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Five-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus (2014)

theatlantic.com

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Re: Five-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus (2014)

#11

Post by jackmott »

jonnybgood wrote: post #2

I have no doubt they can. There's so much negative cultural conditioning towards mathematics by eliciting negative emotions that it's ridiculous (i.e. math is scary, math is hard, math is for smart people, etc.). I believe kids who excel at math is not due to them being smarter but due to the bypassing of the cultural conditioning. The bypassing can be due to the parents, teachers, some mentor, or their particular fa…

congratulations on believing a thing without rigorous evidence?

Re: Five-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus (2014)

#13

Post by d-sc »

jonnybgood wrote: post #2

I have no doubt they can. There's so much negative cultural conditioning towards mathematics by eliciting negative emotions that it's ridiculous (i.e. math is scary, math is hard, math is for smart people, etc.). I believe kids who excel at math is not due to them being smarter but due to the bypassing of the cultural conditioning. The bypassing can be due to the parents, teachers, some mentor, or their particular fa…

I would agree with this. If only by a personal anecdote: I got through calc 1 & 2 by the end of 8th grade. This was though an online class while at a smaller rural school in Montana. Being 'smarter' than my classmates had little to do with it, instead the immense bureaucracy of public school my parents fought made it happen.

Re: Five-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus (2014)

#14

Post by gumby »

hannofcart wrote: post #9

Please DO NOT show this to Indian/Chinese parents. Think of the children!

My Chinese-speaking Indian mother would have agreed with this article, though she long ago learned that "you can't fight city hall" -- in this case you can't change the curriculum. She taught me many fun things despite the constraints of school.

Re: Five-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus (2014)

#15

Post by xupybd »

I can't agree with this more. I hated math as a kid, I could learn the concepts very quickly but was prone to silly errors. So I'd fail many tests and I thought I was bad at math and shouldn't bother with it. Later doing an Engineering degree I found out math was this amazing tool that could help you model systems and do amazing things. The practice I got while solving interesting problems helped me learn to stop making silly errors. It wasn't that I was bad at math it was that I wasn't interested enough to focus. I just couldn't figure out why this wasn't the way math was taught at high school?

Re: Five-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus (2014)

#16

Post by jpamata »

jonnybgood wrote: post #2

I have no doubt they can. There's so much negative cultural conditioning towards mathematics by eliciting negative emotions that it's ridiculous (i.e. math is scary, math is hard, math is for smart people, etc.). I believe kids who excel at math is not due to them being smarter but due to the bypassing of the cultural conditioning. The bypassing can be due to the parents, teachers, some mentor, or their particular fa…

It's amazing how much this cultural conditioning can affect one's aptitude towards math. When I used to help my brother with his maths, he would oftentimes complain about not being smart enough. Shortly after, he would give up on the problem and come up with a rudimentary solution just to have an output. On these occasions, I'd prod him to solve the problem, ask him about his approach, probe his mental process, and most of the time, he'd tell me the correct steps to solve the problem. Had he not given up sooner, he would've succeeded.

I think that an interest in maths, is the fuel to help one cross from problems to solutions. With how mathematics is taught nowadays, mechanical rather than analytical, I can imagine how easy it is for kids to develop a negative sentiment towards math especially when they get dozens of rote problems every day.

Re: Five-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus (2014)

#17

Post by jv22222 »

Jason Roberts has been doing an awesome job rolling out a high level math program in the Pasadena school district. 6th, 7th, 8th graders learning Calculus. They even have an anual competition at CalTech called Solve.

Info and video of kids in action here:

https://www.mathacademy.us/solve/

Direct link to video:

https://vimeo.com/224720563

Re: Five-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus (2014)

#18

Post by DenisM »

xupybd wrote: post #15

I can't agree with this more. I hated math as a kid, I could learn the concepts very quickly but was prone to silly errors. So I'd fail many tests and I thought I was bad at math and shouldn't bother with it. Later doing an Engineering degree I found out math was this amazing tool that could help you model systems and do amazing things. The practice I got while solving interesting problems helped me learn to stop mak…

The best way to learn math is to study physics.

Or engineering, as in your case.

Re: Five-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus (2014)

#20

Post by cbanek »

stephengillie wrote: post #12
hannofcart wrote: post #9

Please DO NOT show this to Indian/Chinese parents. Think of the children!

This is reminiscent of Star Trek TNG "When the Bough Breaks", where a parent of the 23rd century scolds his 8-year old child for not wanting to study calculus.

_Everyone_ needs an understanding of basic calculus, whether they like it or not!
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