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Don't force your kids to do math

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Re: Don't force your kids to do math

#171

Very poor take. The author clearly has very limited experience with raising kids. Most kids won't do difficult things if you don't push them. Playing music, learning to spell correctly, doing mathematics, and so on. A very small minority of kids will do all of that easily and for the fun, but you can't rely on it. If you don't push your kid to do their 20 minutes of piano every day, they will half-ass it and will sto…

That was exactly my sentiment. My parents pushed me hard to do piano when I was around 10-12. After a year that went pretty well I was starting to get lazy and put very little work and investment into preparing for the next lesson. They still had me play piano a full year until they eventually gave up and bitterly told me what a waste my resignation felt to them. 20 years later, I got back to playing piano, and I can…

"20 years later, I got back to playing piano, and I can't thank my parent enough for having me to continue playing in my teenage years."

One of the tragedies of being young is that few have the insight to realize that the 'boring' stuff parents and teachers are forcing us to learn will actually benefit us and that eventually we'll be very thankful that they did.

My parents nagged me all the time about studying and even though I did my fair share of it I never fully appreciated how important it was until much later.

It's a strange phenomenon, one cognitively understands the reasons but one is isolated from the reality so one is somewhat distant from it. For example, one can get upset watching war footage on TV but being there is on another level altogether (soldiers often do not talk of their experiences because they know those at home will never fully understand).

In the same way, wisdom gained through experience is almost impossible to impart to a younger generation who has no actual experience.

Re: Don't force your kids to do math

#172

Very poor take. The author clearly has very limited experience with raising kids. Most kids won't do difficult things if you don't push them. Playing music, learning to spell correctly, doing mathematics, and so on. A very small minority of kids will do all of that easily and for the fun, but you can't rely on it. If you don't push your kid to do their 20 minutes of piano every day, they will half-ass it and will sto…

Do you do things because someone force you or beacuse you have self motivation?

Re: Don't force your kids to do math

#173
post #130
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Different point of view: do you consider hunting in the wilderness to be difficult? I do, it requires being still in miserable conditions for a long time, being cold, wet, mosquitos, and then usually still no success, but frustration. But to my knowledge, no savage kid is in need of being forced to learn it. "children sense your true passions and naturally want to join in" And that is my experience as well. But if yo…

Kids tend to want to partake of their own initiative in activities that are 1) physical, and 2) that they see adults themselves do. Hunting in wilderness is a good example; so are sports, cooking, crafts, etc. But unfortunately not all important activities that kids need to learn to become well adjusted adults in our modern societies fit those 2 criteria. Point 2) can be hacked to an extent by modeling the behavior y…

Or staring to smartphone. Then, suddenly, we are surprised why our kids do same.

Re: Don't force your kids to do math

#174
post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they will now be able to do something - something that they absolutely hate A valuable life skill if you want to ever have a job or get paid.

That’s such a depressing way to see things. I’m sure most people do something they don’t utterly despise, is only because they select for their local optimum.

Don't know about 'most' but I think many do exactly that in order to pay the bills.

Re: Don't force your kids to do math

#176
post #168

Very poor take. The author clearly has very limited experience with raising kids. Most kids won't do difficult things if you don't push them. Playing music, learning to spell correctly, doing mathematics, and so on. A very small minority of kids will do all of that easily and for the fun, but you can't rely on it. If you don't push your kid to do their 20 minutes of piano every day, they will half-ass it and will sto…

My take is Maths, Science and English push. Everything else let them decide what they like. Do parents push kids at every damn subject?

I think everything else like, drawing, singing, gardening, exercise, meditation could all use a bit more pushing...

Re: Don't force your kids to do math

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The world needs less Asian kids being forced to play piano since a very early age and it needs more kids (Asian and not only) that are left to explore the world. Without that exploration the kids won't make the world their world, at best they'd only make it a bad approximation of what we, our (older) generation, best think that that world should be.

Kids left to their own devices don't explore the world. They play video games and scroll on social media.

Not if access to those things are limited while providing opportunities for other things that people enjoy.

You don't replace enjoyable things with unenjoyable things and expect the child to become a well-adjusted adult. You give them alternative enjoyable things.

Managing a child's burgeoning dopamine regulation system is a primary function of a parent. Abdicating that function for quick fixes is a form of neglect, in my opinion, just like feeding kids sugary cereals.

Re: Don't force your kids to do math

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was exactly my sentiment. My parents pushed me hard to do piano when I was around 10-12. After a year that went pretty well I was starting to get lazy and put very little work and investment into preparing for the next lesson. They still had me play piano a full year until they eventually gave up and bitterly told me what a waste my resignation felt to them. 20 years later, I got back to playing piano, and I can…

My parents forced me to play piano, right up until I told them that I'll destroy our piano if they don't lay off, and any consequences they could think of would not stop me (I was normally an obedient child, but enough was enough). That got their attention. 30 years later I picked up classical guitar and loved it! Do I thank my parents for forcing the piano on me? Hell no.

Your experience is the antithesis of mine, I wonder why people are so different.

Re: Don't force your kids to do math

#179

> Without realizing it, he was doing algebra. A friend of mine taught remedial math at UW to incoming freshmen. She would write: x + 2 = 5 on the blackboard and ask a student "what is the value of x?" The student would see the x, and immediately respond with x means algebra, algebra is hard, I cannot do algebra. So she started writing: _ + 2 = 5 and ask the student to fill in the blank. "Oh, it's 3!"

[deleted]

Re: Don't force your kids to do math

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to debate that mathematical notation has a lot of room for improvement. High level algebra is very cryptic and often looks like an arcane incantation rather than something comprehensible for an unknowing person. That said, as a person who moderately enjoyed math in high school and university, this functional notation would make me hate math infinitely more. It's would look like Lisp, which, at high level, l…

Might I introduce you to our lord and saviour APL? Infix notation and was originally created to be exactly that, a better math notation. https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Comparison_with_traditional_mathema...

APL »» Linear A (Well almost!)

;-)

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