my English
teachers. Luckily I found it on my own later.

nimue wrote:

Oh, now I disagree. Exposure to English lit enriches every aspect of life.
If you watch tv, listen to popular music, or go to plays, you are far better
able to catch allusions when you have a deep understanding of the
literature. It makes everything fun -- to me. I know that. I have no idea
what math can do for you, because it's never given me any joy.

Math lets you understand the underlying structure of reality, in a way
that gives me and every scientist I know a profound degree of joy.
Plus it lets me read Thomas Pynchon in a way completely inaccessible to
you. :-)

I think you are quite right to say that you were not cognitively ready
to do math in high school -- but I would like to suggest that you try a
course in it at your local community college, just to see what happens.
A switch gets thrown in an awful lot of people sometime in their early
twenties, at which point they discover that they actually *like* that
sort of reasoning. A symbolic logic class would probably be even
better.

--
C, mama to three year old nursling

wrote in message
ups.com...
nimue wrote:

Oh, now I disagree. Exposure to English lit enriches every aspect of
life.
If you watch tv, listen to popular music, or go to plays, you are far
better
able to catch allusions when you have a deep understanding of the
literature. It makes everything fun -- to me. I know that. I have no
idea
what math can do for you, because it's never given me any joy.

Math lets you understand the underlying structure of reality, in a way
that gives me and every scientist I know a profound degree of joy.
Plus it lets me read Thomas Pynchon in a way completely inaccessible to
you. :-)

I think you are quite right to say that you were not cognitively ready
to do math in high school -- but I would like to suggest that you try a
course in it at your local community college, just to see what happens.
A switch gets thrown in an awful lot of people sometime in their early
twenties, at which point they discover that they actually *like* that
sort of reasoning. A symbolic logic class would probably be even
better.

I must have taken that last math class too early.. 1999 I am thinking.. I
would have been 20-21.. Got a C in it I believe.. is ok I made the Vice
Presidents list the next semester that was the semester with English,
Sociology, and History. I liked that one better.

Tori