tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post3233610214156969659..comments2024-01-01T01:47:59.449+02:00Comments on Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Checking What "Everyone Knows"Yaacovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12835192312242961481noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-75166330203832488922008-05-01T21:35:00.000+03:002008-05-01T21:35:00.000+03:00Well, if you wanted to know how many people were c...Well, if you wanted to know how many people were coupling on the train, you'd have to ask the conductor.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, if you wanted to know WHERE the two trains passed in the night?<BR/><BR/>Ah, then, go to Al-Ja-bar's bar. And, set 'em up. As 400t + x = 500t<BR/><BR/>This formula would tell you (by using the differences in speed, each train was traveling ... to the UNKNOWN "X" ...<BR/><BR/>You can never be too early in explaining to kids that "algebra" is really a way of finding unknown numbers. By using those early skills of addition, or subtraction; multiplication and division.<BR/><BR/>While the long sentences bore most people to death. And, they're fast asleep by the time they reach the equal sign.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-40420126962453277702008-04-28T01:40:00.000+03:002008-04-28T01:40:00.000+03:00The "teach them by real-world example" stuff has b...The "teach them by real-world example" stuff has become another educational gimmick. In a more traditional approach, you _teach_ the child the equations, but at the more advanced levels, you ask him to _apply_ the equations to a few examples using real-world objects to get him to recognize the underlying math in otherwise distracting situations. Using the trains in the night to teach the equations in the first place is foolishness, educationally speaking, because he doesn't get it to begin with, which leaves him helpless to apply it anyway.<BR/><BR/>Similarly, a new and ridiculous idea is to refuse to teach children their multiplication tables but rather to have them use various forms of manipulation to understand multiplication. There's nothing wrong with understanding multiplication, but of course they should learn their times tables. Looking at grids and such is no substitute for knowing the math facts.Lydia McGrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00423567323116960820noreply@blogger.com