Don't force your kids to do math

I tell my kid that math is a language. You learn to speak it, just like you learn to speak any other language, slowly, by listening, understanding, speaking, intuitively recognizing patterns, rules and exceptions. When you start to become fluent you translate problems into math and solve them. At school they keep trying to make them memorize useful phrases, like a tourist that goes to Paris and learns how to say "where's the bathroom", "hello", "would you like to sleep with me", "thank you", "goodbye", etc.

Forcing is kind of hopeless. So is logic, and reasoning.

How children learn (they can't rely on a fully formed prefrontal cortex like adults) is very different than how adults learn (no fully developed prefrontal cortex until 25-26), learning about this can help a lot.

Learning more about the Reggio Emelia approach might help parents curious about this, it has been quite surprising how much is possible naturally. One of the best things to do is to relentlessly read to and with your kids.

Showing kids the math in every day things, especially things they already love is a helpful way of making it approachable, or at least aware.

Also, linking a topic to their interest's radar, encouraging curiosity, play in general, and letting them potentially discover it can go a long away.

When they've got something they want, teaching math and savings is a great thing. Understanding life is a lot harder without knowing a basic bit of math, and can be made a bit easier when doing it younger.

I had a math teacher that once made it clear, some stuff can just click, others is just about doing a lot of examples to learn the patterns. Doing math is very different than being creative with being comfortable to find it.

Today, I'd probably setup a good prompt to find a way for the child to share their mine to discover how they like to learn, and how they might like to learn faster and easier by taking some shortcuts through math directly or on navigating an ontology/taxonomy perspective.

> School is very successful at convincing kids (and former kids) of two things:

Well, and thirdly, that your worth as a person is determined by your results in graded examinations, and by extension, your salary or some other numerical rating decided by someone else.

> One of the most wonderful experiences in all of life so drastically limited by the society we’ve constructed.

I could understand if someone was forced to work two full-time jobs (as my grandfather was), but I find it much harder to blame ‘society’ when so many of these situations are self-imposed.

It’s possible that I’m jaded from hearing a subset of parents complain about not having enough time with their kids but then get stuck scrolling their phone while kids want to play. I also know some parents who insist on having a spotlessly clean house every day and then complain that there is enough time to spend with their kids.

I’ve gravitated toward peer parents who have similar priorities in life which has indirectly made me happier. Seeing all of the parents in my friend circles prioritize spending time with their kids and being honest with themselves about their priorities has been unexpectedly helpful for my own sanity.

Again, nothing against parents who are really forced to allocate time elsewhere, but I’m tired of seeing self-inflicted problems of prioritization and time management be externalized as blaming society.