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8 Responses to “Math Idiots, Unite”

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1. 1 Kaethe Nov 15th, 2006 at 12:06 pm

   That’s me. I never learned my multiplication tables, I cannot add 8 and 7 without thinking about it. My spouse can do all that figuring in his head, while it takes me forever with pen and paper and fingers.

   The drilling makes sense. That’s what my 7-year-old’s homework often is.

2. 2 j0lt Nov 15th, 2006 at 1:08 pm

   Drilling plus incentives worked for me as a kid. I learned my multiplication tables through math drills in the car by my stepdad - his condition for buying me the entire Narnia book set.

3. 3 JenM Nov 15th, 2006 at 7:37 pm

   I remember WHEN I used to know the multiplication tables but now all I can remember are the 5’s - 5, 10, 15, etc. If someone asks me what 8×7is I have to think about 8×5 and then add on with my fingers. Some people think I’ve learned that trick from the Edward James Olmos movie and I have to burst their bubble by explaining I’m actually just using my fingers to add 6 to 8. And these days I”m losing my 5’s even - what is 8×5?

   And yet - I understand basic rules of accounting well enought to argue with our A/R department why something wasn’t recorded or processed correctly on the cash spreadsheets. The concepts of what is positive/negative/adjusted/reversed make sense and seems obvious but the actual math does not.

4. 4 Kat Nov 15th, 2006 at 7:39 pm

   I knew I was doomed when I was helping my son with 3rd grade math–I was showing him how to solve a problem with long division, thinking I was such an authority on math, and he looked at me like I was an artifact and said, “Mom, we aren’t using that method, we are using the partial products algorithm.”

   Algorithm? In third grade?

   I didn’t hear that word until college!

   I’m not sure I even know what it means to this day. But its learned these days in 3rd grade homework. I am really frightened about what will show up in 7th grade. Or 12th. I’m living in fear actually.

   This year, we spend a minimum of 45 minutes a night at least on 4th grade homework and we still aren’t doing enough. In our state, this is part of the SOLs–they teach to the tests and they move very fast.

5. 5 Kyso K Nov 15th, 2006 at 8:45 pm

   This can’t be an uncommon problem - last month when my family and I went to a haunted house, there were signs that said admission was $11/person, then on the wall two sheets of paper that said:

   1 x $11 = $11
   2 x $11 = $22
   and so on down until
   11 x $11 = $121

   My half-brother, who is a chemist, didn’t believe me when I pointed it out to him - he thought for sure there was some kind of discount list or something as the number of people got higher, until he read it himself.

6. 6 Lauren Jan 23rd, 2008 at 4:07 am

   I am glad to hear other people have the same problem, I thought I was alone and have been very embarassed by my not remembering math. My husband tries to help but just makes it worse.

7. 7 Rebecca Hubbard Oct 28th, 2008 at 11:52 pm

   Just remember it all takes practice. Growing up as a child I always feared math but I eventually found out that if you just work at it will eventually come to you. You don’t have to be a genius to be good at math. The only thing you need is patience. I still struggle with doing basic math in my head but practicing basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems over and over again will really help!

1. 1 New Beginnings at Faux Real Pingback on Nov 5th, 2008 at 6:15 pm

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